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The good, the bad, and the ugly side of dating a man with kids:

Allison moved into her boyfriend, Manny's small apartment on the waterfront that summer. She fantasized about taking strolls down the pier, going fishing, staying up late drinking glasses of wine, sleeping in on lazy Sundays, and enjoying the tranquil stability of her relationship. What she didn't expect was her boyfriend's eight year old son, Leon sleeping over every other weekend. Allison met Leon a couple of times in the year she and Manny had been dating, but she never believed it'd be a problem for her until Leon started getting in her way.

Manny had a one bedroom apartment. Normally, he'd sleep on the couch while Leon slept on the bed, but with Allison sharing the space, Manny thought it best that Leon sleep between them. Allison wasn't crazy about the idea, and couldn't sleep a wink that night. She secretly began to regret her decision. The next morning, Leon did not acknowledge Allison and walked past her like she wasn't even there. Allison said "good morning" at the breakfast table, but he quickly delved into a rousing conversation with his father. Her boyfriend was happy to have both his son and his girl with him that he didn't notice there was no word exchange between the two.
He rambled about the exciting day the three of them were going to have: taking a stroll down the pier, going fishing, staying up late playing scrabble, and sleeping in on Sunday. They were all the things Allison wanted to do with Manny (only Manny). As the day progressed, Allison tried to befriend Leon, but he was short and cold. He kept close to his Dad even pushing himself between them while they walked. Allison was afraid to tell Manny how she felt lest Manny think she was overreacting. But the subtleties continued every weekend he came over.
When Allison finally expressed her concern to Manny he reacted in disbelief. Leon was a sociable child and loved talking to everyone. She just needed to get to know him more, but Allison knew better. Leon was jealous that Dad had a girl around. Allison grew unhappy and arguments with Manny escalated into fights. She felt even more isolated when Leon slept over during the weekdays, too. In the end, Allison decided to move on, not just because of Leon, but because Manny never compromised or cared about her feelings.

Brenda met Vic on a sunny day. He flirted with her until she gave him her phone number. They talked for hours that first night, and it was then that he revealed

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