A Time For Love (A Time For Love Series-Book 1)

First Morning

LENA POV 

As I step into my kitchen, I yawn as I open the curtains to let in the early morning light. It was now past eight in the morning as I see the December snow starting to fall yet again. It was almost a record this winter for how much it had been snowing but, I smile at the site of it remembering how I use to watch it from these very same windows when I was a little girl just like Bird.

I never really thought I'd be living here or that my uncle Alvin would leave his apartment to me. I think I expected him to live forever because I never allowed myself to think of living in a world where he did not exist and was no longer alive. Maybe I still had not accepted it, but what I said to Stef was true. Her and Bird made it very comfortable for me to be here, and I felt okay. I felt I had really made the right choice, especially since I saw how happy Bird and Stef were yesterday, despite it being very emotional.

Today we wouldn't do too much but, I was looking forward to decorating for the holidays with everyone. Mike said he would come over around noon to make his famous pastrami sandwiches for everyone and go over Bird's Christmas list that Stef and I compiled.

Pulling out my griddle for the pancakes and bacon, I wanted to make some breakfast for everyone this morning. I had checked on Stef and Bird just a bit ago, and they were sleeping rather peacefully together, but I didn't have the heart to wake them just yet, as I grab some coffee and start the machine up.

Last night, Stef and I had a wonderful time talking, and part of me could see how shy she actually was. I wasn't sure if she had been like this prior to her injury, but I had seen her change quit a bit over the course of the last few weeks. She had a very, very, very soft side that I had only seen when she was with Bird, but now she had started to behave that way towards me. 

Stef was very kind, she listened very intensely and she was extremely compassionate and understanding about my uncle. Of course, her frustration came out when she was struggling to walk or read or do anything she wasn't fully capable of doing yet, but that was natural, and I didn't expect anything less.

Mike said she had always been tough, always had been a ball buster, but had a very big heart, and the people on the street loved her. She was a generous cop and always tried to give people a chance. It was just in her nature, and I could see parts of that starting to surface in her as well. Stef had even expressed thanking Duke for all his hard work in terms of the apartment, and I knew that would mean a great deal to him.

Today, I'd need to help Stef shower and begin a little OT and PT. I knew she was prideful and didn't really want me to help her with showering, but I needed to. She was still much too unstable to do it herself, and the last thing I wanted was for her to get injured and fall.

"Hi Lena!" I suddenly hear Bird say as she wheels herself into the kitchen, and I turn to look at her and smile. Hugging her warmly, her face beams, and I can't help but notice how cute she looks in her new pjs.

"Good morning, honey. You are up early? Did you sleep ok the rest of the night?"

"Yes, and I smelled something really good! What are you making, Lena?"

"Well, I decided to make some pancakes and bacon for everyone. Unless you would like something different, honey?"

"Oh no! I love pancakes. I haven't had them in forever. I mean, I did at the hospital, but I know yours are gonna taste so good! Stef said you cook really well." She smiles as I return it.

"Aww, did she? Well, that is really nice of her and you to say. Plus, I'm going to use some chocolate chips in them as well. What do you think?"

"I think, YES!"