As the popcorn popped, they stood silent, neither knowing how to verbalize what was on their mind.
Nathan took a breath. "I like you, Elizabeth," he blurted.
"I like you too, Nathan." A lot.
"I...can I ask you something?"
"Sure," she told him.
"Are you ready? I'm ready but I didn't lose a spouse."
"I lost him six years ago. He was my best friend and a great husband."
"No pressure," he muttered.
"I'm never going to compare you. You are my best friend though. And I think what scares me is the possibility of losing my best friend if we mess this up."
He poured the popcorn in a bowl and turned to her. "I'm not going anywhere."
She took a few steps and rested her hands on his waist, looking up into his eyes but pausing on his mouth for just a second. "Its been a long time," she admitted.
"I've heard its like riding a bike," he whispered, his hands resting on her back as he pulled her closer.
She laughed. "Yeah. I heard that somewhere too."
"Uncle Nathan?" Allie said from the doorway.
He looked up to the ceiling and groaned. So close. "Yes, Al."
"I don't feel good."
He kissed Elizabeth's forehead and let go, turning toward his niece. "What's wrong?"
"I feel like I'm going to throw up."
"Go in the bathroom. I'll be in there in a minute."
"I'm sorry she's sick," she told him, hugging him tighter.
"Me too. You might want to see if your kids are okay."
"They are together a lot." Her phone buzzed on the counter. "Hi, Mom."
The kids were sick, all of them. So Elizabeth drove up to their house a few minutes later to help, but she did it with a smile on her face.
Her smile continued that evening, especially when she received a text from Nate around midnight. "Can't wait 2 continue our evening 2gether soon."
Soon was not soon enough in either of their opinion. Not only did the kids all get sick but so did Nathan and his lasted several days. Elizabeth somehow avoided it for which she was thankful.
Elizabeth made large pots of chicken and rice soup, taking one to Allie and Nathan.
She knocked on the door of their house and Allie answered.
"Hi, Mrs. Thornton."
"Hey, Allie. I made you and Nathan soup."
"Thank you. You can come in."
She walked in and put the pot on the stove on low to keep it warm. "How's he doing?"
"Between you and me, boys are big babies when they are sick."
"Yes they are. That's why they need girls to take care of them."
"Hey, you two," he said from the doorway. "Big babies?"
"Yep," they said in unison. "Jack was, JJ, and Julian, all big babies."
"Maybe its because their names all start with J."
"Yeah that's it, Uncle Nathan," Allie said with a roll of her eyes. "Mrs. Thornton made us soup."
"That was nice of Mrs. Thornton," he said, his eyes lingering on hers before dipping to her lips.
Allie smiled. "I'll be in my room then."
Elizabeth bit her lip as his gaze still held hers. "Hey."
"Hey."
"I'm sorry you got sick."
"I'm better now. A little weak but better."
"I'm glad."
He walked over and lifted the lid, breathing in the savory smell. "My mom makes the best chicken soup."
"Yeah? Where does she live again?"
"Hope Valley, Ohio."
Elizabeth nodded and sighed when he slipped his arms around her and held her close to his chest. "I've missed you," she told him, squeezing a little tighter.
"I missed you too."
"Do you see your parents often?" she asked, really wanting to know everything about the man she was hugging and falling for.
"Yeah. We are heading there this weekend."
"So that's where you go every other weekend. Hope Valley?"
"Yeah."
The doorbell rang. "Be right back," he told her, stepping away. If they didn't stop getting interrupted…
"Grams!" Allie yelled in the other room.
Elizabeth smiled and let herself back out the door to go check on the kids. Mostly JJ.
"Momma! Let's go get ice cream," he said, running over to her.
"Its almost dinner time, bud."
"We can have ice cream for dinner."
"Nice try."
Her phone rang. "Hello?"
"Hey, where'd you go?"
"You have family, Nate."
"I would like to introduce you to my parents."
"As what?"
"As my...I mean…"
"I think we need to define our relationship between ourselves before taking that step, don't we?"
"I know what I want, Elizabeth. I want to be with you. I want you to be my girlfriend and I want us to go out on a date. Alone. No interruptions by our plethora of children."
She laughed. "We do have that, don't we?"
"Yeah. We do. And I want to introduce you to my parents."
"I want those things too."
"Great!"
"What do you think about ice cream for dinner?"
"Scoops?" he asked, referring to the ice cream shop downtown.
"30 minutes. We can all walk over together."
"As a couple."
"With our plethora of children and your parents." It sounded perfect to her. "And we definitely need that date."
Nathan's father, Archie, was too tired from the three hour trip so he stayed at the house. Nathan's mother, Ruth, was more than happy to get something sweet with her boy and granddaughter. What she didn't expect was a woman and her four children tagging along.
"Its nice to meet you, Mrs. Grant," Elizabeth said as they walked.
"And you. How do you know my Nathan?"
"She's my neighbor, Mom."
"Yes, dear. Thank you, but I'm talking to Elizabeth."
"We met when the kids were referred for grief therapy by their pediatrician because their mother, my sister, had died. At that point, I didn't know we were neighbors too."
"And the little one's father? Where is he?"
"Mom, seriously?" Nathan groaned, thoroughly embarrassed.
"Its ok," she told him. "My husband passed away before JJ was born."
"I see. And what is your intent with my Nathan?"
"Mom! Good Lord! Is this embarrass Nathan day by asking nosy questions?"
"We're dating," Elizabeth said, taking his hand, causing all the kids to turn and look.
"You are?!" Evie and Allie yelled, barely containing themselves.
"Yeah," Nathan said, squeezing her hand.
"So my intent, Mrs. Grant, is to continue getting to know him and Allie and see if we can find a way to merge our lives. It's new, I don't know anything past that."
Later, in the guest room at Nathan's house, Ruth paced as she loudly whispered to Archie that she didn't like the feeling she was getting about this Elizabeth person.
"Ruthie, its really not our business."
"Not our business? Archibald Grant, he is our son, our only son! Who he chooses to get involved with affects our granddaughter as well as us."
"What are you so worried about?"
"That he isn't going to get the life he deserves."
Archie sighed and put his glasses on the table. "What kind of life is that?"
"A nice, quiet life, without someone with such a painful past. To have a child of his own. A Grant. Between them they have five children. I doubt he'll give us a grandchild now." She sat down and wrung her hands. "He never wanted a lot of kids. This isn't right for him."
And the next morning, while Allie was still asleep, Ruth told her son exactly that.
He stood, leaning against the counter with his arms crossed, fighting to keep his temper and not blow up at his mother. He was good at listening and giving his opinion. He was paid good money to do just that.
"Mom, you don't know her. She is strong and capable and she loves those kids as much as I love Allie. Don't you see how much she and I have in common?"
"Things in common are good, but, son, she's been married. She now has four children. Don't you want a child of your own too?"
"Mom, what difference does it make that she has four kids? If I don't have a child of my own, I'm okay with that. But, its our decision to make. Being together is our decision. Not yours."
"But, Nathan…"
He kissed her cheek. "Its my decision." He walked away to get dressed, leaving her in the kitchen.
That night, he quietly walked over to Elizabeth's, needing to see her.
She was not on the deck, so he knocked on the sliding door.
"Hey," she whispered, surprised to see him. "I didn't expect to see you tonight."
"I know...I just…"
She grabbed his hand and pulled him inside. "What?"
"I need my best friend. I need you, Elizabeth."
He looked concerned and maybe a bit panicked. "Nate? What's wrong?"
He stepped forward and pulled her into his arms, resting his chin against her temple. "My mom...I don't agree with her. I don't feel the same way. I told her it was my decision. Our decision."
"Start from the beginning. You don't agree with her about what?"
"She thinks that...because you have been married before and that we have so many kids...that I won't have a child of my own."
Elizabeth stepped back and shook her head. "Why...we haven't even been on a date yet. Why is she worried about this now?"
"I'm her only child left. She has always wanted grandchildren. Before...it just...Deb gave her Allie. I didn't have that need to have children."
Elizabeth turned and looked out the window. She felt their future, as far away as it seemed, slipping away. "No need for children. Well, I guess its important to know that before we had that date."
"Elizabeth…"
"Nathan, this can't work. Without agreeing on certain things, important things and without our family's support, we can't work."
"No, wait...Elizabeth. I don't understand. Its you and me. Our relationship. If my mom doesn't accept it, it doesn't make a difference."
"My parents, Nate. They didn't accept Jack right away. It made things hard. Really hard." She crossed her arms, effectively pushing him away. "We need both family's support. Otherwise, it won't work." Tears filled her eyes. She missed him already. "I want more children. Without agreeing on that, it can't work. I'm sorry."
"I said before. Before...I didn't see a need. Before Allie...before you...before I loved Evie and Julian and Kendra and JJ." He loved her children. That was amazing.
"So...you would want a child...I mean, someday?"
"Yes, but only with you."
She blushed and walked back into his arms.
He felt relief but he knew he had to get his mom on board somehow or they'd be "just friends" forever.
It wouldn't happen this trip, however, since they left the next afternoon.
Sunday evening, Evie found Elizabeth on the deck. "Is Nathan coming?" she wondered.
"Not tonight, sweetie."
"Can I talk to you, Aunt Beth?"
Elizabeth closed her book and looked up at her niece. "Of course. What's on your mind?"
"Can I go to work with you tomorrow?"
"You don't want to stay here? Grandma is coming." Thank goodness for her parents.
"Not really. I want to be with you."
"Okay, Evie. You can come with me. You might even do some filing for me and earn some money."
"Thanks, Aunt Beth."
Evie walked back to her room and sat on her bed with a sigh. She missed her mom terribly and Aunt Beth definitely held a special place in her heart. Being with her, doing things with her whenever possible helped her not miss her mom quite as much.
She was worried about Kendra though. She seemed to stare off into space a lot, when she wasn't crying. Even going to therapy wasn't helping her as much as it was Julian.
"Ken?" Evie said, looking at her sister. No response. Evie walked over to her bed and curled up behind her. "Everything is going to be okay. You don't have to worry."
"I want Momma."
"I know. Me too. But we can't have her. We have Aunt Beth now. She will always take care of us."
Elizabeth walked into the girls room a bit later to say goodnight and read to Kendra but they had fallen asleep holding each other, dried tears on their faces.
Elizabeth called Nate. She needed him to tell her they wouldn't always be so sad. They would recover. But he didn't answer. She didn't blame him. She had effectively pushed him back to the 'friend zone' after announcing they were dating.
She would need to figure things out on her own.