Once they arrived at the underwater vi, however, Jasmine was so thrilled that she became wide awake again. After her bath, shey on the bed, excitedly watching the schools of fish swim just above the ss ceiling.


    Sensing that they probably shouldn''t all sleep together, Thorne had arranged for a luxury family suite, which contained tworge, separate beds. It meant that while they were sharing a room, they wouldn''t be sharing a bed.


    Charlene finished her shower, changed into the pajamas she''d brought, and sat down on the edge of the bed where Jasmine was lying. Just then, Thorne emerged from the other bathroom and sat on the other bed.


    He watched Jasmine''s delighted expression and asked, "You like this that much?"


    "I love it!" Jasmine dered. She then rolled over to Charlene''s side. "Mommy, I want to sleep with you."


    "Of course," Charlene said.


    But Jasmine was exhausted. After snuggling happily in Charlene''s arms for a few minutes, she turned her head and drifted off to sleep. Charlene carefully tucked her in. From the other bed, Thorne looked over.


    "Good night," he said.


    Charlene paused before replying, "Good night."


    Shey down beside her daughter. A momentter, Thorne switched off the lights, and the room fell into a deep, quiet stillness.


    ...


    The next morning, Charlene woke to find herself alone in the room. It took her a moment to get her bearings. After washing up, she left the vi and headed outside, where she immediately ran into Thorne, who had already been out ying with Jasmine for a while.


    He smiled at her. "Morning."


    Charlene blinked. "...Morning."


    Jasmine ran toward her, holding a small bucket. "Mommy, Daddy took me


    beacbing early this morning! We caught lots of seafood!"


    "That''s amazing," Charlene said, gently stroking Jasmine''s cheek. The morning air felt brisk. "Weren''t you cold going out so early?"


    "It was cold at first, but not anymore!"


    Just as Charlene was about to say something else, Thorne asked, "Have you had breakfast?"


    Charlene shook her head.


    Thorne took out his phone. "What would you like? I can have someone bring it over."


    "No, that''s okay. I can call someone myself."


    He was about to dial, but he lowered his phone without argument. "Alright."


    While Charlene ate her breakfast, Thorne helped Jasmine organize her treasures from the past two days nearby. As Charlene watched them, her phone suddenly rang. It was Stewart.


    "What are you up to? Are you free for lunch?"


    "I''m out of town," Charlene said. "Next time, okay?"


    "Out of town?" Stewart wasn''t bothered by her refusal and was curious about her


    trip. "Where did you go? With your family? Are you having fun?"


    "A private ind." After taking spoonful of seafood chowder she


    added, came with Jase and..


    Thome. As for fun... it''s okayd guess."


    Stewart''s eyebrows shot up. "You went out with them? You must have left early this morning."


    "We left yesterday morning," Charlene rified.


    It clicked for Stewart. "So, you all stayed overnight together?"


    Charlene confirmed with a quiet "Mm-hmm."


    Stewart pictured the three of them together and asked, "How''s it going?"


    "We''re just co-parenting for a couple of days," Charlene said calmly. "We''ve mostly stayed out of each other''s way don''t really have any feelings about it one way or another."


    She was pretty sure Thorne felt the same. They were just two parents, together for


    the sake of their child.