Page 14 of Two Hearts Reunited

Because he’d said them too.

Eric heaved a sigh. He might as well take another shower to start the day. Peeking through the back window, he could see that the driveway had been plowed and it appeared that Brian was returning from somewhere down the road. Most likely, he’d been helping a few neighbors. That’s just the way he was. It looked like there was close to a foot of snow out there near the edge of the property, so Brian had to have been out there for at least a few hours.

Eric grinned. He hadn’t heard a thing.

Another twenty minutes later, he walked upstairs and opened the door that led into the kitchen.

Brian and Ashley were both sitting at the kitchen table with Arielle mucking up food in her highchair nearby.

When she saw Eric, Arielle slapped her fists together, squealing loudly.

“Well, good morning to you too, Arielle,” Eric said, grinning.

“Morning, bro,” Brian said.

“How’d you sleep?” Ashley asked, standing and approaching the coffee pot, reaching for a mug. After filling the mug, she handed it over.

“Thank you,” Eric replied, approaching the island and taking a seat on a stool. “I slept well. I didn’t hear a thing outside or even here in the kitchen.”

“That’s Ashley’s soundproofing,” Brian answered, standing and pouring more coffee for himself.

“Have you guys eaten?” Eric asked.

“Not yet,” Ashley replied.

“How about I make breakfast? I’m a pretty good cook,” Eric said.

Ashley’s eyes went wide. “Really? Sure. But only if you really want to. I don’t mind cooking at all.”

“It’ll be fun cooking in a modern kitchen. I don’t get much of a chance,” Eric said, finishing his coffee in one single gulp.

Standing, he approached the stove, checking out the selection of copper bottom pots and pans hanging above on a decorative rack.

“Those are just for show,” Ashley said, grinning. “It’s easier to use the nonstick pans below in the cabinet. I’ll get them out for you.”

“What items have you got for me to cook?”

“Eggs, bacon, frozen hash browns. The usual,” Ashley replied. “The fridge is packed for company anyway, so you can use whatever you want. What would you like to make?”

He grinned. “I might as well have all of it if you’re both hungry?”

“Oh, yeah,” Brian replied, rubbing his hands together as he stood from the table. “Ashley, why don’t you just sit down and take care of Arielle while Eric and I show you how it’s done.”

Pausing from grabbing multiple items from inside the refrigerator, Ashley started laughing.

* * *

A few hours later, Eric was sitting and rocking Arielle while she dozed in his arms. Ashley and Brian were upstairs getting ready to leave the house. Since the roads had already been cleared and the sun was shining, they’d decided that the four of them might as well make a run to the tree farm to choose their Christmas tree.

They packed into Brian’s truck, Eric insisting on sitting beside Arielle in the backseat where she was strapped into her car seat, the seat purposely positioned backwards which Brian told him was required by law since it kept newborns safer.

Eric grinned as he tickled her nose. She’d been dressed in a thick warm snowsuit, and was wearing tiny little boots and gloves so that her eyes and nose were about the only parts of her that weren’t covered.

“You have to feel like you’re wearing a straitjacket, Arielle, and on top of that, you don’t even get to see how pretty everything looks covered in snow,” Eric said. She must have been able to hear him because she started bumping her covered fists together.

Brian grinned into the rearview mirror. “Ashley does tend to go a little overboard with making sure Arielle’s kept warm. But a little fresh air outside at the tree farm has got to be good for her.”

“The last thing I want is for her to get sick. Especially with this COVID stuff going around,” she muttered. “They just don’t seem to know enough about it yet, even though they claim that kids aren’t much affected.”

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