Alex swallowed thickly. "You told him about me? Does he know he's got one more parent?"

"Well, what was I supposed to do? Most of the other kids at preschool have more than one parent; of course he was going to ask," Ashly grumbled. She crossed her arms over her chest defensively and still wouldn't quite meet Alex's eyes. But her scent hadn't soured; it had just sort of gotten weaker, so she wasn't mad, just embarrassed, Alex guessed.

So he took mercy on Ashly and let it rest. It ...