"Mommy?" Maddy looked up at her mom as they sat eating lunch at the kitchen table.
"Yes baby?"
"Do you love Mike?" She asked.
Carrie almost choked on her water, she hadn't expected that kind of question at all and was unsure she'd heard it right. "Hmmm?"
"Do you love Mike? I saw you kissing the other day. Does that mean you love him?"
Carrie's heart stopped. Had she really seen them kiss? They'd been so careful about it every time they were around her.
"Umm" She stuttered, unsure of what to say. Mike had been over for dinner and a game night twice now but Carrie still wasn't sure whether she would like the idea of them together as a couple or not. "Well I don't know, what do you think about Mike?"
"I love him! He plays with me and makes me laugh. He doesn't ignore me or yell at me like daddy did."
"So how would you feel about us being together?" Carrie was nervous for what she would say. She knew Maddy really liked him but she wasn't sure if she liked him in that way.
"Does that mean he would be my new daddy?"
"One day, yeah, maybe. But only if you wanted." Carrie stuttered.
"I do!" She exclaimed excitedly.
"So you're okay with us as a couple? Like your dad and I were? I don't want you to be upset and think I'm replacing your dad." Carrie said in a more serious tone.
"Mom, he's not my dad anymore. He left us and he doesn't want to be around me anymore. It's just me and you now like you said."
Maddy's response broke Carrie's heart, but she tried not to show it. She reached across the table and squeezed Maddy's hand. "Thank you for being so tough through this, I know it's hard."
"Momma don't cry." Maddy hopped out of her seat and jumped into Carrie's lap.
Carrie pulled Maddy up onto her lap and hugged her tight, trying not to cry too hard.
"I'm sorry, I just hate that you're having to deal with this. I'm sorry your dad decided to act like this." Carrie rubbed Maddy's back and pushed a piece of hair out of her face.
"It's okay." Maddy muttered. "We can do it mom, we don't need him."
Carrie smiled through her tears. "I don't know how I got so lucky with you."
Maddy smiled her million dollar smile at her mom and hugged her tight.
"Can Mike come over for dinner tonight?"
"Actually, I was going to see if you wanted to go to his hockey game tonight." Carrie grinned. She'd never felt as much relief as she did now knowing Maddy was happy about them. "Does that sound fun?"
"Yes! Yes Yes Yes! Can we please?" Maddy squealed, bouncing up and down.
"I figured you'd like that. I'll tell him we're coming."
