Chapter 33 #2
After we stop and grab a coffee, we are finally on our way to breakfast. He tells me stories about growing up with Ivy and Carter, and how Willow and Cooper became a part of their lives too.
By the time we pull into the driveway, I feel like I know everything there is to know about them.
When he stops the truck, he leans over the console and presses out his lips, asking for a kiss.
Once he gets what he wants, he jumps out and hurries to open my door for me.
Helping me out, he doesn’t let go of my hand as we walk up the front porch steps together.
“Hello?” he calls out as he opens the front door.
“Hello,” a raspy voice calls back. Then, a much older woman than I was expecting steps out into the doorway. She has long graying hair and is wearing an apron. A clip holds half her hair behind her head and she smiles as Miles and I take a few steps closer to her.
“And who do we have here?” she asks brightly, her cheeks pulling back as she steps towards me for a hug. Coming from a family of huggers, I’m not thrown by the gesture in the slightest. Leaning in, I embrace her.
“Mama, this is Hanna. My girlfriend,” Miles says proudly. His hand falls to the small of my back when I pull away to stand beside him.
“Well, hello, Hanna. It’s so lovely to meet you,” she gushes, pulling me into another hug.
“Mama, cool it with the hugs,” Miles groans the slightest bit.
“Oh, it’s fine,” I stop him. “I love hugs. I come from people who love to hug.”
“Oh, well then, here’s one more just because,” she replies, pulling me into a third. She laughs as she embraces me and the sound of it warms my soul.
“I’m so happy you came this morning. I wish my son would have told me he was bringing you along, but I always make enough food to go around.” She starts to move back down the hallway where she came from and we follow behind her.
“Mama, I did tell you, remember? I texted you on New Year’s Day to tell you I’d be bringing Hanna with me.”
“Oh.” Ivy stops in the center of the kitchen and brings her index finger to her lips, looking like a lightbulb just went off in her head. “I remember now. I may have had a few too many glasses of wine that night. My memory always slips a little the next day when I do that.”
She waves a hand at us and Miles sighs beside me.
I can’t hold back the laugh that tumbles out of my throat.
We’re standing at the island in the center of the kitchen while Ivy moves towards the stove.
The room smells incredible as a mixture of freshly scrambled eggs and breakfast sausage tickles my nose.
Looking around the room, I see the history of Miles hanging on the walls.
I know the boy in the photos is him because he has the same goofy smile he does as an adult.
There’s a mixture of frames where it’s just him and some with just another boy: Carter, I assume.
And of course there’s plenty of them together, growing over the years but that single moment of time captured in a frame for eternity.
He bumps my shoulder and I look up at him, pulling the corners of my lips back. “I like all the pictures.”
“Yeah, Ivy always had a camera in her hand when we were growing up. Between her and Willow, there’s no shortage of photos around here to look at.” He chuckles.
I’m about to say something when the sound of paws clacking against the hardwood travels down the hardwood.
“Good morning,” a strong voice bellows out.
Before anyone can reply, a massive German shepherd comes trotting into the kitchen.
When it sees me, it comes up and gives me a tentative sniff.
When it’s deemed me worthy, it sits obediently, waiting for attention and wagging its tail.
It almost looks like it’s smiling at me as it waits.
“We’re in here,” Ivy calls out.
“This is Lola, Coop’s police dog. Go on, you can pet her, she’s really friendly,” Miles encourages with a head nod.
I bend over and flip both hands over for her to sniff before trying to pet her.
Dogs have boundaries just like people, which I understand and always respect.
When she presses her snout into my palms and starts to lick me, I take it as my okay to give her a scratch.
She quickly rolls over to her back and exposes her belly to me which I happily pet.
“Who’s we—oh, of course,” Coop sighs. Lola looks up towards her owner and smiles wider. “You act like I never give you any love or attention, which isn’t true. I give you all the pets I can when we aren’t working and you know that.”
I chuckle at how he talks to his dog like she’s a human, continuing to give Lola the attention she’s vying for.
“Hey, Hanna, nice to see you again,” he says to me with a wave. I’m impressed he remembers my name since I’ve only met him once.
“Hi, nice to see you too. Rae told me you called her. She was awfully impressed by you,” I say, standing from where I’m petting Lola. She decides to get the love she wants elsewhere and trots over to Ivy who slips her a piece of egg from the skillet.
“I was impressed by her. She’s a wealth of knowledge and resources. I’m glad I called her; the situation was so much better handled with her help.”
“She’s good people,” I say, nodding my head knowingly.
“You think she’d be open to doing a workshop or something at the station?
It might be nice to get her insight on how to handle things from the social worker side.
Sometimes these calls really need a level-headed professional on site more than a cop,” he says heavily, pushing out a breath like a heavy weight was on his chest.
“I’m sure if you asked her, she would be totally open to talking details.
” Something about his demeanor has my senses tingling.
I can feel the heaviness he carries with him as if it’s sitting on my own two shoulders instead of his.
What is it with the men of this family taking on the entire world on their own?
“I’ll call her and set something up.” Coop nods. “Where’s my sister?”
“Not here yet,” Miles answers, slipping a piece of sausage off the plate Ivy had set out. She quickly slaps his hand and scowls at him and I have to bite back my giggles. “Carter isn’t here yet either.”
“Huh, not like those two to be late,” Coop ponders, sinking down into a chair at the dining table. Almost as if on cue, the sound of the front door closing comes from down the hall. Lola takes off to investigate and it isn’t long until a high-pitched voice can be heard.
“Hello, my little Lola bean. I missed you, yes I did, I missed you so much. You’re the cutest little deadly puppy I’ve ever seen.” The woman is speaking to the dog like she’s speaking to a baby and I can hear Cooper groan from the table.
“Please do not talk to my professional working dog like that. It messes with her brain,” he snarks.
“No, big brother, I think it messes with your brain. I think you secretly want someone to baby your big macho ass in your free time,” the girl quips, giving Cooper a once over. His only response is to roll his eyes and huff out a breath.
“Hey, Mom, sorry we’re late,” Carter says, stepping around the younger girl and leaning in to give Ivy a hug.
“No worries, my son. Everything okay?”
“Yeah, everything’s fine,” he responds like he’s out of breath.
“Did you two come together?” Miles asks, raising a brow at them.
“What?” Carter asks hastily, looking like a deer in headlights. “Oh, you meant drive here together. Yeah, we did. I picked her up.”
“Why?” It’s Cooper who speaks this time.
“Because we did, big brother. I asked Carter to pick me up so he did,” she says, crossing her arms in front of her chest.
“Are you wearing a Firehouse Nine shirt?” Miles asks, reaching over and pulling at the navy blue shirt she has on. I noticed it when she first came into the room along with the alarm bells going off in my head but I wasn’t going to be the one to say anything.
“Why are you all giving us the third degree? Jesus lord have mercy,” she huffs, rolling her eyes at the others. Then she turns and faces me with a smile. “Hi, I’m Willow.”
“I’m Hanna,” I reply, taking the hand she’s offering me and shaking it. As I look at her, I notice how bright her red hair is and wonder if it’s natural. Based on the emerald green of her eyes and the way a couple dozen freckles dance across her nose, I’m going to assume that it is.
“Are you the girlfriend?” She tucks her chin into her shoulder and gives me a half smirk as she asks.
“Willie,” Carter sneers under his breath but I still hear it. She shoots him a glare.
“I sure am,” I say back, matching her energy.
She squeals and then pulls me into a hug. “Finally! Another girl to come to breakfast. I was getting tired of these boys. They’re so annoying,” she sneers, dragging her gaze back to Carter.
“Ungrateful pain in my ass,” he mutters under his breath before moving to grab a glass out of a cabinet.
“What was that, sweetie?” Ivy asks, raising a brow at him.
He swallows hard and scowls at Willow who only smiles innocently back at him. “Nothing, Mom.”
“Breakfast is ready, kids. Wash up and grab a plate,” she calls out, spinning around from the stovetop and placing a mound of scrambled eggs onto a platter.
Miles waves a hand for me to move towards the sink to wash my hands. Once they’re dry, he hands me a plate and lets me go before him so I can get whatever I want to eat. Everyone moves in a type of assembly line to fill up their plates before heading to the table.
“Mama, do you need me to grab you anything?” he asks after showing me where to sit and setting his plate down in the space next to me. I love how he calls her ‘mama’ even though I know she’s not his mother by birth. It’s sweet watching him try to be helpful.
“Oh no, I’m fine. You just sit there with your girl and eat.
Don’t mind me,” she fusses, waving a hand at him from across the kitchen.
Miles snuffs out a laugh and shakes his head, finally lowering into the seat beside me.
When she comes to the table with her own plate, everyone around the table starts to eat.
One thing I know for certain is that while the people sitting around me might not all be blood, everyone in this home is a full family unit through and through.
As everyone starts to eat, they begin to share about how their weeks went and what’s coming up in their lives.
Ivy and Willow ask me a dozen questions about what I do for a living, both as equally interested in what I do for work as I am in Willow’s job as a nurse.
I get to hear some of the best stories from when Ivy was raising Miles and Carter, a few of them causing both of them to squirm in their seats.
No one bats an eye when I talk about my family and mention ‘my dads’ which tells me I’m in good company.
When he notices I’m out of food, Miles asks if I want more and happily gets me what I ask for.
Without even saying anything, Cooper fills up my water glass for me when he goes to fill up his own.
It’s obvious that the way Miles lives his life to serve others is a family trait.
When the plates are cleared and Cooper excuses himself to head into work, Carter and Willow share a passing glance that I notice.
“I have to work at the hospital tonight so I’m going to head out,” she says casually.
“And I’m her ride, so…I’ll see you at the station tomorrow?” he asks, looking towards Miles.
“Yep, I’ll see ya then.”
“Bye, Miles,” Willow says, walking by him. She stops and pulls me into a hug. “I like you; I hope you come back next Sunday.”
I laugh a little into her ear. “I’d love to come back. Next time I’ll have George make his cornbread biscuits for you all to try.”
“My mouth is already watering,” she says, pulling out of the hug.
“Willie, let’s go. You’re going to be late,” Carter calls from down the hall.
“Oh, I’m coming, don’t rush me,” she scolds back, stomping down the hall after him.
Miles rolls his eyes and takes my hand. “You ready to go?”
I nod in reply and look towards Ivy. “Thank you so much for having me; breakfast was amazing.”
“Of course, we’d love to see you again.”
“I’d love to come back every week if I can,” I reply earnestly.
“You two be safe now,” she says with a wave as Miles pulls me down the hall.
When we step out onto the porch, we catch a glimpse of Willow and Carter pulling down the driveway in a truck that’s similar to Miles’s but is silver instead of black. He pulls me into his chest and walks me back until the backs of my legs hit the porch railing.
“Did you really mean what you said in there?” he asks, peering down at me. I almost lose myself in the warmth of his eyes and forget to respond.
“What did I say?”
“That you’ll come back every week,” he says. There’s an apprehensiveness to his voice.
I pull him into a hug and kiss him square on the mouth when I pull away.
A shy smile creeps across my face as I look up at him because that’s how he makes me feel.
Shy but also confident. Everything is fresh and exciting with him but even in all that excitement there’s one thing I know to be true: I want to come to every Sunday breakfast if I can.
“Like you like to tell me, fireman, as long as you’ll have me, I’m here.”
He lets out a pleasant hmph and loops his arms around my shoulders, wrapping me into an embrace I never want to be free from.