Colleen opened the door, and we followed her and Ma into a small kitchen, where my gaze immediately fell on the two little kids seated at the table by the window.
Jesus Christ, they’re real.
An old TV was hanging off the wall and playing cartoons that the little girl was watching. She and her brother had the same dark brown hair, but the girl’s was long and untamed from sleep.
My heart kept pounding as Colleen and Ma walked over to sit down at the table.
“Are you enjoying the cartoons, Hallie?” Colleen asked.
Hallie didn’t reply. She turned shy and ducked her gaze to her cereal.
Nathan was ready to move forward, so he released my hand and left my side, and I immediately flinched and flexed my hand, realizing just how tightly we’d held each other. Fucking hell, my hand was all pins and needles.
I swallowed dryly and somehow made my feet move me forward too.
“This is Nathan. I told you about him earlier,” Ma said gently to the kids. “He and my son Ash are together. They’re so excited to meet you.”
It didn’t escape my notice that she and Colleen were sharing the head of the table, leaving the two spots across from Dylan and Hallie to Nate and me. I also knew from Ma’s stories how these things worked. She and Colleen might leave the room if things went well.
Nate had just sat down across from Hallie when I reached my chair and found Dylan eyeing me curiously.
“Would you like bagels or cereal?” Colleen asked. “We have coffee, of course. Apple juice and tea too, I think.”
“We won’t turn down coffee, thank you,” Nate answered. “And whatever Hallie is having—that looks great.”
Get your shit together and use your words, idjit.
I cleared my throat and gestured at Dylan’s bowl of milk and Cocoa Puffs. “I’m the chocolate fanatic in the family.” Only candy I ate, aside from the occasional Jolly Rancher. “I wouldn’t mind some milk and Cocoa Puffs.”
Dylan shoveled more milk and cereal into his mouth, all while watching me with the greenest damn eyes. They were almost enough for me to miss the fading bruise on his jaw. Almost.
“I like chocolate,” he mumbled.
I mustered a faint smile, liking his voice already. “The trick is to use only a little milk and a lot of Cocoa Puffs.”
He cocked his head, and Colleen set a bowl in front of me, with the box of cereal and the milk.
“Watch this,” I said, pouring a bit of milk into my bowl. Followed by a generous portion of cereal that filled the bowl nicely. “You can’t even see the milk anymore.” I stirred it with my spoon until the milk turned brown. “This is all chocolate now.”
He didn’t smile or anything, but boy, did he look interested. He side-eyed the cereal box, and I wordlessly nudged it toward him.
“Ash is full of fun tricks like that, Dylan,” Ma divulged. “When he and his brother were little, you know what they did? They took a whole bunch of cocoa powder and just a teensy bit of milk, and that was how they made their own chocolate spread to put on toast.”
I shot her a playful scowl. “That’s what you got for hiding the candy stash.”
She blew me a kiss.
After breakfast, Dylan wanted to go outside, while Hallie wanted to watch a movie, so we split up. I headed out in the back with Dylan and Colleen, and Nate stayed with Hallie and Ma.
Dylan put on a light jacket and scurried over to the sandbox.
“Any way I can make him more comfortable?” I asked Colleen.
“If he wasn’t comfortable now, he wouldn’t have left his sister’s side.” She patted my arm. “This is going very well, I assure you.”
I exhaled. Good to know.
I trailed over to the sandbox while Colleen hung back.
