9. Pecker
Chapter 9
Pecker
“So, is she your girlfriend?” Bree asks as I take the last tray of cookies out of the oven.
“Psh, I wish.”
“Then why don’t you ask her out?” Danny rolls his eyes.
We’ve reached a good place. Since we had our talk last week, he’s been getting better. He isn't giving Sydney any crap and he’s being kinder in general. There have been a few times I’ve seen him struggling, but we sit down and talk through it. I think he’s starting to see me more as a friend and confidant and less as an uncle who’s only here because his dad walked out. I'm not a reminder of what he lost anymore. A reminder he wasn’t enough for Rob to stay.
“You just wait. She’s the prettiest girl you’ve ever seen. You can't just ask out someone like her.” I roll my eyes back at him, making Bree giggle.
“Sure, you can. How else will they know you like them?”
“I don’t know! I'm single, clearly, I don’t know what I'm doing.”
After moving the cookies to the cooling racks, I check my pot of meatballs and quickly taste the sauce. I don’t make my spaghetti sauce from scratch, but I do season my store-bought sauce until it tastes like it’s homemade. It’s something my dad always did and I loved it.
I glance at the clock. I have ten minutes until Sophia should be here. Scrubbing a hand down my face, I try to decide if I should get changed. My shirt is a mess with flour, but we’re going to be decorating, which means I’ll get icing on me at some point.
Before I can think about it any longer, the doorbell rings. I glance at the kids before taking off at a sprint towards the door. It’s become a game of ours. Any time someone rings the bell, we all make a mad dash and whoever answers first, gets an extra cookie at dessert.
“Ha! I got here first!” I yell and do a little victory dance as I open the door.
On the other side is Sophia with wide eyes and a slow smile spreading across her lips. Her arms are full of bags and there’s a little bit of snow in her hair.
“Wow, that’s quite the dance.”
I clear my throat and stand tall, like I wasn’t just shaking my butt at my niece and nephew. I run a hand through my hair and try to act like the adult I pretend to be.
“Sorry about that.”
“No, don’t let me stop you. I want to see more of those moves. Maybe we’ll have to go dancing soon.”
“Something tells me you’re a much better dancer than I am.”
“Oh, one thousand percent. But I don’t have moves like those,” she teases. “Are you going to let me in, or are we decorating cookies on the porch?”
“Welcome to my home, Soph.” I step aside and motion for her to enter the house. As soon as the door is shut, I take the bags from her hands and peek inside. “What’s all of this?”
“Things to use to decorate.”
“You didn’t have to do that, but thank you.”
“Of course I did. I want to win and if your supplies are lacking, I won't be able to do that.” She rolls her eyes.
“Dinner’s almost ready. You can come in the kitchen with me while Danny and Bree wash their hands.” I raise a brow in their direction and they quickly head to the bathroom to wash up.
After placing the bags on the counter, I take everything out and am surprised at how much Sophia bought. There are so many types of candy, sprinkles, gel food coloring, and piping bags.
“Where did you get all of this?”
“Well, I tried going to the grocery store and that place sucks. They don’t have any of the good stuff, so I drove a town or two over and found a cute store that has so much. I don’t remember what it’s called though.”
I abandon looking through the stuff and close the distance between us. Tugging her into my arms, I reach up and brush a strand of hair behind her ear.
“You’re amazing,” I whisper, staring into her captivating blue eyes. There are little flecks of gold in them that I never noticed before.
I'm just about to lean in and kiss her, when Bree comes running down the stairs. I only have a second before she’ll be in the kitchen. I take a step back so I don’t need to have another discussion about my dating life with a six-year-old and aim a sad smile in Sophia’s direction.
She looks disappointed, but she understands when Bree is tugging on the hem of her sweatshirt, making it fall off one shoulder.
“I’m Bree! Can we be friends?”
“Of course!” Sophia drops down to one knee so she’s almost the same height as my niece. “I'm Sophia and I’d love to be your friend.” She holds her arms open and my heart swells when Bree throws herself into Sophia’s arms. She hugs her as tightly as she can, grinning the entire time.
“Alright, Bree. Let go of the woman before you strangle her.” I hold a hand out to Sophia, helping her to her feet.
“Soph, you’ve obviously met Bree.” I motion to her.
“My new BFF,” Sophia adds with a grin.
“This is Danny.” I motion to my nephew standing awkwardly in the entrance of the kitchen. His cheeks are pink as he stares at her and I know he thinks she’s cute.
“It’s so nice to meet you, Danny. You’re so handsome and adorable.”
“Sophia, will you go out with me?” Danny flashes me a devilish grin. “See Uncle Peck, was that so difficult?”
“Um… No?” Sophia glances around in confusion.
“See and that’s exactly how she would’ve responded to me.” I laugh and shake my head. The kid thinks he has game and he doesn’t.
“Am I missing something?” Sophia frowns.
“Well, I asked Uncle Peck if you were his girlfriend and he said he wished. We asked him why he didn’t ask you out, and he said ‘you can't just ask out someone like her’.” Bree tries her hardest to imitate me, making everyone laugh.
“And I said sure you can, otherwise she’ll never date you.” Danny flashes her the biggest smile I’ve ever seen on the kid.
“You’re a smart one.” Sophia ruffles his hair. “You should always ask the girl out. If they say no, move on. But if they say yes, you’ll be happy. And they’ll probably say yes because you’re cute.” She winks, making Danny’s cheeks turn an even darker shade of red.
“Why don’t the two of you go set the table while I get everything ready?”
Danny and Bree run off to grab plates and everything else, while I pull the garlic bread out of the oven and place it on a trivet.
“What can I help with?” Sophia moves to my side.
“Nothing. You just keep standing there looking breathtaking.” I wink, making her chuckle.
“I'm in yoga pants and an old sweatshirt. My hair is a mess and I have no makeup on. I do not look breathtaking.”
“Well, you’re going to have to take that up with my lungs because you stole the breath right out of them when you walked in the door.”
“Oh my gosh!” She snorts with laughter. “That was the worst thing I’ve ever heard!”
“Eh, it got you to laugh, that’s really all I care about.” I press a soft kiss to her temple before I begin to cut the bread into even slices.
“What’s for dinner?”
“Spaghetti and homemade meatballs with homemade garlic bread.”
“Sounds delicious. Do you like to cook?”
“I love it. That’s one of the things I like about living here. When I was living alone, I didn’t cook much because there would be too many leftovers. Now, I have other people to eat whatever I make, so I can cook a lot more.”
“That’s really cute. I hate cooking. I’ll bake all day long, but I don’t want to cook.”
“You sound like my sister.” I chuckle. “You just need to marry someone who likes to cook and eat dessert.”
“Yeah, I really do.” She grins up at me and I instantly think of what it would be like to have her as my girlfriend and eventually my wife. We’d have adorable kids, that’s for sure.
“Can you put this on the table, then you can sit down while I bring the rest of this out?”
“Sure.”
After we’ve all sat down and we’ve said our prayers, I serve everyone their food. I'm about to take my first bite when Bree looks at Sophia with a look I can't quite place.
“Sophia, why won't you date Uncle Peck?” She asks the questions so innocently and I nearly choke on my spaghetti.
“Bree!” I hiss, but she ignores me. So does Sophia.
“Well, he hasn’t asked me out.” She shrugs like there’s no other reason.
“I told ya, all you have to do is ask her out,” Danny singsongs, but then he frowns. “Hey, I asked you out and you turned me down. What gives?”
“I’m twice your age and it would be illegal. You can call me when you’re twenty and if I'm still single, we can talk.” She rolls her eyes at him, making him the happiest ten-year-old boy in the world.
“Well, Uncle Peck, aren’t you going to ask her out!” Bree practically shouts.
“Oh my gosh,” I grumble under my breath. “Soph, will you be my girlfriend?”
“Yes.”
“See, I knew she wouldn’t-” I freeze mid-sentence and my gaze snaps to hers. “Wait, what did you just say?”
“I said yes.” She giggles. “I’ll happily be your girlfriend.”
“Aren't you going back to Philadelphia soon?”
“I'm not sure yet. I might have a new reason to stay in Maple Springs.” She sinks her teeth into her bottom lip, trying to hide her smile.