All For You

Chapter 4

Foster |Present

My life hasn't been what you call...conventional. I mean, it started off pretty normal. I lived in a small town, in one of the better sides of it, with big houses and white picket fences at every turn. I had both my parents, who were too busy most of the time so I guess you could say that I grew up faster than necessary. Although when they were home, they paid extra attention to me.

Everything felt normal and probably even looked normal until I met Cassia. We were only ten years old when we became friends and the eleven years after that were nothing close to ordinary. But then again, she never was a typical girl, at least not to me. I knew it when we first met at church and I saw the way her eyes lit up when I spoke to her.

  "Foster." Cassia grabs my hand and the feel of it is enough to send a trail of goosebumps up my arm. "You've got to stop spacing out."

I snap back to reality and notice that I've poured way too much coffee in the cup, a few more drops and it would have been on the kitchen counter instead.

  "Cassie! Read to me!" Daisy wails and I mentally slap myself because the book is open right in front of me.

How could I have spaced out while reading to the kid and pouring a cup of coffee? I don't normally lose focus, especially not when Daisy is around because she's really young and pretty much needs attention 24/7.

  "Baby, I'm busy right now." Cassia maneuvers around me to grab the container of sugar so that she can measure it for some recipe. "It's time to go to bed, okay?"

I watch as she starts creaming the butter and sugar together. She usually starts baking only after Daisy is in bed so I'm not sure why she's baking before nine p.m. but I don't question it because she probably told me and I must have been in my own world. Maybe she wanted a head start or something.

  "I'm sorry." I reach over to stroke Daisy's hair. "I'm sorry. I'm reading to you-"

Cassia takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly and loudly. She's trying not to lose concentration on what she's doing and that's when I realize that she's trying out a new recipe. She never gets annoyed when she's doing her usual baking because she knows everything by heart.

  "How about we go to your room?" I ask the kid and she pouts like she's upset. "Cassie needs to work now, okay?"

She obviously doesn't want to go bed but when I pick her off the high chair and start carrying her to her bedroom, she doesn't kick or scream. I take her in and playfully drop her onto her bed which is covered with plushies. She starts pushing them off one side and they tumble to the floor while I go out to get the book I had been reading to her.

  "I'll come to tuck her in five, okay?" Cassia says when she sees me but I shake my head.

  "I can do it, Cas," I tell her. "Don't worry about it. Just finish what you're baking."

She gives me a grateful smile and goes back to work. I grab the book off the counter, keep the cup of coffee aside for her and head back to the kid's room. Daisy is lying in bed, waiting to be tucked in when I reach. I keep the book at the foot of her bed before pulling the sheets over her. I tuck her in real tight and she giggles as I try to roll her like a burrito. I can't help but laugh along while praying that we're not disturbing our baker in the kitchen.

  "Cassie?" she asks innocently and I shake my head.

  "Not tonight, kiddo," I tell her, loosening the sheets so she can move around. "Do you still want me to read?"

She yawns as soon as I say it and I smile. She's tired right on cue. I place the book back into the shelf before turning off the lights.

  "Fosta," she says quickly and I realize that I didn't turn on her bedside light.

I grab it off the top of the shelf and tap on the little panda-shaped silicone nightlight. I tap the top of its head and it lights up the room just a little. I place it on her bedside table and she closes her eyes.

  "Goodnight, Dais," I whisper, bending down to kiss her forehead but she's already asleep.

I leave the room as quietly as I can, not shutting the door fully in case she wakes up again. I always admired the way kids could fall asleep so easily. Cassia is shoving a tray of something into the oven when I exit so I decide it's safe to talk.

  "Hey, thanks for tucking her in," she says as soon as she sees me.

I hand her the cup of coffee even though she's not much of a caffeine addict like I am. She takes a sip and makes a face which makes me laugh because I forgot to put sugar in it.

  "Sorry." I chuckle as she spoons some sugar into it herself. "And stop thanking me for everything. I love that little ankle biter."

  "And I love you," she says, putting her arms around my neck before resting her head on my chest.

If we were still kids, I would have think twice before kissing her forehead but now I don't. Once Cassia had started dating in school, I had moved on from my feelings for her. I had dated other people and although I'd always love her, I knew we were better as best friends. Perfect, even, because we're practically family to each other.

So I kiss her forehead and mumble back an I love you.

  "What have you been baking?" I ask her and she pulls away.

I step back and lean against the counter as she bends down to check the oven before answering me because we can already smell the sweet-scented air.

  "I was trying something healthy," she tells me. "Oatmeal and cranberry muffins."

I let out a short laugh because Cassia isn't the type to think of health when it comes to her baking. Maybe taking care of Daisy is finally affecting the way she thinks about her customers, too.

  "You don't think people are going to like it," she assumes when I don't say anything.

  "Hey, if you can get the kid to eat one tomorrow morning," I tell her. "I think everyone will love it. Plus, everyone's going on about eating healthy nowadays. Maybe let's try to hit a new target audience?"

She nods with a smile, her eyes lighting up for a second and I know I've said the right thing. And anyway, nothing she bakes can ever taste bad. I know that for a fact because there isn't one thing that she's made that I haven't eaten and loved. She got those skills from her momma.

  "You should go home and rest," she tells me. "We have church in the morning."

  "Maybe I could just sleep here," I say, pretending to yawn.

  "Foster, your parents are going to start hating me for keeping you all the time," she says with a sad smile. "And Daisy is getting too attached to you."

  "Well, I'm getting attached to her, too," I retort. "And making my parents angry is just an added bonus. Maybe I should start paying half the rent."

She shakes her head with a laugh, covering her mouth when she sees that I didn't shut Daisy's door all the way. But she doesn't ask me to leave again, probably because it's already late and she hates sending anyone away when it's dark outside.

She starts the prep for her chocolate fudge cupcakes and I try to help her as much as I can which is basically standing out of her way. I take the muffins out of the oven when they're ready and keep them on the coffee table to cool. She's putting the batch of cupcakes into the oven when I go into her room to change into something more comfortable. I was smart enough to leave some clothes at her house since I spend most of my time over here. I get out of my jeans and change into a pair of comfy pajama pants before pulling my shirt off.

  "Foster-" Cassia enters the room before I can put on a t-shirt. "Sorry." She lets out a nervous laugh but doesn't make an attempt to leave.

  "What happened?" I ask her, slipping the t-shirt over my head.

  "I forgot." She shakes her head and leave the room, leaving me with a smile on my face.