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“Please come inside, Liv. Just for a moment. We’re going to meet Mommy’s cousin and her two little babies. They’re just three months old. They must be so sweet and tiny.”
Liv peered from behind Jessie’s leg, but the moment she didn’t find a woman with babies but a six-foot tall man standing there, she whiffed her head.
Declan got on one knee. “Hi Liv. I don’t know if you remember me, but I am so glad to see you again. The twins are waking up from their naptime. We’re about to have pancakes. Do you like pancakes?”
Liv’s eyes widened for a second, but she still clung to Jessie’s shirt. She tugged her mother down. “Do they have syrup?”
“I don’t know, sweetie,” Jessie smiled. She looked over at Declan and cocked her head, “Do you have syrup?”
Declan opened his mouth to answer her, when he felt a warm hand on his bicep. Bree made her presence known so he wouldn’t accidentally knock her over by turning around.
“Hey! Did I hear someone say syrup? I love syrup. But do you know what’s also awesome on a pancake?” Bree asked with her eyes solely focused on Liv.
Liv eyed Bree for a moment as she stood there, holding Dean in her arms. Their son was grabbing a hold on one of his mom’s curls. Bree winced when Dean yanked a curly strand down. Declan quickly untangled his son’s fingers from Bree’s hair.
Declan met Bree’s smiling face and gave her a quick kiss. He turned around and watched Liv relax a bit at the sight of baby Dean. Liv let go of her mother’s shirt and took her mother’s hand.
“I like peanut butter and banana on my pancake,” Bree said.
The five-year-old scrunched up her nose. “Yuck!”
Bree laughed and said, “I know! I’ve got the weirdest taste buds since I’ve been pregnant. It’s till not back to normal.”
“Ooh, I remember! I used to eat scrambled eggs and bacon every day while pregnant with Liv. In the middle of the night sometimes. Now I can’t stand the smell.”
“Oh,” Declan said, because he was about to serve exactly that. Scrambled eggs with crispy bacon were his favorite. It probably was the only thing he was good at making.
Bree giggled. “We have other things, don’t worry. Please come inside! I’m Bree, by the way. And this is our son, Dean.”
Before Jessie could respond, she turned around at a yell from across the street.
“Tommy Aiden Mills! Get your butt over here, now!”
Declan noticed Tommy storming off towards them, like a broken free puppy. Declan smiled while figuring the only thing missing was his tongue hanging out the side of his mouth.
“Hey, Tommy. I think I heard your dad calling out your name. Am I right?” Bree said in her teacher’s voice.
“Yes, Miss Bree.”
“You need to listen to your father, Tommy,” Bree said.
Tommy held still before Liv and said, “I know you.”
Liv stuck out her chin. “Oh? Never seen you before.”
“Nuh-ah. You go to Miss Kate’s class.” Tommy put his thumb against his chest and said, “I’m in Miss Bree’s class. She lives here. And I live there,” he pointed across the street where his father was stomping on the asphalt to get his son back into the house.
“But Miss Bree had two babies. And I had Mister Craig. But after the summer, I’m getting Miss Bree again.”
“You had Mister Craig?” Liv asked. She looked like she wanted to say something of the likes of feeling sorry for Tommy, but withheld. She grabbed her Mom’s leg again the minute Keenan had reached their gathering in front of Dec’s front door.
“Didn’t I tell you to never cross the street without looking?Andthat you always need to tell me first whenever you want to go see Miss Bree or the babies? You can’t go over here all day, every day.”
“Keen. It’s okay,” Bree said. She ran her hand over Tommy’s golden hair while holding Dean firmly in her other arm. Declan wanted to remember this sight forever.
“Oh, I’m sorry. We just interrupted you. I’m Keenan Mills, Dec’s cousin. And this tornado chaser is Tommy.”
Keenan held out his hand for Jessie, who eyed the tall Mills cousin up and down. She giggled at Tommy being introduced as a tornado chaser. Keenan wore grey sweatpants and a white, simple T-shirt with a V-neck, like he’d just got out of bed. His inky hair stood to all sides, so it made sense.
