And I, for one, fully intend on taking advantage of that situation, whether she realizes it or not.
I pad downstairs and find her sitting on the couch, curled up with Shadow in her lap and the others tucked in around her, while Fi and Hellion lounge in their beds across the room watching her with the tiny monsters.
"Morning. What are your plans for today?" she asks when she looks up at me.
"Morning, I was thinking we could just do food and a movie today. Have a proper lazy day. I know we've barely left the house the last couple of days, but it's been kind of bliss."
She grins wide at me and nods. "I am absolutely down for that. I really didn't cherish the idea of leaving the house anyway."
"Then that's what we’ll do," I tell her with a smile. "What are we craving for breakfast?"
She takes the puppy from her lap and stands as I head toward the kitchen.
I hear her footsteps on the hardwood floors behind me and smile when she makes her request.
"Breakfast burritos?"
I smile wider because I already had a feeling that was going to be her request, and I happen to know we have everything to make them in this kitchen.
Asher went out and did a big shop yesterday to make sure that she would have everything she possibly needs, including topping up her hot chocolate station that makes me smile every time I see it in our kitchen.
"I can do that," I tell her as I start rummaging through the fridge to find everything I need.
"I can help," she offers, and I glance over my shoulder at her and shake my head.
"No chance. You sit down and relax. Start thinking about what movie you want to watch."
"Oh, I already know what I want to watch," she tells me with a wide grin.
I groan out loud, but it's more playful than it is real. She could tell me that she wanted to sit through watchingTitaniceleven times and I would still gladly sit by her side while we did, even if my eyes did bleed.
"We're gonna watchA Nightmare Before Christmas," she says as I shake my head.
"I’ve never seen it," I confess, and the gasp she makes as she presses her hand against her chest warms my heart.
"Well, that is just blasphemous. This is something every person should watch. Really, it's a Halloween movie, but it's also a Christmas movie, which makes it the best movie ever."
"Do we even have it?" I ask her, and she rolls her eyes.
"Welcome to 2022, where every single movie that you could possibly want is ready and available to stream."
I laugh at her sass as I finish pulling everything from the fridge, turning to face her where she sits at the island and dropping the ingredients where I need them on the counter. "Yeah, yeah, I know. I've never even heard ofA Nightmare Before Christmas. Sometimes I think that you were born in another century and you just pretend to be our age."
"No, I just like the good things and most of the good things are vintage these days," she responds, her sass coming from her in waves.
It doesn't take long to get everything for breakfast, and watching her mess around with the dogs while I cook is a new level of joy.
I never thought that this is what my life could look like. Thinking about being disinherited by my father never felt so good.
Once breakfast is done, I head over to the couch, joining her where she's sitting back with the dogs and hand her the breakfast burrito. The smile on her face makes my heart soar as she does her happy food dance thing when she takes her first bite, groaning around the food.
"This is so good," she mumbles, and my heart does that weird pitter patter thing again. She lifts the remote and hits play.
I exaggeratedly roll my eyes as the movie credits start. This might be the weirdest day that I've ever had, but it might also be one of the best, and I intend to enjoy every single second of it.
CHAPTERNINE
Asher