AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Thanks. I haven’t unpacked yet. There are ants in the kitchen, and I didn’t even know that was possible in winter. If you open any closet door, things will fall out, because that’s how I cleaned the house to prepare for you. The only drinks I can offer are grape juice, Sam Adams Winter Ale, and expired milk.”
“Are you planning to get new milk before Cookies with Santa, or am I going to be poisoned to death in front of your fireplace?”
“Don’t make fun of me. I don’t know why I just admitted all that. I didn’t want to.”
“Well, it’s a nice place,” Cass said, and I didn’t know if he was giving me a do over, or just repeating himself because he had no idea what else to say.
“Thanks.” I decided to approach it like an adult this time. “It needs a little work, but nothing too much. It’s really just the prospect of unpacking that’s killing me.”
“Yeah, can’t blame you.”
I led the way to the living room. “So, anything to drink?”
“Uh, water would be fine.”
“Make yourself at home.” I gestured to the couch, then hurried into the kitchen. All the regular glasses were in the dishwasher, which I’d forgotten to run, so my options were wine glasses or two large plastic Pony Pals cups.
Cass looked up from his phone as I entered the living room with our waters. He appeared caught somewhere between horror and amusement. “What are thosethingson your cups?”
I handed him the cup with the hot pink background, and I kept the purple. “Ponies,” I replied nonchalantly.
“Theseare the Pony Pals?”
“Dude, you’re the one who told me where to find Peachblossom.” Why not call my ex ‘dude’? Why not?
“Yeah, I mean I’dheardabout the Peachblossom shortage. I’ve just never actually looked at the Pony Pals up close. Why do they look like deranged baby dragons?”
“Only Maple Leaf is a pegasus,” I informed him. “Look closer; the others are just normal ground ponies.”
“There is nothing normal about this.” Cass studied his cup, frowning at the meadow full of licorice wildflowers, cupcake shrubs, and colorful, big-eyed ponies.
“Yeah, I know. I think Em likes them in a serial killer way, and Ada genuinely likes them. So it’s a lot to balance.”
“Is Maple Leaf Canadian?”
“What? No. They’re all from Ponytopia.”
“Ah, I see.”
“We got those cups by going to see the Pony Pals movie and ordering supersize snack combos. We have six cups. Because we saw the movie three times.”
“You didn’t get a snack combo for yourself? You could have nine of those cups, Fran.”
“Oh, no, Em didn’t get one, because she’s too cool for Pony Pals merch. The cups were all Ada and me.”
He laughed, and every part of me warmed. I’d always loved making him laugh. He drank some of his water, and I watched him drink instead of drinking my own. Then he said, “I’m really happy for you. That you have the girls. It’s obvious they mean the world to you.”
“Well, I know how much it used to freak you out when I’d talk about wanting kids.”
“It didn’tfreak me out. I just…”
“It freaked you out.”
“We were seventeen! And you already had names picked out.”
My cheeks heated. “I always wanted this.”
“I know. It wasn’t a criticism. Like I said, I’m happy for you.”
