undeniable

41| done

"THEY COULD HATE me. Like, hate me," Sam says, lightly tugging on his hair as he paces his kitchen.

"Sam-"

"I don't know what I'll do if they hate me, I've never met these kids and I already love them as much as I love Rory. How would I deal with knowing that they don't like me? I'm just, I'm kinda freaking the fuck out."

"Honey, listen to me-" I try, walking over to him, but he doesn't stop.

"How would they deal with that? I mean, they're getting thrown into this completely new environment, I wouldn't blame them for hating me." He finally stops pacing but instead starts bouncing his leg, chewing his lip so hard I think it might bleed.

"Bubba, stop," I tell him firmly, using my thumb to pull his lip out from between his teeth.

"I'm sorry," he mumbles, his voice cracking since he's on the tail end of getting over his cold, and I shake my head, putting my arms around his neck.

"Don't be sorry, I just want you to stop and think rationally for a second. She's five and he's three, they don't hate anybody right now, especially not their big brother who loves them more than life itself. Everything is gonna be great, I promise." I stand on my tiptoes, pulling him down so I can press a kiss to his forehead.

"Can we just stand here for a minute, please?" He asks, and I nod, hugging his waist.

Letting out a long breath, he drops his head on my shoulder, and I try to run my fingers through his curls without mussing them up.

Kissing the side of his head, I murmur, "I bet Grayson and Rory are carbon copies,"

He nods. "They are."

"And I bet Lillie is absolutely gorgeous."

"She looks like a really sweet girl." He nods again, making me smile, smoothing my hands over his back.

"They're gonna love you just as much as you love them. Don't worry." I say, holding his face in my hands and meeting his eyes.

His phone chimes, making him quickly look down at it. "They're two minutes away."

"Okay, I'll go home, good luck." I kiss him briefly, before dropping down flat on my feet and holding his hands.

"Alright, I'll update you on everything." He tugs me closer and steals another kiss, a smile spreading over my face.

"I love you."

"Love you most."

                                   ~•~•~

Rolling out the sugar cookie dough, Lia says, "Are you guys friends with all your neighbors?"

"Not really, only the Olsons." I shrug, glancing over at her.

"I want to hand out cookie baskets cause, you know, it's Christmas time and stuff, but I don't know how much to make." She grabs a handful of cookie cutters and starts cutting shapes out when I set the roller down.

"I think we're going to have more than enough. We have three huge containers of peanut butter blossoms, at least two-gallon ziplock bags of raspberry thumbprint cookies, and now you're making three dozen sugar cookies." I grab a Christmas tree cutter and cut a few out, Lia just sighing loudly at me.

"We need some for Leo's family, Sam's family, Katie's family, our family, and I'm sending some with Emmett next time he goes to 'study' with his friend Zavier." She says nonchalantly, making me switch out cutters to a star one.