Cherished

32

"Hi, Eva. I'm Dr. Crawford," the lady smiled kindly. "I'm glad that you will be joining Pierce and I today."

Dr. Crawford was Pierce's therapist. Miles and Graham had been joining Pierce for a few of his sessions, and now it was her turn. Pierce had asked her so nicely, and she couldn't deny him of anything.

"Pierce gave me a brief overview of your past. I understand you might feel uncomfortable talking about it, so what if we started by you telling me a little bit about who you are now."

Eva took a moment before she answered. Who was she now?

"I like to read," Eva offered, unsure of what else to say. She glanced up at Pierce who looked nothing but soft as he gazed down at her. His arm was stretched behind her, thumbing her hair.

"And bake," Pierce added.

"Those are great hobbies. I'm sure you keep these boys well fed," Dr. Crawford said, smiling.

Eva nodded eagerly.

It was kind of nice to be able to talk about her relationship so openly. They all preferred to keep it private. Graham's work was so public that they were aware of how it could hurt him.

Everyone that lived in the house was aware of it, but Graham and Pierce were private people, so it was never made an official thing.

"I have two best friends, Kenzie and Bri."

"And they live here, too?"

Eva nodded.

It was a slow and bit exhausting process. Eva didn't like talking to someone she didn't know, but the therapist was pleasant. It was obvious that it had done good things for Pierce these past few weeks.

Eva considered if she should start seeing Dr. Crawford on her own. She knew she wasn't a burden to her boyfriends, but she never wanted to be. She didn't want to leave her past unresolved. She didn't want to feel the remnants of pain when it was brought up.

Dr. Crawford left Graham's office, leaving Pierce and Eva on the couch. Eva was appreciative of the silence that gave her the chance to process everything.

Silence never lasted long with Miles. Graham wasn't far behind.

"There's our pretty girl," Miles cooed, coming over to her. He lifted her up off of the couch and into his embrace. She kissed his cheek.

"She did such a good job," Pierce said, and Eva felt light from his praise. It meant a lot to her that they saw her efforts.

Miles passed her to Graham.

"You are so brave, honey," Graham cooed. "We know it isn't easy for you."

"It's not easy for any of us," she said. "I'm tired of carrying it."

"Yeah?" Graham asked, nuzzling her face with his cheek. His beard tickled her and she giggled. "Think you might want your own appointment?"

Eva nodded.

"Miles and I had actually decided the same thing," Graham said.

"Really?" Pierce asked curiously.

Graham set Eva onto her feet.

"Of course," Miles said. "I finally feel complete. I'm ready to move on."

Pierce reached for Miles, pulling him into his embrace.

"I think we have two sweet babies," Pierce said to Graham with a small smirk.

"Three," Graham corrected.

"Four," Eva said, jumping out of the way when Graham went to tickle her. Her laughter fell effortlessly.

"You are spending too much time with Miles. Goofball," Graham said, holding her captive against him with one arm and torturing her by digging his fingers under her arms. She continued to laugh helplessly.

He kissed her cheek, letting her settle.

Eva glanced at the time.

"I'm supposed to be helping Rosetta with dinner," Eva said.

Graham relaxed his grip, and she turned to give him a proper kiss. She moved to Pierce and Miles to give them a kiss too, before leaving the office

---

"Graham got the pool all fixed up," Bri said to Eva as she stirred the huge pot of macaroni and cheese. "We can go swimming now."

"I don't know," Eva mumbled. She didn't have a bathing suit, and even if she did, the idea of being in such little clothing bothered her.

"We can go out to get you a bathing suit tomorrow," Kenzie said, sliding the tray of rolls into the oven.

"It's just so much skin," Eva admitted.

"There are a lot of different kinds. We can one that covers a lot more," Bri said. "You will not catch me wearing some string bikini."

Kenzie giggled. "You would for Van."

Bri wadded up the kitchen towel, throwing it at Kenzie who jumped away.

"Hey," Rosetta scolded, stepping inside from where she was outside grilling. "Don't be throwing my nice towels around. We have rags for that."

Bri reached into the cabinets for plates, giggling as she went.