Song of the South

Long talks

He told her that they would talk once everyone left for the night and all the kids were in bed. She swallowed hard but nodded in understanding. Once Lane was asleep, Eric slid off the bed then helped Kinsey off it too. Knowing he had probably freaked her out, he pulled her close to him and just held her there for a few minutes. She finally pulled away from him and then smiled up at him. Walking down stairs, people were still packing and loading moving trucks. Barry was out back grilling up some hamburgers for everyone.

She knew she needed to talk to Eric. It still didn’t ease her mind about what he could want to talk to her about. She tried to help pack and load, after all it was because of her that all this was needing to be done, but the kids suddenly wanted her to play with them. She told Bella to head upstairs and pick out a book. Her youngest sister quickly went to fetch a couple books. While the girl was fetching a book, Kinsey led the rest of the kids back into the house and had a seat on the floor in the living room.

Once the hamburgers were done, Kellie and Lori went around to tell everyone that dinner was ready. Eric was coming through the house to make himself a plate but stopped when he saw Kinsey reading to her siblings. He went on to the kitchen but quickly returned to listen to her reading. Barry and Lori found seats next to Eric with Brent following shortly after them. Zach was eating outside with some of Kellie and Eric’s friends.

It was getting late, once everyone had finished eating, so Eric thanked everyone for their help. Most told them they’d return the following morning which Eric was very thankful for. Barry would be taking the first Uhaul truck to the new house first thing in the morning to start getting it unloaded. Kinsey had started giving Lane a bath in the kitchen sink while Daisy was taking a bath in the upstairs bathroom.

Kinsey got Lane settled in his crib before giving Hayden and Bella their baths. Jesse was sitting downstairs talking with Eric about a treehouse. The bassist knew he had to get Barry to help him build a treehouse for the kids. Kinsey called for Jesse so Eric nodded towards the stairs. The house was in disarray but he knew they had to have this conversation with Kinsey. A little while later, he headed upstairs to change into his pajama bottoms. She was reading to Hayden & Bella who were both nearly asleep.

He waited for her to finish the story before asking her to follow him. She closed the book, leaned over to kiss each child on the forehead, and then followed the tall man down the hall into his room. He shut the door so they wouldn’t wake any of the kids. She tentatively had a seat at the edge of his bed while he turned on the bedside lamp.

“Kinsey, we need to talk.” He cautiously stated

“Yes.” She swallowed, “We do.”

“I think you need to know how I feel about you. I don’t know what you want or what is really going on between us but I think we need to figure it out.” He explained, turning his body towards her

She nodded, wanting to hear what he had to say.

“I hope you know how much I like you. I’m very attracted to you. I want to spend time with you. I want to call you mine.” He said, taking her right hand in his

He was seriously wanting to be with her? To be her…boyfriend?!

“I…” She sighed and looked away, “The…. All I ever did was take care of my dad, and Daisy, and the farm. Going to school online was hard enough through everything but then mom started dropping off infants.”

“So you’ve never dated before? Anyone?” He asked, amazed

She shook her head no but refused to look him in the eyes.