Cody learns to love

The one chapter where Emerie is certainly not being annoying

  Emerie didn't understand all of the things that were going on. In fact, she didn't understand most of them. That was one of the reasons she was sitting on the floor of Fox's room once again. The second reason was that Fox's room was just nicer than her own.

  "Fox, what's a shovel talk?"

  Fox looked up from his laptop. "Where did you hear that?"

  "When Rex came back from work today, Cody said he looked as if someone died and Wolffe asked if he got a shovel talk. Rex threw a shoe at him."

  "You know how Rex likes Ahsoka?"

  "Yeah, they seemed like really good friends yesterday."

  "Well, Rex likes Ahsoka as a little bit more than a friend, and I have a feeling that Ahsoka likes him more too."

  "Is she Rex's girlfriend?"

  "Not yet. They like each other but for now, they are just spending time together to be sure that they want to date. And once they are sure, they will start dating."

  "So they are friends."

  "A special kind of friends."

  "That doesn't explain what a shovel talk is."

  "Shovel talk is something that parents, friends or siblings do, sometimes. In this case, it would be one of Ahsoka's brothers giving Rex the talk. I guess they would warn Rex not to hurt Ahsoka's feelings and stuff like that."

  That just didn't make sense. And Fox's explanations usually made sense, that was why Emerie was asking him rather then Wolffe or the younger kids. "But Rex would never hurt her."

  "I know. But Ahsoka's brothers don't know Rex quite as well as we do. It's also a tradition, sort of. It's possible that Rex didn't even get a shovel talk, he never confirmed it."

  "Did you ever get a shovel talk?"

  "No."

  "Why not?"

  "I would have to like someone first."

  "You don't like anyone?" There was no way. Fox went to school, he definitely met a lot of people there. Some of them had to be nice.

  "No."

  "Why?"

  "I just haven't met anyone I would like." Fox shrugged. He also subtly clenched his fist in the esture Cody learned Emerie to recognize as a sign that Fox was feeling uncomfortable. She decided to drop the topic, even if she really wanted to know why Fox didn't like anyone.

  "How do you know what a shovel talk is?"

  "I just know? Also, Bly got quite the shovel talk at the time."

  "Really?"

  Fox nodded. "He told you about Aayla, right?"

  "Yeah."

  "So when Bly and her started dating, Bly got a shovel talk from her brother or whatever he is. They aren't actually related but are like siblings, I think. I never met him. But Bly has. This guy, Quinlan, caught him on his way from the gym. Bly never told anyone what was the shovel talk about but he was scared to go out alone for weeks."

  "Really?"

  "Yeah. I honestly feel bad for your hypothetical future boyfriend. He will get a lot of shovel talks."

  "What if I never find a boyfriend."

  "That's what the word 'hypothetical' is for. It means that it's a possibility but it doesn't have to happen."

  "I don't think I will be using that word a lot."

  "You don't have to." Fox shrugged.

  After that, there was silence for a bit. Then Emerie got an idea. "Fox?"

  "Yeah?"

  "Do you think I could move in with you?"

  "No."

  "Why not?"

  "I don't want you here." So Fox didn't hate her anymore but he didn't want to share rooms with her either. "You have your own room."

  "But your room is better. It looks better and you have more stuff."

  "Then make your room better."

  "How?"

  "Get more stuff?"

  "How?"

  Fox didn't look amused. "Just ask Cody. And you can wish some stuff for Christmas or your birthday."

  "What?"

  "You don't know what that is?"

  "No."

  "So everyone celebrates their birthday the day they were born. Mine is twenty-fourth of August. And on your birthday, people give you gifts."

  "The twins told me about that. I thought you were supposed to get toys?"

  "It doesn't have to be toys. It should just be something that the receiving person will enjoy. You can give toys to children who like to play, books to someone who likes reading, clothes to people who like nice clothes... It can be anything."

  "But Cody said that everyone gets clothes and that it's a basic need."

  Apparently, that wasn't the best thing to say. Fox looked like he wanted to scream. 

  "Sorry, I didn't want to upset you," Emerie apologized. She really didn't want to make Fox angry. Fox just didn't make sense sometimes.

  "It's fine. You just have a lot of questions."

  "But Cody said that I should always ask if I don't know something."

  "Maybe you could ask someone different sometimes."

  "But you give the best answers. Wolffe's answers don't make sense. And Rex's and Cody's only sometimes."

  "I will answer another time, okay?"

  "Okay. Can we play something now?"

  "Like what?"

  "Some game. Playing with the kids is boring. Jesse always shows everyone his cards," Emerie complained. "Why do you look so surprised?"

  "I'm usually the boring sibling."

  "Then let's play and maybe I will change my opinion." Tanya, Wolffe's friend, has been teaching Emerie what she called 'talking like a bad ass' and Emerie was making a good use of it. At least she thought she was.

  "Then pick some game."

  Emerie ended up picking three different games and losing every single one of them. She was going to have to research the meaning of the word boring later.