Eden had crawled into bed with Zelda at some point during the night, and they had talked a little. Eden had asked her why she was so sad, but Zelda had told her she wasn't sad, only tired, and they had fallen back asleep. Zelda was still asleep, and Eden was unusually quiet as she lay in bed beside her letting her sleep the next morning.

When there was a knock at the door, Zelda slept on as Eden jumped up and raced towards it.

"Who is it?" Eden called through the door in her little voice.

"It's your new friend, Boone," Boone said with a smile in his voice.

Eden raced over the window and peeked around the curtain to make sure he was telling the truth, then with a grin; she raced back towards the door. Her little six-year-old hands hadn't quite mastered the lock situation yet, so Boone patiently waited while she figured it out.

"Where's your Mom?" Bonne asked when she had the door open.

"She's still sleeping. She's sad today." Eden said, grabbing his hand and pulling him towards Zelda's bedroom. "Sometimes, she cries in the bathroom because she thinks I can't hear her."

"And she was crying in the bathroom?" Boone asked as he looked at Zelda's sleeping form, which was just a lump under the covers.

Eden nodded as she pulled Boone towards the bed. "She likes to cuddle when she's sad," Eden said, hinting that he should get into the bed to cuddle.

"Eden, I don't think-"

"Don't you like my Mommy?" Eden asked, her eyes wide.

"I do, a lot, but-"

"Come on, but be quiet." Eden insisted. "Oh, and take your shoes off. Mommy doesn't like shoes on the furniture." Boone gave a wry smile as he toed off his shoes before climbing on the bed next to Zelda. He stayed above the covers and watched as Eden went to the other side of the bed and crawled in beside her mother.

Zelda muttered something and rolled over to face Boone, who was holding his head up with one hand watching her. Zelda must have felt the change in the atmosphere because she slowly opened her eyes and looked at Boone. She smiled at him then closed them again before they flew open in shock and she gave a little scream.

"Good morning," Boone said with a grin, and she reached out and pushed him, causing him to fall backward on to the bed with an oomph.

"Mommy!" Eden loudly said in her best imitation of a reprimand. It was the voice she used when she was playing school with her dolls.

"Why is everyone in my bed?" Zelda demanded as she sat up, pushing her hair out of her face. "And how did you get into my house?" she turned to Boone.

"Eden was kind enough to let me in," Boone answered, sitting up and studying Zelda. "Have you been crying, Zelda?" he asked.

"No," she answered, turning on Eden. "Eden what did I tell you about answering the door?" she asked in her stern voice.

"To ask who it was before I answered it, I did. You also said it wasn't nice to lie and you were crying last night. I heard you," Eden crossed her arms, just as stubborn as Zelda was in this instance.

"She did ask who it was, and she even looked out the window to double-check," Boone confirmed. "Then she very masterfully unlocked the door."

Eden preened at the compliment.

Zelda buried her face in her hands in frustration. The fact the Boone was in her bed was causing her heart to race. The whole thing was a little too domesticated. "Why are you here, Boone?" she asked, lowering her hands and looking at him.

Boone traced the shadows under her eyes with his finger. "I thought I would take you and Eden out to breakfast. I need to get to know my new friend." Boone looked over at Eden, who grinned. "I thought we could play tourists and get beignets, then walk around town doing whatever we wanted."

"Yeah!" Eden cried. "Can we go to the aquarium? I love it there, but Mommy says we never have enough money to go." Eden jumped off the bed ready to go.

"Eden," Zelda hissed. "That's not something you share with people. It's rude to talk about money." She could feel her face turning bright red in mortification.

"I'm going to get dressed," Eden announced, unconcerned about the reprimand.

"Wear something extra pretty," Boone called, knowing the way to Eden's heart without even having to try as Eden giggled in response.

"Tell me a secret, Zelda," Boone whispered, wanting to know why she had been crying.

"No," Zelda said, climbing out of bed. She was only wearing a t-shirt that barely covered her underwear, and she missed Boone's heated look as she reached into her dresser for a pair of jeans.

When she turned around, Zelda noted that he looked entirely too comfortable in her bed, and she wasn't upset to see him there. She shook her head in denial and then moved to the kitchen to brew a pot of coffee. Boone followed behind her, sitting at the kitchen table which was littered with Eden's school work.

"Excuse the mess, Eden has a project due on Monday," she explained as she moved around the kitchen. She tried to ignore the fact that she liked seeing him at her kitchen table too.

"You look lovely in the morning, Zelda, even if you do look like you've been crying," Boone complimented her.

"Compliments come so easily to you, don't they? I bet you don't even have to try, besides I have to look better than I did last Friday when I got caught in the rain." She shuddered at the memory.

"I thought you looked lovely then too," he smiled.

"Back the charm off just a little Romeo," Zelda said with a shake of her head. "You just can't help yourself, can you?" she smiled.

"Not when it's true. I especially enjoyed it when you unbuttoned your blouse to hide the coffee stain. That was a winning moment for both of us." He leaned back in his chair, daring her to argue.

"I'm ready," Eden said as she came running into the kitchen. She was wearing a neon pink sequined top, bright yellow tights with a leopard print tutu, and her princess high heels. She had also gotten into the play make-up and put on lipstick, blush, and bright blue eye-shadow.

"Beautiful!" Boone insisted, sitting forward. "I think you're going to be a future fashion designer."

Eden climbed into his lap. "What do you think, Mommy?" she asked, grinning.

"I think it needs work, but I need coffee first." Zelda sighed as she turned her back to Boone and Eden, listening to their easy conversation while she made coffee.

She couldn't help but wish her relationship with Boone was as easy as her daughter's.

An hour later, they were ready to go, with Eden wearing something a little bit more appropriate for a day of fun.

They indeed had beignets as they watched the tourists come and go from the restaurant. Eden was a powdered sugar mess by the time they finished, and Zelda hadn't laughed so hard in a long time. Next, Boone took them to the aquarium where they stared at all of the fish, pet the stingrays, and then Boone spent an obscene amount to money in the gift store. After that, they had lunch at Maspero's then dropped their stuff off at the house before getting some ice cream and walking through Jackson Square to look at all of the artists.

Boone knew one of the guitar players and he invited Boone to join him for an impromptu song. It was a popular song for the tourist's sake, and Boone's deep husky voice did more for it then the original singer's voice did. Zelda enjoyed watching Boone without having to try to hide the fact that she was admiring him.

He looked handsome with the sun shining down on him. He was wearing a pair of old faded blue jeans and a t-shirt, nothing fancy, but he wore them well. Eden and Zelda had leaned against a fence a good distance away to watch the performance, and Zelda noticed more than one woman approach Boone when the song was over and try to slip him her number. Eden noticed too and wasn't having it as she ran forward and jumped into his arms, talking a mile a minute about how awesome he was while shooting the women daggers with her eyes.

The man who had invited Boone to sing named the bar where Boone sometimes played and told everyone that he could be seen performing there on occasion if anyone was interested in a repeat performance, and by the way some of the women were watching Boone, she knew they would be at the bar later.

"I think you have a few new conquests," Zelda teased as Boone approached her, carrying Eden in his arms. Zelda didn't miss them eyeing her as they passed.

"I bet they won't forget that I know how to play." Boone smirked.

"That really hit a nerve, didn't it?" Zelda asked, hiding a smile.

"I don't like to think that I was so easily forgotten, Zelda," he said in a husky voice.

"You were never forgotten, Boone," Zelda softly said. Their eyes met and held as they both realized the importance of her statement.

Eden started insisting that she wanted to go to Boone's bar, and it took them half an hour to get her to change the subject, which Boone did by offering to buy her a handmade doll at one of the nearby stalls.

Zelda watched them while Eden tried to pick out the one she wanted until her attention was caught by a couple taking a selfie in front of the square. They were laughing as they attempted to get it just right, and Zelda was jealous of the way the man was looking down at the woman while she scrolled through the photos. He was looking at her like she hung the moon.

"Tell me a secret," Boone whispered in her ear, and Zelda jumped in response.

"I wonder what it feels like to have someone want you that much," she murmured almost to herself, lost in a dream. She didn't notice Boone's sharp intake of breath or the way his hands clenched into fists because her attention was caught by Eden, who was running towards them, waving her new doll like a trophy.

The rest of the day flew by, and later that night as she lay awake in bed, Zelda realized that it was the most fun she had had in over ten years.