One Step Closer(114)

Caleb opened the back door of his SUV and lifted Drake into one of the car seats. Both of the vehicles they drove the most had two sets of car seats to avoid switching them back and forth. Drake shook his head then took the sippy cup of juice Caleb had brought for him. It would tide him over until dinner.

When he was behind the wheel and buckled in himself, he glanced at Drake in the rearview mirror. “You didn’t?”

“Nope.”

It was opening night for Wren and Jonesy was going to keep the kids and feed them dinner, but Caleb needed to pick up his daughter and take them both home before he could meet Wren at the theater.

Caleb never got tired of watching her dance and he never missed a performance. Lux supported the theater with large donations and they had one of the balcony boxes just off the right of the stage. While he invited employees and managers to join him on most evenings of the performances, he always went alone to all of Wren’s opening night performances. It had become a ritual; he’d fill her dressing room with white roses and then they’d spend a romantic night with candles and champagne afterward. It was always something he looked forward to.

Drake’s eyelids were drooping and his head lolling to one side by the time they arrived at the same dance studio that Wren took classes as a kid. Every time he pulled into the parking lot, he was hit with the sweet memory of the first time he’d surprised her and signed her up.

Caleb couldn’t leave Drake in the car, so he found himself pulling the empty sippy cup from his little hands, unbuckling him and pulling his pint-sized body into his arms. Drake’s head fell onto his father’s shoulder, his eyes fluttering open, to quickly shut again.

Caleb was well known at the studio and so walked in and went into the studio he knew Wren was teaching the class. Lark was in the front row, dressed in pink leotards, tights and a matching tutu. The other little girls all had on similar getups. They loved dressing up and it helped keep their attention on the lesson.

Wren saw her husband walk in with her son sleeping on his shoulder. He flashed her a beautiful smile and she nearly lost her breath. He was so handsome and her heart still raced at the site of him. She made a kissing motion with her mouth and his smile broadened as he took a seat on the bench that ran along the back wall of the studio. Wren stood in front of the mirrored wall, facing the little ones, who all watched her every move, except for two who were distracted by each other.

“Okay, remember first position?” Wren asked them all. “Jessy, heels together, like this. Watch me.”

Caleb watched Lark. She stood up straight with her little arms curved gracefully as she waited. He could see her face in the mirror and her little forehead was furrowed into a frown as she glanced at the little girl to her left who was bent over at the waist and touching her toes. “That’s not first position,” she said.

“Lark,” Wren admonished gently, shaking her head.

“Well, it isn’t,” Lark returned matter-of-factly.

Wren had to bite her lip to keep from smiling, but Caleb chuckled softly. He loved it. Both of his children were quite precocious, but he told himself that intelligent children were bound to be. The room upstairs that used to be Wren’s was now redone in pink, with teddy bears in tutus painted on the walls. The adjoining studio was unchanged and his little girl played in there quite often, and spent more time there having private times with her mother.

“Bend your knees; Plié, then up on your toes; relevé.” The little girls watched Wren and themselves in the mirror, except for the one next to Lark who sat down on the wooden floor and held on to both of her feet. “Plié, relevé.” Wren repeated the words slowly as she went through the movements. “Plié, relevé.”

“Remember second position? Your feet stay the same, but you move them a little apart. Stand tall, and hold your arms out like this. Bend them a little at the elbows, and have ballet hands. Do you see how I’m holding my fingers?”

Despite having the twins, her body was unmarred. Caleb couldn’t help take in her slender curves, unhidden by the leotard and chiffon wrap skirt she wore. He glanced at his watch. It was almost six, which would mean the lesson was over.

A few more instructions and Wren went to change the music. “Okay, these last few minutes are free style. You can do whatever you want!” Wren turned on a clean version of “Cake by the Ocean” that she knew her little girl particularly liked. As the little girls started jumping around and randomly twirling, Wren walked toward Caleb. Her hand reached out and slid down the back of his head, and then she sat down and leaned in to kiss Drake on the cheek. “Wake up sleepy head. Jonesy is making Pizza.”

Caleb leaned toward her and she met him in the middle so he could place a soft kiss on her mouth in greeting. She closed her eyes and savored the way his lips lingered on hers. Caleb’s hand reached for hers as their mouths separated. “Mmmm,” he said so softly she barely heard it with the music playing.

Wren’s heart and body quickened at the sound. “How was your day, babe?”

“Good. How did rehearsal go? Are you tired?”

“I had a class this morning, and then rehearsal afterward, so I’m a tad tired. Maybe the schedule is getting to me.”

“But you’re so beautiful doing it. And, I know you love it.”

“I do.” She cupped Drake’s head, her fingers lingering in his silky hair. “I have to go straight to the theater after this, Cale. I have stage call at 6:30.”