Philautia || Amour Éternel Series BOOK ONE ||

Nineteen - SHANNON

July 2015

Shannon pulled his feet up to his chest as Costello chased Luigi around the coffee table in the great room at Ben's house in Coronado. Their scuffle continued into the hallway where they nearly bowled Callie's grandmother over. She caught herself on the wall, grumbling in French. Before he could stand to help her, she had shuffled into the room and sat in one of the arm chairs facing the fireplace.

"You alright?" Keanu asked her, coming into the room from the kitchen.

"Oui," she replied. "Ces putains de chiens vont tuer quelqu'un! "

Shannon's French wasn't good enough to understand what she said, but the menacing look she sent in the direction of the dogs made him think he had a pretty good idea. He turned his attention back to the TV, taking a sip from his coffee cup. His back ached from sleeping on the sofa and he couldn't wait for the two Tylenol he'd popped as soon as he woke up to kick in.

"How'd you sleep last night?" Ben asked, coming out of the kitchen with a plate of pancakes for Mamie.

"Not too bad. I've had worse in some of the buses we've toured on," Shannon answered with a chuckle.

The Emmys announcement was happening that morning and everyone had spent the night to be able to watch it together. Keanu had slept on the love seat in Ben's office, Aya and Shannon had slept in the great room on the sectionals, Callie had shared Avril's room with Meredith, while the two youngest Morrison girls shared Jonquille's room. Mamie would have had her room to herself if Joe hadn't have spent the night as well. The Morrison house was full to bursting and Shannon wasn't quite sure what to do with himself. It had been a long time since he had been around this many people all at once.

"Good. I was a little worried we wouldn't have enough space when Aya turned up, but we managed," Ben smiled.

The Scot appeared on the bridge above, towel-drying his hair. "Your daughters are heathens, Ben!" he called down. "I think I got a five-minute shower before they practically kicked me out of the loo!"

"Oh? You got lucky," Keanu replied. "They must like you. I only got four minutes."

A second later, Aya was in the kitchen, collecting a plate of pancakes from Ben and seating himself at the island to eat. Shannon felt his stomach grumble, but he didn't want to get up. In the amount of time he had spent at the Morrison house, he had learned one thing: nearly everything was first-come, first-served, including seating. He feared that if he got up now, he wouldn't get his seat back. With nine other people and four dogs to compete with, he wasn't willing to try his luck.

The front door opened and Trio barked from his place at Shannon's feet, jumping up and trotting over to see who it was.

"You didn't say you guys were having a party," Tasha said as she took her shoes off in the foyer. "I feel slightly left out."

"I told you everyone was coming over," Ben said, coming out to greet her with a quick kiss. He had a spatula in one hand and a bowl of batter in the other. "Its the Emmys announcement this morning."

"Oh, right. I totally forgot. How can I help?" she asked, rolling up her sleeve.

"I need someone to man the griddle," he replied, handing her the spatula. He looked over at the TV. "We'll need to change it in about fifteen minutes," he told Shannon.

Ben returned to the kitchen just as Callie came downstairs. Shannon didn't register her completely until she sank down next to him on the sofa with a plate of food. She had piled fruit onto her plate in favor of pancakes.