Chocolate Eyes

Michelle came home soon after she stopped to get dinner for the two, now three, of them. She walked through the door with a cautious step, her eyes scanning the empty living room as she listened for sounds of the newly reconnected duo somewhere else in the house. "Bri," she called tentatively as she passed into the kitchen and slid her narrow feet out of her heels, using the edge of the counter to steady herself.

She set their food on the island counter and padded across the plushy white carpet she and Bri had put in when he bought the place. Her fingers ran over the banister of the stairs as she climbed them nimbly. "Bri?" she called into the upstairs, heading towards the bedroom that now belonged to her step son.

The door was cracked open slightly, so she pushed it a little wider and frowned when the lights were off and the child was missing, leaving behind just his few belongings on the bed.

Michelle smiled as she realized where they had to be. She took the stairs slowly and hooked a left when she reached the bottom. The basement door was closed completely but when she opened it, she could hear sounds coming from the family room. She knew by the way the the sound effects were blasting that Brian was showing the child his large video game collection.

She moseyed between the pool table and the railing of the stairs. As she moved closer to the archway that led to the family room, her eyes fell on Brian, who sat on the large couch, leaning forward with an XBox controller in his hands.

Michelle stepped forward and looked down, startled, as her feet touched the hardwood floor that announced she'd entered same room as Brian and the little boy who was hidden from view. She sucked in air quickly as Brian leaned back and a small child was revealed, sitting on the coffee table with a matching controller in his little hands.

Brian looked up at the quiet sound of her gasp. "Michelle," he stated quickly, rising to his feet, "You're home." He lifted Evander up by his waist and set the little boy on his feet.

Michelle nodded distractedly, her eyes now on the little boy, who was looking back at her from his spot next to the table, the controller resting idly in his hands seeing as Brian had paused the game when Michelle interrupted, surprising them both.

Brian followed Michelle's gaze and looked back to his son. "Oh, EJ," Brian called as he sat back down on the edge of the cushion and rested his hand comfortingly on the boy's back, "This is Michelle."

Evander looked away from the blonde woman who was still staring at him. He nodded in reply to his dad. "Okay," he stated, not knowing what else to say.

Michelle blinked and shook her head after he spoke. "It's nice to meet you, Evander," Michelle stated, smiling as she crouched down in front of him and offered a little wave.

EJ glanced to the pattern on the wood floor in reply.

Brian rubbed his back. "Can you say 'hi', EJ?" Brian questioned, knowing that the boy was perfectly capable of saying such a simple word.

"Hi," EJ stated simply, glancing back at his stepmom for just a quick second before he focused back on the squares on the floor.

Michelle glanced at Brian and then stood up. "I brought food," she said, motioning back towards the stairs, "I hope you like Chinese," she said to EJ.

EJ frowned and glanced up to Brian. "We're playing," Evander stated, wiggling the controller in his hands.

Brian grabbed the controller from him and set it on the table. "How about we go eat," Brian suggested, "Then, if there's time, we can come back down later."

"But-"

"EJ," Brian silenced him, "You have to eat and I'm hungry."

"I don't like Chinese," he said to his dad, crossing his little arms over his chest and frowning deeply as he became upset with the way things were turning out. "Mommy never bought it."

"Then how do you know you don't like it?" Brian questioned, thinking about the file that Victoria Rochotte gave him about Evander. "You're not allergic, are you?"

Evander nodded quickly, eyes wide.

Both Michelle and Brian frowned. "Are you sure?" Bri questioned. He reached down and took Evander's hand so that they could go check out the file.

EJ nodded again, this time less certainly. He tried to back away from both of them as Brian tried to lead him towards the stairs. "No," he said softly, shaking his head.

"Lets just go see," Brian replied, nodding towards the stairs. "All I have to do is read the paper that Ms. Rochotte gave us and we'll know if you can eat Chinese."

Michelle walked ahead of them, glancing over her shoulder. Evander walked with Brian reluctantly up the stairs. When they reached the kitchen Brian lifted EJ up and set him on the counter like he had in the basement.

"Where's the paper?" Evander inquired, looking at the island counter that only had Chinese food sitting on it.

Brian smiled and pulled open a drawer by the fridge. He pulled out his manilla folder out and slapped it onto the granite counter top near EJ. "Lets see, huh?" Brian asked his son as he flipped the folder opened the looked for an allergy list, if the boy even had one.

Michelle grabbed the Chinese bags off of the counter and carried them over to the large kitchen table as Brian flipped through a few disorganized papers.

"Here we go," Brian stated, smiling as Evander leaned forward and scanned over the paper, his head blocking the words from Brian's view. "Can you read already?" Brian questioned, letting the boy look over the paper before he did.

Evander frowned and shook his head slowly, embarrassed.

Brian chuckled and pulled the papers closer to him. "Well then, let me have a look."

Evander sat up straight so that his dad could see and tell him what it said. Brian's eyes scanned over the paper. He smirked as he read the words. "You're like me, E," Brian stated as he closed the file. He tried to cover the surprise he felt by already giving his son a new nickname.

"What's that mean?" Evander asked as Brian lifted him off of the counter and into his arms.

Brian grinned and carried Evander to the kitchen table. He plopped the boy down in a chair, leaving one between him and Michelle. "No food allergies," he sang, "Just bees."

Evander was about to argue, but when Brian set a plate down in front of him, he closed his mouth quickly and pressed his palms against the seat of his chair by his side.

Brian sat down in his own chair, between Michelle and EJ, and reached for a white container. "Rice." Brian smiled. "Healthy and delicious covered in soy sauce."

Evander pushed himself as far back as he could go. Brian dumped some white rice on his own plate and then exchanged white boxes with Michelle.

"Chicken," Brian explained as he scooped a few pieces onto his son's plate. Then he did the same with the beef and asked the little boy if he liked vegetables.

Evander nodded slowly and watched as Brian dumped saucy vegetables on one spot of his plate. Brian handed the boy a pair of chopsticks and grinned as the child looked at them strangely.

"What's this?" EJ questioned, holding up the tan sticks.

Brian picked up his and grabbed a piece of meat off of his plate. "They're what people use to eat with in China," he explained.

Evander fiddled with the sticks and tried to copy his father. His frown deepened as the chicken slipped from between his sticks and fell back onto his plate, landing in his vegetables.

"I can't do it," Evander sighed, setting his sticks down next to his plate and turning to look at his dad. "Can I have a fork?"

Brian chuckled and reached across Evander's plate. He grabbed the pointed chop sticks and stabbed the piece of chicken that'd fallen back on the boy's plate. "You don't need a fork," Brian chuckled, handing the food to Evander.

For the first time since they'd come upstairs, Evander smiled. The little boy grabbed the sticks and when he thought Brian wasn't looking, he slid the chicken back to the spot where Brian had picked it up and stabbed another, new piece of chicken.

"Evander," Michelle called softly as the child ate his meat, "What's your favorite food?"

EJ glanced at the blonde woman. He shrugged his little shoulders and turned his attention back to his plate. He was eating around the pile of vegetables.

"Do you not like those?" Brian asked quickly, realizing what Evander was doing.

Evander looked up to his dad with slightly widened pupils.

Brian laughed. "You don't have to eat them if you don't like them, EJ."

Evander's nose crinkled. "Mommy makes me eat them," he said softly, looking away from Brian and back to the pile of unappealing veggies.

Brian smiled and stood up. He grabbed Evander's plate quickly, causing the little boy to become nervous, thinking that his new dad was now mad at him for lying about liking them. Brian headed over to the cupboard under the sink and pulled it open. He grabbed a fork from a drawer next to it and pushed all the vegetables off of Evander's plate and into the black garbage can.

Brian crossed the kitchen and set the plate back down in front of his son. And for the second time, Evander smiled. As he and Brian finished dinner together, Michelle washed her plate and then rested her hands on Brian's shoulders.

"I'm going to put a movie in, Babe," she said softly, "Do you want to join me when you and EJ are done?" She looked between the two brown eyed boys.

EJ frowned and looked back down to his plate.

Brian saw the boy's change of expression and shook his head. He knew that he told Evander that they could spend some more time together, so he shook his head. "No thanks, 'Chelle," he replied, "I think EJ and I are going to hang out for a little while before we go to bed."

Michelle nodded slowly and squeezed Brian's shoulders. "Goodnight, EJ," she murmured, smiling at the boy. He stuffed another piece of beef into his mouth in reply.

Michelle sighed audibly and retreated to the living room, leaving Brian and Evander in the kitchen to eat another helping of Chinese food and talk quietly.