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Sam approached his brother’s house and rapped quickly on the door, promptly letting himself in. He had been here often enough he didn’t need to wait for someone to open the door. As a matter of fact, his brother and sister-in-law had been insisting he move in for years now.
He told himself someday he would take them up on the offer. It would be nice to live with a family again. But for now he had his own tiny studio apartment, and was more often than not out and about with Victor anyways.
“Hello hello!”
“Hey there!” He heard Elena call from the kitchen. “Come on in!”
He followed the sound of his sister-in-law rummaging through the kitchen.
“Morning, Sweetheart.” He gently pulled her out of a cabinet and into a strong hug and kissed her on the cheek. “How are you?”
She smiled up at him. “Just great. Grabbing some things for Nate out back, he’s starting up the barbecue.” She lifted the tray of burgers from the kitchen counter and turned around to Sam. “Would you mind?”
“Not at all.” He took the tray and headed for the open sliding glass door, stepping out onto the patio and squinting in the sunshine.
Sam carefully navigated around all of Cassie’s toys strewn about the ground and set the tray on the table beside the barbecue Nate was currently stoking. He cleared his throat and Nate turned around.
“Hey, big brother!”
The exchanged hugs and Sam gave him a kiss on the side of his head, ruffling his hair afterwards. They traded pleasantries and made small talk, Elena joining them shortly afterwards with bags of chips and veggies to set at the picnic table.
“Uncle Sammy!”
Sam turned around at his name and saw his six year old niece sprinting towards him, arms full of freshly picked flowers from Elena’s garden.
“There’s my baby girl,” he said and picked her up to toss her in the air. She giggled as she came back down in his arms and they snuggled. Sam kissed her cheek and adjusted her on his hip as she pulled a string of flowers out from the bundle she was carrying.
“Here,” she said and reached up to place the garland atop his head and he grinned down at her.
“Well thank you.” Only for her, he thought. Kids were never in his plan — he was far too busy traipsing around the globe to care for children, so he had more than enough affection for Cassie, of which she was more than glad for the attention.
Elena and Nate giggled at the sight.
Cassie wriggled down from Sam’s grip and began to place flowers around the table. “Mommy, can I have a vase?”
Elena nodded. “Sure, come inside and help me look for one, ok?”
Cassie left the bundle of blooms on the table and followed her mom inside. Nate turned to Sam and smirked. “You don’t have to wear those,” he said under his breath.
Sam shook his head. “Nah, I’ll take all the help this mug can get.” He gestured to his face, smiling and adjusting his ringlet. “Besides, I think you’re just jealous. You’d take it from me as soon as you got the chance.”
Nate burst out laughing. “You know it!”