As I let him drag me out of the bedroom, Luke murmurs, “Looks like you’ve scored a fan.”
I hit Luke with a smile. “Just like he has.”
The last thing I see before Sean leads me away is a new look settle across Luke’s face. If I had to guess, I’d say it was joy.
“Morning, Callie,” Paris greets me when I enter the kitchen. “How did you guys go last night?”
Sean lets go of my hand and climbs up onto the stool at the breakfast bar. I smile at him before saying, “We had some initial teething problems, but once we got done with dinner, we had some fun with puzzles and books.”
“And Lego,” Sean adds.
“Yes, Lego too.”
Luke joins us and his hand brushes across the small of my back as he moves past me to get to the fridge. A shiver runs across my skin at his touch, and I catch his eye when he turns to open the fridge door. His gaze is full of as much want as mine.
I quickly turn back to Paris. “How was work?”
She yawns. “It was good.”
“Wait, shouldn’t you be sleeping?”
“Yeah, but I have an assignment to work on. It’s due by midnight tomorrow night, and I still have a lot of work to do on it.”
“I don’t miss studying,” I say as I recall the headaches of assignments.
“What did you study?” Luke asks.
I groan. “If I tell you, you have to promise not to give me grief.”
He frowns, as does Paris. “Why would I do that?”
“Because everyone in my family did.”
“What was it?” Paris asks.
“Arts degree. My mum’s a journalist and my dad’s a financial analyst, and they both told me an arts degree was a waste of time.”
“That’s awful,” Paris says.
“Well, I never did finish it. My parents never let me forget that fact either.”
“Why didn’t you finish?” Luke asks as he pours pancake mix into the frying pan.
“I was finding it hard to afford to live while studying. And juggling work shifts with lectures got hard.”
“Your parents didn’t help you out?” Paris asks.
“No. I moved to Brisbane from Melbourne to study. They told me if I moved, I was on my own. We’re not that close.”
“Sorry to hear that,” she says.
I shrug. “I learnt to deal with it years ago. I wish I had a close family, but to be honest, I’m much happier not having them in my life constantly. We do the mandatory visit at Christmas, and that’s enough for me.”
“What is mandahtry?” Sean asks, struggling with the pronunciation a little.
Luke answers his son. “It means something you have to do.”
Sean nods as he takes that in. “Like eating vegetables?”