Going inside, they waited until it was their turn. Alynn ordered vanilla ice cream with Snickers and M&M pieces. While he ordered Cookies N’ Cream. They sat at a table eating their ice cream while she talked to him about the Halloween festival they were having at her school. Though he already knew about it.
He was planning on stopping in, but had a meeting that he’d already rescheduled twice. The school was only holding it from three to six, and he didn’t want to catch the tail end of it. His brother was going to go to the function at school, and Rohan decided to go with them that evening to trick-or-treat.
Though she wasn’t his daughter, he tried to do as much with her as he could and help his brother as much as possible. Trent had been Alynn’s only parent almost since the day she was born, but he was not alone in raising her. Rohan had only been twenty-four when she was born. He’d stepped up to help his brother along with their mother.
She was in the middle of telling him that his mother had promised to take her costume shopping this weekend and that she would have a girls’ weekend with her when the cashier came over to the table.
“Um, I forgot to give you your receipt when you were at the register,” she told him. Though Rohan knew she was lying because she had indeed given him a receipt.
“You gave us a receipt, ma’am,” Alynn spoke, reaching across the table to pick up the receipt that was lying there, showing it to her.
He had to refrain from chuckling. He was positive the “receipt” she was trying to give him had her phone number on it, and his niece had unwittingly shut her down.
“Oh, okay,” the cashier stated before turning and heading back to the counter.
They continued to eat their ice cream, and when they were finished; they left. He knew his brother wouldn’t be off for another couple of hours, so he headed back to his house.
Once they were at his house, he asked her if she had homework. She told him she had a math sheet and an English worksheet she had to do. Rohan sat at the table with her and helped her with her homework. He checked it for her, and once she was done, they went into the living room to watch television.
Taking out his cell phone, he sent a text to his brother, telling him he was cooking dinner. That way, he wouldn’t pick anything up on his way to pick up Alynn. Rohan set his phone aside and contemplated what to cook.
9
It was a little after nine o’clock on Sunday morning, and Jalen was in the kitchen cooking breakfast for her sisters. She could hear the twins playing in her bedroom, where she’d ushered them when they’d woken up about an hour ago, to allow Mikal to sleep in a bit later.
From what she could tell, they were the only two of her siblings up. Though Kodi often woke up and simply lay in bed for a while on some weekend mornings.
Jalen was currently placing pieces of bread into the toaster. The oatmeal and sausages were already done. While she waited for the toast to finish, she took out a carton of orange juice and six cups as Landon walked into the kitchen.
“I’ll pour the juice,” she volunteered, taking the orange juice carton from her.
“Thank you,” Jalen responded as she fixed plates for everyone. “So, how was your date last night?” she then questioned. All of her siblings had been asleep when she’d gotten home last night, so she hadn’t had the chance to ask her.
“It was good,” Landon responded. “Kodi didn’t embarrass me. I forgot she was there until it was time for us to leave.”
“You mean when I popped up as he was trying to kiss you?” Kodi questioned as she rounded the corner into the kitchen with a smirk on her face.
Landon groaned exasperatedly. “He kissed me on my cheek.”
“Which would have been all lips if I hadn’t popped up on you.”
“I’m not a kid, you know,” Landon told her, placing the juice back into the refrigerator.
“Correction. You are a kid,” Kodi responded with a smirk.
“You’re a kid too,” Landon countered.
“She’s got you there,” Jalen threw in, placing oatmeal on everyone’s plate.
“Just barely, so it really doesn’t even count,” Kodi informed them. “I’m going to go get the others for breakfast.”
“So, he wanted to kiss you,” Jalen stated.
“I…he…it was on the cheek!” Landon squeaked out, and Jalen laughed lightly.
By the time all of her sisters were at the table, she was bringing the last plate over. They all sat down and blessed their food before eating.
While they ate, Mikal talked about how another science project was coming along and how excited she was to present it when it was due. The twins talked about their birthday, which was coming up at the end of October. Kodi spoke about preparing for the first ACT test she would take at the beginning of November. She had signed up for a few prep sites and was aiming for a high score so she could get a scholarship. Jalen knew she could do it. Even if she got a partial scholarship, she would do whatever she had to in order to ensure her little sister could attend college.
