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“Morning, dudes!” she said, getting up and squatting down to meet their hug with one of her own.
The rest of the guys were already in the kitchen, Tyler and Marcus putting the finishing touches on a big breakfast of sausage, eggs, fresh squeezed orange juice and pancakes. I’d never been a big breakfast guy, but the sight of the spread made me damn hungry all the same. On top of that, I was plenty glad to be spending the day ahead indoors packing instead of out in the snow.
“Miss Aubrey,” Henry said, getting really serious. “It snowed last night.” He pointed to the nearest window, as if she hadn’t noticed.
“I can see that. It’s why I’m here, in fact.”
“Really?” Hattie climbed up onto Aubrey’s lap as she asked the question.
“Really. It got super icky out when I dropped you guys off yesterday. So, your uncles were nice enough to let me stay here for the night in one of the spare bedrooms.”
“You had a sleepover?” Henry asked. “Aww…”
“Wasn’t a sleepover for kids,” Marcus said. “You guys were already asleep, too.”
“Can we play out in the snow?” Henry asked. “Right now?”
“Well, right now we’re going to eat. Then, sure, I think after that we can do some outside stuff. But remember that your uncles are going to be packing all day, so we’re going to need to stay out of their way.”
The twins’ faces fell at the reminder that my brothers and I were about to go away for a little while. My heart hurt at the sight of it. After all, this was the longest that all of us had been away from the twins since we’d brought them into our lives.
“Do you have to go?” Hattie asked, her eyes moving to each of us in turn.
I stepped over to her, scooping her up from Aubrey’s lap. “We do, Hats. But don’t worry, you and Aubrey are going to have so much fun together, alright? And we’ll make sure to call you both as often as we can on FaceTime.” I wished like hell that I could say we’d be talking to them every day. We’d be on a mission, however, which meant that would’ve been a promise I couldn’t keep.
Hattie said nothing, throwing her arms around me and squeezing me tightly. I patted her on the back, planting a kiss on her forehead.
“So,” Aubrey said, “since I’m going to be spending some time over here for a lengthy bit, I was thinking it’d be a good idea for me to pack some stuff from my place. But with the snow…”
“No problem at all,” Adam assured. “We’ve got a plow we can mount on the truck. It’s the next best thing short of driving a tank.”
“I can handle that,” I said. “I’ll get the plow mounted and drive you over.”
“Maybe we can do lunch at my place?” Aubrey asked. “And you two can take your nap in the guest room I’ve got ready for you. What do you think?”
The kids let out happy noises at the idea. I couldn’t help but smile knowing the twins were in more than good hands. All the same, I didn’t even want to think about the time ahead being apart from them.
“You guys ready to eat?” Marcus asked, bringing over a big plate loaded high with pancakes, a pitcher of syrup in the other hand.
“Ready since I opened my eyes this morning,” Adam said as he slid into one of the open chairs.
The gang piled around the table and wasted no time digging in. Breakfast was damn near sublime. All the dairy was from our cows on the farm, the meat and all the rest from ranches around the area. I started with pancakes, slathering them with butter and syrup and digging in.
“You know what’sreallygood?” Aubrey asked, the kids on both sides of her.
“What?” Henry replied.
“Watch.” Aubrey picked up one of her sausage links, waggling her eyebrows as she dipped it into the pool of syrup on her plate. Once that was done, she popped the end into her mouth and took a big bite.
“Gross!” Henry said, shaking his head. “Syrup is for pancakes!”
“It’s sweet and savory,” Aubrey said. “Try it!”
“What’s savory?” Hattie asked.
“Mmm, it’s like the opposite of ice cream; salty and rich, like chicken noodle soup.”
“Hmm.” Hattie made an interested noise as she picked up one of her own sausages and tapped the end into her syrup. Next, she brought it to her mouth and took a big bite. Her big, hazel brown eyes lit up right away as she chewed. “So good!”
