Chapter Text
~ August 7, 2025 ~
I take a deep breath as I finally make it to the top of the stairs with our last box of stuff. “Could you get the door for me, Ave?” I ask as I look back at my nearly six-year-old daughter, who is following pretty close behind me. Even though Avery isn’t my biological daughter, most people wouldn’t know by looking at her. She has blonde hair and blue eyes as well as a mischievous attitude that rivals my own.
“Sure, Mommy!” She skips ahead and finds the door to our new apartment. Luckily, we’re only on the second floor. I might have passed out if I had to carry all of our shit up more than one flight of stairs. When she pulls the door open, she then looks back at me; she notices another door across the hall. “Can we go in that room?” She asks as she points behind me.
I shake my head. “Nope, that’s someone else’s apartment. Only this side is ours.” I explain as I finally put the last box down in our new living room and then close the door behind me. I can understand why Avery asked since this apartment is quite small. It’s actually way smaller than what she is used to. My ex-wife Rachel has a successful career as an actress and a model, so we had a decent-sized house back in LA. There is a part of me that feels guilty for taking Avery away from her life of privilege, but at the same time I know there are way more important things for a kid than money.
Avery frowns and looks down at her feet. “I wish Mama was here too.”
It breaks my heart to see Avery upset. She’s normally such a happy kid even though she’s seen more than her fair share of tough times. I don’t let another second pass by before picking her up and holding her tightly against my chest. “I know you miss her, but I promise you this move is going to be great for us.” She instantly wraps her legs around my waist, her arms around my neck, and buries her face in the crook of my neck. I hold her tight and rub her back as she begins to cry a bit in my arms. “You’re okay. I got you, baby girl.”
Our quiet moment is soon interrupted by a gentle knock on the door. If we weren’t standing right next to the door, I’m not sure I even would have heard it. I have no idea who it could possibly be. I haven’t met anyone here yet, but I curiously open the door anyway.
On the other side of the door is an extremely cute woman, who I can’t help but start to check out. She’s very different from the normal type of women I’m attracted to. She doesn’t appear to have even a single tattoo, but she is sexy in her own way. I guess I might describe her as a hipster mom. She’s wearing a pair of simple blue jeans and a pink t-shirt. Her hair is about shoulder length and styled very simply, but I think what I find most attractive about her is her kind dark blue eyes and her shy smile.
I also can’t help but notice that she isn’t alone. Holding onto her leg is a cute little girl. I think she’s around Avery’s age, but she seems very shy. She’s hiding behind the woman but every so often will curiously peek around to look at Avery and me. There is also a toddler in her arms. She is sucking her thumb and holding onto the woman’s shirt with her little fist.
“Uh, hey.” I feel my breath get caught in my throat. I don’t know what it is about this woman, but I suddenly feel like it’s getting way too hot in here.
She blushes slightly when she realizes she has let the silence between us go on a bit too long. “Sorry, hi! Um, I’m Max. We live across the hall.”
Avery rubs her eyes free of tears when she notices the girl hiding behind Max. “Hi! I’m Avery!” I can’t help but smile at how my daughter is so quickly cheered up by the prospect of a new friend. I give her a kiss on her forehead before putting her down.
“I’m Chloe.” I manage to get my voice back to normal as Max and I turn our attention to our daughters.
Avery excitedly waves at the shy little girl. “What’s your name?”
Max puts her free hand on top of the little girl’s head and then lovingly strokes back her mousy brown hair. “It’s okay, sweetie. Avery seems very nice. Go ahead and introduce yourself.”
Bolstered by her mother’s encouragement, the little girl slowly comes out from behind Max. “I’m Annie.” Her voice is very low and timid, but that doesn’t deter Avery one bit.
“I love your shirt!” She says, pointing to Annie’s Beauty and the Beast t-shirt. “I love Disney movies! Mommy says that I’m the biggest Disney fan who ever lived!. Do you want to see my princess toy collection?!”
Annie’s face instantly lights up. “Yeah, I wanna see! Can I, Mama?”
Max’s smile only grows more beautiful when she sees her daughter is now more comfortable around Avery. She looks at me for permission, and I give her an enthusiastic nod. “Of course. Have fun.” Avery barely waits for half of a second before excitedly grabbing Annie’s wrist and dragging her inside. The two of them then happily run off into Avery’s new bedroom.
I chuckle and shake my head at my daughter. “Sorry, she can get a little overexcited sometimes.”
Max smiles warmly. “Don’t be sorry. She seems sweet. Annie could use a friend like her.”
“Cool. In that case, don’t be a stranger. Come in.” I move a few boxes out of Max’s path as we head over to sit down together on the living room couch. “So… uh, who is this?” I ask, motioning to the toddler in Max’s arms.
“I’m so sorry! I got so distracted.” She giggles shyly as she places a kiss on the top of the baby girl’s head. “This is Eloise. She’s 16 months old.” Eloise looks at me for only a second before shyly snuggling back into Max.
“She’s a cutie. Looks just like you. Actually, Annie does too. Bet your husband loves that.” I hate the idea of Max having a husband, but I can’t let myself have a crush on my straight neighbor. I need to hear about her husband before my brain lets it get out of hand.
Max’s face falls a little. “He really doesn’t. We’re divorcing.”
“Oh, that sucks.” Selfishly, I can’t say that I’m actually sorry to hear that, but I know how hard going through a divorce is. “I actually just finalized my divorce with my ex-wife, so I totally get what you’re going through.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.” Max sighs softly. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to bring the mood down.”
I give Max a smile and shake my head. “Dude, no worries. I brought it up. It’s all good.” After a short awkward pause between us, the silence is suddenly filled by the loud giggles of our daughters coming from Avery’s room. Max and I smile at each other when we hear it. “Well, I have a funny feeling we’re going to be seeing a lot of each other.”
Max giggles and nods in agreement. “I think I’d really like that. We only moved here a few weeks ago ourselves. I wasn’t kidding about Annie needing a friend.”
“Yeah, well, we’re more than happy to help. We don’t know anyone in the area. So I guess we could all use some friends.” I then try to get eye contact with Eloise, but she once again turns her face away from me. “She’s such a little cutie. There’s probably no way I could hold her? Sometimes I really miss the days when Avery was this small.”
Max gives me a sympathetic smile. “She’s not great with new people, but I’m willing to give it a try.” She then moves Eloise to sit down in her lap so she can get her to look into her eyes. “This is our new friend Chloe. Can you say hi?” She asks as she gently spins her around to face me.
I smile and make a silly face at her to try to make her laugh. At first her eyes open wide like I might have scared her, but her face then shifts into a tiny grin. “Hi.” Her sweet little voice is quieter than a whisper, but luckily I still managed to hear her.
Max seems pleasantly surprised as she lifts up her daughter to stand on her lap so she can kiss her cheek. “Good girl! Mama is so proud of you!” Eloise’s little face lights up with pride when Max praises her. She happily slaps her little hands together as though she’s giving herself a round of applause. “I’m going to put you in Chloe’s lap now. I bet she gives great hugs.”
Eloise furrows her brows, and she lets out a tiny whine when Max gently places her on my lap. She’s sitting sideways so she’s still able to look directly at Max. I slowly wrap my arms around her and give her a little back rub. “You’re safe with me, El. I promise. Plus, Mama is right there, and she’s not going anywhere.”
It takes a few minutes, but eventually Eloise starts to relax in my arms. I can feel her no longer holding tension in her body as she gently flops sideways and rests her head against my chest. She lets out a quiet yawn before returning to sucking on her thumb again. “Aww, I think someone is about ready for a nap.” Max leans over me to place a gentle kiss on Eloise’s forehead. My heart skips a beat when she gets so close. I was already overwhelmed by how Eloise smells like baby powder and lavender baby shampoo, but Max’s scent is something else entirely. I don’t know what shampoo she uses, but it’s completely intoxicating.
The two of us sit in a comfortable silence as we watch Eloise slowly lose the fight to keep her eyes open. I haven’t had a baby fall asleep in my arms since Avery, so I can’t help but treasure every second of it. It’s also written all over Max’s face how much she adores Eloise as she watches her fall asleep on me.
Once I’m fairly confident that Eloise is fast asleep and won’t be disturbed by quiet chatter, I look over at Max again. “So, what do you do?”
Max sighs softly. “Well, before I met my ex, I was a photographer. I made most of my money through freelance work, but I also had some gallery showings. I’m hoping to pick that back up now that I can’t do the stay-at-home mom thing anymore. How about you?”
“That’s way cooler than my answer, but I also used to do the stay-at-home mom thing.” I reply with a chuckle. “Before that I mostly did odd jobs just to keep my ex and me afloat until her career took off. For now I took a job with a construction company. Picking heavy things up and putting them down again in the heat usually pays decent enough.”
She smiles. “You’re way more badass than me. I can’t even open jars by myself.”
I bite my lip to prevent myself from laughing and disturbing Eloise. “Guess it’s your lucky day that I moved in, huh?”
I swear I notice Max’s cheeks darken a little. “Yeah… I guess it is.”
…
The more Max and I talk, the more I start to lose track of time. We talked for hours about just about anything we could think of. We actually have a lot more in common than I initially would have guessed. We both grew up on the West Coast and are only children who liked playing pirates with our dads. We’re also both video game and movie nerds. We have different tastes in music, but we are both very passionate about it. Some of the hipster music she suggested didn’t sound terrible, so I’ll probably even give it a listen later.
Eventually our conversation is interrupted by Eloise waking up. Once she realizes she isn’t being held by Max, she starts crying, so I pass her over pretty quickly. Max speaks with the most gentle and calming voice as she rocks her upset daughter in her arms. She’s clearly an incredible mom, and watching her is heartwarming. I always wished Rachel could have been like this with Avery, but she never took well to motherhood.
“Mommy, we’re hungry!” I jump a little when I’m knocked from my reverie. Avery and Annie are now standing right beside me, pouting like they haven’t eaten in days.
I chuckle as I pull out my phone to check the time. I expected it to maybe be 4pm, but it’s actually 6:15. “Holy shi–crap!” I knew I was talking with Max for quite a while, but it’s way past dinner time. “Wow… Uh, Max, it’s 6:15.”
“It is not!” Max laughs, clearly expecting me to be trying to pull a prank on her.
“I swear!” I point my phone in her direction so she can read it.
“Your phone must still be set on West Coast time!” She pulls out her phone and then gasps when she realizes it actually is that late.
“Ye have such little faith!” I smirk at her, and she playfully rolls her eyes at me in return.
“I want mac and cheese!” Avery excitedly sits down next to me on the couch and gives me her best puppy-eyed look.
“I could totally go for some mac and cheese, but we never made it to the grocery store. I think our options are quite limited right now.” I scratch my head as I begin to think. We might have some bread and peanut butter for sandwiches left over from the drive, but those have been half our diet lately. I know Avery is so sick of them.
My thoughts are soon interrupted by Max. “I could make mac and cheese for you guys. It’s the least I can do for interrupting you in the middle of moving in.” She chuckles as she stands up with Eloise, who is still fussing in her arms. “Just let me breastfeed her real quick first, so she stops crying, then I’ll get started on it.”
I know I should probably turn her down. I don’t want to take advantage of a woman I just met, but I look at Avery, and her face has completely lit up with excitement. “You would?! That’d be hella amazeballs!” Avery jumps back off of the couch and gives Max a tight side hug. I look up at Max, and we both chuckle. There’s no going back on this idea now.
…
Eventually we come to a compromise that in exchange for letting us eat their mac and cheese, I will cook it while Max feeds Eloise, and tomorrow evening they can come over and eat dinner with us. The girls are already really loving spending time together, and we both are more than happy to encourage that to continue.
Cooking in an unfamiliar kitchen would normally be difficult, but Avery and Annie graciously volunteered to help. Annie still seems a bit nervous around me but is still more than happy to point me in the right direction when I ask for any ingredients or utensils I need. Avery always likes to help me out when I cook, so I allow her to do some simple tasks such as stirring the pot and setting the table.
While we cook, I can’t help but let my gaze drift off to Max every so often. There is no wall between the living room and the kitchen, so it’s easy for me to see her watching us from the living room as she breastfeeds Eloise. She has a blanket covering her, so I’m not invading their privacy or really even seeing that much, but even so I find myself awestruck by them. Max frequently peeks under the blanket to check on her daughter, and damn if that isn’t some of the cutest shit I’ve ever seen.
“I set the table, Mommy! What can I do now?” Avery excitedly asks as she pulls on my shirt.
“Well, we’re almost done. Let me put the ingredients in, and then you can stir it up.” I pull the pot off of the stove and then drain the pasta before combining it with the cheese, butter, and milk. I then pick up Avery and let her sit on my hip so she can mix everything together.
While I help Avery finish mixing the mac and cheese, Max gets up and puts Eloise in her high chair and calls Annie over to take her seat at the table. She then asks everyone what they want to drink and begins preparing cups for the girls and glasses for us. I know it’s such a simple thing, but after always being expected to do everything for dinner, it just feels really nice to spend time with a warm family who all pitch in to help. It reminds me of when I was a little girl and my parents would cook together. I always wanted to help, and much like Avery, I always got a little carried away. The longer Avery mixes, the more of a mess she starts to make. My face and top are soon both splattered with cheese.
“Okay, Ave, I think that’s enough!” I chuckle as I put her down. “Go sit down at the table with Annie.”
“Yay! Food time!” Avery exclaims as she happily skips over to the table and sits in the seat next to Annie.
I begin to give the mac and cheese one final stir when Max accidentally bumps into me when opening the fridge. “Oh, I’m so sorry!” She blushes deeply when she realizes she’s now leaning into me and holding one hand on my bicep.
We both giggle nervously as we slowly pull away from each other. “No worries.” I bite my lip as I try to ignore the jolt of electricity I felt when she touched me. I know I’m being totally ridiculous. It hasn’t been that long since I’ve been touched by a beautiful woman. I shouldn’t be too touch starved, but something about Max really affects me. I know I need to behave, though. She’s most likely straight, and my daughter is probably going to be best friends with her daughter. The last thing I want to do is make things awkward between us.
Almost as though the universe wants to challenge me, Max accidentally brushes my shoulder with hers again as she walks back over the table to join the girls. Even though the contact with her makes my heart jump into my throat, I ignore it. I shake my head to rid myself of any further thoughts as I carry the pot over to fill everyone’s plate.
Eating at such a big table of people isn’t really something I’ve done before, but I instantly find myself really enjoying it. The laughter of our daughters is so contagious that I know I have a pretty stupid grin on my face. Not to mention Eloise might be the cutest baby I’ve ever seen, with the exception of Avery. She keeps looking at Max and opening her mouth as wide as she can until Max caves and gives her small bites from her bowl of mac and cheese.
I can’t say today went at all as I expected it to, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. I’m already really glad we moved here, and judging from the giant grin on Avery’s face, I have a funny feeling she feels the same way.