#averyxrobinson

Deacon had the kids with him at the grocery store, which wasn’t usually a huge issue, but they had both had popsicles at a friend’s house and were a little extra wired. Turning onto the aisle with the canned soups, he heard both of the kids at the front of the shopping cart let out a squeal before he watched them take off. “Woah,” he called out after them, instinctively scanning ahead to make sure they weren’t about to do something like grab a stranger in a hug. Granted, they’d done that before and it hadn’t been the worst thing ever. “Miss Robinson,” they both called out right as his eyes landed on their kindergarten teacher. Letting out a sigh of relief, Deacon shook his head and moved his cart up closer to where the dark-haired woman stood. The kids hugged her, one on either side, smiling up at their former teacher. “You’d think they hadn’t seen you in decades. It’s been, what, a couple months since school let out? C’mon, guys, let her breathe.” He reached out and gave Dylan and Delaney a light tug on the back of their shirts. “How you doin’, Miss Robinson?”

Avery Robinson was one of those people that Hadley adored with her whole heart. She was kind, endearing and of course, cute as a button. It was no surprise that Hadley’s best friend, Sabrina, had fallen head over heels for the girl when they were teenagers. Hadley firmly supported Sabrina in her plan to someday marry Avery, and in the meantime, she was glad she had plenty of reasons to befriend the kindergarten teacher. Teaching high school students was drastically different, and Hadley often joked it was less fun, especially when she got to help Avery with her classroom decor. Shifting the box in her hands she blew her hair out of where it had fallen in front of her eyes, her ponytail more loose and messy than functional. “Okay, seriously,” she huffed, moving to set the box on Avery’s desk. “I’m still so jealous that you get to go all out with themes like this. My students see me put a single seasonal thing up and they instantly groan so loud it echoes in my mind for years to come.” 

@averyxrobinson​

Tate plopped down on the couch next to Avery, letting out a big sigh. “Good news,” he started, “we survived dinner. Bad news is that I think our parents are about to crack open that bottle of wine yours brought over and knowing them, they’ll finish it off before the night is over.” Avery’s family and his family were close; they always had been and probably always would be. For his mom’s birthday, it made more sense for the Robinsons to be there than it did his own aunts and uncles who didn’t live in town anymore. “You want to go for a walk or something? Maybe we can walk off some of that chicken Alfredo pasta and garlic bread.” He didn’t necessarily have a reason for wanting to get out of the house, but Avery had been his friend for so long that Tate just knew he wanted to spend some time alone with her.

Deacon’s kids had only left about fifteen minutes ago, both eager to get out of the house and spend the night with their Aunt Sydney. He loved the way his sisters loved his kids, and more than anything, he loved that they had his sisters. It was important to him for the kids, especially Laney, to spend as much time with them as they could. Both of his sisters were strong women with good hearts and good heads, which made them the perfect role models for his kids. In the excitement to get them out the door, Deacon was sure they’d missed something, so the knock at his front door had him thinking it was probably one of the kids. “What’d you forget this time, kiddo?” He barely had the door open before the words spilled out, the laugh on his face falling as he realized it was, in fact, not Laney or Dylan. “Avery, hey,” Deacon said, eyes taking in the woman on his front porch. “Sorry, I thought you were one of the kids comin’ back for somethin’.” 

Deacon hadn’t seen Avery since the time he’d bumped into her with his kids at the grocery store. They’d gone to eat after and it’d been really great, something he wasn’t entirely surprised by. His kids adored her, they’d both gushed about her all the time, and he had a soft spot for the woman because of it. If anyone had called him on it, he’d say it was just because she was an attractive woman who was great with his kids. Realistically, he had a thing for anyone remotely maternal, and that was a deeper issue that would be addressed some other time. 

When he found himself standing next to her a couple hours into the event, Deacon took his chance to strike up conversation. “No wonder Dylan got so excited about school days,” he started as he leaned down toward her, stepping a little closer. Was he grateful he’d started drinking so he had a little more liquid courage in him for this moment? Absolutely. “I thought he had a little girlfriend but he must have just been looking forward to seeing his teacher. Can’t say I blame him, if my teachers were half as pretty as you, I’d be hot for teacher, too.”