Chapter 3
CHAPTER 3
I f someone had asked Aiden if he was a kid person, he would have said no. Children were messy and unpredictable. They required way too much effort and input for way too little reward. But then his sister had a baby, a girl, and he was wrapped, totally and completely head over heels in love with his four year old niece, Starla. His schedule didn’t allow him to spend nearly enough time with her, but tonight she was all his. All he had to do was take her to her dance class, and then they would get ice cream. He’d take her home, read her stories, tuck her into her bed, and likely stand in the doorway a long time after she was asleep, staring at her sweet little face in awe, feeling all the feels he usually kept under wraps. He supposed someday he’d feel the same way about his and Erica’s children, but it was hard to imagine ever loving anyone more than he loved Starla. There was something about her, something especially precious that cut to the heart of him.
“Uncle Aiden, we’re going to see Miss Kay,” Starla said from the back where she was strapped tightly into her safety seat. Learning how to put that thing properly into his car had been harder than med school.
“You don’t like Miss Kay better than me, do you?” Aiden asked with fake outrage. He was fairly certain of his number one spot in her heart.
“Maybe,” Starla said seriously, her baby gaze resting on the passing landscape.
“What? Starla, no. Uncle Aiden is always first,” he said and Starla giggled, making him realize she’d been playing him on purpose.
“But Miss Kay is beautiful,” Starla argued. “She’s perfect. Maybe you could marry her.”
“I’m going to marry Erica, remember?” he said, darting her a glance in the rearview mirror.
Starla didn’t reply. She and Erica had never warmed up to each other. Aiden hadn’t tried to force it because it wasn’t like he had any particular attachment to Erica’s nieces and nephews. Then again, none of them were as perfectly adorable as Starla, not that he was biased.
They arrived at the Twinkle Toes dance studio and Aiden began the arduous task of unfastening Starla from the seemingly twenty harness straps that bound her. In reality there were only five of them, but it felt like more every time he had to put her in or out of the car. Her little hand slid confidently into his and he gave it a squeeze as they made their way to the dance studio.
He had never taken her there before, and she made a big show of giving him the grand tour, basically a cinderblock room with a selection of kids’ books and magazines at one end. A few other girls were already there. Their mothers gave Aiden conspiratorial little smiles, as if they thought it adorable a man was bringing a little girl to what was clearly a woman’s domain.
A door in the back opened and a handful of tutu-clad little girls streamed out, followed by their mothers. Aiden wasn’t paying much attention to the teacher until she spoke.
“All right, girls, who’s ready to begin?”
His eyes snapped up and beheld June, dressed in a leotard and tights, her hair wound in a ubiquitous ballerina bun. She was smiling at her little charges, oblivious to his presence, when Starla began tugging his hand, urging him to come with her.
“Honey, I can’t go with you to your class.” His whisper was urgent. For a reason he couldn’t articulate, he didn’t want June to see him here. Too late, though. Alerted by Starla’s insistent hand tugging, she was now looking at him and tipping her head with a smile.
“Doctor L, what a pleasant surprise. I didn’t know you were Starla’s dad.”
“I’m not, I’m her uncle,” he said, standing to follow Starla’s urging as she dragged him to her idol. The K in Miss Kay must be for the first letter of her last name, Kellogg.
“Marvelous,” June said. She was the type of person who could say marvelous sincerely and not have it be weird.
“Miss Kay, can Uncle Aiden come to class today?” Starla asked.
“No, I…” Aiden began, but June spoke over him.
“I don’t see why not. Parents are always invited, if they’d like to observe,” June said. She opened her hand and, traitor Starla was, let go of Aiden to tuck her fingers into June’s palm. Aiden trailed behind them, still uncertain of why he was so reluctant. Was it the weirdness of seeing a patient outside work? Yes, that must be it.
He slouched into a corner, leaning his back against the wall as June sat the girls in a little circle around her and class began. Knowing what he knew about June, he was on edge, ready to spring into action and rescue Starla in case June tripped and fell on her or perhaps a lightning bolt came from nowhere and struck everyone in June’s vicinity. But to his extreme surprise, June was all fluidity and grace as she demonstrated each move for the girls to mimic. After a minute he forgot his discomfort, and a minute after that he was having fun. June led the girls in a series of little stretches and games and moves. To his untrained eye, she looked like an actual professional ballerina, one who could turn her feet all the way out and dance on her toes.
All too soon it was over and Aiden found himself feeling disappointed. Watching Starla and the other little girls had been adorable, but watching June had been soothing, like watching a jellyfish glide through an aquarium. He gave his head a little shake, as if trying to wake up, and went to reclaim his niece. He had to physically reclaim her because, like the other girls, she was attached to June’s leg while June hugged each of them in turn.
“Thank you for this, June, it was fun.”
“Thank you for being here, Dr. L. Caregiver involvement is always appreciated.”
“I think you can safely call me Aiden. How’s the neck?”
“Perfect,” she said, turning her head to show him how well her rope burn had healed.
It was on the tip of his tongue to agree that her neck was perfect before he caught himself. He wasn’t the type of man who flirted with every woman he saw, and certainly not now that he was engaged to Erica. There was something about June that brought out his playful side, made him want to banter with her. He’d have to take care to keep it on an appropriate level, for whatever it was worth. He doubted he’d ever see her again.
Theirs was the last class of the night. As Aiden worked up a sweat trying to buckle Starla into her constraining, aggravating seat, a pickup truck drove up to the dance school. Two oversized men emerged, talking and laughing, exactly as June stepped out of the building.
“Junie!” the younger of the two yelled, so loud Aiden startled and glanced in their direction. “Whoo!”
“Stop,” June said softly, shaking her head to try to unsuccessfully get him to lower his voice. Cheeks pink, she looked around at the few stragglers who, like Aiden, were strapping children into car seats.
“June’s embarrassed of us, Dad,” the man continued. “You know what needs to happen now, don’t you?”
“I surely do,” the older man said as they stalked toward June. June, meanwhile, put her hands up as if to ward them off, backstepping toward the solid cinderblock building. She reached it and stopped short, trying to disappear into the masonry as the men surrounded her and began crushing her between them. Aiden glanced around, checking to see if anyone else was alarmed by this display. No one was, besides June who caught his eye, her cheeks flushing a deeper shade of pink.
“My dad and brother,” she called.
“ Ah ,” Aiden mouthed, nodding. When he put it in context, it was kind of cute, the two oversized men crushing her in what amounted to a combined bear hug of affection. June, though still clearly embarrassed, was also half laughing.
“Stop it, you goons,” she pled, pushing ineffectually at their chests, both of which were shaped like the hull of a boat.
“Not until you tell us you love us the most,” her father demanded.
“I love you the most,” June said, still struggling. “Now get off me, I can’t breathe.”
They complied, but the younger one picked her up, tossed her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes, and carried her to the truck, unceremoniously tossing her inside where she slid into the middle seat automatically, leading Aiden to believe it was a nightly routine.
“Uncle Aiden,” Starla said, “Are we leaving?”
“Right,” Aiden said, snapping to attention and closing the door. Until that moment he had remained staring at the truck, wondering. What was June’s life like?
He shook himself out of his reverie. He was a soon-to-be married man. It really wasn’t his business to find out.