I watched as the clock ticked down and the buzzer rang for school to let out. I've never been happier to see the end of the school day. I ran to my locker.

"Where are you headed?" Tyler called after me.

"Brynn comes home today!!!" I said as I jumped over the heads of the ocean of bodies that poured into the halway now that classes have ended.

I see Tyler holding thumbs up. "Tell her I said, Hi!"

"Will do!" I hollered before turning to I continue my run.

"Slow down, Mr. Nash!" The Disciplinarian yelled, but I couldn't. My mind was racing. Brynn is coming home TODAY!!!

A quick stop at my locker and I am out the door. Almost... my Mom nabs me before I get to the parking lot and gives me a huge hug. "Mom!" I complain, as there are several snickers from students standing around, especially after she kisses my cheek.

"Those are for Brynn! Not you! I expect you to pass them on," my mother told me in that authoritative, I am the principle and I will be obeyed, sort of way.

I pulled away, gave her a mock salute. 

"Drive Safe!" Her parting word to me as I run out the door.

I get into my car and head to Brynn's house. She had texted me at lunch letting me know she was waiting for the doctor to sign her release form. I'm so psyched. I pulled up outside of her house and sprinted to the door, took a moment to catch my breath and rang the bell. 

Gran opened the door. "Come on in, LoveFace," Gran said grinning. "She's currently set up in the living room."

I walk in and see Brynn sitting in the living room in her grandmother's recliner with a pillow behind her head, a blanket over her legs and Snuggles on her lap. I frowned slightly as I took in the scene. I don't know what I was expecting, but I guess I was thinking she'd be up and moving around.

I give Brynn a kiss on the cheek and sit on the couch beside her. "Hey, how are you feeling?"

"It's a little more painful today getting around, since the doctor just wants me to take aspirin for the pain but honestly I prefer it. I don't like taking those stronger medications."

"What made you set up out here? Wouldn't your bed be more comfortable?"

"Actually the recliner is a little easier for me to get in and out of on my own. I don't want to be too much of a burden on Gran and Dad had to get back to work today. Plus the TV is out here."

"Awe, man. That's sucks. You finally get home and he's got to go to work?"

"Well, he works shift work so he was here to help out for most of the day, but it will be just me and Gran tonight."

"Huh..." I'm not sure I liked this set up. If it's painful for her to get around still, what if she stumbled at night? What if Brynn fell? How would Gran help her?

"I know that look. I'll be fine," Brynn tries to reassure me but I was not convinced.

"Hold that thought will you," I said as I moseyed into the kitchen to find Gran making dinner.

"I was thinking, and of course you would have to give me your permission before I tried to get it from my parents, but I'd like to stay here tonight. You know, on the couch just in case Brynn needs anything. If she's still having trouble getting around I think it be better, if I stuck close," I offered rather awkwardly.

"If you want to sleep over, Finn just say so? You don't need all the other excuses but you know she's not allowed to fool around for another few weeks."

My face went at red as the tomatoes that Gran was dicing. "Gran, it's not about... why would think..." It's gone whatever rebuttal I had I'm too embarrassed to think of it and give in. "So, can I? Sleep over?" I asked.

"Of course you can. I'd love to have the help. Good luck getting your parents to agree though, but it's the thought that counts," Gran professes as she starts shredding some lettuce.

"Yeah," I agreed, and stepped out of the kitchen and back into the living room. I walked past Brynn who is looking at me like I lost my mind when I walked to her front door.

"Where are you going?" Brynn asked as I opened the door.

"I'll be right back," I told her. I stepped onto the porch, shutting the door behind me.

My dad answered the phone. "Dad?! Hi, uh... Mom home yet?" I don't know why I thought my Mom would be the softer sell on this but I guess remembering how my Dad reacted when he caught me and Brynn making out in the kitchen had something to do with it.

"Hey, kiddo. Not yet she had a meeting with a parent so she's running a little late. Anything I can help you with, or did you want to try her later on her cell."

"I.. uh... Okay, I'm just going to throw something out at you. Brynn's dad had to go back to work and so it will just be Brynn and Gran here tonight. Brynn is still having some trouble getting around and I thought maybe if it was okay with you and Mom that I might sleep on the couch here incase they needed me."

Silence... I bit my lip, hoping, praying. 

"Actually, that's not a bad idea, Finn. Since Mrs. Rose has just healed up from her heart issues, and if Brynn was anything like your mom after her C-section with you, Brynn may be tender for a few more days before she really gets moving around on her own."

Stunned, I needed to be clear. "So... that's a yes?"

"Yes, I think you should stay. Do you need me to drop anything off to you for tonight or tomorrow."

"Ummm... toothbrush, pillow, deodorant, a clean set of clothes."

"What do you plan to sleep in?" my dad asked.

"Oh yeah right," I normally slept in my boxers with no shirt, that wouldn't fly so, "I think I have a pair of pajama pants... and a t-shirt, I guess."

"Okay, you got it. I'll drop them off after dinner."

"Thanks, Dad. You're the best!" I told him.

"You're a good kid, Finn. I'll glad to see you're stepping up to take care of Brynn and her grandmother. Besides it's not like I have to worry about anything else happening between you and Brynn. Not in the condition she's in."

"Uh... thanks?" I said not sure exactly how I was supposed to take that last statement. I hear my Dad chuckle on the other end of the line.

"See you after dinner."

"Yeah, see ya."

I get back into the house and Brynn is sitting there, arms folded, with an expectant look on her face. "Well?"

"Looks like I'll be staying here tonight," I told her and her look of surprise was priceless.

"Seriously? You're parents agreed to that?"

I had to laugh when I noticed Brynn didn't say anything about Gran. "Yep, my Dad's going to drop off a few things I'll need after dinner but I'll be here until I have to go to work tomorrow."

"Or my dad comes home and kicks you out," Brynn said with a grin.

My eyes bugged. "You don't think he'll really do that do you?"

"Well he works from 7 until 3 am? But you've got your car right. You don't live that far away."

My eyes narrow as I try to figure out if Brynn was just messing with me or if she really believes this might be a possibility.

"No one is throwing anyone out," Gran said entering the room with a tray filled with soft-shelled tacos. They smelled delicious.

"So you got your parents to agree." Gran looked impressed.

"Technically, just my Dad. If there is any fall out with my mom. He'll handle it."

Gran laughed. "God bless him. I wouldn't want to be on the other side of your mother's temper."

This surprised me. "What do you mean?"

Gran put a taco on a paper plate for me and one for Brynn, which I handed over to her. Brynn took a bite and sighed in contentment. I didn't even know she liked Mexican food.

"Your mother was a bit of a hot head in her youth."

"Huh? You know I keep forgetting that you would know my mom back then."

"For most of her life," Gran said grinning and took a taco for herself.

I took a bite. It was so good, she made it with ground turkey rather than beef in the attempts I'm guessing to make more heart healthy. "This is amazing," I mumbled with my mouth still full.

Gran giggled. "Glad you like them, LoveFace. I'll have to teach you how to make them so you can cook the for my granddaughter in the future."

"Hey!" Brynn looked offended. "Why are you going to teach him and not me?"

"Do I have to remind you what happened the last time I tried to teach you how to cook?"

Brynn looked mortified. I had to ask. "What happened to last time you tried to teach her to cook?"

"Let's just say I didn't get that scorch mark on my kitchen ceiling by practicing my fire breathing," Gran said.

And Brynn threw the cover from her lap over her head. "I said I was sorry," moaned the blanketed ghost.

"Wow, that bad, huh?"

Brynn lowered the blanket I could only see her eyes and she said, "Yep."

I let a long slow whistle. "Good to know. I on the other hand am an excellent cook," I said turning my attention back to Gran. "So I'd love to learn anything you want to teach me." 

Gran clapped her hands before rubbing them togehter obviously excited about the prospect. "We'll start with breakfast, how do you feel about waffles."

"I love them!" I announced. 

Brynn's eyes narrowed on me and she lowered the blanket a few inches more to stick her tongue out at me. "Suck up!" she whispers and I laughed.

"Hey, I learn this," I said holding up the taco, "and that means a lifetime unlimited supply of your grandmother's taco for you."

Brynn lowered the blanket the rest of the way, "Well when you put it that way."

"I knew she'd see it my way," I said to Gran right before I got hit in the back of the head with throw pillow, which made Gran laugh out loud before she reproached Brynn with...

"Brynn Adele, now behave yourself," Gran rose from the couch. "What would you like to drink?"

"Water is fine. I can get myself if you'd like?"

"No, no. You're doing enough. You've really alleviated a worry from my mind by offering to stay."

"I'm happy to help," I told her. As Gran rounded the corner to go back into the kitchen, Brynn's expression turned serious. "Yeah, all teasing aside. Thanks for staying. It's a relief for me, too. I worry about her."

I smiled. "You're welcome. So, Adele, huh? I don't think I ever asked what your middle name was?" I said realizing just how much I don't know about Brynn.

"Why would you? I only know yours because of your nickname. Finn the Dash Nash."

"I don't know, I didn't know you liked Mexican food either."

"What is it a deal breaker or something? You can't love a woman who loves Mexican Food?" Brynn teased.

"No, I can't NOT love a woman who loves Mexican food, it's a weakness of mine."

"Well then I'm glad you work for an Italian Restaurant," Brynn said with a grin.

I chuckled. "You know I never thought of that. That would be a disaster. I'd be in love every other day in a place like that."

"Okay, no Mexican restaurants for you, EVER!" Brynn said with a note of finality.

I laughed again. "So, what else don't I know about you?"

"You mean like you want me to spill all my secrets to you right now?" Brynn said looking at me like that's the dumbest idea she's ever heard.

"How else am I to get to know you?"

"Oh I don't know like how people are supposed to get to know one another. Through the process of discovery," Brynn said the last word with a flourish of her hands as if the was pretending the word discovery was mystical in some way.

"Just one more?" I pleaded and Brynn smiled.

"Fine, what do you want to know?"

"What's your natural hair color?"

"How do you know this isn't it?" she retorted.

"Because people are not born with purple streaks in their hair."

"Fine, it's a sable or mocha color, like my mom's," Brynn told me.

"I'd love you see a picture," I told her.

"I thought you'd never ask," said Gran with a photo album in her hand.

"Gran, no! No, Gran! Gran..." Brynn whined her grandmother's name and she of course ignored her granddaughter and she sat back next to me on the couch.

"Payback," I whispered to her remembering how I caught her and my mother's heads bent over my album months ago and Brynn glared at me.

Brynn was the cutest baby... ever. In fact, her face hadn't changed all that much, okay maybe with slightly chubbier cheeks. I loved the color of her hair and the pictures where she had it longer. I suddenly felt the importance of Brynn wanting to have her own children. The thought of a daughter that looked like Brynn made my stomach clench at the possibility.

There was a knock on the door and my mom and my dad were standing on the other side. My dad held a bag of my belongings and my mom I knew was here for one reason and one reason only.

Immediately upon entering she gave Brynn a hug and kiss on her cheek. "I knew he wouldn't remember," she whispered to Brynn who hugged her back. My mom was right I didn't remember.

"It's so good to see you," my mom said. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm still a little sore but I getting better every day," Brynn mentions to my mom.

"Well, don't push yourself the first couple of days. If you need help be sure you ask for it. That's why Finn is here. Okay?"

"Okay," Brynn agreed.

"Have you eaten?" Brynn's grandmother asked.

"We have thank you Mrs. Rose," my father said as I took the bag from him.

"Thanks for the stuff," I told him.

"Not a problem. Mom was... okay with everything?" I asked seeing her now sitting and talking to Brynn about the surgery and school.

"Yeah, she's good. She remembers what it was like after having you. She knows Brynn and Mrs. Rose can use your help."

I was relieved she was okay with it. I really didn't want to be at odds with my parents but really I was only asking out of courtesy. I had no intentions of not staying, knowing that Brynn needed me.

My parents stayed for desert and coffee. Brynn caught my mom up on what her treatments and recovery schedule looked like and my mom gave her the best advice she could on how Brynn could keep up with her schoolwork and still graduate come June.

Once everything was settled my parents said good night and left. Gran I could see was getting worn out. This was a lot on her. "If you're tired Gran, why don't you turn in? I'll take care of the dishes and Brynn if she needs anything."

Gran gave me a grateful pat on the cheek. "Thanks, LoveFace." She gave Brynn a kiss goodnight and headed off to her room.

"Do you need anything?" I asked her and Brynn shook her head no.

"Okay, I'm going to tackle the dishes and then I'll be right back out."

Brynn put on a movie and settled in and I took care of the dishes that were in the sink and left them to dry in the dish drainer. I came back out to find Brynn asleep in the chair. I reclined her back a little bit more, and then grabbed my clothes to get ready for bed.

I came back in turned off the TV and laid on the couch so I could face Brynn. This way if I got woken up in the middle of the night I would immediately see and remember where I was. Brynn looked so peaceful asleep in the chair.

I turned out the lights picked up the album, Gran had left on the table, and using the light from my phone I flipped through them until I found my favorite. It was a picture of Brynn and her mom. Brynn was about 6 or 7 sitting on her mom's lap and they were both caught laughing about something. I took a picture of the picture and then put the book back down after saving it to my phone.

Hopefully it would be a good night for everyone.