The next morning, Kevin was awakened earlier than he really wanted to be by Kerry climbing on top of him. He had been having a beautiful dream, in which he was snuggling with Donna in that same bed, and he hated to have it end so abruptly. His son didn't seem to mind, though, and was eager to get his own day with Donna started. Kevin was too, but he would have preferred to have been allowed to sleep a little longer. However, the thought of spending a whole afternoon, and maybe an evening too, with the sweet lady spurred him to get up and start doing what was necessary. After completing his own morning ablutions, he helped Kerry with his, and in getting him dressed, and bathed and dressed Katie. He chose something festive for both children and for himself, because he hoped the day would be a festive one.
Following a healthy breakfast for everyone, Kevin began marinating five steaks in barbeque sauce, with the smallest one being intended for Kerry. Two were for Fred and Wilma Brown, the friendly neighbors, whom he had induced to join him in a conspiracy. They had moved into the apartment next to his about a month after the departure of Carla, and treated Kevin like a son. Their own son and their two grandchildren were thousands of miles away, and he had no objection to him and his children being their substitute family.
Donna did not wake up early, because she had little to do, except get herself ready. After her shower and breakfast, she went to her favorite grocer, selected the best vegetables there and brought them home to prepare the salad she had promised. She still had some doubts as to just where she stood with Kevin. Even after telling him her terrible secret, he still seemed interested in a relationship, although Donna couldn't understand how or why he might be interested in a failure of a woman, such as herself.
At a few minutes after twelve, Kevin arrived, and Donna invited him into her studio apartment, assuming he would be accompanied by his children. They greeted each other with a warm embrace and a long kiss, until she realized he was alone.
"How are the kids?" she asked. "Did you bring them with you?" Donna didn't actually believe that Kevin would have left them on their own, either at his apartment or in his car, but she did wonder where they were. Even as she wondered, she took advantage of their absence to hug and kiss their father again.
"The kids are fine. I left them with the neighbors."
"The neighbors? Are they okay?"
They're more than okay; they're really great. They're grandparents themselves, and their own son and his kids are a long ways away, so they try to spoil Kerry and Kate instead. The kids love them too, almost as much as they love you."
She blushed slightly. "Kerry and Kate are a couple of real sweeties."
"That they are. I love them, of course, but they can be a handful.
Donna decided to try to find out a little more about Kevin's views on any more children. "Did you ever think about having any more?" In order to avoid letting Kevin know how important she considered his answer to her apparently casual question, she asked it while she had her back to him, going to the refrigerator to remove the bowl of salad.
"Well, Carla was absolutely dead set against it. I don't know that I'd want any more either. Like I say, the two I already have are quite a handful."
Her heart soared when she heard his answer, but Donna was still playing it cool, and she kept her back to Kevin while she set the bowl on the counter by the sink. He stood behind her in the entrance to the kitchenette, admiring the flare of her hips and ass under her tan Bermuda shorts. His ex-wife had kept herself as slim as possible, especially back there, and her hips had already been narrow. He wondered why anybody would do such a thing, and why anybody, any man at least, could regard a figure like Carla's as attractive. He stepped into the kitchen, directly behind Donna and rested his hands affectionately on her shoulders.
She really liked the feel of Kevin touching her, especially when he started gently kneading her shoulders, and she leaned back against him so he would continue. For a few minutes, neither of them said anything, and the impromptu massage continued, both of them enjoying the intimacy. Donna finally turned around, with her face raised to be kissed. It was the longest and warmest kiss they had shared yet but she was puzzled about something. Kevin seemed to be trying to poke his tongue into her mouth, and she couldn't figure out why.
"We'd better get going," she said after moving away.
Kevin agreed, although he would have preferred to continue with what they had been doing. While Donna carried her vegetable creation, he opened the doors ahead of her and closed them behind her, including the one to the passenger side of his car.
On the drive to Kevin's apartment, she leaned as close to him as she could while safely belted in the bucket seat. They chatted, mostly about the children. Both of them seemed to feel that a milestone of some sort had been reached that day, but they couldn't explain what and how, so neither said anything about it. She held the salad on her lap, until Kevin pulled up into his covered parking space outside his apartment building.
Donna was quite impressed with his apartment. The living room was bigger than her whole studio, and his kitchen had all the conveniences and appliances that her tiny kitchenette lacked. The view from the balcony, where he would be doing the barbequing, was sweeping, rather than being a blank wall. Neither Kevin nor Carla had ever had much interest in the view, and they had selected the apartment for its other qualities.
While he did the cooking, Donna got to know Fred and Wilma, and they mostly talked about Kevin, his children, and children in general. When she mentioned working in a day care center, they expressed a certain amount of envy, at the way she was around the little darlings all day.
