Evan's Rose [18+]

Chapter 13

"Where did you drift off?" Evan's voice brought me out of my thoughts. I straightened myself and brushed off the topic.

"Do you want to leave?" He asked me.

"Actually, I'd like to spend some more time here." 

I liked spending time with the family and bonding with them. They were important parts of our lives and spending time with them gave me happiness. Even if I didn't have much to say to them, I enjoyed just being around them.

I heard Pa call my name. All through the evening I was unable to talk with him even though he was my favorite person in the Carter family. Evan made space for me to sit between him and Pa. "What were you boys talking about?" I asked. Both held a drink in their hands. Whatever they were talking about, Evan appeared calmer in the company of his grandfather.

"Rose! Did you know that our Evan harbored dreams ofbecoming a firefighter as a child?" I gazed at him, taken aback. Evan gave me a blank look.

"He would don a firefighter's costume and gallivantaround the house, pretending to douse everything with a make-believeextinguisher." I suppressed a giggle. 

"Alright, old man, I think you've had you fill. You should get some sleep." Evan retorted, a hint of annoyance in his voice.

"Son! There isn't a Carter who can't hold his liquor. I'm as sober as a judge." Pa declared, hoisting his glass in the air. He was, of course, perfectly fine as long as he could maintain his balance.

"Now, where was I? Ah, yes! Would you like to seesome photos? Evan's grandmother amassed quite a collection." Pa inquired.

"Sure Pa. I'd love to." I wouldn't pass up an opportunity to delve intoEvan's past. Beside me, Evan's face contorted as if he wished to strangle me andhis Pa.

"We're leaving Rose. Let's go." He commanded, taking my hand.

"Hold your horses, lad!" Pa called out to Jake and instructed him to retrieve the photo album. Jakereturned with a hefty box and handed it to Pa. He rummaged through the contentsuntil he found his desired item.

"Take a look at this. It was captured when he was five." Pa showed me a photo that was taken taken outdoors, likely in a garden A small boy dressed up in a firefighter uniform and a cap, was aiming a fire extinguisher at the camera. He was grinning at something off-camera. I recognized the dimpled smile. Evan's baby face was the most adorable thing I had seen. I smiled thinking the child we created together would just look the same.

"And this one is even better." Pa revealed a photo where Evan, about six years old,was cradled in his grandmother's arms, gazing at her with pure adoration. Hisslightly longer hair lent him an air of charm and beauty.

I gathered the remaining photos in my lap andbegan perusing them one by one.

"We're running late." Evan grumbled, but I paid him no mind, engrossed as I was in the pictures.

A baby version of him was nestled between his father and mother. His biological mother. Evan's jaw tightened at my side. He couldn't have been older than a few months. His parents were likely trying to lull him to sleep. I saw the love in his mother's beautiful eyes for her baby. Evan had inherited his mother's eyes.

"She was my mother." He stated when he noticed me lost in her gaze.

"She still is your mother."

"She died to us the day she turned her back and never looked back." I must have upset him because he stormed off angrily. I closed the photo album and thanked for having us over, promising Jake and Diana to meet again soon. I followed Evan out.