Sarah's girls don't have school today so I could have lingered, enjoying the company and being out with people which is a rare thing working from home.
Strolling into the dark house, Goddess and Gypsy follow me into the kitchen so I can give them treats and let them outside.
Turning, I hear a door open and the 7 year old sleepily stumbles to me ... blond hair askew ... wearing her "Monsters High" bathrobe and carrying the "Ferbie" her mother gave her for Easter ... Cassidy lifts both arms signifying I should pick her up.
I do and she lays her head on my shoulder, wraps her arms tightly around me and I feel her breath on my neck.
This has become our routine.
While the others sleep, Cassidy finds me as soon as she wakes and this is how she starts her day.
It has a profound impact on me.
I am not her father but spend as much time with Cass and her sisters as he does.
I tell the girls to call me "Micheal" their friend and not their "stepfather" and ... except for awkward introductions when it's just them and me ... that's what they do.
They confide in me lots of things they keep from their parents and grandparents primarily because ... I don't act like a stepfather, parental figure or much of an adult.
I cuss around them and occasionally at them, drink wine when we're sitting around, listen to their confessions without much judgment and offer my thoughts at their half-baked ideas.
AND THEY KEEP COMING BACK FOR MORE!
Of course I get in trouble.
Yesterday both Sarah and my daughter Kristen got on to me because of my interaction with the girls and they're right ... there are things I can do better.
But ... they tell me they love me ... fight for time alone like they do with their Mother ... ask unanswerable questions like "Why can't you be my Dad?" ... tell me about girls kissing boys and girls kiss who kiss girls ... share things they share with their friends ... beg me to intervene with Sarah about things.
I love being Jeremy, Kristen and Chelsea's Dad and just because my children are adults doesn't mean it gets any easier.
I'm the first to admit I'm out of practice with smaller kids but I do my best to love and encourage them in my perverted ways.
I walk Cassidy to the sofa and as I lay her on it under a blanket she kisses my cheek.
Surprising her with Cinnamon Rolls she asks for uncooked doe and I give her some.
She laughs and winks because she's getting some and her sisters won't.
I never would have guessed at this stage of life I'd be living with 3 small children again and lots of people think I'm nuts because I do.
But they are gifts to me every bit as precious as life itself.
Plus I got all day to mess with them.
It's a good day.
