This is part three, and it might be helpful to you if you read the first two parts prior to this one. They are all short, so it won't take you long to catch up!
For the first time in over two months, Alex woke up on Monday morning with a smile on her face. She sat up in bed as she reminisced about her afternoon and evening with Wes, including her time with his three-year-old son Wesley, whom his father had used as a wingman to get to know her. Alex chuckled to herself at the way that came about. Wes and his son were a formidable team, and their efforts working together had netted her a nice evening enjoying hamburgers at what turned out to be a favorite place for both.
While the conversation was good with Wes, she suddenly realized that for the first time in a long time, she hadn't thought back to when she discovered her fiancé Anthony was cheating on her, resulting in her calling off their wedding. For two months, that memory had haunted her, and while she was glad she caught him before they had gotten married, it was still painful to think about. But that thought never crossed her mind while she was with Wes yesterday - well, except for the time that he was late, and Alex thought she had been stood up. Wes had made it right, and she believed him when he promised he would never do anything like that again.
Alex and Wes had made plans to get together again for dinner on Thursday, and he had promised he would text her soon with the details of that evening. Alex found herself wishing he would contact her sooner than later, since she knew if he waited until Thursday to reach out to her, she'd start having thoughts of doubt again. As she drove to the school where she taught, she knew she'd be checking her cell phone often, hoping for his message to come earlier than later.
Alex walked into her classroom to get it prepared for the day. She loved teaching second grade, and she had survived the rigors of teaching during the Covid pandemic. She had used her students as the motivation to keep going in the days and weeks after her engagement broke off. She always knew she wanted to have kids of her own someday, and keeping up with twenty-five second graders each day did nothing to sway her desire.
She had Wes and Wesley on her mind as her best friend and teaching partner Lori Graves walked into her classroom. Lori's class of second graders was across the hall, and since they often switched classes to teach specific subjects, they spent most of their planning time together. Lori was also one of the ones that kept Alex going during her bad times, and she knew Alex would do the same for her if the need ever arose.
Alex smiled as she looked up when Lori said, "Good morning, Alex. Ready for another week....wait, what is that? Are you smiling? What happened to you this weekend?!?"
Alex didn't know if she was ready to talk to Lori about her day yesterday or not, but since her poker face couldn't hide the smile that had come over her while thinking about it, she figured she'd better come clean. "Oh, you know...I might have met the nicest guy and his adorable three-year-old son in the park yesterday, and after he took his son back to his mother, I might have had burgers at the Burger Shack with him." She tried to hide the smile on her face, but if anything, it grew as she shared her day with her best friend.
Lori was in shock, hearing this from her friend. She covered her mouth as Alex explained her day, and when she had finished telling her story, Lori discovered she was at a loss for words. It had been a grueling two months for both of them, so to see her friend so happy on a Monday morning was more than she expected.
"Oh my god, I'm so happy for you!" Lori exclaimed. "I must get to my classroom now, but I hope you aren't planning on using our planning period to actually plan anything. You've got more you need to tell me - this is so exciting!"
"I'm not sure it's something to get too excited about just yet, but it was a great evening. Truthfully, there's not a lot I know about him yet. But when we get together again on Thursday evening, I would imagine I'll learn more."
Lori covered her mouth again. "Another date already? Alex, this is awesome! I can hardly wait to meet him! I wish I didn't have to go - do you think my students would be okay by themselves? Okay, probably not - don't go anywhere during planning period!"
Lori twirled and left the room. Alex had five more minutes before her kids started coming into her classroom. She made sure the desks and chairs were straight and that her classroom student activity center was ready. Just before the students started arriving, she put her phone on silent and put it in the back of her middle desk drawer.
The first two hours of her day were spent in core subjects - reading and mathematics. Mornings were the best time for learning, so all the kids had their first two hours in their grade level homerooms. There was a fifteen-minute recess period, followed by a restroom break. After that, the kids had twenty-five minutes of music and twenty-five minutes of physical education back-to-back, giving Alex a fifty-minute planning period to work on lessons and on grading papers. Lori had the same schedule with her students, except for the order of their special classes after recess. That way their planning time always coincided with each other.
Alex knew Lori would be over just as soon as both classrooms were empty, and Lori did not disappoint her. She sat down next to her teaching partner, and Alex began to tell the story of the little three-year-old boy coming to her and handing her a flower, telling her that a beautiful woman deserved a beautiful flower, and then discovering his dad had put him up to it - which elicited a response from Lori, saying, "Oh wow, what a slick move!"
Alex went on to tell her friend about walking back to her car holding hands with both of the Watson men, and how they had decided that after Wesley was dropped off at his mother's house, they would meet up at the Burger Shack. She even shared about Wes not showing up until she had given up on him after twenty minutes and was lucky he had pulled in just as she was about to get into her car. She also told Lori that they both wanted to go easy on their new friendship since neither of them had success in their previous relationships. She made sure to tell Lori that after they had hugged and gone to their own homes, she hadn't thought about Anthony once, and she knew that was a very good sign.
Lori grabbed Alex's hand and squeezed it. "I'm so excited for you, and I love it that he didn't want to follow you home and crawl straight in bed with you - not that you wouldn't have enjoyed it, but I love the fact that this sounds like it might be an old-fashioned romance if the two of you stay with it. But...how is it that he has a three-year-old that doesn't live with him?"
Alex laughed. "Do I need to tell you what can happen when a man and a woman get together for sex? He said it was a one-night stand and when they found out she was pregnant, they had tried being with each other, but it just didn't work out. But he says she's a great mother and they have a very good relationship with each other. Watching them together yesterday afternoon was very charming, and Wesley is quite the precocious little man."
"So how do you feel that this guy has a three-year-old? Have you thought about that yet?"
