I promise you won't be alone

[Wade Calhoun]

Yep, shit. Wade realized quickly the error of his ways, promising baby pigs to a little girl about to consume... a pig. It was messed up in an amusing sort of way and he could see by that slight change in expression on Dec's face that he was thinking along the same lines. Wade tried--he really did--not to smile. But he ended up cracking one all the same, before clearing his throat and digging into the meal.

It was actually better than he expected. Not that he expected Dec to be a shit cook, just that he... didn't honestly expect he'd be a cook at all. Living as a dog, Wade thought he must have hunted food down like a wild dog might. But then, he had a little girl to feed and it was hard to imagine little Lily eating raw animals.

"Bell pepper's really good for you," Wade told Lily, as he watched her pushing her greens aside. "Have you tried it? My favorite's the red, like this one."

Surreptitiously, he winked in Dec's direction before he picked out a piece of bell pepper and ate it. "Do you like fruit, Lils?"

[Declan Finnigan]

"I don't like peppers," Lily insisted as she cut into the ham, portioning them into little slices so that it was easier to chew. Dec watched her, then his gaze slid up to Wade for no apparent reason. Weird how easily Lily took to him. Weird how easily Dec took to him.

Even when his ex-wife was alive, Dec never felt that things were right. When they were together, he didn't feel like a family unit but he knew inside that a mom, a pop and a kid, that was supposed to be... family. That was what they taught in school, on the TV, in magazines and on billboards but...

This...

He focused on his meal again because Wade winked at him and he felt the odd urge to smile back. Lily was nodding now and listing all the fruits she liked, still avoiding the vegetables--not to be distracted, of course. After the ham was gone and there was only veggies, she stopped eating but Dec shook his head down at her.

"Eat your salad," he said dryly. She pouted. He stopped eating and sat there waiting and with an exaggerated SIGH Lily picked her fork up again. But it was Wade she turned to, pleadingly. "Mister Wade... can I just eat the peppers?"

"Lettuce too," Dec said, reaching over and putting a hand over her head, turning it back to her plate. What? Was Wade her new dad now? Did she already adopt him, in the hopes that he'd be more lenient? "Eat."

"...fine." Lily ate some salad and then screwed up her face into a horrible grimace. "YUCK!"

[Wade Calhoun]

Kids really seemed to have it out for vegetables, or maybe it was a dog shifter thing. Or maybe not. Dec seemed to enjoy them just fine. Lily, though, she was insistent and stubborn about how much she liked fruit but not vegetables, even the less vegetabley vegetables out there, like say bell peppers!

He smiled at Lily and he was about to tell her it was fine if she ate the bell peppers--as long as she ate all the bell peppers on her plate but Dec stood firm. Lettuce, too. Wade let out a soft laugh and he shrugged as if helpless.

"Well, if your daddy says so, I think you're gonna have to eat it all. But lettuce isn't so bad, either. Just don't eat it all alone."

Wade wasn't a fan of just chomping on leaves, either. He got up and peered into the fridge to see if there was anything to add to the salad, some kind of dressing or something to add to it that might make it easier to eat. There was no dressing that he could see, nor anything to make dressing with. So he checked the cupboards and said, "Aha!" when he found something of interest.

There were pumpkin seeds--probably from a pumpkin harvest. Not what he was hoping for--something like croutons. Kids seemed to love those. But pumpkin seeds might help. He eyed Lily for a moment. She was only enough for seeds, right? She was older than toddler age.

"We'll eat it with pumpkin seeds. Do you like pumpkin?" he asked. "Next time, I'll make some killer poppyseed dressing. You'll like it. It's sweet."

[Declan Finnigan]

A no frills kind of fella, Dec ate his lettuce and bell pepper salad without complaint.  He didn't find salad dressing or he would've put some in for Lily's sake, but he was still grateful that somebody put food in their fridge. Dec wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth.

But that was Dec. He put up with a lot of things without a grumble. A kid like Lily needed a bit more persuasion and that was where Wade came in, apparently. Lily perked up at the mention of pumpkin seeds, but then glanced at Dec as though asking permission. Dec nodded once and got on with his food, while Lily ran over to look at the pumpkin seeds that Wade had found.

"Ooo... they're crunchy!" She had one in her hand and was nibbling on it. "What are pumpkins made of, Mister Wade?"

[Wade Calhoun]

"Pumpkins are made of pumpkins, silly."

What else would pumpkins be made of? But he could tell Lily wasn't entirely convinced, so he added, "When you put the seeds into the ground, they grow out on a vine, so the top part of a pumpkin? That's vine. And the outside is a hard shell-skin. And inside, there are a bunch of these."

He didn't use the V word, knowing how against vegetables Lily was and he certainly stayed away from the term squash, in case she knew that squashes were vegetables. Or fruits? Wait a second... Watermelon grew on a vine. Fruit? He nodded to himself.

"They're fruits!" Not vegetables after all. He grinned over at Declan as if he'd gotten away with something but... truth was, he didn't know all about this shit. He was talking out his ass. He patted Lily on the head.

"Now, add that to your salad and finish it so we can get you tucked into bed."

[Declan Finnigan]

"Oh... these grow inside the pumpkin?" Dec was willing to bet none of that got through to Lily, who was now looking at the half-eaten seed in her hand with wonder. "They're FRUITS?"

Now, Dec was willing to suspend disbelief but that might've been going too far. He cleared his throat. "Come finish your supper," he said to Lily before the inevitable tidal wave of questions started. She was an inquisitive, curious kid. Sometimes that was good. Right now, that wasn't because Dec didn't want her getting worked up before bedtime.

"But daddy, Mister Wade said--"

"I heard what he said. Come on back."

She let out another SIGH and gave Wade a little old grown up Look of exasperation, before trudging back with a handful of pumpkin seeds which she sprinkled with a flourish into her salad. Dec smiled at her and gave her a light pat on the head. "Go on." He made sure she ate all of it before taking her plate away and letting her run off in evident relief to brush her teeth and get ready for bed.

Dec took the plates into the kitchen and plopped them into the sink. They could be dealt with in the morning; right now, he was plumb tuckered out and he was willing to bet Wade and Lily were too. "You all right on the couch?" He eyed it; it didn't look lumpy but it was a bit short. They'd need to get another bed, unless Wade wanted to sleep with them in the same bed. Probably not a good idea, though, lest people got the wrong idea...

[Wade Calhoun]

"Yep."

He didn't say he figured he'd be on the couch and that he would have insisted on taking it even if Declan wanted it (for... whatever reason). It wasn't going to be comfortable, especially for a tall man like Wade, but he'd live. Sleeping in the same bed seemed a little like crossing a line, even though they slept together in the truck. It was different when they were dogs, though. Slightly, since Wade knew the whole time they were just any dogs.

Letting out a yawn, he plopped onto the couch and stretched out. Oh yeah, it was definitely too short for him. He laughed aloud, looking up at Dec. Then he waved a hand at him, for him to go join his daughter.

"Go on. Git. Before I change my mind!"

Not that he was going to but it felt like a threat; him taking over the bed and waking up with a leg slung over the poor man. Adjusting the pillow behind his head, he closed his eyes, as if to shut out any arguments Declan might have.

"G'night, Dec."