Get With The Times

They were in the middle of a game of UNO when Colton came through the door looking rather exhausted. Jenna spoke up. "Come play UNO with us!"

"Sure, once I get changed."

Colton came back after he had showered and changed out of his uniform and that was when he finally realized there was an extra person at the table. "Hi, Erica."

Erica smiled widely at him as she realized that Adam must have told him about her because they had never met. "Hi, Colton! Nice to meet you."

"You too. Deal me in, Adam."

Adam scowled at him as he blushed, obviously realizing what he did and that she had noticed but didn't say anything as he passed out the cards. As the game progressed, Erica realized that Colton was just as competitive as the rest and he egged Adam on a lot more than the younger kids did. Probably because they were the closest in age.

It was actually hilarious and Erica didn't quite manage to muffle her laughter every time they got into it over a Draw Four card. She was having a lot of fun playing games with these guys and lost track of the time. She wasn't sure how long she had been there by the time Adam's mom came back with Evan, who was scowling and had a short cast on his left arm.

She was momentarily surprised when she saw Erica before smiling warmly at her. "You must be Adam's friend! I'm so sorry we couldn't find anyone else to babysit. It's so nice to meet you though! I'm Sarah Mitchell."

"Nice to meet you too. I'm Erica Simmons. And don't worry about it. We've been having a lot of fun playing games."

"She's really good at Clue!" Jenna added.

Sarah smiled at her daughter. "I'm glad you've been having fun. But it's past your bedtime and you have soccer in the morning so you can play more tomorrow."

Jenna and Jonas both sighed heavily. "Can we finish our game first?"

"Yes."

That only took about ten minutes and the twins (and Peter) reluctantly shuffled up the stairs after thanking Erica for playing with them. Evan ended up taking their place and Colton raised an eyebrow.

"How did you break your arm?"

"…falling off a dumpster trying to do parkour."

Colton and Adam both snorted. "That'll be quite a story to tell everyone at school who asks about your cast."

"Oh, shut up."

"You really do need to be more careful, Evan," Adam said with a long-suffering shake of his head.

"Yeah, yeah. Just deal me in. I was SO bored in the emergency room."

They played another two rounds before switching to another game Erica had never heard of that was meant for four players. She was terrible at it but it was fun watching the three of them go. She felt like she had gotten to know Adam a lot better tonight seeing him play games with his siblings.

When it was late enough that she needed to go home, she hugged him and said she had a lot of fun. He hesitated for only a second before returning the hug, thanking her for coming, and saying he would see her on Monday.

She may not have gotten the answers she wanted out of him tonight but couldn't regret how things went down. She felt like she understood him a lot better.

Erica had seen everyone in his family tonight aside from his dad. Who he never talked about but carried a picture of in his wallet. She would think there had been a divorce if not for the fact that there were pictures of him on the walls too. His mom wouldn't have wanted to keep those up if there had been a divorce.

Was he on a business trip or something? Or…

Erica's mom had speculated that something was going on in Adam's family. If something had happened to his dad, working so hard and taking such good care of his siblings would make sense. He was the oldest. He might feel responsible for them.

She didn't feel like it was her place to ask but she wanted to understand. If he felt like he had to carry his whole (rather large) family on his back in his dad's absence, it could explain why he didn't think he was in a position to date even though he liked her. That didn't make a difference though!

If he had family obligations to attend to, she would never prevent him from doing that. She hadn't tonight. Would that weigh in her favor here?

When Erica got home, her parents were watching a movie and her mom smiled at her. "Seems like you had fun on your date."

"It wasn't exactly a date but I did have fun. Adam had a family emergency so he needed to babysit and I went over to help. We all ended up playing games and they're possibly the most competitive people I've ever met so it was really funny to watch."

Her dad raised an eyebrow. "Who's this now? I thought your boyfriend's name was Dan."

"Get with the times, Mike. She dumped him weeks ago."

"I can't know what I'm not told. Who's this new one then?"

Erica sighed. It was embarrassing that her dad knew she was interested in someone else so soon after getting out of a relationship but, looking back, she had liked Adam all along. She just hadn't thought he liked her so she never considered dating him.

"My study buddy from school. We've had classes together since my first semester and eat lunch together every day before doing homework together."

"I like him better than Dan already."

"Dad!"

"What? If he does homework with you, at least he cares about his grades. Dan didn't care about anything."

"I know. That's why I broke up with him."

Adam cared more deeply about things than anyone else Erica had ever met. He was a hard worker, even if it was to his own detriment at times. He was a good person to have in your corner.

They could barely be considered friends but he still looked out for her by bringing her things to perk her up when she was especially worn out. If she was actually his girlfriend, she was willing to bet that would only increase.

She had to make that happen! She wouldn't let anything interrupt them next week. She was going to get her answers no matter what!

===

It was a very long week. Adam didn't say anything about Saturday night and was completely unreadable. Honestly, he always was unless he was blushing. That was the only thing that could give him away.

He acted the way he always did both in class and at lunch/studying. She had no idea what he was thinking. He obviously liked her. And she had given more than a few hints that she liked him too. So why hadn't he said anything yet? Why was he so convinced that he couldn't date her?

Erica didn't say anything on the matter when he picked her up on Saturday night so they could go out for real this time. She was half afraid he wouldn't drive them there if she said something too soon so she waited until after they had ordered.

She had thought about how best to approach this ever since she first got him to agree to go to dinner with her. But she changed her plan a bit after spending time with him and his siblings.

"Your siblings are a lot of fun. I can see why you like hanging out with them so much," she said.

Adam had a relaxed smile on his face at the mention of his siblings. She had made the right call. "Yeah, they're the best. Also the worst but that's just how siblings are. I wouldn't trade a single one of them for anything."

"I can tell how much they love you too. You're a good big brother."

"Thanks. I try anyway."

"I wish I had a lot of siblings like that or at least that Julie lived closer. But her husband's job is based in Utah and he can't relocate."

Erica's brother-in-law Jensen worked on TV shows out there as a cameraman. He would be on for a few months before having a few weeks off then doing it all over again. He had a lot of interesting stories to tell because of it though.

"Oh yeah? What does he do?" Adam asked and she told him. "That's cool. I've never personally known anyone who does that before."

"Neither had I. Does Colton know what he wants to do after high school yet?"

"Yeah, he's planning on becoming an accountant."

"I would have guessed a baker."

Adam laughed. "He would do well as one. It's not realistic though."

"How so?" Erica asked curiously.

He immediately realized he had said more than he intended and wouldn't meet her eyes. "It isn't the most consistent. He wants something that pays well."

Her suspicion that something was going on increased. From what she had heard, statistics jobs paid well too. And Colton had a job despite still being in high school. It was highly likely that they were both helping their mom with their dad out of the picture and that was why they wanted high-paying jobs.

She couldn't help but wonder if Adam initially had something else he wanted to do but didn't know how to ask. She didn't get the chance before the appetizers arrived either. She had to change her tactics here once the conversation started again.