Summer Child

“Aagghhh!” She immediately ran the tap again and stuck her hand under the cold flow of water, trying and failing to see if she needed anything more than a bandaid. Her uninjured hand made a grab for the lip of the sink to steady herself - barely - as she closed her eyes for a grounding moment. The sight of her own blood instantly made her wobbly and nauseated, just like always, and it was only this that distracted her from immediately looking up to see who’d unexpectedly joined her. Suddenly, that bacon-egg-n-cheese wasn’t sitting so nicely anymore.“Whoa! Sorry, Aiden!” came a familiar, deep voice, usually booming with good cheer but now strained with concern. “Shit, I didn’t mean to scare you, I’m really sorry,” he continued, reaching for a wad of paper towels, his usually mischief-filled aquamarine eyes crinkled at the edges with worry. A strong hand wrapped around her arm as she swayed, before Mitch gently guided her to the kitchen table to sit. “Whoa, whoa… easy there, I got you

"Gosh, well… there are a lot of them flying around in there right now. But I guess I'm mostly thinking about how much everything's changed and how, for the first time, it's really hitting me. Them selling the house sort of… sends that feeling home."He nodded. "If it's any consolation, I don't think they're ready to do that just yet. They're just feeling out plans, you know? And besides… if they do decide to sell, I'm probably the one who's going to take it on." "You're really planning on staying here then? I have to say, I'm surprised, but I'm not mad about it."He laughed, giving a little shrug. "You know, it surprised me, too. I didn't start out thinking I'd end up back home, but somewhere in the middle of my residency, I started getting real homesick. Not just for my family, but for all of it. The town, the beach, just… even knowing it wasn't the same, I wanted to be back here. So, I did something kind of 'out there' and took some psychic advice. The girl I was sort of, well, ser

Jessie gave a laugh and shook her head. “Okay so… that’s because I wasn’t seeing him then, yet. We’ve been friends for a long time, though. And we got a little tipsy one night at a work thing, went back to mine, messed around, he stayed the night, you know,” she murmured under her breath with raised brows. “And then… he kind of never left?” She shook her head with a grin. “I know its all so fast, but it feels like our whole friendship was leading up to this. He proposed last week!” She let out another giggle. “My parents don’t know yet…no one does, actually. I’m only about 15 weeks along, and I wanted to be sure everything was all good before we told them in person. Actually, I’m kind of glad Mitch picked me up instead of Mom. She would be excited, but… you know.”Aiden nodded. She did indeed know. Cynthia was one of the sweetest women and best moms, but she was a little on the old-fashioned, traditional side. But Cynthia also knew her daughter and her ways quite well - Jessie had alw

"That could have gone worse," Aiden quipped as she and Mitch headed back out the door a few hours later. "To be honest, I figured once they knew a grandkid was on the way, they'd be alright." "True," Aiden agreed, shaking her head with a laugh.Cynthia had been all geared up to go off on Jessie's lack of notice about a guest, but Jessie artfully intercepted her mother's protests as she pulled Jacob inside to speak with both her parents. Cynthia simply raised her hands to the heavens with a shake of her head and followed them inside after pausing to greet Jacob. Because if there was one truth about Cynthia, she was a stickler for good manners and being a good hostess, and no family uproar would detract from that.Aiden and Mitch had hung back to allow them a few moments, making small talk, and after a happy cry sounded from inside, they exchanged a grin and headed in to find both parents hugging and kissing Jessie and Jacob, their excitement quickly palpable. Cynthia and Paul next ma

“That was… interesting,” Aiden said, still looking at the photo. In it, her Nan was holding the soldier’s hand with both of hers and making doe eyes at him while he was smiling adoringly down at her. She hadn’t been a short woman, but the soldier, a darkly handsome, clean-shaven man of about twenty, towered over her. Mitch moved to look over her shoulder, pressing closer than she would call strictly platonic and she felt her breath hitch deliciously in her throat as she pressed just slightly against him in turn. He felt warm, and sturdy, and was just enough of a distraction for the moment from the photo in her hands. She placed it down on the table and turned to look up at him, questions pouring from her gaze as it met his, but she only found a content, determined look there in return. “What are we even doing?” She breathed out, finally putting words to the flirtatious but evasive feeling that had permeated throughout the entire day and evening.“This,” he said, simply, before slidin