"What should we pack in the picnic basket?" I ask Noah, despite already knowing the answer. I shouldn't be surprised because ice cream was one of the main cravings I had whilst pregnant with him.

Noah pretends to ponder by placing his hand on his hip and looking up, but the way his hazel brown eyes light up does nothing to conceal his thoughts. Luckily he's cute and I love him.

"Hmm," he loudly sighs. "Ice cream?"

I ruffle his brown hair and laugh.

"We can't pack ice cream, bub." I frown. "It'll melt before we get to the park and it'll make a big mess. Can you think of something else?"

"We can eat it before we go to the park." He jumps up and down.

It's funny how toddlers can solve complex problems, but will have a meltdown about the simplest of things, like wearing pants.

"I don't think you need any more sugar." I giggle. "What about fruit and crackers?"

I want everything to go smoothly and a chocolate ice cream-covered child doesn't sound like a good idea. He'll be bouncing everywhere and I don't want to scare Daniel off on the first meeting.

"Okay." He pouts.

I crouch down to his level and cup his cheek. He nuzzles his face into the palm of my hand and I stroke his pink cheek.

"Maybe we can buy ice cream at the park."

"Yay," he shouts, bouncing on the spot.

"Can you please pick out some fruit and crackers?"

Noah picks up a few packets of crackers, three apples, two bananas, and a punnet of blueberries while I slice up some cheese to go with the crackers. I place the cheese into a container and toss everything else into it. It's not the prettiest spread, but it works.

"What toys should we bring?"

"Hm."

"We're going to meet a friend at the park, so we could take the soccer ball or bubbles," I suggest.

"A friend?" He raises an eyebrow.

"Mummy's new friend."

I pause, waiting for Noah's reaction but he just smiles.

"I like new friends. I made a new friend at daycare."

"Oh, that's good."

Noah runs off and comes back with a ball and some bubbles.

"I think that's everything we should need."

I help Noah put his backpack on and we head to the car to load it up. I check my phone and there's a sweet message from Daniel but it does nothing to soothe the panic coursing through me. I hope Noah likes Daniel otherwise I don't know what I'll do.

When we arrive at the park, Noah's buzzing to meet his new friend while I'm envisioning all the terrible things that might happen, which includes Noah having a tantrum because he figures out Daniel's more than a friend and Daniel realising it's too much.

I need to stop this, everything will be okay!

Daniel messages where to meet, so I unbuckle Noah and get the picnic basket out of the boot before following the trail past the playground and to a clearing where there are some trees. Daniel's standing to the side, head down looking at his phone.

He peers up and I wave at him. Daniel's smile is exactly what I need to calm me down.

I take Noah's hand and lead him over to Daniel. He crouches in front of Noah and smiles.

"Hey buddy, I'm Daniel."

Noah looks down, so I lean down and give him the ball.

"Daniel loves to kick the ball around too."

He pops his head up and smiles.

"Can we play?"

Daniel looks at me and I smile.

"Sure." He nods.

Noah throws the ball and looks at Daniel.

"Go get it."

Daniel and Noah run off chasing the ball while I spread the picnic rug out and plonk on the blanket. Daniel follows Noah around, occasionally kicking the ball to him. They both look happy and it's slowly easing all the worry away.

* * * * *

Noah's playing on the climbing equipment while Daniel and I watch from the picnic rug. Noah's demolished the cheese and crackers, which leaves us with the random fruit left. Daniel plops blueberries into his mouth and chomps on them.

"How are you feeling?"

"Happy." He grins.

"You're good with Noah," I comment. "I thought you might have to bribe Noah with ice cream to make him like you."

"I'm an uncle to a couple of nieces, so I have some practice." He chuckles. "I've never had to bribe anyone to like me before."

"Right, I forgot about that."

"It's okay." He shrugs.

"Does this mean I get to meet your family soon?"

"Sure." He grins.

Daniel looks at Noah, then at me.

"Do you think you'll want more kids in the future?"

"I want to get married before I have any more kids."

"We can get married first." He winks. "How many kids do you want?"

"I don't have a set number or names picked out, just whatever feels right. Noah was a surprise who changed my perception of having children and if he's taught me anything, it's to make decisions as they're handed to you. So whatever feels right."

"I like that." He leans in to kiss me but jerks back. "I really want to kiss you right now."

I cover his hand with mine and grin.

"You can wait until tonight because let's be honest, you'll probably be sneaking through my window again."

Daniel sheepishly smiles.

"Daniel, come play," he shouts.

"In a minute buddy."

"I should tell Craig about you, well us. I don't want Noah to say something without giving me the chance to speak to him."

"Now that's one thing I don't know how to deal with." Daniel slides his fingers through his hair and ruffles it.

"Craig wants to see Noah this weekend, so maybe I can break the news to him then in person."

"In person?" He frowns. "Do you want me to come with you? I don't trust him being alone with you after what happened last time."

"I don't know, I need to think about that."

He takes my hand and laces his fingers through mine, then squeezes it.

"Let me know how I can help." He smiles.

"Now I really, really want to kiss you." I pout.

"What did you say to me? Wait until tonight?" He laughs.

"Mm," I groan.

"Daniel."

Noah runs over to us, so Daniel jumps up and chases him back to the sandpit. The pair build castles and Noah gets to stomp on them like a dinosaur.

* * * * *

Noah splashes in the bath and scoops bubbles up and places them on his head. He shakes his head and laughs as they dribble down the sides of his head and flutter through the air. He claps his hands which sends more bubbles and sprays water on me.

"Is Daniel going to be my new Daddy?" He tilts his head to the side.

"Nobody can replace your Daddy, silly." Even though I've thought long and hard about replacing him, I know I can't do that.

"Okay." He frowns.

"Would it be okay if Daniel came over again to hang out?"

"Can we go to the park again?"

"Sure., we can do lots of fun things together." I nod.

Noah jumps up, splashing water everywhere. I grab the hand towel from the railing and wipe my face dry. I toss it onto the bathroom bench and grab his towel. I hold it up and Noah climbs out of the bath and jumps into my arms.

"Just remember, I love you the most."

I kiss Noah's wet forehead and squeeze him.

"Can Daniel play at our house?"

"Of course, he can."

"I want to show him my toys."

"I'm sure he'd love that." I smile.

I take Noah to his bedroom and help him get dressed into his pjs and into bed. We read a couple of stories before he's rolling away and shoving me out of the bed. I kiss his forehead and head to my own room.

Daniel's lounged across the bed with my book in hand. He discards the book and meets me halfway. He scoops me up and plants his lips on mine.

"How'd I do?"

"Noah likes you, he even wants to show you all his toys."

Daniel smirks and steals another kiss.

"See, I told you I was good with kids."

"Mm."

I slide under the covers and Daniel joins me. He grabs the book while I snuggle into his side.

* * * * *