Summer Days

Chapter 46

We enjoyed our lunch once we were home. The soup had turned out perfectly and I was a little more than worried that Sean wouldn't stop eating it long enough to work on making the dinner that we'd promised Owen. I glanced at the clock. "Come on, Sean... we have to get started on dinner prep or we'll never eat tonight at a decent time."

"fine fine." He grumbled but got up, taking his dishes to the kitchen. I followed him in with my own dishes. "Thank you for teaching me to make soup, Pookie."

"you're welcome." I smiled up at him, hugging him around the waist for a moment.

His eyes lit up and he wrapped his arms around me in a return hug before he dropped a swift kiss on my lips. "Now, meatloaf and potatoes... what else was on the menu?"

I chuckled and went over to take a seat on the stool at the kitchen counter, my notebook out as he worked on filling the dishwasher up with our lunch dishes and he worked on my Japanese vocabulary as he worked.

Dinner was safely in the oven and I had set him to work on making the salad while I set the table for our dinner with Owen. "I'm going to go change for dinner." I called out to him as I set the last fork in place.

He looked up and grinned at me. "off to slip into something a little more comfortable?" he asked.

"Not necessarily." I frowned slightly. "Maybe at least something a little more up to dining with Owen." I said as I headed up to his room to dress for dinner.

I heard the doorbell ring while I was putting finishing touches on my hair. I'd changed into a summer dress in shades of purple and gray, pulled my hair up into a long flat classic ponytail and only bothered to dab on a bit of lip gloss and waved the mascara wand in the general vicinity of my eyelashes before heading downstairs. I left shoes off because we were not going anywhere and out of respect for Sean's upbringing, we just didn't wear shoes in the house.

It was actually a bit of a thrill and amusement whenever I saw Owen in socks.

Because it seemed so out of character for him.

"Good evening, my love." I smiled, walking into the kitchen where Owen and Sean were talking.

"Good evening, darling." His eyes lit up when he saw me and he moved over, pulling me into his arms for a brief kiss in greeting. "You look lovely."

"Thank you." I said. "Did you have a good day today?"

"I did." He inclined his head slightly at me. "How was your hospital day today?"

I glanced at Sean, seeing a slight smile playing on his lips. "It was good." I said.

"Oh come on Pookie. Take Owen into sit down while I pull it out and tell him all about today's adventures."

"All right. If you're sure that you don't need my help...?"

"It's all under control." Sean reassured me and I took Owen by the hand and took him into the dining room.

Owen pulled out a chair for me and seated me before sitting down next to me on the right. I realized he'd put me at the head of the table. "So, what happened today?" he asked, leaning forward slightly, eyes intent on my face as he waited for me to fill him in.

I sighed slightly before telling him about the baby and her mother. I managed to ramble my way through quite an explanation until his eyes twinkled at me and he held up a hand to get me to stop talking. "Sorry." I blushed and waited for him to say what he was wanting to say.

"it's quite all right, darling." He reassured me. "I'm happy to see that you've found something interesting to occupy your time." He pushed his glasses up farther on his nose, one finger adjusting the corner of them. "We will certainly do what we can to help out and that means making sure that they have what they need for now. I'll check with Dr. Roberts to see if he has any idea about how the work Is going to get her husband back soon. You spending time with them will be good." He nodded.

"Thank you." I said softly as Sean came into the dining room, bringing plates with him.

"Voila!" He grinned as he set the plates down, first in front of me and then one in front of Owen. "Be right back." He said, heading back into the kitchen to retrieve his plate as well as the salad he'd fixed for dinner.

"Well done, Sean." I said, having been studying the plate. It was very artistically displayed and honestly, I thought it might have come from a restaurant kitchen. I glanced at Owen as Sean took his seat to the left of me.

"I'm impressed with the plating." Owen said, reaching out and taking a sip of his water.

Sean beamed. "I was trying." He admitted. "It's not as easy as it seems on tv. I found it to be a very hard and exhausting exercise."

I blinked slightly and took a sip of my water. "It was hard?" I asked.

Sean shrugged, even though his eyes seemed to light up with a twinkle of amusement. Owen glanced between the two of us for a moment. "And Sang just couldn't wait to have her hands all over the meat." He said, explaining the process of making the meatloaf.

"Is that so?" Owen asked dryly before cutting into his meat loaf.

"That's what she said."

I rubbed my nose slightly and leaned forward, checking on the food that Sean had made, tasting it thoughtfully as I tried it all. I looked up to find him looking at me instead of eating. "Eat your dinner Sean." I said. "You did a great job. Everything's cooked just right."

He beamed at me and grabbed his fork. "Thanks Pookie." He said before trying a bite of his dinner. "It is good." He said after swallowing, glancing at Owen. "Was it as good for you as it was for me?"

Now I was almost sure something was going on, I'd never heard Sean talk with such a sound of innocence before and he seemed to honestly be trying to pick away at Owen's façade. Trying to get him to relax? Maybe.

Sounding weird and strangely like the script to a bad movie? Yeah, definitely.

Owen arched an eyebrow at him. "You appear to have been spending time with a few of the boys. Or watching bad movies." He commented. "Can't we just enjoy a nice meal, the three of us?"

I gave Sean a questioning look and he shrugged before grinning. "I was just having fun." He said. "Time to eat dinner because that way we can get to the apple pie that was made for dessert."

"You still have pie? And didn't have to make another one?" Owen smiled slightly. Sean nodded. "I'm completely shocked. You never have any hesitation getting down and dirty while you eat pie." He said, glancing at me. "I've seen him practically bury his head in the pie while he ate it out of the tin."

"I love pie eating contests." Sean said with a day dreaming look on his face. I was almost certain he might have been thinking something other than actual pie and I felt my cheeks heat up with a sudden flush of color.

I cleared my throat softly and took a sip of water. "Maybe there will be a county fair somewhere before the end of summer and we can see about getting you entered into a contest." I said innocently before dedicating my attention back to my plate to eat my dinner. I heard strangled gasps from both of them but I ignored them. I wasn't sure what was going on with the strange dinner conversation tonight but I wasn't going to put up with any more of it and I refused to look at them until they returned themselves to being Sean and Owen.

Masters of intriguing dinner conversation.