Love Is

Dinner Plans

*September*

Time had marched on and Jessica and Evan remained friends. Evan returned to work every Saturday for Jessica and sometimes Phil would come along with him to just get out of the house.

Also, they would go to the beach house from time to time just to get away and relax.

Jessica even signed papers so she could be Evan's legal guardian. She had drove by the group home that Phil had said to put Evan in. She had even toured the home and found it to be quite nice.

From what she could tell, the residents there had the best care and were taken care of. But, Jessica had a heavy heart. She wasn't sure if she could put Evan in a place like that. She just knew she had a lot to think about it.

One afternoon, Evan and Jessica were tending her garden of crops. There were tomatoes and such that had been planted months ago. Now they were picking some so Jessica could make dinner.

Evan's feelings for Jessica grew and he couldn't help but love her. He wasn't sure how long he could keep his feelings bottled up.

Jessica's feeling grew too but she hid her feelings very well and was determined to continue to do so.

Today as they picked vegetables from the garden, Jessica was going to tell Evan about her being his legal guardian. The papers had just been finalized.

"Evan?" Jessica said.
"Yeah?" Evan said looking up from his work.
"You know, your father and I have been discussing your future. He's concerned because he isn't so young anymore and he wants to be prepared for the time that he goes to be with your mom."
"You mean when he dies." Evan said bluntly as he continued to pick from the garden.
"Yes." Jessica said.

Evan moves to another part of the garden and said. "It's already been arranged. I'm going to live with Emily and Michael and however many kids they may have by then."
"Your father mentioned to me that he thought you may be better with a different arrangement." Jessica said.

Evan stopped what he was doing and now looked at Jessica. Jessica grew nervous but continued.

"Your father found a nice place for you. It's group home where you can live and have friends." Jessica said. Evan went back to picking out vegetables as Jessica continued. "He also asked me to become what is called, your legal guardian. It's someone who would visit you and help you with whatever you may need. If you lived there, you could have your own life and I would be available whenever you needed me."

Evan looked over at Jessica and asked. "Would you know when I needed you? Or would I have to tell you?"
Jessica looked into Evan's eyes and said. "I would know. I promise you, Evan."

Evan relaxed a little; he was getting worked up because his life was being decided for him. But as soon as Jessica said she would be there for him and visit him, he felt much better.

They then go back to their task and spent it in comfortable silence.

Later that evening, Jessica drove Evan home. They had planned to have dinner and invite Emily to join them.

Jessica was cooking and she was making a soup with what they had picked from the garden. She added some spices and watched over it as it cooked.

"Oh!" She exclaimed as some soup popped out of the pot.
"What's wrong?" Evan asked. He had been close by watching Jessica cook.
"I almost stained my blouse." Jessica replied.

Evan went over to a drawer and pulled out an apron. "Here. You can wear mom's apron. I don't think she'll mind." He said with a smile.

Jessica's heart skipped a beat as she saw his smile. She shook her feelings away and grabbed the apron then put it on.