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“Thank you,” I whisper as he moves closer. His nose brushes against mine, his
breath soft against my skin. I can’t stop the shiver of reaction that ripples through my body at even that small contact.
“You’re welcome.” His words are murmured against my mouth. I part my lips slightly in invitation, our breath mingling before, with the softest of touches, his warm tongue slicks across my bottom lip, tasting me. Sensations that I can’t even begin to describe ricochet through me and I can’t help the throaty moan that tears free of my body. My arms wind up around his neck as I rise on tiptoe, head tilted back, fully offering my mouth to him. I need his kisses as much as I need air, maybe more. The silken softness of his lips drift across my cheek, nuzzling a sensitive spot by my ear that I didn’t even know existed.
“Miss me?” he whispers his breath hot against my skin.
Only more than I can put into words. Letting my head fall to the side, my lips nip the place where the strong column of his throat meets his shoulder.
“Yes.” I moan the word, reveling in the slight salty tang of his skin as I gather my courage and taste him there with the tip of my tongue.
“Missed you too,” he groans the words, yanking me hard against him and lifting until I’m face to face with him, sitting on the tiled counter next to the bag of food with his narrow hips between my thighs. “So much,” his big hands cradle my face, our eyes eating each other up. This was inevitable; from the very first time I talked to him I felt drawn to him. No one has ever made me feel this way, so desperate to touch and be touched, so… happy. That’s what it is, happiness bubbling inside of me.
I watched Lizzie meet Dan and fall in love, overjoyed for her, yet sad that it was an adventure she was embarking on without me. Now that I’m feeling the same bliss my heart contracts painfully for what she lost. For the first time I wonder if her forgetting isn’t a blessing in disguise. The thought of losing this man is terrifying and I only just met him. Lizzie’s loss seems even more unimaginable in comparison.
“Mama?” Auggie’s voice behind me makes me jump and start to pull away from Blake’s arms, but he continues to hold me close, lifting me down to the floor and turning me in his arms to face my sweet boy.
“Up!” He demands, approaching us with his little arms outstretched toward Blake who gives me one last squeeze, kissing the top of my head, before releasing me and lifting Auggie into his muscular arms, boosting him overhead amid peals of excited laughter. Tipping him upside down he ‘walks’ Auggie through the kitchen and hall, depositing him back in front of the TV.
“Let’s watch your show while your mama makes lunch, bud. Are you hungry?” his voice is low and gentle.
“Si,” is Auggie’s quick answer. I think he’s growing again. I can always tell because he is hungrier and takes longer naps. He’s been doing both lately. Grinning to myself I open the bag and pull out a foil wrapped package and unwrap it. It’s my favorite garlic French bread from the café! I wrap it up carefully and put it in the oven to warm. Excited to see what else Blake brought, I pull out a plate of pie slices, followed by a large plastic container of what looks like frozen soup. It’s perfect!
Popping off the lid I dump the frozen block into a large pot and set it on the burner over low heat to defrost before following the sound of Auggie’s high, excited voice chattering about the movie he’s been watching. The deep rumble of Blake patiently answering him fills my heart with something I’ve never felt for someone who isn’t a part of my family. It feels like love, but it’s too soon for that. Isn’t it?
I want this with him every day. For him to share meals and laughs. To share my family with him. There is no way that I can ever leave them behind, so anyone who is in my life will be in theirs as well. I hope that he wants that too. If he doesn’t, I already know that it will break me in ways I haven’t even considered yet.
I’m falling fast. Faster than is advisable. I know that, but I don’t want to stop it. I don’t even want to slow down.
Bouncing happily on my feet my exhaustion forgotten, I almost skip through the kitchen and into the living room. Auggie is on Blake’s lap, his attention split between the TV and the big man holding him. Smiling at them both I lower myself down beside them, sighing with contentment when Blake’s heavy arm slides around my shoulders and pulls me against his side. I snuggle close, resting my head in the hollow of his shoulder. This is perfect. I could sit here all day.
“Ellie!” Lizzie’s call is punctuated by a fit of coughing. Maybe not...
“Sorry,” I mumble, “Everyone is sick.”
“I know,” he kisses my cheek and when I stand his wide palm sharply swats my butt cheek. I jump away giggling. He makes me feel like someone else… the girl I was before everything fell apart and I had to step in and be strong for my family. Like myself for the first time in so long. Turning, I give him a mock glare that makes him chuckle and set my hands on his shoulders and lean forward, kissing his cheek, then Auggie’s, before going down the hall to check on Lizzie and Mama.
With promises of soup and medicine I leave Lizzie laying across the foot of her bed listening to music with her nose buried in a book and cross the hall to check on Mama. This bug is really kicking her butt, but it hasn’t stopped her from getting up and logging into work. She’s sitting in her bed, propped against a pile of pillows, her old laptop across her legs and her headset on. I listen for a moment to her explaining the different options available for whatever product she is selling this week. Pantomiming eating, I hold up five fingers indicating that I will bring food in five minutes. She nods and kisses her fingertips, blowing me a kiss before I go. Blake is in the kitchen when I return, holding my nephew on one hip.
“It started smelling good, so we’re checking on it.” He says, handing the long-handled wooden spoon to Auggie and letting him stir the contents of the steaming pot. His big hand is wrapped around the much smaller one gripping the spoon, protecting it from the heat. I like that even though his inexperience with kids shows, his instinct is to protect Auggie from something that could hurt him.
Auggie lets loose a stream of excited, unintelligible words and sounds, a combination of English and Spanish and who knows what. The only thing that makes sense is when he lifts the spoon to his waiting tongue then smacks his little lips and says “Yummy.”
“Taste good, buddy?” Blake asks him. Auggie nods happily, his raven black curls bouncing on his forehead as he sticks the spoon back in the pot and lifts it to Blake’s mouth.
“You!” Auggie encourages Blake to taste the spoon that he’s holding up. He does, taking the small hand in his again before together they toss the used spoon in the sink.
“That is yummy soup,” he stage-whispers, making Auggie giggle. “The waitress said that it’s your mama’s favorite.” He meets my eyes with a smile.
“It’s the lemon orzo?” I ask excitedly. “They don’t make it very often.”
“She got it out of the freezer, but you knew that,” he admits.
“I do. Have you ever had it?” I ask, pulling dishes from the cupboard and taking the pitcher of tea from the fridge to make trays for my mother and sister before setting the table for three.
“Can’t say that I’ve ever had lemon soup,” he laughs, trying to put a clinging Auggie in his booster seat at the table. Sometimes that’s the hardest part of mealtimes.
“There’s only a little lemon in the broth,” I tell him, rolling my eyes as I pull the foil wrapped package of bread from the oven and open it before it burns my fingertips.
