“Is everything packed,” I asked Eloim.

“No,” he said, running back to his room.

We were leaving in two days, and I wanted everything to be ready. I had my piles of to-do lists and everything working like clockwork. I even calculated everything regarding our food supply, so there would be no waste left when we would leave. And I had already prepared the lunches for our travel. Nearly everything was packed except for the everyday stuff, and it was ready to be packed quickly.

I had cleaned the apartment up. There was a maid service, but regardless, with a kid, messes happens all the time and can pile up quickly, and they’re not always what your average room service will deal with, and I didn’t want to leave things like a bomb had exploded in here. I’ve done this job while I was in college, and what you find in rooms once the tenants left can easily become some of the most disgusting things you’ve ever seen. The moment people have no accountability, it’s like they purposefully make it worst that they even could in their everyday life. I have a few bad memories from nasty rooms I’ve cleaned, still. The things people do in hotel rooms could make your skin crawl.

Xander had been trying to drag me to one of the restaurant downstairs, on a date—it looked like a really nice place—but he kept being interrupted with work, and he was afraid this contract could be lengthened, and he didn’t want to keep Eloim away from home for much longer. I did try to make it work here though, as much as possible. I didn’t want him to stress himself out too much. It’s not good for his health.

I had talked to his mother, Miranda, a few more times. As she and his father had restored an old building before, she had tons of knowledge to bestow upon me, and I kind of took it under myself to help with the plans. We really needed to get the kitchen going as quickly as possible, and now that the town house was sold, the contractor had been set loose on the house.

So I planned in between caring for Eloim, and had everything run by Xander in the evening. I didn’t want to push this in a direction that he didn’t like, but it turned out, our tastes in houses were very similar. He had tons of great ideas, and I implemented everything I could. Then I downloaded SketchUp and thought myself how to use the software, and began making actual blueprints for the contractor. I did a few sketches by hand and had them run by Xander or Miranda, and everyone was super existed. I think I could really get along with that woman.

Regis, Xander’s father, was a quiet man. He was often there when the calls with Miranda were happening, there in the background, listening in, but not saying anything.

I called my parents too. I had told them I was dating someone before I moved out and told them I was going to join him in San Francisco, but then moving to London a few weeks after. I did present them Xander this time though. My parents don’t speak much English, so the conversation was very short, but I did have to translate between them and Xander.

Eloim though, got really interested in hearing me speak French and decided he wanted to learn a few words.

I wasn’t sure I would one day speak my native tongue at home, but it was nice to transmit that knowledge. I always thought that no matter where I’d be in the world, that if I had children, they would learn English from me—for its versatility and international use—but also French because it was part of my roots, and I see this as important. But Eloim is not my biological son, and it could be a little weird for me to try and impose my language and culture on him, so suddenly.

But I talked to Xander about this and he was okay with this, as long as I didn’t cut on his own language and culture. Which somewhat made me really happy. In a way, he was telling me to treat Eloim like your own biological son. And I know we had this talk at first, and that was how it was supposed to be, that he wanted me to be a mother and not just the girlfriend, but it’s easy to say those things and another to actually implement it.

And it was getting harder and harder to keep a distance between Eloim and me. Kids, they have a gift at worming their way inside your heart, and the fact that we had started this relationship, all-in, from the get go, probably affected how we perceived everything and how we managed our own emotions.

We had jumped feet first.

“Oh, for crying out loud,” said Xander as his phone resounded as we were preparing for the restaurant.

“Relax,” I told him. “It’s not the end of the world.”

He looked at me sideways, unconvinced.

He spent the next hour on the phone, and I called the restaurant to cancel our reservation.

“I’m trying to wrap this up quickly,” he told me, as he hung up and typed furiously on his laptop.

“How about we ask if they can do delivery instead?”

“It shouldn’t be too long,” he told me.

“Xander, it’s late, it will be time for Eloim to go to bed, we can’t send him to daycare now.” The building had a twenty-four hour daycare downstairs for tenants, but it wasn’t the right time just before bedtime.

He looked up sharply, then looked at his watch and cursed.

“I can set things up here, I can ask them if they deliver or at least offer take out, and go and pick it myself, it’s not like it’s far. And we’ll be alone regardless, as Eloim will be in bed.”

He pursed his lips.

I kissed his forehead.

“Stop stressing up, this contract is nearly done anyways,” I said.

“It’s not what I had in mind.”

“Not everything as to be according to plan, you have to learn to be flexible.”

He pursed his lips again.

“This is how I ended up here to begin with,” I said. “Readjusting is not always a bad thing.”

His frown vanished. “Sorry, I’m just a little stressed out.”

“I noticed.”

He sighed. “Maybe you can check for deliveries or take out. It’s not a bad idea. I’m starving anyways.”

“I’m too,” I admitted.

“Sorry for the delay.”

“It’s okay, I’m not angry.”

“Thanks.”

I kissed his forehead again, and called the restaurant.

I got through their menu and ordered—consulting Xander about what he wanted—then I went to put Eloim to bed. It took a little longer than expected and I was afraid the food would be cold by the time I’d go and pick it up, but I suppose this is why microwaves were invented.

I went downstairs to pick it up and carried everything back to our apartment.

When I got in, everything was dark, except for a faint glow.

I walked in further, and I spotted candles on the table, everything was setup perfectly, and Xander’s computer was nowhere to be seen.

I couldn’t help it, I beamed at him.

“This is a nice surprise,” I noticed.

“We haven’t had many dates so far. I thought this was not a good way to start things up. Doesn’t mean because we jumped to marriage and kid from day one, that we have to skip everything in between, right.”

I smiled. “I guess you’re right.”

We put everything on the table. We did have to warm a few things up, but the food was great and he sat in our own little romantic bubble and talked softly through the evening, trying not to wake Eloim.

“I wanted to bring you somewhere nice after dinner, but I guess that has plan has fallen apart as we have no babysitter, it’s going to have to be here,” he told me.

I looked at him curiously, but my eyes widened as he pulled a little jewelry box.

“You can’t really say you’re surprised,” he noted at my expression.

“Well, I kinda forgot about this part,” I admitted.

“Do I need to go on my knees?”

“No, no, it’s not necessary,” I said. I picked the box up and looked inside, curious.

“I don’t know about England, but not everyone gets engagement rings in Québec. So it was no obligation from my part.” It was a beautiful piece, what I assumed white gold, with a stone in the middle. Simple, classic, and versatile, but pretty.

He shrugged. “I wasn’t sure about that, but I guessed it would be better to do it right.”

I smiled. “Thank you.” I hoped he didn’t ruin himself on a ring. I mean, jewelry is nice and everything, but there are a lot more important things out there. Plus, we were in the middle of expensive renovations. I didn’t want this to be a waste, but I didn’t find it in me to tell him that. It would pretty much damage this moment, so I put it on, smiling like a child, looking at it like a besotted idiot.

I always thought I wasn’t that type of girl, but I guess, there are little cheesy things that can get to you in the end. No matter how you think you’ll react.