Page 53 of All Yours

“You played baseball?” she asked, taking in a photo of me from little league.

“Yeah, I had a pretty normal childhood, considering.”

“Considering what?” Sloane asked, wrinkling her forehead.

“Oh, nothing,” I said, shrugging it out. “I want you to meet my dad.” I pulled Sloane the rest of the way down the hallway and into the den before she could pursue her questions.

There I found my dad stretched out in his recliner, along with the husband counterparts to my cousins. So much for hiding. A football game played on the television in the corner. Several of the kids sat around on the floor with a game of Monopoly spread out.

“Hey, you guys going old school,” I said, appreciating that they’d abandoned electronics for a short while.

“I’m grounded from my phone,” Drew mumbled.

“It’s good for you,” his dad Ezekiel, snapped.

“These are my cousin’s kids,” I said to Sloane. “I’m not sure how to describe how they’re related to me. Cousins removed, maybe?”

“I’m not sure either,” she laughed.

I introduced everyone to Sloane, and we backed out of the crowded room.

“Which one was your room?” she asked.

“This one,” I said, pulling her into the next room. The twin bed was still there and several things from my teen years still littered the room, even though my parents occasionally used it as a guest room.

“So, this was your room as a teenager?” Sloane walked in a circle, taking everything in.

“My whole life.” I watched Sloane take a seat on my bed.

“What?” she asked, noticing me watching her.

“Oh, just thinking about how my teenage mind would have exploded, knowing I’d have you in here one day.”

She rolled her eyes.

“Don’t roll your eyes.”

“I didn’t.”

“I just saw you.”

“It’s dark in here,” she said.

I crossed the room and used my body to guide her to the middle of the bed, planting my lips on hers.

“What if we get caught?” she whispered, breaking the kiss.

“I might get grounded,” I said, grinning.

“Someone might notice us missing.”

“It’s gonna be a long dinner. Let’s just enjoy the quiet for a moment.” I said, tilting her chin toward me and pressing my lips to hers again. I’d never tire of kissing her.

“Tell me,” she said, in between kisses. “What did you mean earlier?”

“About what?” I asked, pulling back, and interlacing our fingers.

“About your childhood was happy, considering?”

---