Establishing an Order: What Are the Possible Legal Issues from Having Children Around a New Love Interest

My apologies in advance if this should be in another subforum, but I thought this would be the most fitting place. So here is the situation: I am dating a woman with two children, ages 8 and 5, and have been for about 8 months. Now, her husband has moved out, sometime around the first part of January 2015, but they are still not at this time legally separated, nor have either of them consulted with an attorney about how to proceed. That issue is a different one entirely, so I won't get into any more than that. As of now, I have only met her children one time, and that was at the gym that she and I both attend, and it was done as if I were just her friend. We have never done anything remotely "intimate" (kissing, hugging, holding hands) in front of the children, and that has been at my insistence. Since the beginning of our relationship, I have insisted that I shouldn't meet her children under the pretense of she and I being romantically involved until she speaks to an attorney and finds out exactly what she can and cannot do around her kids, and who she can and cannot have around them while they are still legally married and eventually separated/divorced. I don't think I am wrong for insisting on that, but she won't talk to an attorney and ask them for a definitive answer. And seeing as how I can't speak to a lawyer on her behalf, I'm coming to this legal community for advice. Now, in my own mind, morality dictates that she and I keep our relationship just between us until there is at least a separation agreement in place that clearly defines the "rules" regarding having new boyfriends/girlfriends around the children. My question is this: Are there legal ramifications for having a romantic interest around children without the presence of a legal separation, and if so, what are those ramifications? I would like to be able to be around her children, seeing as how she and I have very little time together as it is. But I'm certainly not going to be around them if she or I could potentially face legal consequences, and most certainly not if it doesn't take into account the best interests of the children. Thank you for the advice, and if need be I can provide more information if it is needed. This is all taking place in North Carolina by the way. That's probably relevant.

Establishing an Order: What Are the Possible Legal Issues from Having Children Around a New Love Interest