If they’re a part of my life, then they’re a part of the kids’ life.
But we’ve yet to set any sort boundaries.
“Eh? Things feel a little awkward, so just shoot me a text and let me know,” Jamille says as she looks between us. She quickly makes her way to her car.
Nathan looks at Tanner who’s definitely listening to this conversation. “Tanner, go and play for a little bit, okay?” He opens his mouth as if to protest but I look at him and he nods, moving over to the field.
“I’m sorry,” Nathan says, taking a step closer. “We really didn’t mean to overstep. We asked Jamille as more of a precaution, so that if you said yes to the date there’d be someone to watch the kids and we wanted everything to be a surprise.”
I purse my lips, understanding where they’re coming from. “I know you didn’t mean anything by it.” I turn my gaze to both of them. “And I know you wanted it to be a surprise, but next time, ask me, okay? I’m not quite ready to give over that sort of control, yet.?”
They both nod and a part of me feels unreasonable, but also protective.
Are things starting to move too fast between us?
After the breakdown the day Tanner got in trouble at school, there seemed to be some sort of shift in our relationship. At least one of the guys has come over to the house every day, and they’re becoming more of a fixture in our lives. They’re also starting to take on more responsibility with the kids, without me even asking. From volunteering to pick Lilly up from daycare to helping Tanner with the homework the school sent over during his suspension. I know that they’re only helping and I appreciate it, but it also scares me.
“Ivy, are you sure you’re not still upset, you don’t look too happy.” Nathan asks.
I nod, “Yeah, sorry.” I shake my head, pushing my thoughts away. “Umm, what time is the date?’
He exchanges a look with Nathan. “Seven.”
“And will Emmet also be there?” I know he had to miss the game this morning because he has a deadline for a commission that he has to meet.
“Yeah,” Chase nods.
“Okay, I’ll see you guys then.” I extract Lilly from Chase’s arms, still feeling a tad bit… unsettled. “Tanner!” I call out and he comes jogging over.
“Ivy,” Nathan says softly, his eyes full of concern.
“I’m good,” I lie. “Bye.” I start moving to the car, Tanner trailing behind me. A strange feeling settles in the pit of my stomach.
What the fuck is wrong with me now?
We load into the car and I see Nathan and Chase still watching us with worried looks but I pull off, heading home. Tanner goes straight to his room and Lilly fell asleep in the car so I place her in her bed in her room.
When my phone rings, I’m surprised to see Jamille’s name. “Shouldn’t you be in a meeting?” I ask her.
“One of the marketing guys is running late, so I wanted to call and see how everything went with you and the guys. I could tell that your thoughts were running wild.”
“Yeah. I um… I don’t know, it threw me off slightly,” I confess. Jamille has become a close friend and if anyone would understand, I’m sure it’s her since she’s been a parent much longer than me. “It made me realize that things are starting to really move fast between us and we haven’t set any type of boundaries.”
“Oh, I see why that’d be upsetting,” she agrees, “you should definitely sit down and talk about it to avoid it happening again. You’re still a mama bear and while your relationship may be developing, you’ll find there are things you’re just not comfortable with yet.”
My shoulders relax slightly at her understanding. So maybe I’m not panicking over nothing. “Yeah, I authorized Chase to pick Lilly up from daycare the other day after I was dealing with Tanner getting in trouble at school, so I didn’t expect this to bother me so much. It’s not as huge as one of them having the power to pick one of the kids up, yet…”
“I know. Maybe because picking Lilly up was something that was discussed with you beforehand. But the guys having the power to make plans without your permission wasn’t talked about. Now you know that you have a limit, so sit down and talk to the guys about it and be clear with them, they’ll understand. Did you decide to go through with the date?”
“Yea.”
“Okay, then you have a couple of hours until you see them again, so just sit down and think about the boundaries you want to set.”