“Oh fudge,” Claire said with feeling, hopping up and down on one foot, the other above where a Lego piece lay on the carpet. She shot an unnecessary glance at the bedroom door, assuring herself the kids were asleep before she allowed herself to swear for real.

“What’s that?” asked Greg from the couch, not looking away from his video game.

“I stepped on a Lego,” she said.

“Classic,” Greg said with a chuckle. “Ouch.”

Claire sighed and picked up the laundry basket already full of little plastic toys. In went the Lego piece. Her phone buzzed in the pouch of her hoodie again. She carried the basket into the living room, and placed it pointedly on the couch next to Greg. He didn’t seem to notice as she kept moving through the room, picking up the toys that were strewn across the floor.

The floor finally clean, she moved the basket back to the floor and sat down next to Greg. “Alright, the house looks a little better,” she said.

“Thanks, babe.”

She sighed. Weighed her options. “The kids are asleep,” she said, trying to put on a bedroom voice. “If you want, you could join me upstairs.”

Greg paused the game, and for moment she thought he was going to reciprocate. “It’s been a long day,” he said, at least looking at her this time. “I just need to unwind right now, okay? You’re gorgeous,” he added as an afterthought, giving her a quick peck on the lips before turning back to the TV.

“Fine. I’m going to read in bed,” she said. She didn’t need a mirror to know that she wasn’t gorgeous, not right now in baggy mom clothes. But she couldn’t be that bad, right?

Her hand touched her phone, and she absently took it out to see what group chat had buzzed earlier. She stopped on the stair, phone in hand.

Josh Peters, she thought to herself as she read his long, charmingly self-conscious message to her. Huh. She’d had such a crush on him in high school, but she’d figured he hadn’t been interested. Apparently she had been wrong.

She scrolled through his Facebook as she brushed her teeth. He had aged well. And not married yet. No serious girlfriend either as far as she could tell.

haha omggg I had a crush on you too! she typed, and quickly deleted. Should she just block him?

She tried again. I always thought you were cute ;) That was even worse, right?

Another burst of noise came from Greg’s game downstairs. Before she could think about it, Claire hit Send. Crap. Crap.

We should catch up sometime, he wrote back right away.

This was crazy, right?

Sure that sounds fun!