Her eyes squinted past the haze of her mind, groaning with subtle annoyance. Giving up, she scrubbed a hand across her face. Emma was’t exactly the most graceful swan in the morning, but she hadn’t had any witnesses in a long time since Mary Margaret and David moved out. But, Neal, who had seen her through her worst mornings hardly seemed to be much of an issue.
Attention fell on the meal before her, not quite registering what it was for exactly. “It’s not my birthday,” she muttered, though it was an obvious statement. And then, piece by piece, her mind put everything together and realization seemed to hit. “Shoot,“ she swore lightly, eyes flickering to him. Her eyes narrowed for a long moment before she took the tray from his hold.
“Thanks, Neal. I mean it,” and she really did. Sitting up right, she patted the spot next to her. Since he went through the troubles of making her breakfast, the lease she could do was share. Her lips pursed together, taking the first bite before she breathed out.
“I never thought I’d celebrate something like this.
— it’s strange.”
Neal let a moment of silence fall after Emma’s notion that it wasn’t her birthday in order for her to realize what day it was, and it didn’t take her too long to place the pieces of the puzzle together. In response to her reaction, Neal couldn’t suppress a grin. Despite her morning drowsiness, which he had to admit was rather endearing, her reaction was amusing to him.
When she took the tray from his hold and patted the spot next to her on the bed, he hesitated for a moment. Normally, he would have considered the action of sitting down next to Emma when she’d just woken up not a very good idea, but as she’d offered it to him by her own choice, he decided to accept her offer, lowering himself onto the bed where she had patted it.
“No problem. Just wanted to make sure you had a relaxed morning before all the mandatory celebration stuff. Sounds like a pain.”
Upon her expression about celebrating Thanksgiving, he nodded a few times, producing a sigh despite the faint grin that had crept onto his features.
“Yeah—I know that feeling. Family stuff’s weird.”
