“I see that,” she said. She looked past him to see the delivery car drive off. “Did you pay him?”
“Maybe,” he replied with a shrug. “Maybe I just stole them.”
She smacked his shoulder and held the door open for him to come in.
“I thought you were going to be late. I didn't order you a pizza,” she said. She tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. The kids would be so excited to have a surprise visit from Ethan, but she felt bad she didn't order enough food for him.
“I skipped out of the meeting early to come here sooner. And don’t worry about the pizza, I brought my own,” he replied showing her the pizzas he had. There was a third box with a different logo than the ones she'd purchased.
“You didn't have to buy your own pizza,” she said, shaking her head. “I would have shared with you.”
“Well, how was I to know what kind of pizza you like? What if you liked pineapple on yours? I couldn't eat that,” he told her, kicking his shoes off at the door and setting the pizzas down on the table.
She grinned. “Actually, I do like pineapple on my pizza. It's what I always get.”
He opened his mouth and widened his eyes in mock horror. “You monster!” he grimaced and shook his head. “I don't know if this relationship is going to work out.”
“You just don't know what you're missing,” she replied. “It's delicious.”
He rolled his eyes. “No, sausage meat lovers pizza is delicious. No sweet stuff on pizza.”
“Ethan!” Ivy shouted as she came out of her room. Dallas was hot on her heels as they both ran out to greet him.
“Ivy! Dallas!” he shouted back with equal enthusiasm. He caught Ivy first, throwing her up in the air like she was a toy doll.
“My turn!” Dallas begged, his eyes bright with excitement.
Ethan tossed Ivy up one more time, making her shriek with delight before picking up Dallas and giving him the same treatment. The kids giggled and begged for more.
Laura laughed and took the pizzas to the kitchen. She smiled as Ethan played with the kids, keeping the busy and happy while she put the pizza on plates.
“Okay,” she shouted over them. “Dinner time. To the table.”
Dallas pouted. He was having fun, and he wasn't ready to stop. Luckily, Ethan saw the impending meltdown and tagged his shoulder.
“First one to the table wins,” Ethan whispered before running to the table.
Dallas chased after him, shouting “YOU'RE FROZEN!”
Ethan slowed down, pretending to move in slow motion. “Noooooooo. I… muuuussstt… wiiiiiiiiiiiiiinnn…”
Dallas and Ivy laughed as they easily beat their frozen companion to the table. Laura gave him a wink and brought over the plates of pizza.
Everyone dug into the food, and the room was quiet for a moment. Laura looked over at Ethan's meat-lovers pizza and shook her head. Pineapple was way better.
“What kind of pizza is that, Ethan?” Ivy asked, pointing to his pizza.
“Meat-lovers supreme,” he replied, his mouth full of cheese and pepperoni. “You want some?”
“Um, no thank you. I like just cheese,” she replied politely.
“I want some,” Dallas piped up. “I'll eat it.”
Laura raised her eyebrows in surprise. Dallas only ever wanted cheese pizza. She'd accidentally ordered a pepperoni pizza one time, and he'd refused to eat a bite of it, even once the pepperoni was off.
“Sure,” Ethan said. He went to the kitchen and brought back two slices of pizza. One for him and one for Dallas.
“Thanks,” Dallas told him as he dived in and ate it. Laura stared in amazement as Dallas stuffed nearly the entire piece of pizza into his mouth.