Gareth's POV

"SHIT!" I blurted out to myself, much to Alex's amusement, as he sat looking up at me from the toys he'd been playing with, and started giggling at the mess I'd just made of myself. So much for Sadie's coffee, this morning.

"Yeah, ha ha, very funny." I joked, dabbing at the front of my shirt with a nearby towel as I contemplated how I was gonna work this now.

I was really hoping to surprise Sadie after….well, last night….when she woke up this morning, and any amount of time I wasted trying to fix my shirt situation would risk that opportunity getting away from me…..and Theresa was already using the shower, anyway.

On the other, the freshly coffee-stained shirt would give the surprise away anyway, if she happened to wake up in the meantime.

As I stood mulling it over with myself, I watched curiously as Alex's attention was now focused on the front door, his little hand waving at who….or whatever he was so fascinated with.

Before I could think much of it, though, there was a short knock at the door and a familiar figure could be made out from where I'd been standing.

I scooped Alex up into one arm, still dabbing in vain at the front of my shirt, as I made my way to answer the door.

The same blonde woman from yesterday stood, this time holding only a couple small boxes in her hands, on our porch when I did.

She smiled warmly at me, chuckling slightly once she seemed to notice my shirt.

"Hey…" She greeted. "Gareth, right?"

"That's me." I chuckled, finally giving up on the shirt as I tucked the paper towel I'd been using into my pocket. "Sorry, it's ah...it's been a morning."

"You're fine." She chuckled. "...I just hope I'm not interrupting anything."

"Nah, just a- ah, just a losing battle with a coffee maker." I laughed. "...nothing too exciting."

"I see." She chuckled back.

I nodded. "I was trying to surprise Sadie, whenever she gets up. It's been so long since we've even seen a coffee maker, much less used one…." I shrugged.

"I guess it's just true what they say, no good deed goes unpunished."

She appeared to be trying not to laugh at that, as she held the boxes out more towards me.

"Well, maybe you can make it up to her with these." She offered. "...She mentioned yesterday she used to dye her hair black before…..well.."

"Well, that was nice of you…." I replied, taking the boxes of dye from her, with a slight chuckle. "..besides, I didn't need the bathroom today anyway."

"Don't mention it." She chuckled at the joke. "...Well, I should probably get going. I just wanted to drop that by."

"Well, we appreciate it….Jessie, right?"

"From Pantry!" Alex declared happily, in his small yet somehow confident voice. Apparently he picked that up, somehow, from Sadie's interaction with her.

Jessie nodded as she giggled at that. "That's right. Jessie from the pantry….I don't think I got your name though." She smiled at him before looking back at me.

"He's Alex." I laughed. "...and very intuitive, apparently."

"I can see that." She beamed cheerfully at him. "How old is he?"

"He's two, now."

"That's such a fun age." She smiled, waving back at him as he waved at her. "Well, it was nice to meet you both" She added, looking back at me. "Tell Sadie I said hi."

"You got it."

She put up her hand to wave back again as she started back down the steps.

"Who was at the door?" Sadie's voice startled me from behind.

"Jesus!" I chuckled, once I turned around to see her. "Ah Jessie, your friend from the pantry yesterday, came by to drop these off for you."

"One little chit chat about hair dye does not make her a friend, per se." She rolled her eyes at me, but took the boxes from me regardless and began to inspect them. "...shit, but these boxes of hair dye just might." She marveled over the boxes some more. "Goddamn, this is the good shit."

"I'll take your word for it." I chuckled.

She nodded. "...so then, should I just take your word for…" She gestured to the stain on my shirt. "...whatever's happened here?"

"Damnit…" I muttered under my breath, as if I'd expected her not to notice, and smirking slightly at the thought of that.

She raised her eyebrows as she awaited my explanation.

"It was supposed to be a surprise. I was gonna bring you coffee when you woke up."

"And what?" She laughed. "We ran out of mugs, so you tried to improvise with your shirt?"

"Very funny." I chuckled. "...more accurately, I lost a fight with the coffee maker."

"...well, you certainly didn't win it." She teased. "..though I do appreciate the effort, regardless."

"Well, you're welcome." I chuckled, adjusting Alex in my arms. "...now, how bout you take Alex for a while, and I'll try it again?"

"Why? So I can lick it off your shirt?" She smirked. "...I mean, not that I'm particularly opposed...

"Terrible." I chuckled. "..absolutely terrible."

"I try." She snickered, kissing me as she headed for the kitchen. "I'll go ahead and make my own for now, you can try again tomorrow morning." She stopped to turn around briefly. "...Unless of course, you wanna come with me and take notes."

I rolled my eyes. "Try again tomorrow, it is, then."

She laughed at that, clearly proud of herself, as she continued on her way.