Because it had been a simple date. A wonderful day. And that alone had made it magical in its simplicity. It had been almost normal. Tree hunting and cutting, ice-skating, car rides full of quiet joy. Those were the kind of dates families had. Those were the kinds of dates Sandra and I never got to have with Ella. It had been the kind of date everyone dreamed of when they had a child, and yet it was Ella’s first.
No wonder my sweet girl had clung onto Samir for dear life and took to him so easily. Samir was great with her and treated her like a person, not an accessory. Not like a teddy bear.
So how could I not have gotten lost in seeing my daughter bond with him? Today hadn’t been about romance, or dating, orfinding out our differences and similarities. Today had been a simple family outing.
The problem was, we weren’t a family.
“Hello? Earth to Cole!” Enzo waved his hand in front of my face, and I took a sip of my coffee before I turned to him.
“What?”
“I asked you a question, doofus,” he said.
“I know. And I was ignoring you,” I replied.
Enzo looked at Carson and rolled his eyes.
“Talk to your brother before I smack him silly,” he said.
Carson chuckled and put a box marked “Xmas Stuff” down in front of the tree.
“Cole is an adult. If he doesn’t want to share about his date, he doesn’t have to,” he said.
I smiled at Enzo in response.
“Don’t go all smug now. And you, brute! You’re supposed to be on my side.”
“I’m not taking sides here. I’m Switzerland,” Carson said.
Enzo scoffed. “You weren’t being Switzerland last night when I was saying he’s going to screw it up.”
I gasped.
“You talk about me in bed? Ew. Stop that immediately,” I said and curled up on the couch with my mug.
“Make us.” Enzo pouted.
I grimaced and shook my head.
“What? And walk in on you docking or some shit? No thanks. What you do in the privacy of your own bedroom is your prerogative. If talking about me to get it up is working, go for it, though I expected better from my older brother. But I guess it’s no surprise a creep fell for another creep.”
Now it was both of them who gasped and glared at me.
“Shut up, Cole. Don’t be weird,” Carson said. “Never say that again.”
Enzo chuckled and squeezed his partner’s shoulder.
“Don’t pay him any mind. He’s rusty on being human. He’ll get the hang of it.”
I chose to ignore that comment and watched as Carson opened the box, and Enzo took out Christmas balls and lights, setting them on the floor.
“Where is my little girl? Why isn’t she here? She should be helping us decorate,” Enzo said with a sad face.
“Your little girl is wiped from a full-on day of ice-skating. You can wait until she wakes up though.”
Enzo sighed.
“Fine. I’m hungry anyway. Should I order something from the Grill?”
