"On fire"

My mom has me moving out all the heaters into her backyard. It's not huge but it's great for all of us. Eleanor has a playset and a mini treehouse the guys and I built when she was smaller.

"How is Nova doing really?" My mom asks and I stop and look at her.

"So far she's been okay. She hasn't talked about her mom at all and I'm a little worried." I really am though. I'm not sure how it's affecting her.

"I know her mother and her were not close but I bet she still hurts losing her mom. Just be there for her though it all. I raised you and know you will treat her right." I lean in and give her a hug.

"And I always will be. For all of you. Especially her." My mom looks at me and smiles.

"You really found the one didn't you." I see Vice opening the door and walking towards us.

"I did mom. I really did." My mom pulls away and walks back inside the house giving Vice and us space to talk.

"Still nothing on any reports. I think we're solid. We all have alibis. We're covered. Cash pulled out some old recordings of us having a cookout and changed the dates." That's a good idea.

"Never would have thought of that. Good going you guys. Thanks. I have to finish up here. Can you go get Nova for me?" Vice heads to the door and I finish up with the heaters.

After a few minutes the back door opens and Nova walks out. She's taken off her hat and her cute little hair cut is a mess and she looks beautiful.

"Hey beautiful. Is it warm enough for you out here?" Nova takes a look around and smiles.

"Yes, it feels perfect out here." Nova walks over to me and places a kiss on my cheek. "Need any help?"

"Nope. Everything is done and now we're just waiting on everyone to show up. I'm about to fire up the grill." I head over to the grill and smile to myself because I can feel Nova walking behind me.

I open the grill and light it. Letting it heat up I walk towards my cooler and start grabbing meat. Nova just stands in a spot waiting for something to do.

"Do you want to help?" Nova smiles and nods.

"I've only grilled once and it was an epic fail. Can you teach me?" I wave her over and she walks my way.

"Okay the first thing about grilling is where you get your meat from. It starts with a farm." Nova gives me an odd look and giggles.

"Okay Madz, can I have the abridged version please." I smile at her and see she wants to be serious.

"Okay okay. You get whatever meat you can afford and make sure to marinade it for at least 12 hours. That's the most important part. Where the flavor will come from." I grab the meat from the bag, dab it off some and place it on the grill.

"Next, you toss it on the grill and shut the lid. Watching the meat wont make it cook faster and it lets out the heat. For steak it doesn't take long at all." I say knowing I like mine rare.

"Ok I think I've got this." Nova walks over to the grill and grabs a steak with the tongs, she opens the grill and just chucks the steak on the grill. She didn't wipe off the excess sauces so the steak caught fire. "Oh my. Oh no."

"Hey, it's okay." I pat her back. "I like my steak charred anyways. I forgot to tell you we dab off the excess. That was my fault." I show her exactly what to do and this time when she gently places the steak, it's fine.

My mom has the radio on and a song comes on. Nova must know it because she starts signing. "This song is called 'I'm with you' by Vance Joy. It reminds me of you."

I listen to the lyrics and one part makes my heart beat faster. 'Only been here for a moment, but I know I want you. But is it too soon? To know that I'm with you. There's nothing I can do.'

Nova is still singing as I walk over and grab her. I slowly start to dance around with her and she meets my eyes. "This song makes you think of me?"

"Yes, I love the part when he says 'I was just coasting 'til we met. You remind me just how good it can get.'"

I stop dancing with her and grab her face and my lips meet hers. She's everything to me and just hearing how I make her feel makes me feel things I've never felt before.

"We've gotta flip those steaks darlin'." We walk back over to the grill and Nova opens it. She looks over at me and I motion her to take over.

She carefully flips the steaks and closes the lid again. "This isn't so hard. I'm sorry about your steak though. It's probably going to taste awful."

"Darlin' you could feed me a shoe and I'd look you straight in the face and tell you that's the best damn shoe I've ever had." Nova cracks up and sits at the chair next to me.

"Okay Madz, whatever you say." She must be wearing down pretty fast. She's off of the pain medicine but she's still a little worn out after awhile.

"You sit and relax. I'm going to finish these off and make Eleanor's hot dogs." Nova nods her head and places her feet in the chair with her. Curled up in a little ball by the fire.

We sit in peace as my brothers filter in through the house. I can see them from the window. My whole family together fills me with pride.

I start to pull the meat off the grill when Tiny comes out. "Need any help Prez?" I shake my head no. I've already finished what I needed to do.

"Nah, Nova and I had it." Nova fell asleep sitting in the chair so I know she's exhausted already. I toss a blanket on her that my mom had out here and walk inside with Tiny.

"So Nova met Alice." Oh man I wonder how that went. Alice is a bitch. I've never said anything about her to him but she is rude and doesn't like Tiny in the club at all. She's always trying to push him away from us.

"I'm not sure. You know how Alice can be but Nova was really sweet to her. I knew she would be though." I look outside at Nova and smile.

"Yeah, she is pretty perfect huh?" Not really asking him a question just reminding myself that she is. Everyone around me starts to load up their plates and I walk outside and squat next to Nova.

"Sweetheart, I know you want to sleep but we need to get some food for you." She mumbles and starts to wiggle around. "Let's go make you a plate."

Nova opens her eyes and nods. Stretching as she wakes up. "I'll take the burnt steak. I don't mind eating it."

"I already told you that one's mine." I wink and she just shakes her head. We load up our plates with the steak, potato salad, mac n cheese and my mom made rolls.

We walk over to a table and sit down. My mother sits next to us and all she does is smile. I look around and see my family all around me. Talking and having fun. Everyone seems to be enjoying the food.

I cut into my steak and it's so hard to get through but I eat it with a smile knowing that Nova made it. It's like chewing leather but I don't say a word.

"So how's that steak Madz?" I finish chewing the leather. I mean steak and look over at her.

"Perfect, just like you." Nova blushes and starts digging into her own food. "Thank you for helping me cook. I love you."

"I love you too Madz. Always." There's that word again.

Always. A word I'll never forget.