I cooked meatballs and spaghetti, as requested by all the guys and as always Evan had a special request for cookies.
“Need some help?” I jumped at Kitty’s voice.
“You scared me.” I said clutching my chest.
“Sorry” she shrugged moving closer.
“Can you mix the sauce?”
“This?” she pointed at the pan and frowned.
“How do I mix?” I looked over at her, she was staring at the mixture like it was an alien.
“Get the spoon,” she picked it up “Then just go round in circles”
She started to mix and looked at me from under her eyelashes, I nodded to confirm that she was doing it right and got on with the meatballs.
It was a relief to have someone helping. She set the table when she finished mixing and before I knew it they were all coming in the front door like a herd of elephants.
“Where’s my girl?” Miss Maggie shouted.
Butterflies took flight in my stomach, I wiped my hands on a hand towel and went into the hall.
“I’m here.” My eyes filled with tears when I saw her, I’d missed her more than I realized. I went straight into her open arms and breathed her in.
“How are you?” I croaked when I pulled back.
“I’m good dear,” she held onto my hand “The question is, how are you?”
I looked at all the people that were surrounding us, each one had welcomed me and looked after me and Eli. I couldn’t have asked for a better family, and that’s exactly what they were to us now, family.
“I’m doing okay” I smiled at Ty and led Miss Maggie into the living room “Do you want something to drink?”
“I’ll have some tea please dear” of course she would.
Ty followed me into the kitchen and leaned against the kitchen counter.
“She’s a little crazy.”
“I know,” I chuckled
“All she talked about with Eli were cartoons and superheroes”
“She tends to do that.” I put the pasta in the pot of boiling water.
“Smells great,” Ty moaned, leaning down and waving his hand over the pan and back towards his face. His eyes were closed and he had a look of absolute pleasure on his face.
My mind immediately went back to the kiss the other day. Shaking my head I concentrated on the food.
There was another good thing about having men in my life that liked to help out, they carried the food to the table. Now I know it isn’t an obvious thing, but have you ever tried to carry a big bowl full of spaghetti?
Heavy. Really heavy.
We all sat and ate, with Miss Maggie in between Eli and Evan. They had their own conversation going on and it was nice to see Miss Maggie enjoying herself and fitting right in. Most chatter stopped when they were all eating, something I found hilarious. These men talked nonstop but put food in front of them and they went completely silent.
Once I had finished eating I sat back and watched them all, it was amazing that I had found these people. Luke and Evan were like brothers to me and uncles to Eli.
Kitty had taken a little longer to get to know and I honestly didn’t know if I knew her fully. I had a feeling she kept a lot of secrets, but I understood that.