“Mama, do sharks fall in love?”

The little girl, Juliet, tugged on her mother’s skirt. She looked up with bright, clear blue eyes. The same shade as the water on the other side of the glass.

“Of course they do, sweetheart,” her mother said. She picked up her daughter in her arms. “Anyone can fall in love. Even a shark.”

The truth was, Allison Wilson had no idea if sharks could fall in love. But she supposed they could.

“Mama?”

“Yes, Julietta baby?”

“Are you ever going to fall in love?”

Allison stared at the sharks swimming around in the aquarium. They were those ones whose heads looked like T’s… what were they called again?

Allison blew out a breath. She’d always sort of thought she could fall in love. Everyone else seemed to be able to do it. And when she decided to go to a sperm bank and have a child at age 23, she didn’t think too much of it. She just assumed that if the right person ever came along, they’d be a second parent to her little girl. No big deal.

Except that it always had been a big deal. It had been a big deal ever since Juliet had walked into her kindergarten orientation and the teacher had asked, “if Juliet’s father would be joining them tonight?”

Yeah.

“I … don’t know,” Allison said finally.

“Mama,” Juliet said. “Can you hold me closer to the sharks? I want to pet them.”

Allison leaned closer towards the cold glass. Her daughter reached out with a small hand, pressing her fingers to it, and one of the sharks swam over and waggled its head at her.

Juliet giggled. “It’s dancing!”

“Do you want to dance with it?” Allison teased. She began bouncing her daughter up and down, side to side, up and down again in her arms, and Juliet started laughing. Allison laughed too; her daughter’s smile was contagious.

“I want to be in love someday,” Juliet said once her mother had paused the bouncing. “Like Cinderella. My friend Amy says she’s going to be poor when she grows up so she can find a Prince Charming and marry him.”

“Does she now?”

“Mhm.” Juliet nodded. “Are you going to look for a Prince Charming, Mama? I wouldn’t mind having a Prince Charming for a daddy.”

Allison sighed. The sharks they had been looking at a moment ago were gone now, the tank empty. An endless blue abyss.

“Julietta, the other kids at school don’t make fun of you for not having a daddy, do they?”

Her daughter shrugged. “Only sometimes. But when they do, Amy comes over and says she’s gonna kick them if they keep talking like that. Amy doesn’t have a daddy either. She has two mommies.”

Allison nodded. She’d met Amy’s mothers at the school Mother’s Day Breakfast this past year.

Sometimes Allison thought maybe the reason she couldn’t fall in love was because — as Juliet would say— she wanted a Princess Charming, not a Prince. But that didn’t seem right. Allison never seemed to have those feelings for anyone, regardless of gender.

Maybe she was just broken.

“Mama?”

Allison looked at her daughter, who she was still holding tightly in her arms. “Yes, baby?”

“I changed my mind. I don’t need to fall in love, because I already love someone.”

“You do?” Allison furrowed her brow. “Who?”

“You, Mama!” Juliet giggled, poking her mother in the chest. “I love you.”

Allison smiled. She held her daughter close, letting Juliet muzzle her head into her shoulder, appreciating the way her hazelnut-brown pigtails fell just below Allison’s collarbone, the rise and fall of Juliet’s chest. Her daughter’s body felt warm against her own.

Maybe Allison didn’t need to have romance. Maybe she didn’t need a great big Cinderella story. Juliet was everything to her, and as long as they loved each other, maybe everything was going to be okay.

“I love you too, baby.”

“Look, Mama!” Juliet cried suddenly. “The sharks are back!”

Allison looked. The sharks had indeed come back, swimming in circles like they were waltzing behind the glass. “Oh!”

“You know, I don’t think they’re in love anymore, actually,” Juliet told her. “I think they’re mama and baby. Like me and you.”

“Yeah,” she said, kissing her daughter on the top of her head. “Like me and you.”