“That was a last hurrah from Kori, before she rushed off to the party,” Leah explained, nodding at the drying artwork on the tables lining the hall. “She was feeling a little guilty about leaving the kiddies, so she wanted to make up for it. I took cleanup duty.” Which she didn’t mind, really. Cleaning up messes gave her a feeling of satisfaction and accomplishment. Like she was actually contributing something.
She scoffed in mock offense when AJ reached out for Evan. “Oh, I see what your game is now,” she teased the boy, lifting him off her hip and kissing him on the cheek before handing him over to her boyfriend. “Maybe you’ll have better luck getting him to go to sleep.” It was cute seeing those two together. Cute, but rare.
Leah herself didn’t get or take many opportunities to look after someone else’s kid, because more often than not she was busy with her own. Too many years had passed since she’d actually had any babysitting duties, so it was a bit of a challenge getting back into that role. She wasn’t complaining about it, though. Not as far as AJ went. She considered herself lucky to get a little one-on-one time alone with Rory’s son, even if it hadn’t exactly been one-on-one.
She turned to glance down the hall and into the room where the main group was, spotting Marigold in the nearest sleeping bag to the door. “Couldn’t even stay awake to watch the first movie. She’ll be disappointed tomorrow, but I’ll make it up to her.” She’d seen Finding Nemo a million times already, anyway.
“This one’s going to be the night owl, I think,” Leah said, smiling at AJ and smoothing her hand over his dark curls.
It was almost funny how easy it was being around Evan right now. She wasn’t sure if it was the same for him, but for her part, as long as they were avoiding that proverbial elephant in the room and staying focused on other things, Leah didn’t sense any awkwardness at all. She was sure that would come later, though. When things had settled down.