The house seemed quiet when he parked in the driveway, but as soon as he opened the front door he heard laughter. Someone was visiting, and Aaron wasn't sure who it was from the noise. Their most frequent visitor was Daryl and he had gone directly home instead of leaving the motorcycle in the garage as he usually did. Carol was another good guess and as he got closer to the kitchen he realized that she was the one in there with Eric.

Eric laughed again and Aaron paused just outside the kitchen, "I don't know what we're supposed to do with all of these. This is too much, we'll be eating squash for the next three years."

Aaron peeked around the doorframe, "Eating what?"

Carol waved him closer and held up a mason jar. "Summer squash." She smiled and made a flourishing gesture over the counter, which was covered with jars. "We were canning all of the summer squash, zucchini, patty pan and pumpkins from the back gardens today."

"We baked a pie too, for tonight." Eric grinned, reaching out to Aaron, "I missed you."

Aaron leaned in for a kiss, "I missed you too."

"That's so cute." Carol laughed, "I should go, but I'll be back tomorrow to help with the cucumbers. Now you can ask what type of pickles we should make." She waved as she left the room, and a few seconds later they heard the door open and close.

"Pickles?" Aaron looked around the kitchen again, taking in all of the jars and the big pot on the stove.

"It seemed the best way to preserve the cukes." Eric shrugged, "We can do dill or sweet, or spicy with some of the hot peppers that I grew. We finished all of the squashes today and made tomato sauce and stewed tomatoes yesterday. Tomorrow cukes, and then the next maybe the carrots or the green beans."

Aaron looked surprised, "When did you have the time to grow all of that? How did I not notice? That's amazing! We barely had anything in the garden last summer."

Eric grinned again, "What did you think I was doing here while you were out there with Daryl? I can only fold so much and wash so many dishes before they are all done. Carol helped with the gardening when I couldn't move around very well, so she offered to help with this too after she saw that I was going to use that old book to work with."

"That was kind of her." Aaron was starting to understand why Eric had said they would be eating squash for years. There was a lot. It was good though, useful. As long as they were safe in Alexandria they wouldn't have to worry about eating. "So how does this work? Are we going to have the gardens next summer too? Can I help with those?"

"Sure, I'd like that. We could grow some very different things then too; so we have more variety of canned vegetables." Eric hesitated, "Why are we talking about vegetables when you just got home after being out there for three days?"

Aaron paused, thinking, "Because Carol was here and I was trying to be polite, and you distracted me with food."

"So, you're saying that you are hungry?" Eric moved around the kitchen, moving the jars to create some open space on the counters. "I could make dinner."

"That's one of the things I'm hungry for, I suppose." Aaron teased, reaching out to slide his hand along Eric's arm as he was passed once again.

Eric rolled his eyes, "Charming." He smiled though and caught Aaron's hand as he finished moving the jars. "Go, get cleaned up and I'll make dinner. We can talk about the other things you are hungry for after that."