CAKE

Seventy-Eight

Casey 

Glancing down at my phone, I check my messages, smiling a little as I notice an incoming text. I open the message and reply, confirming the date and expressing my nervousness and excitement about it. "What are you smiling at?" Edwin questions, sitting on the couch with a bag of chips in his hand.

Cassie comes around the couch, glancing at her father and begging for a chip. He eyes her, "It's hot baby, are you sure you can handle it?" he questions, holding a hot Cheeto between his thumb and index finger. Cassie nods her head, wanting to be like her father. She takes the chip from him and sloppily places it in her mouth.

Immediately, she scrunched her nose and shuts her eyes but continues to push through.

I can't help but smile at how cute she is. Eddie glances at me once again. "Who are you texting?" he questions, realizing I haven't answered his question from a minute ago. I smile softly. "A friend, I have a date tonight," I mutter.

The man raises his brows in surprise. "Really? With who?" he continues his investigation. "Diana and Cane introduced us... or rather they suggested for us to talk and we started texting last month. Her name's Mallory, she's pretty nice so I decided to meet her, "I smile softly at the thought.

Edwin smiles, "Well congratulations. Though, truthfully, I didn't think you'd be going on dates this soon."

Rolling my eyes, I shake my head. "It's not like that. We're just friends."

He hums, "You say that while smiling like an idiot just at the thought of meeting her. Just friends you say. Are you sure it's nothing more than that?"

I sigh. "I'm sure. I'm not at all ready to move on from Ryn and I just can't see myself with anyone other than her. And she has someone she loves too so our relationship is purely platonic," I spit. Brown eyes remain on me for a few seconds until he feels his daughter grabbing the bag of chips from him.

He watches in disbelief as she digs her slobbery fingers into the bag grabbing two chips. She grabs one with her other hand and begins chomping down on one cheeto, once again scrunching her nose and squeezing her eyes tight, being the cutest kid ever.

The front door opens, revealing Cassandra, Steven, Heaven, and Haven. Tonight was date night for Emily and Sophia so Cass agreed to take them for the rest of the week. Which pretty much means she's kicking me to sleep on the couch while Steven takes Cassie's room and the twins take the guest bedroom.

It was fine since Cassie spends most of her nights with her parents as she never wants to be away from Eddie. I find that cute about them. I always imagined Cassie would be a mama's girl but she's sure surprised me.

"Aunt Casey!" Haven makes her way to me with a grand smile.

I return the gesture, pulling her into a hug, and noticing her backpack on her back. "Oh, you guys had school today?" I question, feeling bad for them. At least they weren't in high school yet so I knew it wasn't too bad for them. Now, Steven on the other hand was a freshman, him, I felt bad for.

Haven nods her head, "They changed my schedule so now I only have one class with Heaven. But I still have many classes with Daisy," she mutters happily.

I raise my brows. "Oh yeah? Who's Daisy?" I question. The blonde blushes as she thinks about her friend causing me to smile softly as I poke her side. "Your crush?" I question. She giggles and shakes her head, denying my claim.

"Yes she is, she never stops talking about Daisy. Daisy this... Daisy that," Steven mutters with a sigh. I chuckle and turn to the boy, pulling him into a hug. "Hey you, how are you? How's school?" I question.