Page 42 of Peach Tree Family

"That cat, I swear," Seth said relieved that Butter didn't scare Sammy.

"You were ready to go in for the rescue," Hannah accused him.

"She's so little. I thought Butter might have scared her."

Sammy heard him and called out to correct him, "Butterfly!"

"We call her Butter," Ace told her.

"But you said her name is Butterfly. Butterfly is a good name," Sammy said.

"Your full name isn't Sammy, you know," Hannah said.

"I know," Sammy said. "But Butter is food."

"And Sammy is a sandwich," Shawn said.

"I am not a sammich," Sammy told him with a frown.

"We can call her Butterfly sometimes so she doesn't forget," Ace said to try and make peace.

"Is that good enough for you, Miss Bossy Pants?" Hannah asked Sammy.

"I'm not bossy pants," Sammy told her then she turned to Ace with pleading eyes. "You don't think I'm bossy pants, do you, Ace?"

Ace took a minute to come out with a long, drawn out "Noooo" that could only have a question mark at the end of it, but Sammy just nodded and smiled, satisfied.

"You're not gonna ask me?" Shawn said to her.

Sammy shook her head. "You're not Ace."

"You can't argue with that," his sister informed him.

"What's so special about him?" Shawn asked looking sideways at Ace who was petting Butter.

Sammy was ready with an answer. "Ace has a kitty and he has nice hair."

"My aunt said I should cut it off," Ace told her.

"No, you should never cut it," Sammy said to him.

"Never?" Ace said.

"Never," she said very seriously.

"I should get the kids a snack, right?" Seth asked Theo. "We have those cookies. Maybe milk too?"

"I'll get it. You can..."

Seth knew Theo was going to tell him to hang out with Hannah, so he stopped him. "No. I got it." He wanted to leave Theo and Hannah to talk, maybe get their issues sorted.

Balancing three glasses of milk and the bag of cookies, Seth came back out just in time to hear Hannah saying, "Maybe I'm into the strong and silent type."

Seth glanced at Theo, and saw he was glaring at him like he wanted to kill him. What the hell was going on now?

Theo was strong and silent for sure. Was Hannah hitting on him? Seth started to wonder if that was why she wanted to come over. She did change before they came, and she did say Theo was a hottie. And being hard on Theo might have been her way of covering up what she was up to.

Glad to be away from them, Seth delivered the snack to the kids on the front porch steps.

---