Mini Matchmaker

Bonus Scene: Happy Birthday

Children are wonderful. Children are gifts. Children are the future...or whatever. You love kids. But kids are also germ-infested cesspools just waiting to infect unsuspecting souls like you. But that's what you get for serving others.

Grabbing yet another tissue from your purse, you blew your nose and apologized once again to your cab driver and assured him you hadn't touched anything. He made a disgusted face, but said nothing. These days, you normally took the train into the city, but to minimize the exposure of germs to strangers, you had taken a cab to and from work today. You had taken the past few days off due to illness, but there were a few things you just had to handle yourself.

After accomplishing the bare minimum and grabbing a few files you could work on at home, you called it a day. Your head was pounding again and the faucet that had become your nose refused to stop dripping. Approaching the house, you used a card to swipe and pay, along with a generous tip, to avoid handing contaminated cash to the poor driver. Using your sleeve, you opened the car door and headed up the steps.

You hadn't moved into Steve's place. Not technically. There had been few conversations about it after being together officially for months, and it really just made the most sense. You spent most of your time at his house outside the city anyway. He asked when your lease ended and when you answered that it was in just over a month, he made the suggestions that you shouldn't renew. He left it up to you, though.

Over time you just started bringing a few of your things each time you came over and now you were mostly moved in. Kind of. Larger furniture that you may end up just getting rid of and other loose ends needed to be tied up, but soon you, Steve, and Justice would officially live under the same roof.

The slower process and making Justice aware of it made things easier. She thought the idea of sleepovers every night was the best thing ever. Steve would probably agree, you thought with a smile and a sniffle. Reaching the front door, you used your key to enter and immediately stepped out of your high heels. Your feet wouldn't tolerate them a moment longer. Setting down your bags, you followed the sound of voices down the hall toward Justice's room.

It was playtime, you deduced, as the sounds of action noises and explosions made by Steve became louder as you approached.

Justice let out a giggle, and then sighed. "Daddy...when is mommy gonna be home?"

Your heart leapt in your throat.

"Uh..." Steve stalled a moment. "You mean Y/N?"

"Yeah. Can I call her mommy? She comes to my school like the other mommies and I like it when she's here all the time," the little girl reasoned. Her childlike view made sense, you supposed.

After Valentine's Day, you were at the house more often and attended a lot of Justice's little school plays and activities. Since Ms. Sharon already knew you and had seen you become a permanent figure in Justice's life, the teacher asked if you'd volunteer in her preschool class once a month. Humbled and excited, you said yes. Which actually led to your current illness. Too many kids with too many germs. Bless their sweet hearts and unwashed hands.

There was a time in your life when you considered going into teaching, possibly at the elementary age, so it was fun for you to be in the classroom. Life and your career took you in a different direction, but volunteering became an enjoyable outlet.

Steve's voice broke you from your reverie, "Hmm. Let's talk about it after dinner, okay?"

It was then that you made your presence known, stepping into the doorway and leaning against the door jamb. "Well, there's my two favorite people."