“What’s up, Jayden? What’s going on? … Oh, hey guys!” My attention adverted from my son, to my friends, and then back to my son as he showed me a picture than LeAnna, Chelsea’s daughter, had drawn for him. I complimented her work, promising to help Jayden hang it in his room when we got home. This made him smile before running after LeAnna through the yard.

I talked with Glen, Chelsea, Kyla, and Mr. Carlin on the patio until dinner was ready and we were all called inside to sit around their big dining room table. It was a normal Friday night dinner at the Carlin’s – once a month they family all gets together, no matter where they are or what they’re doing, and they talk about everything that’s been going on. It’s been their tradition for years, as Spencer has told me, but for the past two years, I’ve been coming along with Spencer and the Carlin dinners have expanded just beyond family.

“So, Spencer, how have things with you guys been? What’s going on in the Carlin-Davies residence these days?” Arthur asks the question to both of us, but connects with Spencer.

“They’ve been good, dad! Ashley and I met with a day care center today for Jayden – Little Tots, Big World – and I think we’re going to have him start taking classes there within the next few weeks.”

“That’s great honey! I’ve heard good things about that place, I’m sure the Little Man will love it.” Mr. Carlin took this moment to reach over Jayden’s highchair and tickle his sides, causing him to erupt into more of his contagious laughter.

“So, Spencer … Ashley, how do you plan on paying for these classes at the center? They don’t run cheap you know,” Mrs. Carlin’s hollow, accusing voice pointed a finger in my direction trying to catch me making a wrong a decision so she would have another reason to want Spencer away from me. But I’m always on Paula Patrol, I came prepared.

“Well, Paula, I’m going to take some money for the enrollment fee out of my savings account now, and after that the classes are about eighty dollars a week, so we should be ok. I’ll start pulling the money from my checks each week to pay for everything. And the great part about this place is that we only pay when they actually watch Jayden, so any day he isn’t in a class, it doesn’t cost us anything.

My response kept Paula quiet for a minute; she was shocked that I had thought this through made a good decision. [She obviously thinks of me so highly!] The truth is though, that even if I hadn’t thought about my son’s future and just picked a “pretty place” for him to start his early education, it wouldn’t be a big problem financially. Money isn’t an issue for me – when my father died, he left his fortune for me and my sister, Kyla, to split and most of my share went directly to the bank and started collecting interest. So now, four years later, what I have of my dad’s fortune is sitting in the bank, collaborating with my own success from my record label. This of course, isn’t information I have shared with the Carlins – or anyone else for that matter – but the only thing that matters is that I am confident that I will be able to live comfortably for many years to come.