Chapter 23

Tuesday was a regular school day, so everyone woke up when Megan and Tasha’s alarms went off simultaneously. Tasha fell back to her pillow thinking, Good news, two alarms means that I’ll get to work on time for sure. Bad news, I can’t push the snooze button on an alarm that requires reaching across two people and a cat.

She lay there with her eyes closed, listening to Megan as she tried to rouse Sophia. If someone had told me two weeks ago that I would be sharing my bed with another woman and an eight-year-old, I would have told them that they were crazy. It’s not bad, though. Actually, it’s really nice. I’m really glad that I bought a queen-sized bed, though. Seemed frivolous at the time, but it’s paying off now. It’s definitely very cozy. I should think about a king-sized bed. Uh oh, Sophia is finally getting up. I better pee before Megan hogs the bathroom.

With a newly found urgency, Tasha got up and started her day. The whirlwind of activity was a bit more familiar today. She made coffee while Megan coached Sophia through the process of feeding Nocturne, a task made more difficult by Nocturne’s insistence on sticking her head into every step of the process. Tasha was getting familiar with Sophia’s morning routine, so she jumped in when she could, getting a relieved smile from Megan in return. While Sophia was brushing her teeth, Tasha poked her head into the bedroom. “Why don’t I walk Sophia to school today?”

“Really, won’t you be late?”

“Nah, there’s a bus stop near the school. I can drop her off, hop the bus, and still get to work on time.”

“Are you sure?”

“Absolutely. It would be my pleasure.”

“Thank you, Tasha. That would be a huge relief. Oh, hey, sweetie. You’re going to get breakfast at school today, alright?”

The productive chaos continued until Megan had to leave. “Okay, Sophia. Mommy has to go to work now. Do you have everything? Your bag is packed. Do you have the keys? Are you sure that you know how to walk home?”

“Mom!” Sophia huffed. “I’m a big girl and it’s only four blocks. I can do it.”

“I just worry about you. You’re my angel. Your Aunt Tasha is going to walk you to school, okay?”

“Okay!”

“Alright, I gotta go! Tasha, thank you! Sophia, I love you!” With that, Megan was heading out the door.

Tasha watched her go, then turned to finish getting herself ready. She helped Sophia into her coat and got her arms into the straps of her backpack. “Got your keys, munchkin?”

“In my backpack, Aunt Tasha.”

“Okay, don’t lose them.”

“I won’t!”

With that, she grabbed her coat and they headed for the door. Tasha locked the door behind them. As she put her keys in her coat pocket, she felt a small hand grab her free hand. Tasha looked down. Sophia was looking up at her with an impish grin on her face.

“I love you, Aunt Tasha.”

Those five words, uttered with the guileless sincerity of a child, changed Tasha’s whole life. In that instant, she knew that she would do anything to keep this family together.

Nine years before that, when Megan had asked Tasha to be the godmother to her future child, Tasha hadn’t really given much thought to what that really meant. Now she knew. Tasha had never really felt the need to have children, but this child holding her hand and looking at her with love, expectation, and a hint of devilish delight dancing in her eyes was a part of her now, and she would never let go.

“I love you, too, angel.”

“Mommy calls me angel.”

“I know. Is it okay if I call you angel?”

“Yes, Aunt Tasha.”

“Good, I like that.”

They walked hand-in-hand to Sophia’s school. As she was about to leave, someone who matched Megan’s description of the principal came out and greeted her.

“Hi, are you Sophia’s other mother?”

“I, um… No, Megan and Sophia are living with me. I’m Tasha.”

“Good to meet you, Tasha. It’s very nice of you to walk Sophia to school.”

“I’m happy to do it. Megan is subbing over at McDaniel today, so since she had to leave early, I walked Sophia to school. I gotta run to catch my bus. Good meeting you.”

“You too.”

Tasha often spent her bus rides to work mentally preparing for the day ahead. Today, though, she was deep in thought about this morning and how she just felt… different. She hadn’t had family in her life for years now. She hadn’t spoken with her parents since before she left South Carolina. She heard from her brother, Dante, every once in a while, mostly when she wanted to know how her parents were doing. Dante had his own family, though, back on the East Coast.

Megan had talked about the three of them as a family. On Friendsgiving, Maria had talked with her about “found family” and how important that could be. Today, for the first time, Tasha really felt what that meant. Sophia was part of her family now, not by blood, but by heart and soul. Megan, too. She smiled as she reflected on how she and Megan had traded off this morning, each helping Sophia get ready while the other focused on her own needs. They really were a good team. Megan was an amazing mother, and now Tasha felt a sliver of what being a mother was about. She liked the idea of being Sophia’s unofficial other mother.

Once at work, Tasha’s day was a shitshow. She was fielding emails from clients and prioritizing how to get their needs fulfilled when Kevin dumped another project on her. She had been cruising along, listening to Sade, but now she needed to pump things up to eleven if she was going to get this done. It was Mot?rhead time. A few hours later, she was starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Tasha ate a quick lunch and texted Megan, telling her that she would be making them spaghetti that night and asking if Megan could handle the garlic bread for her. After that, the headphones went back on, with N.W.A. on the playlist. Tasha ended the day with Aretha, and somehow she managed to get everything done on time.

On her way home, Tasha was finally able to check on personal things. Megan was taking care of the garlic bread and reported that Sophia made it home from school without incident.

There was an email from Lauren. Her check was on the way, and Lauren had found her some new business. Apparently, there were quite a few woman-owned adult boutiques around the country, and some of those businesses were interested in having Tasha make some website upgrades. Lauren also asked how she and Megan liked the “gift basket” that she had sent them. Tasha responded to thank Lauren and say that Megan had really enjoyed the gift basket but that she had not had the opportunity to try anything out yet. She added that there were some items that she was unfamiliar with and wasn’t sure how to use. Her phone dinged as she exited the bus—Lauren had emailed some videos. Oh, I’m gonna need some privacy for this.

Once Tasha was home, she greeted everyone before getting started on dinner. “Hey, Megan, how was your first day?”

“It was good. Really good. The front office staff were super nice when I got to the school. The principal was greeting students as they entered and he was very friendly. He gave me directions to my classroom. Oh my god, that school… it’s more like a college building.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, it was rebuilt a couple of years ago. Sophia’s school is old and kinda looks like it, but this high school was still shiny. The kids were generally good, too. You hear horror stories about high school, but I liked it. I’m over at Irvington tomorrow. It’s an elementary school.”

“That’s great. I’m really happy that you had a good day.”

“Me too. Oh, so we made garlic bread like you asked. I also showed Sophia how to make meatballs. I put them in the fridge.”

“Nice, thank you. You’re really getting into showing Sophia how to cook.”

“Yeah. Brad’s a meat and potatoes guy, so I never felt inspired before. Now, though, I’m having fun and it’s great to share that fun with Sophia.”

“That’s awesome. Speaking of awesome, do you know what she did this morning?”

“What?”

“As we were leaving for school, she took my hand and told me that she loved me.”

“Aw, that’s adorable.”

“Hey, Megan.” Tasha looked her best friend in the eye and took a deep breath. “You know how you were talking about us as a family?”

“Yeah…”

“I really feel that, too. And… I… I guess today it hit me… I feel like Sophia is a little bit like my daughter, too. Does that sound weird?”

“Oh, Tasha!” Megan exclaimed as she crushed Tasha in a bear hug. “That’s not weird. It’s beautiful. I want us to be a family.”

“I’d like that, too. I also need to breathe.”

“Oh, sorry! How was your day?”

“Long. I got through it, though. Oh, I got an email from Lauren. Some other shops like hers need website upgrades and now I’ve got some extra business.”

“Nice! Women helping women. I like it!”

“Oh, she asked how we liked her ‘gift basket.’ I told her that you enjoyed it a lot.”

“Tasha.” Megan blushed. “Hmmm, tomorrow night is an open skate night at the roller rink. Maybe I’ll take Sophia roller skating and you can try out what Lauren sent.” Megan gave her a devilish grin.

“I can’t believe you said that! Actually, I can. You know what, I am going to take you up on that offer. I haven’t had any stress release lately.”

“Oh, is that what we’re calling it now? Stress release?”

“Yes, stress release. Do I need to buy new batteries?”

“Not everything needs… Hey! I’ll show you how I like to release stress.”

Tasha had to dance, duck, and dodge to avoid Megan’s attempts to tickle her in revenge, laughing all the while.