A Walk to Eden

18

I help Karen wash the dishes and help put away the lovely dinner we had. "The meal was really good Karen." I smile. She laughs.

"Well, I wasn't the only one to make it." I turn to her and she smiles. "Jake and Josh helped." I nod and continue helping her. I hear footsteps walk into the kitchen. I turn around and see Josh.

"Hey. Can I talk to you?" He asks. I look at Karen and she nods. I wipe my hands and follow him.

"What's wrong?" I ask. He turns to me and shakes his head.

"I have to apologize." He sighs. "I feel bad for what I'm about to say, but I need to get it off my chest." I nod for him to continue. "I really do like you. Your the woman of my dreams. But I can't be the man you deserve. Not right now." He says.

"Oh." I answer.

"I'm sorry." He looks down. Oh Josh.

"It's okay." He looks back to me and I smile. "Thank you for being honest."

"I really do like you. And I want to see where things go. But I can't give you, or Eden, what you need. Not now. But I promise one day I will." He says. I smile at him and give him a tight hug.

"Thank you." I say. We let go and he walks to his room and I walk back to the kitchen. I see Karen standing there. "You heard?" I ask. She nods. I sigh. "I feel bad. But i rather him be honest." She nods again.

"Can i ask a question?" She says. I nod. "Eden's dad, is he in the picture?" I quickly shake my head no. "Oh." I look down. "If i may ask, why is that?" I look at her and tears start to form.

"I don't like talking about it much." I say. She softly smiles and I nod to her. We both turn towards the back door when we hear shouting. I look outside and I see Sam running with Eden heading towards the house. I bolt outside and run faster than I have in a long time.

*Sam POV*

I have Eden in my arms and we're running towards the house. Running as fast as I can with out dropping Eden i see her mom run out of the house. She meets us halfway and she's out of breath. She looks at Eden concerned.

"What's wrong?" She asks. Me and Eden look at her and laugh. As soon as we do we hear a big sound and turn and look up at the sky. A big blue firework explodes and fills the night. I look at Eden and her mom as they look up in awe. I can see the light of the firework in her eyes. Big brown eyes with little shimmers of blue. I smile down at her and she looks at me. "Is this why you were running?" She asks. I nod and she smiles. "Guess that was a good reason." We laugh and I set Eden on my shoulders to watch the guys light more.

"This is awesome!" Eden yells throwing her hands up. Her mom looks up and Eden and grins. That beautiful smile takes my breath away. She turns her head to watch the fireworks again. Her dark hair swoops and frames her face. She shivers and wraps her arms around her frame. I step closer and she looks at me. I smile at her and she lays her head on my shoulder. Feeling overly confident I wrap my arm around her waist. She sighs and smiles back up to the sky. I look up and see golden fireworks explode.

"This is how you make me feel." She looks up at me with a confused look. "Excitement. Colorful. Beautiful. You and Eden are like fireworks to me. And I feel them when I'm around you both." Eden pulls my face up to look at her.

"And don't you forget it!" She giggles. We all laugh and look back towards the boys. Jake waves his arms and we start walking back. I take Eden off my shoulders and she goes running towards Jake. It's just me and her mom walking side by side. I feel her arm brush mine. I bend my arm out.

"My lady. Would you like me to escort you to the royal bon fire?" I mimic a terrible British accent and she laughs and throws her head back.

"Why thank you kind sir." She giggles and loops her arm through mine. We walk like that until we see the boys and Eden gathered around a big pile of wood.

"So Eden, when making a fire, make sure there's a little gap in the center. That will help your fire receive oxygen and it won't burn out." Jake says. Eden nods.

"Let's get this thing burning shall we?" Danny laughs. Jake pours lighter fluid all over the pile and Josh grabs the blow torch. When we see Josh walk up to the fire, we all take a couple steps back.

"Oh this is gonna be good." I chuckle. Josh barely touches the pile of wood before it erupts in flames. Eden throws her arms up and starts chanting. Josh laughs and starts following her. Danny and Jake joins in and they all start dancing and chanting things around the fire.

"Oh lord." Eden moms laughs. I look at her and smile. After a while of roasting s'mores and laughing, I notice Eden's eyes slowly shutting. I peek over to her mom and see her deep in conversation with Danny. I sneak Eden away and take her inside. Mom is sitting on the couch reading, and pats next to her.

"I'll stay here with her. You kids go have fun." She smiles. I nod and cover Eden with a small blanket. I walk back outside and see Eden's mom walking towards me.

"Where's Eden?" She asks.

"Inside with mom. She was tired so I put her on the couch." I say. She nods and stands there. "You want a drink?" She looks at me and seems hesitant. "It's okay. You guys can sleep over. We've got plenty of room and you and I know Eden is impossible to move when she's knocked out." She laughs and starts walking back to the fire. When we sit back down I had her a beer and she takes a sip.

"So. What's your thoughts on drinking?" Jake asks Eden's mom. She shrugs her shoulders.

"Was never really a drinker. But I smoked a lot." She says casually. We all look at her and she peeks back up. "I stopped when I got pregnant though."

"That's not the part we are surprised on." Danny says.

"Yeah. We never thought you were the one to smoke." Josh follows.

"Well. You guys never asked." She giggled.

"Well. Good thing you guys are staying over." I say. She looks at me confused and I nod over to Josh. He reaches in his pocket and pulls out a small bag. Her eyes widen and she looks at him.

"Oh no." She throws her hands up. "I haven't smoked in years. I have zero tolerance."

"It's fine if you don't want to, but it's okay if you do. We don't judge, and you don't have to take a lot." Jake says. She looks at me and I nod. She agrees and Josh hands her the joint. She sighs and put the joint to her lips. She lights in and slowly inhales. She takes a bigger puff than Danny does.

"Well damn." I say and she passes the joint to Danny. They all laugh and whistle at her. She smiles and takes a drink.

"That actually goes down pretty smooth. I like it." She smiles. Danny takes a puff or two out of it and he passes it on. She leans next to my ear. I feel her hair swoop and it tickled my neck. She leans in close. "Your going to have to babysit me." She giggles. I feel my cheeks get hot from how close she was. I swallow and nod to her. She sits back up and chugs the rest of her drink. I feel a tap on my shoulder and Josh hands me the joint.

"Finish it off brother." He laughs. I finish the joint and put it out under my shoe. When I look up I see Eden's mom staring at me. I smile at her, and I see her cheeks get red.

"Don't do that." She says.

"Do what?" I ask.

"Smile like that." She blushes again. I shake my head and laugh. This is going to be an interesting night.