"Nah, I don't plan to put that off for much longer," he mused with a little smile. The second nursery he'd set up since coming to the compound. Hopefully this one ended up happier. "So it probably just means she's hungry. But I like your reasoning better, so I'm going to let myself be fooled." He stretched his back a little bit and looked over at where Mari slept. "So who's going to break it to her that we aren't going to be a George Foreman type family?"
He chuckled. "I think basically everyone in this compound can agree with you on that one. At least everyone from the city," he chuckled.
Evan knew of Leah's feelings on the situation, but he'd also discussed the same thing with Rae. Everyone mourned differently. That, Evan understood completely. Him, personally, he wished that he'd been more like that. More willing to maintain his old personality, and find happiness after Olivia died. And he understood, too, not wanting to lose who she was. And, he figured, sometimes, the people happiest in their relationships moved on the quickest, wanting to recapture that happiness. Sometimes it worked, and sometimes it didn't. He was happy for her, but he'd never say so. Both because he understood Leah's point of view, and in the spirit of keeping the peace, Evan never brought his own thoughts up to Leah.
"I'm only going to do it if you do," he said simply. "You can't let fear of saying the wrong thing keep you from making friends. People say the wrong thing sometimes. Usually, people around here are good at just letting things like that go. So, I'm only going to do it if you do," he reiterated with a stubborn smile.
Evan shrugged and nodded. "We could start small? Ger George and Kori in the same space, since they seem to be the most social of our siblings?" He didn't know how they'd get along, honestly, but they needed to try.
Every single time Leah asked about the food, Evan made his motions slower and more languid, acting like he was taking extra time just to punish her. And every time, he said no, in a slow, deliberate voice. Once or twice, he said yes, but then a split second later, rebuked and said no. It was an amusing moment.
"You're worse than a ten year old on a car trip," he mused as he slid the meal onto a plate and stuck a plastic fork in it. "So here, stuff this in your face to stifle it," he teased.