Homecoming Day. Holly Jacobs

      “No. You don’t want me to do more detentions and brought my homework. Thanks.”

      Laura nodded. “That’s part of it.” She found herself adding, “And I was hoping if you caught up on your schoolwork tonight, you’d have time to come over and start that mural in the baby’s room this weekend.”

      JT jumped and clapped. “You mean it?”

      Laura hadn’t intended to make the offer, but seeing JT’s excitement, she was glad she had. “I told you it was a great design. And I don’t mind being around the paints at school because we’ve got a great ventilation system, but at home, my only ventilation would be an open window. It’s too cold for that, and I’d rather not be around the fumes long enough to paint the room myself, so you’ll be doing me a huge favor.”

      It was more than paint fumes and Laura knew it. She wanted to be excited about this baby, but she couldn’t manage it. And she needed to get things done. Her pregnancy was close to term. “Really, you’ll be helping me out in a big way.”

      “Oh, man, this is so cool. I’ve got to pick up some paint and I can be at your house first thing Saturday morning.”

      “Why don’t you make me a list of the supplies you want and I’ll get those. And you’ll need your mom’s written permission.” And to be on the safe side, Laura would make sure the principal knew JT was coming over to do the project. Teachers had to be very careful about socializing with students. There were lines you couldn’t cross. “Spending time working on the actual mural is more than you should have to do as it is. I appreciate the favor.”

      “Ms. Watson, this isn’t me doing you a favor, it’s you doing me one. I wanted to paint a mural in my room, but my mom and her decorator nixed that idea. Of course, I wasn’t planning on princesses. I outgrew that kid stuff a long time ago.”

      JT chuckled, but Laura thought it was a shame JT didn’t believe in magic. Laura had found magic the day she’d found Jay. Her magic had died with him, too, but she wished JT could have believed longer. “Well, you can paint at my house till your heart’s content, but the deal is, you do your homework tonight and catch up.”

      “Okay, you bet.” JT stopped and stared at Seth. “You didn’t say anything at all.”

      He shot them both a reassuring look. “I have sisters and I’ve learned that when women start talking a wise man gets quiet, unless he has something important to say, and even then, he should be quiet until they stop to breathe.”

      “Ouch. This time he wasn’t picking on only me, he was picking on our entire gender.” Laura smiled when JT laughed. Without her normal black outfit and outlandish makeup, JT seemed like a girl. Maybe Laura couldn’t solve her student’s problems, but she could give her this—a bit of happiness.

      Laura stood. Well, that was a generous description. More accurately, she tried to stand. Her current girth made rising from couches less easy than chairs.

      Seth sprang to his feet and offered her a hand.

      She took it. “I’ve decided to forgive your gender-bashing given your chivalry.”

      Seth winked at JT. “See, Mom was right—show a lady some courtesy and you can get away with almost anything.”

      Laura mocked slugged his arm. “Maybe I take it back.”

      “You two sound like kids,” JT scolded, though she was still grinning and obviously delighted.

      Seth suddenly grew serious. “We may sound like kids, but we’re both adults who are worried about you, JT. Remember we’re here. You can talk to either of us, anytime, about anything.”

      JT eyed the earnest lieutenant, then nodded. “That’s nice, but I’m fine. See you tomorrow, Ms. Watson.” She walked them to the front door. “Bye,” JT said before she shut the door.

      Laura looked at the door. “I hope that helped.”

      Seth nodded. “I think she knows you care. Sometimes that alone can make all the difference. Believe me, kids know when they’re totally on their own, and it hurts.”

      Laura wanted to ask what he meant, but Seth’s expression said he already regretted what he’d said. Hurriedly he added, “Maybe having at least one teacher believe in her will be enough.”

      “And maybe having a cop believe in her helps, too. I wonder about her mother, though. She doesn’t seem to be around much.” Laura shook her head. “How could any mother leave a child on their own so much?”

      She thought about magic, her baby, and how she’d lost Jay, but still had this piece of him. Yes, that was magic.

      Suddenly, she felt excited about painting the baby’s room this weekend.

      No matter what—this baby was her family.

      “As for Saturday, could you use another hand?”

      Laura looked at the tall cop. “Pardon?”

      “I thought maybe I’d come help JT on Saturday, if you don’t mind.”

      “No, I guess I don’t, but—” They reached the truck and Seth got the door for her.

      “Oh.” Laura had never had a man hold a door for her before. Jay hadn’t done it, and she’d never expected him to. She was sure Seth was doing it simply because she was pregnant and needed help to climb into his monster of a truck.

      “You’re a good man, Charlie Brown,” she said as she got in the car.

      SETH SAW LAURA’S SURPRISE. He might have blamed his mother for his good manners, but in reality, he didn’t mind doing things like opening doors for women, although he was generally of the opinion that women were just as capable as men. But Laura had to be almost as wide as she was tall. Okay, that was an exaggeration, but still, she’d have been hard-pressed to climb in the truck without assistance.

      Moments later he was behind the steering wheel. “I hope I didn’t step on your toes, since some women take offense at a guy getting the door and…”

      “My mother said, don’t take offense where no offense was intended.” Laura caught herself. “Well, she would have said that if she’d lived long enough to have those kind of talks with me.” She felt embarrassed. “I was nine when she died, and that was too young for conversations like that. But in my head, she gave me all kinds of sage advice as I grew older. I mean, I knew she wasn’t really there, but I felt better pretending, and most of her advice centered on being kind, so I figured it was all good.”

      “That’s a shame, you losing your mom.”

      “Hey, Dad was great. We made a solid team.”

      Seth thought about it…he understood loss, but not to that extent. What Laura had gone through losing both her parents and a fiancé. Seth didn’t say anything more on the subject as he drove toward the high school.

      “How about you?” she finally asked. “You told me you have five siblings, but how about your parents. Are you close?”

      “We were once, but not anymore.”

      “I’m sorry,” Laura said softly.

      For the first time since Allie died he admitted, “I am, too.”

      “Is there any way to fix things?”

      He didn’t answer. Couldn’t. “So, about Saturday?”

      Laura was kind enough to let him change the subject. “Sure. I have a little less than a month until Bbog is born—”

      “Bog?” he asked.

      “Bbog. Two B’s. The night we found out we were pregnant, we referred to the baby as Baby-boy-or-girl. The next day, Jay sent me flowers and that was too long to fit on the florist’s card, so he abbreviated it to Bbog and after that, well, that’s how we referred to the baby.”