Celestial Cookies (TAG)

Meanwhile, in the kitchen Alan and Ella were pulling out plates for the cookies. The Rosewood female had hidden the baked sweets to keep them away from her family. She knew better than to leave anything out for her siblings to get into.

“Hey, Ella,” Alan softly spoke as he looked over at his sister. “Can I ask you a question?” A curious look in his eye.

“Of course,” she answered with a smile as she stared at the shelves.

“Do you have a crush on Scott?” the blonde haired boy innocently asked.

Ella dropped on of her containers. It fell onto the counter with a loud clank. Her eyes widened as she spun to look at her little brother in shock. Never, had she expected for her baby brother to ever ask her a question like that. Had she been eating or drinking, she would have choked easily. So many thoughts ran through her head as she tried to find words.

“Everything alright in there?” Grandma’s voice could be heard from the living room.

“Everything’s fine, Grandma!” Ella called back in hopes that the matriarch wouldn’t peek into the kitchen. She sent Alan a frown from his earlier question.

“Hurry up with those cookies, Ella. Gordon looks ready to barge in,” Grandma warned from the living room.

“We’ll be a few minutes, Grandma,” Alan called out as he grabbed a few cookies from one of the containers. “Well?” he asked as he turned his attention back to his sister.

An annoyed sigh and gold-brown eyes were rolled. “Alan, I’ve been in love with Scott for my entire life. And he only sees me as his little sister. That’s all he’ll ever see me as,” she admitted with a sadness in her eyes.

Alan frowned at his sister’s words. He had never seen her look at heartbroken as she did in that moment.

With a wipe of her hand against her eyes to catch the unshed tears, she turned her attention back to Alan. “Let’s get these cookies out into the living room. Gordon or Virgil might bust in here demanding to be fed,” she suggested with a sniffled laugh.

Alan didn’t say a word. How could he? Instead he helped his sister arrange the large selection of cookies on the four plates. There was something for everyone to enjoy. Nothing super extravagant but Ella was always able to get creative with her baking.

“Ooh, carrot cake cookies,” Gordon happily exclaimed as he spotted his siblings with the four plates of cookies between them.

Ella rolled her eyes, but happily handed Gordon one of the plates. The gleeful grin on Gordon’s face brought a smile to her own. The aquanaut was easy to please, he had been a smiley baby. Ella remembered as a little girl she played lots of little games with the swimmer, more often than not they ended up in the little kiddie pool their parents had set up.

She placed the other plate on the coffee table in the center of the seating area. Happily she collapsed onto one of the couches with a soft sigh. From the corner of her eye she caught Scott’s stare, but didn’t do anything. Instead she sank further into the cushions and listened to their father.

Jeff was telling the group a story about his time on the moon. Ella’s eyes stayed on her father as she heard the story. It was one she had heard before, a story Jeff had shared with her after she had learned that she wasn’t a Tracy. The story was one that featured her biological father, Christian Rosewood. A smile crossed her lips as she heard the familiar story.

John sat down beside Ella, with a grin he wrapped his arm. He pulled her into his side and just held her.

"Hi John," Ella softly greeted her brother.

"Hi Ella," he replied with a smile.

Together the pair listened to their dad continue his story. Alan sat down on Ella's side and rested his head on her shoulder. A smile crossed the twenty year old's face as she happily cuddled with two of her brothers.

-fin