Closer 2

33.

"Hey you guys," Leonora smiled softly, going to give both of them a hug as they entered the café, and stroke Elise's arm carefully before sittong back down.

"Hey Leonora," Brett said with a small smile. He looked back at Eddy, feeling very unsure about the whole thing. Leonora felt tense, he was tense. The only ones that weren't tense were Eddy and Elise, though Elise noticed how tense her baba was and got uneasy from it.

Eddy decided to take the lead and sit down, making Brett do the same. He kept Elise in his lap, though. No way he was putting her down any time soon.
"Thank you for taking care of Brett the other day," Eddy said, turning to Leonora. "Really, I'm very happy you were there and made sure he got help."

"Oh, of course," Leonora nodded, shifting slightly before beginning to get up. "Do you guys want anything? A coffee? My treat."

"Oh uh, we were... Getting the grilled cheese, but you don't have to pay for that," Brett said, beginning to get up too but was stopped by Leonora's hand on his shoulder. He froze.

"No, I got it. Just one for each and a coffee, yeah?" she asked, looking from Brett to Eddy before letting Brett's shoulder go.

"Thank you, Leonora. That's very nice of you," Eddy said, watching her head off to the counter to order.

"I feel like she wants to talk about something," Brett half whispered to Eddy, who was looking down at Elise while she played with her shark. "It's something about her... Her tone..."

"I guess we'll figure out what it is then, don't you think?" Eddy said with an assuring smile, reaching out to take Brett's hand. "Breathe, love. We're okay."

Brett nodded as Leonora got back. Adam wasn't working today, but a girl about their age came and dropped off their coffees a bit after Leonora had sat down.

"She's gotten so big," Leonora commented, reaching out to touch her arm, but Elise gave her a very sceptical look and moved away from her, closer to Eddy. "She's almost a year okd now, yeah?"

"Yeah, she is," Brett confirmed. "Said her first word yesterday."

Eddy couldn't help but chuckle at Brett proudly stating her latest achievement.
"Just you wait, she'll say dada any time now too," he said, sticking his tongue out at him.

"She did? Wow, that's amazing," Leonora said, getting a wide, warm smile. "Was it Baba? That's so good."

Brett nodded proudly, smiling over at his daughter. She looked at him for a bit before grinning and turning back to Sharkie.

"We're very proud of her, she's growing up faster than we can blink," Eddy added with a smile.

"So, how are you doing recently?" Brett asked to prevent an awkward silence. "Studying, wasn't it?"

"Yeah, I've... I'm studying English, actually," Leonora said with a small smile. "It's... It's tough, but nothing too bad. My dad is cutting me off financially, though, so that's..."

"Oh really? That's rough," Eddy commented, furrowing his brows.

"Yeah, that's... That's actually part of the reason I asked you here..." Leonora said, tightening her ponytail.

"You asked us here to ask for money...?" Brett asked, confused. They didn't have all that much money?

"Not really. Hear me out, okay?" Leonora interrupted him with a nervous giggle. She quickly got serious again, though. "Have you ever thought about giving Elise a sibling?"