HANNAH BANANA !

“well,  change starts with people raising their children correctly.  research has proven that having a parent at home is beneficial for younger and older children.  kids do better at school and have less behavioral problems.”  reciting off some facts always made hannah feel just a little bit better.  she spent a lot of time with her head buried in articles.  “apparently,  your parents didn’t teach you manners given your compulsion to preach ignorance.”  she muttered.

another loud burst of laughter escaped through her lips and hannah nodded in agreement.  “you’re the baby.  they’ll always find a way to ground you.”  she chuckled.  “are you still on their phone plan?  because that’s the first thing i would do with my kid,  whenever i have them.”

“i don’t know,  i feel like i still get to think of them as kids.”  not that she had actually known any of them as children but that was beside the point.  hannah was still older than all of them though barely with the oldest which rhett seemed to rather enjoy.  her eyebrows formed high arches in her forehead.  “what happened to that old adage about dads wanting their kids to never date?”  she questioned.  “you’re bad!  maybe i don’t want to date anyone,  did you ever think about that?”  oh,  what a terrible attempt of lying.

laughter spilled easily from hannah’s lips at his teasingly defensive response,  a hand coming up to cover it though it did nothing to stifle the sound of the giggles.  “you’re just sweet.  you would not tp a house.  that’s wasteful,  first of all!  and secondly,  can you imagine your fathers reactions to such shenanigans?”

loud laughter spilled from hannah’s lips at the answer that ezra offered her,  unable to help herself as the corners of her lips curled upward and dimpled one of her cheeks.  “bad boy?”  she echoed his word choice.  “who are you trying to convince of that?  surely this place is too small to get away with it!  everyone knows how sweet you are.”

as ellie takes a curly handful of her hair and gives it a tug,  hannah shifted her over to one hip and pulled it out of her grip so she doesn’t get too attached to tugging on it.  babysitting was rather easy for her given all of the time that she already spent around children and it only made her excited at the prospect of one day having some of her own when she found herself in the right relationship.  “i’d still babysit if they would let me,”  she laughed.  “ezra is still just a baby as far as i’m concerned.  i guess one or two of them are basically my age,  but i still feel obligated to coddle them just because i can.”

“thank you,”  hannah beamed.  “just especially don’t tell your father,  i think it would break rhett’s heart if he didn’t hear it from me.”  she teased.  the smile didn’t falter from her lips as she reached up,  gently touching a strand of ezra’s darker hair.  “and what are you going to do about all of this,  hmm?  it’s getting so long!”

“i swear,  everyone your age seems to feel that way nowadays,”  hannah commented with a shake of her head as if she’d lived in any other generation to know differently.  sometimes she felt like an oldie.  “she’s just a kid.  people don’t let their children scream in public because it’s fun.  a life lesson for you:  the parent with the crying child is always more distressed by the situation than an observer.  it's ridiculous to think you can stop a crying kid by complaining.”

she let another laugh slip past her lips and tossed a red curl of hair over her shoulder with her free hand.  “you’ve only known me for a few years!”  hannah pointed out.  “besides,  i like to think that i’m pale and freckled enough that it’s quite deceiving to the outside eye.”

her fingers smoothed over the little girl’s hair before hannah shifted to hold her on one hip so she could have a hand free for a moment,  letting ellie face ezra a little more.  children are her age were always fascinated by novel things and people around them.  “i’m going to let you in on my deepest, darkest secret that not even your fathers know about,”  she started with a sly smile,  stepping closer dramatically and glancing around as if it were dangerous.  “i’m not a natural ginger.  i’ve been dying my hair like this since i finished medical school.”

hannah glanced down at the piece of paper that he handed her with the number before folding it in half and tucking it into the front pocket of her jeans.  “and that is why i will keep your number safe and sound,  just in case,”  she patted her pocket.  it was unlikely that anything would come up given that her life was usually pretty safe and predictable,  just the way that she liked it to be,  but it never hurt to have extra precautions padded into place.  “why would it be more difficult for you than for me?”  she questioned innocently.  “you’re young  ––  like,  what,  early twenties?  you still have your entire life in front of you!  you can do whatever you want.  there’s just so much room for you to live.”

“oh sure,  i’ll let you take that title,”  hannah agreed with a nod of her head and an easy laugh spilling from her glossed lips.  she was so fond of the entire burke family and given that ezra was the baby of the burkes,  well,  he held a special place in her heart as if he was the baby sibling of her own family.  a little ironic given that in her own adulthood she wasn’t that close with her own biological family.  “oh,  she’s so much cuter than me,”  she laughed,  kissing the little one’s cheeks.  “i was not cute when i was little.  i grew into it.”

“well when i was twenty-three,  you were only twelve.”  hannah declared with an amused grin.  knowing that he was the youngest of eli and rhett’s clan only made her that much more inclined to dote fondly on his youth.  “oh,  of course they do.  i’m surprised rhett hasn’t shown me all of them for all of you already,  actually.  but you’ve still got that boyish youth and charm.”