Dangerously In Love

2- Steal Some Sun

It's Brunch time, and Erin was meeting her sisters, Winter and Bre, for some catch up time. Of course, the boys were also tagging along. "Okay my babies, remember,"

"Best behavior" smiling to her sons as they recite back to her the number on rule, Erin carefully takes them out of their car seats, and holds onto their hands after locking the car.

"Mommy can we get cakes and bacon?" Telling her son that of course they can have pancakes and bacon, Erin doesn't realize that the man holding the door open for them, is indeed, Ken Parker. "Hi, again."

"Hey, and who do we have here? Hey guys, I'm Ken" Elio was the first to say hello, "hi! Mr. Ken, my name is Eilo," whispering to his mother, "mommy his eyes are kissed like mine." As both adults laugh over Elio, Jensen holds his hand out for Ken to shake, "I'm Jensen" as the man shakes his hand, "it's nice to meet you Jensen"

As the four make it in, Erin tells him she's meeting her sisters for brunch, as the boys spot their aunts, they race towards them.

Their aunt Bre, who's closest to their age, does a Fortnite dance with Jensen before they sit down. Elio headed straight for his aunt Winter, who falls for all of his tricks. "Your sons are adorable, I can tell they love to go anywhere with you"

"Yeah, they are always down for an adventure," seeing her sister tap her foot at her, "I've got to go. I'm sorry for keeping you from your brunch! We should talk more later. Here's my number."

Handing the man her number, she apologizes while being pulled away by her sister. "I'm sorry sir, but I've been waiting two weeks to sit down with your girlfriend, I'll send her back this afternoon" yelling her sisters name, seeing that they are not together, Ken laughs at their banter before waving and finding his group.

——

Getting to the table, Winter and Bre both look to their sister with their arms crossed. "What's his name?" Before Erin could give a justified answer, Eilo speaks, "Mr. Ken"

"His name is Ken Parker. We met a few days ago while I was waiting on the boys to get off the bus after school. He lives next to Brittani, I was watching Bella and he caught her when she got too close to the road. Apparently, she does it a lot and he's always there to catch her." Bre pipes up, "he can catch you too"

Earning a flick from her oldest sister, Bre adds on, "at least I don't have to ask if she's still stuck on J-E-S-S-E cause I know I would if I was with someone for almost a D-A-M-N decade."

Jensen was learning how to spell, so when his mother put her hands over his ears, he just looked at the women weirdly. "He's learning to spell dumbass"

"I am starting something with Ken, and yeah, it's hard letting go a decade of love and memories. Especially when we have children together. But, I can't stay in the shadows of Jesse Smith my whole life. I will always be a WAG, and I will always go where my sons go. Jesse and I are starting a new path in our relationship: Friendship. We're having to reset boundaries we didn't need two years ago. We're in therapy. We're not on bad terms, we didn't fall out of love, but what's love with no spark and no sincerity? Would things have been better if one of us cheated? Or lied? Sure. But that's not us. We both came to an agreement in our relationship where we decided we were better apart than together. I will always have love for him, on every level in my heart. He's the father of my kids, my first love, and hell, we're business partners. We're linked for life. But we're better apart. I will always love him though."

Holding onto the hands that her sisters reach towards her, "we're here for you Erin, always."

As her younger sister nods her head in agreement, "yeah, and you know I will always knock some sense into Jesse for you. No woman will ever take the place of you in the boys' eyes. You'll always be there mama"

"I know, thank you guys. Now, let's order because we still have a date with the beach after this!"

——

Making it to their private beach, the girls take off their top layer of clothing before doing the same to the small boys as well.

The beach always meant peace for Erin, and it had become the same for her sons. Jesse had bought them a private beach for their first anniversary gift, and ever since, he knew he could always find her here if not at her home.

Watching as her sisters play in the sand with her small sons, Erin feels the need to do more than she already is. She thought that she had a perfect life at a perfect pace. But she was starting to feel like she rushed to do things at society's rate and not her own.

Things with Jesse were better than alright, and she couldn't spend every waking moment worrying on if he was with another woman or moving on and bringing her to meet Erin and the boys.

Finally getting out of her own head and thoughts, Erin rises from under their shaded area, and makes her way over to the boys, "who wants to sit by the tides?"