5 Reasons To Love Again

Chapter 44

Downstairs Lexine was still keeping herself entertained. Not wanting to leave her alone for so long today, I took her out into the backyard and played chase with her. We had a great time and I felt like I was out of shape running after her. She definitely had more energy than I did! Finally I had to sit on a bench and rest while she still buzzed around. I smiled watching her having fun and felt myself completely relax. I looked around at the backyard and the house and I thought to myself that we were going to grow old and stay here. That this was the house that Lexine would grow up in. Maybe there would even be more kids in the future. I smiled at that thought.

Eventually I thought that it was time to go inside and see about having a late lunch with Lexine and checking on Wyatt. The soup was pretty much done except for one more additional ingredient. Before I started on that I took some bread out of the freezer and popped it in the oven. I got the stainless steel mixing bowl from the hands free mixer on the counter and put in flour, eggs, milk with a sprinkle of salt. Opening a drawer I found the dough hook attachment and put it on. Locking the bowl into place I turned on the mixer. After a couple of minutes of adding a little more flour the dough was finally ready and I brought out the other attachments of dough roller and noodle cutter.  Soon the soup had egg noodles floating throughout it and the bread was ready.

Calling in Lexine from the living room, I set steaming bowls of soup down and with some warm sliced bread. We ate happily, chatting with each other about the different things here and how nice it was. Lexine even confided that she really liked the guys. That made me happy because if she wasn't wanting to stay with them, I wouldn't no matter how much I wanted to. My daughter meant everything to me and I was all she had left. I asked her if she wanted to stay here and not leave. Surprisingly, she brightened and nodded enthusiastically.

"Let's stay always! Nobody is mean to us here."

"OK, we will then. The guys want us to stay here and be a family. So we will." I said smiling at her. I knew that I would have to tell the guys our answer soon. They were going to be so happy!

Taking the bowls and plates into the kitchen, I put them into the dishwasher. Poking around the different cabinets, I found a tray with handles and a thermos. I filled the thermos with soup and closed it tightly. Taking a couple slices of bread, I wrapped them in a paper towel and put all that on the tray along with a bowl and spoon. I had Lexine grab all of her pictures and follow me. When we reached the stairs I set the tray down and took Lexine down the hallway of offices and went into Wyatt's. I remembered seeing the tape dispenser on his desk. Grabbing it we made our way back to the stairs. I handed the tape to Lexine and picked up the tray again. We went upstairs and walked to Wyatt's room.

Before I opened his door, I told Lexine to wait for me in the doorway and not to come inside. She nodded and I opened the door and went inside with the tray. Wyatt was still dozing so I set the tray down on a nightstand and took the pictures and tape from Lexine. She watched from the doorway while I taped her pictures all around his room. When I was done, she smiled and nodded with satisfaction. I walked out of the room to her and we got a few things from our room to keep her occupied. I had her sit in the hallway in front of Wyatt's room while I left his door open.

I sat on the edge of his bed and gently shook his shoulder. He opened his eyes and slowly smiled at me. I gave him a smile back.

"Are you feeling any better?" I asked him

"Yeah, I'm starting to not ache so much."

"Do you feel like eating anything?"

"I am a little hungry. Did you say earlier that you made soup?" he asked me hopefully.

"Yes, chicken noodle soup. Sit up and I'll give it to you."

While he wrestled himself up I propped the pillows behind him and then poured some of the soup out of the thermos and into the bowl. I handed the bowl to him after putting the spoon in.

"Can I have some juice too?" he asked and I took the bottle of apple juice from earlier and gave him a sip. He took a spoonful of soup in his mouth and made an appreciative noise.

"This tastes so good. Did you make this from scratch?"

"Yes, I did so eat up and get better!" I pretended to scold him.

He smiled at me and continued to eat. I also handed him a slice of the bread and he ate that as well. After he was full, I checked his temperature and it was down to 99 degrees. I gave him another pill and he took it. Wyatt looked around and noticed all the pictures taped around.

"Where did those come from?" he asked.

"Our resident artist was a little creative this morning and decided to draw you some get well flowers and some of her stuffed animals. You can thank her from afar."

"Lexine!" I called out and she popped into sight.

Seeing that Wyatt was looking at her, she waved at him. He waved back and said, "Thank you for all the pictures! I love them." She smiled big and nodded at him and then went back to playing.

"That was so sweet of her." he said. "She is pretty good at drawing. Those are great for someone her age."

"Yes, she got that from her dad. He was pretty good at it too."

He looked at me thoughtfully and said, " Sometime when you are up to it, I'd like to hear more about him." I nodded.

Wyatt made it to the bathroom on his own steam this time and when he came back, I tucked him in to rest some more.

"Any requests for dinner tonight?"

"I think that I might want more of that soup. It was great! Thank you so much Delphine and I'm sorry for ruining your day."

I put my hands on my hips. "Wyatt, you did not ruin the day! Everyone gets sick once in a while and Lexine and I have been having a great day at home so no more apologizing! Get some more rest and I will check on you later."

He grinned at me looking adorably rumpled and said, "Yes, mom."

I rolled my eyes at him and laughed while I put the things back on the tray and left the room and shut the door behind me. Gathering up Lexine and her things, we headed back to the kitchen so that I could clean up everything.

I hummed along to music as I washed things. All of a sudden, arms were around my waist and a pair of lips were kissing my neck!