Our Hearts Collided (MxM)

Chapter 15

A/N: it's here 😅 anyways, enjoy some lighter, more fluffy content <3

Simon's POV

Xavier's dinner had gone surprisingly well, and his mac and cheese actually turned out better than we all thought. As promised, Sam had brought over food from Cindy's while Sarah had helped Xavier with the main dishes. They insisted they had it covered while the rest of us was on kid duty with Aspen and Sam. Even between the four of us playing with them, they were far too unruly for us to handle.

Lilah and Jonah had fought over who would help Rowan with his toy for over ten minutes, while Rowan simply was more amused by their fighting more than anything. Then when Rowan finally started playing with his toys, he'd get upset whenever Lilah had interrupted him.

Sam hadn't seemed to be bothered by their bickering, instead of trying to help them mitigate any arguments, while Aspen, on the other hand, looked to be on the verge of a breakdown. It was evident that Rowan had not been letting him get some sleep.

Luckily for us, and especially Aspen's sake, the kids were surprisingly well-behaved during their dinner. Rowan dropped a few pieces of his food on the floor, but he hadn't made a fuss.

Although Vince and I talked about ourselves a little bit, we mostly chatted about Xavier and the kids. Lilah and Jonah were scheduled to go to school soon, and we all were worried about how it would go. Sam mentioned the clinic a couple of times, discussing his and Xavier's plans to work together, while Sarah talked about reaching out to her sister, Jane.

"I'll help with the dishes if you're done," I told them as Vince told Sarah about meeting her at the northern pack. Sam and Aspen handed me their plates as I let them talk. Apparently, Jane hadn't been pleased to see Vince there, and he wasn't sure what Jane's stance was on coming back to our pack.

It wasn't long before Vince had strolled into the kitchen behind me.

"I can help," he reached for the dish sponge. "You can sit and relax. I'm sure they'd love to talk to you, and I'm sure the kids wouldn't mind another human playground."

I took the sponge in my hands, narrowing my eyes at him playfully. "I've got it. I think we both could use a break from them, honestly."

He pursed his lips before reaching for the towel. "Then, I'll dry them."

"Alright." I bumped my hip into his. "You can dry them. I'll wash."

Vince got to work drying, placing the clean dishes on the side to be put away. He hadn't said anything as he seemed to have a system going for what to dry first, which was fun to watch. He'd pause to scan the sink drainer, furrowing his brow when he thought too hard and would grab certain dishes first. As we got through half of the dirty dishes, I grabbed a bit of the dish soap, turning toward him. He set the clean plate down to look at me just as I raised my finger to his face, successfully smearing a bit of the bubble over his face and nose.

"What are you doing?"

"Playing with the bubbles, what does it look like?"

"We're supposed to be cleaning the dishes."

I scooped up a handful of the bubbles from the sink, lifting it to blow in his face. "Who says we can't have a little fun of our own?"

He wiped a few of the soapy suds off his face. "You'll give the kids a bad idea."

"They're too busy having their fun." I nudged his side. "Besides, there are other fun things we could be doing besides washing dishes."

"I think we're both wiped out from playing with the kids."