A Walk to Eden

5

We were laughing. Aside from me and Eden, there was hardly ever much laughter in the house. It was nice.

We talked about the band, music, movies. Eden chimes in talking about certain albums and the boys were impressed.

"How old are you Eden?" Jake asked.

"I'm four!" Eden yelled.

"Four?" Sammy asked.

"Mhm! And I can read and write already. Mama started teaching me how to read when I started talking full sentences. Right mama?" She asked. I nodded and they all looked at me in shock.

"Is she in school?" Danny asked. I shook my head. "Why not?"

"She is way ahead. She took a test at the school she was going to, and they said she knows everything second graders do. But they wouldn't let her join the class because she was four. So I decided to keep doing what I was by teaching her myself. She's homeschooled." I said. Eden nodded in agreement.

"Well. Nothing wrong with that. I think it's good she's ahead." Josh said smiling back at Eden.

"I think so too." She said. They all laughed.

"The food was delicious by the way." Sam sighed patting his full stomach. "Do you guys always eat like this?" He asked.

"Mama loves to cook. And she's very good at it." Eden said. "But we don't eat meat." She stated pointing her fork at Sam.

"And why's that?" Danny asked.

"Because. We have nothing against other people doing it. We just choose not to." Eden said looking at me. I nodded. "We eat from the garden mostly. Mama has a green thumb. And I'm learning how to grow peppers!" She yelled smiling. She always wants to help. So I helped her with her own little garden.

"That's great!" Jake smiled.

We finished eating and Eden pulled Jake and Sam to the music room again. I started stacking the plates and cups to wash when Danny came over.

"Hey, I don't want to seem rude, but I gotta get home. Today was awesome and I hope to hangout again soon." He said.

"Eden had lots of fun. And your always welcome here Danny. Drive home safe." I said. He smiled and told Eden bye and went home.

I was getting the dishes into the sink when I heard the record player turn on. I turned around and saw Josh putting on a record.

"What are you doing?" I giggled.

"Putting on some tunes." He said smirking. The music started and it was my song. 'Lipstick Traces' by 'The Amazing Rhythm Aces'. I smirked at Josh and shook my head. "Go on! Sing!"

"No no. I don't sing." I said.

"That's a lie. Come on. Sing for me." He laughed. I giggled and started washing dishes and swaying back and forth. Humming along I peeked over to see him watching me. He just smiled at me. "Go on. Sing." We laughed and I started singing. It started to get into the main part of the song and i just sang. I didn't like singing in front of people but he made me feel comfortable. He walked over to me and leaned on the counter to listen better. His smile was contagious. I started dancing and spun around in circles. He was laughing, not at me, but with me. This never happened with Eden's dad. I wanted to stay in this moment forever. I grabbed his hands and made him dance with me. We were dancing and laughing. He was by far the better singer but we didn't care. It was just us. The music stopped and so did we. Still holding each other, I realized how close we were. Our faces inches away. I looked at him and he looked at me and down to my lips. He looked back into my eyes, as if asking for permission. I nodded. I didn't realize how beautiful he was up close. He leaned in. We were so close to kissing...

"Mama!" Eden came running into the kitchen. We pulled apart quickly. And the warmth went away.

"Yes Eden?" I asked.

"Jake was wanting to know if he can teach me guitar?" She asked. Jake stood in the doorway looking at us. I looked up at him and smiled. I looked at Eden and nodded. "YES!" She jumped up and down and high fived Jake and went running back to the room. Jake laughed and followed after her. It was just me and Josh alone again. I peeked over at him, and saw he was smiling and staring. Again.

"What is it with you and staring at me?" I laughed.

He shook his head. "Your just beautiful to look at." He blushed. I looked down and felt the heat run into my cheeks. I shook my head and laughed. We finished the dishes with giggles and peeks at each other. After we were done, I went up to the music room to find Eden curled up in Sam's lap while Jake played the ukulele.

"She's out." Jake chuckled.

"Do you want me to put her in her bed?" Sam asked. I nodded and went with him to her room. I peeled back her covers and he gently laid her down. "Good night Eden." He whispered. He left the room and i covered her back up, and kissed her cheek. I saw the boys getting their shoes on in the living room so I went to say goodbye.

"Thank you guys for today. Eden had an amazing time." I smiled.

"Anything for her. She's my little buddy now." Sam said.

"And she learns fast. She'll be easy to teach guitar to." Jake said lacing up his shoes.

"Thank you." I said. Jake and Sam said goodbye and left for the truck. Josh was grabbing his jacket and looked at me.

"I had a great time too. Thank you for dinner and letting us join you." Josh said.

"Your welcome." I smiled.

"I do hope you enjoyed it as much as Eden did." He laughed.

"I definitely did." I said walking Josh to the door. He smiled and went to step outside when I grabbed his hand. He spun around and I quickly kissed him on the cheek. He blushed and I definitely did too. I looked down quickly then back up. "Come over for breakfast tomorrow." I said.

Josh smiled and nodded his head. He said goodbye and left.

I crawled into bed and went to bed smiling. I never did that. Not until now.