Page 13 of Courageous Devotions

* * *

ERIS

Eris hated the way her hands were trembling as she changed Zane quickly into one of Colton’s shirts – and the guy was right – her son was swimming in the material and giggling.

“Bwankie?”

“No, it’s not a blankie,” she whispered, rushing and changing while he was moving her car into the garage. That was a sweet gesture from him that was quite unexpected. He was trying to prevent more damage from the water intrusion and taking them in for the night calmly.

She had honestly expected him to flip out, yell or get angry, or demand for them to talk immediately; yet he was concerned about their comfort. Her head popped up hearing the door close in the distance and then hearing the garage door rumbling softly, indicating it was closing behind him.

Like a deer in headlights, she froze, waiting, and remained where she was until she heard Colton humming quietly in the kitchen, shutting the microwave door and warming up something. Looking at Zane where he was swallowed by the t-shirt, she scooped him up.

“C’mon, little man,” she whispered sweetly, kissing him on the temple and listening to him question her.

“Was dis pwace, Mama?”

“A friend’s house,” she whispered back, kissing him once more as she opened the bedroom door and peered out.

“Hungry?” Colton said simply with his back to her in the distance. “I’m not good with kids, but I saw he had a few teeth. Can he have some cheese toast or something? We’ll need to get something better for him…”

“Toast? I wike toast,” Zane volunteered before she could say anything, causing Colton to toss her an easy look as he grinned at the little boy.

“I like toast, too. In fact, I think I’m going to have some with you before I go back to bed. Is that okay?”

“So’kay,” her son answered – and stuck out his fist with his pointer finger sticking out.

“Like this, buddy,” Eris volunteered, holding up her own thumbs up and heard Colton chuckle again, looking at him. The man looked a little intimidated and completely fascinated as he stared at them, and she swallowed in awareness.

This was the same man who ran into burning houses because he liked the thrill of it? His face used to light up with excitement when he would talk about how a particular call went. It was always ‘the fire’ and never referred to it as ‘the house’ because he had to keep that separated in his mind, whether he realized it or not.

“Eris, do you want some toast with Cheez Whiz spread on it, too?” he asked easily. “It’s a good thing I ran to the grocery store last night. My last loaf of bread molded because I didn’t eat it fast enough. Zane, do you like raspberries?”

Her son’s face scrunched up at the word, and he looked at her curiously.

“Berries are expensive,” she whispered, feeling ashamed. They were horrifically expensive now, and she could get an entire jar of preserves or a package of baby wipes for the same price or less.

“Ah,” Colton acknowledged and nodded. “Yeah, they are – and they go bad quickly, but they’re my favorite. I bought a package yesterday and thought you both might like some on your plate. It’s not a healthy meal, but filling.”

“You don’t have to explain,” she replied quietly, still feeling weirdly out of place and nervous, waiting for the ‘why didn’t you tell me’ comments that were sure to come eventually.

“I figured one of us should…”

And there it was, she thought, flinching.

“Maybe we can go to the store in the morning together and…”

“I needed a safe place for us to sleep that was dry,” Eris said candidly, feeling like she was being criticized for that single statement said so quietly by Colton. “Don’t mistake this for something else.”

He walked over with two plates and set them down on the small table beside her before meeting her eyes – hard.

“We’re going to talk about this,” Colton began quietly. “I think this talk is about four years overdue, and I don’t want to argue right now. Let’s eat something, get some sleep, and we can discuss this tomorrow like adults.”

“There’s nothing to discuss.”

Colton’s whole face frowned as he pressed his lips together and scrunched up his nose – almost in the adult version of Zane, pointing at the child silently, and she practically heard his unspoken retort.

Zane? You had a baby, remember?!

---