“It’s okay, buddy. I’m not going to hurt you.” Austin carried Noah into the kitchen to the smell of burning sugar.
He sat Noah on a kitchen chair and rushed to the oven. He opened the door, and smoke poured out, burning his eyes. He grabbed the hot pads off the counter, and pulled a pan full of little black discs from the oven. He dropped the cookie sheet on the stove top and slammed the oven closed.
A high-pitched, beeping filled the kitchen, creating a deafening echo throughout the house, and chaos ensued.
Noah’s cries grew louder, and he clapped his hands over his ears.
Debbie walked through the garage door and rushed to Noah, sweeping him up into her arms.
Savvy and the boys came in through the back door and added their screams to the ear-piercing screech of the fire alarms.
Noah still sobbed against Debbie’s chest. Tears rolled down her own cheeks as she comforted him.
Austin grabbed a hand towel and climbed onto the counter to better reach the smoke detector up on the vaulted ceiling. The closer he got to the annoying little device, the more his ears rang. He waved the dish towel as though swatting at a swarm of pesky flies.
Savvy finally clapped her hands over her brothers’ mouths.
Just when Austin thought his arm might fall off, the beeping ceased in the kitchen then gradually tapered off throughout the rest of the house.
Noah’s cries turned to soft whimpers.
Jumping down, he looked around. Everyone stared wide-eyed, looking shell shocked.
He turned to Debbie. “Well at least you know your smoke detectors work.”
Debbie gave him a tight smile and a short snort that couldn’t quite qualify as laughter.
“Too soon?”
She set Noah on the chair and walked over to Austin. Rising up on her toes, she wrapped her arms around his neck.
He tensed. She meant it when she said she didn’t have much of a personal bubble.
The scent of her perfume hit him as he relaxed. It reminded him of the expensive perfumes Cheyenne used to wear. Probably something like Christian Dior. Not the most expensive perfume out there but pricey, nonetheless.
“Thank you. I don’t know what I would have done if I’d had to call Gina to tell her I lost Noah.” Her soft breath tickled his ear, sending a current of electricity through him.
He patted her back then stepped away, disengaging himself from the woman who smelled almost as good as she looked.
“Looks like your first day as a foster parent is off to a good start.” He made another joke, hoping Debbie didn’t detect the breathlessness in his voice.
She rolled her eyes and let out a soft chuckle that ended much too soon. “It can only get better from here, right?”
Loud beeping filled the kitchen again.
Debbie clapped a hand over her mouth and rushed to a second oven. “I totally forgot about dinner. I hope it didn’t burn too.”
“Yay! Dinner! I’m starving!” Cody jumped up and down.
“Cody! What did I tell you about using your inside voice?” Austin asked.
“Sorry, Daddy.” Cody lowered his voice. “But Debbie said we could have cookies after dinner.”
“Sorry, buddy, the cookies burned,” Austin said in a serious voice.
When Cody’s face fell, Debbie swatted Austin’s arm with the dishtowel he’d only minutes before been waving. “Only the last batch burned since I forgot to set the timer. We still have plenty of good cookies.”
Austin raised a finger before the boys could start cheering. “But only for good little boys who clean up the toys they played with.”
