The Sun in My Eyes

26 Toda Mi Vida, Se Abriga Con Tu Calor

TITLE TRANSLATION: MY WHOLE LIFE WRAPS ITSELF IN YOUR WARMTH

**I'll have a longer chapter for you next week. In the meantime, enjoy a sweet scene and a cheeky joke**

The bedroom was empty when Bobby woke up. Yawning, he headed upstairs to wash and shave, and then he went on the hunt for his lovely Lili. His day didn't feel like it started properly until he kissed her.

She was in the kitchen, wearing an adorable yellow bikini and a pair of denim cutoffs that hugged her ass. She hummed a happy tune and stirred something on the cooker. Hope stared at the pan and made a face. Lili laughed and shooed her away.

"It's not for you!"

"Thank god for that." Hope pulled thick slabs of golden sourdough toast from the mini-oven and laid it out on a plate. "Do you want me to butter these?"

"If you wouldn't mind," Lili said. "And cut them into triangles, like?"

"I'd ask what that boy did to deserve this, but I don't think I want to know the answer."

Lili smiled mysteriously and returned to stirring. Bobby's heart swelled so big it felt like it might pop like a balloon full of confetti. The kitchen smelled tangy, like tomatoes and sugar. he breathed in and the scent took him back to happy days of sitting in the kitchen with his sister, making her breakfast before school.

"Are those spaghetti hoops?" he asked, as he ambled to the counter.

Lili lit up brighter than the sun when she saw him. "Yeah. I found a tin in the back of the cupboard and I remembered you saying that you like them on toast."

"You're making me breakfast?" He wrapped his arms around her waist and pressed his chin to her shoulder, overwhelmed by such a simple gesture. He couldn't recall the last time anyone had cooked just for him. "Thank you."

She leaned her head back and gave his cheek a squeaky kiss. "Yeah. Sit. I'll bring it in a mo."

He did as he was told, and watched her bustle around, reaching for silverware and arranging plates. She was so graceful, even in front of a pan of bubbling spaghetti hoops.

"Hope, I made enough bangers for you and Noah. This is your plate."

Hope gave a giddy whoop and squeezed Lili's shoulders. "Love you, girl."

She laughed. "Love you, too. Now, swerve."

Hope left with a cheerful wave and Lili rounded the bar, carrying a plate and a steaming mug. She sat them in front of him.

"Wow, you even put shredded cheese on top! Fancy!"

She pumped her fist. "Comfort and elegance. Achievement unlocked."

He picked up his fork and paused, smiling. "I can't believe you remember me telling you about this."

Her smile wrapped around him like an electric blanket. She brought her own plate over and sat it down. Dippy eggs, toast, and bangers.

"You're not eating hoops?"

"No. It's your comfort food, babe."

"You didn't eat it when you were a bairn?"

"I did." She hesitated. "It's just that my family ate so many cold tins of that stuff, that it makes me sick to eat it now. Turns my stomach."

Bobby blinked at the warm sauce soaking into the buttery toast. Sometimes he forgot that she'd had such a hard early life. She'd been homeless on and off, so eating tinned food was something you did, even if you didn't have a cooker. His comfort had been her survival.