Eduardo can never meet my sister

I made the decision to have Eduardo spend Friday night at my house after the football game. I did this for a couple reasons; it would be a long drive late at night for him to get back home, it would give him and both kids a chance to get to know each other on Saturday, give Eduardo a chance to see the maternal side of me (one thing that was always a huge turn-off for The Paperweight. In retrospect, I think The Paperweight was much to selfish and jealous to be a father), and also simply because I really wanted Eduardo to spend the night with me...

The Girl is extremely shy. Now, I say this to people and they think they understand. Oh no...when I say shy, I mean SHY. As in, she was almost three years old before she'd let her grandparents come any where near her. Shy, as in, I've seen her eat entire meals with her eyes closed because we had company. The mere sight of my brothers still brings her to tears until they leave. Yeah, shy. So I, of course, wanted to prepare The Girl for the 'stranger' that would be at our house on Saturday. I told her simply that a friend of mine would be visiting. She responded the same way she always responds when we have company over, with a resounding, "no, I don't want him here". After much discussion, which was getting me no where, I asked if she would like to see a picture of him, thinking if Eduardo was no longer an 'unknown' figmant perhaps she'd at least consider not freaking out. This tactic has worked in the past, but only rarely.

Yes, The Girl said, she'd like to see his picture. So I took The Girl to my bedroom where I keep a picture of Eduardo on a top shelf. (oh, shut-up. i already admitted to being completely smitten). The look on The Girl's face when I lifted her up to picture level was priceless and I had to bite the insides of my cheeks to keep from smiling. The Girl was completely smitten at first sight; her face containing the cutest, coy-est smile I have ever seen in my life. I held her there for a moment then turned to set her feet back on the ground and she yelled, 'wait! I'm not done yet!'

I think I peed my pants a little.

The Girl stared for another minute and then shyly turned to me and asked, 'can I show him my Dora stuff when he comes over?'