"Are you sure you don't want me to help?" After being pulled into Silas's lap for a long hug filled with soft silent kisses I had been carried into our temporarily modified kitchen and deposited in one of the chairs, Silas turning towards the counter to fiddle with the picnic we had decided on to make up for the one we never got to go on yesterday, a tiny separate picnic being put together as a treat for the chickens before they melt back into being only written word... Making them a tiny picnic of their own little chopped up veggies that imitate the look of the lunch he's making for us maybe the cutest thing I've ever seen him do unprompted and of his own volition.
"Nooo, you keep your sweet ass in that chair and let me handle lunch Cuddle Bug." Silas hums as he adds the peelings of the carrot he's about to cut into sticks into one of the bowls he's designated as chicken feeders for the day, "I don't want you to cut yourself, and you should be resting."
"I'm not a baby, you know... I can cut up vegetables while sitting down and without cutting my finger off, Daddy." It's not like he doesn't know how badly I have always dreamed of standing in front of the hearth that Flinn always spent so much time at making the same kind of meals he would have made all those years ago... Even though I already feel as though I've really been able to step into his shoes today I feel like it would be the cherry on top of the entire elaborate Sunday Silas had erected for my enjoyment today.
....
Silas
...
I can't keep the smile off my face at his sass, something that has been joining us more and more lately as he really starts to adjust to our life together and his role as not only my mate but also as my Luna, his tiny shifts in power happening more and more as he grows bolder, "I know you aren't a baby, but your my Baby, and your job right now is to rest and focus on healing. I've got lunch covered, Princess."
I do want him in one piece... But the main reason I never let him help here in the kitchen is that if he's standing next to me I won't be able to focus on actually making the food... I'll just want to stop and stare at him and fuss over watching him using a knife... The other reason is that he really should keep his precious ass perched on that pillow I thought to put down on the chair before allowing him to sit down so his still healing bottom wouldn't be offended by the hardness of the chair.
"I could help you make the chicken's picnic... I could cut the bell pepper into different little shapes and stuff. Wouldn't that be cute?"
It would be absolutely fucking adorable.
...
Adrian
...
Silas pauses only long enough to shoot me a smile over his shoulder before he turns back to finishing up our lunch and placing most of it in the basket we had found in the pantry with the fresh rolls Kore or Casper had thought to conjure, a jar of jam having also been included in our simple lunch of the fresh fruits, veggies, and cheese... Something that had always sounded so delicious when Emory and Flinn would meet in secret in the middle of the night to talk and steal time with each other, Flinn's position in the kitchen making it easy for them to get away with their midnight meal...
Everything about the book is so darn romantic and Silas really had gone out of his way to make sure he got every single one of my favorite details just right... Which is why it's so frustrating that even though he's not having to use the stove he's still not letting me help.
"I think the chickens would accuse us of witchcraft if we gave them fancy-shaped veggies, Babe... And besides... I'm pretty sure that Black Chicken would rather eat vampire shaped veggies." My silly Daddy can't help but laugh at his own little joke over the fiendish hen's behavior, "And besides, look. Everything is all done."
He turns to show me the basket now hanging heavily on his arm, the chickens treats secluded to one side of the basket while ours are on the other and I can't help but swoon over the gentle expression he gives me when I manage to meet his gaze, his free hand being held out to me in a way that has me up out of my chair and wrapped around him in a heartbeat.
...
Silas
...
I let my Addy-Baby lead the way back outside, his attention drifting only once when he stops to give me a mini-history lesson on how if we were actually in the novel that the barn where Emory finds Flinn in to thank him for saving his life would actually be to the right of us, and that that is where he would like to eat our little mid-century haul, and then again when we stop to deliver upon the chickens more veggies than they ever could have expected from their temporary hosts... Another moment taken so that we can watch them go nuts for a few seconds before he tugs me along, his place under my arm feeling more and more right, the fear that I might accidentally hurt him again slowly starting to ease itself away from me as our good day continues on.
Once we get to where he wants us to be he sheds the blanket that had made its way back around his shoulders and shakes it out to lay it on the grass so we can sit on it again, the way my shirt hangs off his right shoulder as he does so highlighting just how thoroughly marked he is... How thoroughly loved he is... And it serves as another reminder that yesterday was only an accident and that I hadn't hurt my precious Bean on purpose.
When my Princess goes to sit he pulls me down with him and arranges us until we're both on our backs and looking at the clear blue sky before he shifts and cuddles himself up to me for a few precious seconds, his lips finding mine with no timidness... No hesitation...
And then he's gone, shifted back up into a sitting position with a sheepish, "Sorry... I wanted to kiss where they kissed for the first time... We're right under where the loft should be." As his cheeks flush with just the tiniest pop of color as I sit myself up and tuck a wayward curl behind his ear I can't help but be grateful that I'm so lucky to have met Adrian... And how much better I am for having him in my life... He's a sassy bookworm with a serious love of chocolate and a real gift when it comes to crocheting...
And he's all mine.