24
A iva pulled into the parking lot of Knox’s condo building Wednesday morning. He’d asked her if she could meet him at his place, and they could leave from there. She thought it was a good idea and would volunteer to drive. That way, she could bring him back home and head to work once they were finished. Her first appointment wasn’t until eleven-thirty, so she had three hours before she needed to be at the office. She’d gotten everything together for the client the previous day before leaving the office to give herself more time.
She walked into the building, made the quick journey to his unit, and knocked on the door. When it opened, he pulled her into his chest, and his lips descended on hers.
Aiva was caught off guard for a moment, but she kissed him back, followed the movement of his lips on hers. He pulled her inside, and she heard the door close, but she was too focused on how he kissed her to pay any mind to it.
“I wasn’t a fan of being unable to do that Saturday,” he said against her lips when they finally pulled apart.
Aiva seconded that. They were dating, but she hadn’t wanted to overstep any boundaries with his daughter and her little sister being there. She knew Yasmine was still adjusting to living with Knox full time and maybe even with her parents being separated. Aiva in no way wanted to cause any additional issues in that regard. She also did not want Kaley to get the wrong idea, or rather, the right one, and tell anyone in their family who would listen.
She wasn’t keeping her relationship with him a secret. Her sisters knew, but Kaley liked to tell their sperm donor things, and Aiva did not want him in her business. She knew her baby sister wasn’t old enough to realize that Edison didn’t need to know everything, and she couldn’t fault her for that. She was careful with her personal life around the child.
There was a delicious aroma wafting through his condo that Aiva hadn’t noticed before because she was busy having her lips devoured by his. She looked to her right and spotted his dining room table filled with serving plates. There was bacon, sausages, omelets, French toast, skillet potatoes, fresh-cut fruit, and a glass pitcher of orange juice. Swan folded napkins sat on both dinner plates on the table.
When she suggested a breakfast date, she assumed they would go out somewhere. However, she shouldn’t have been surprised that Knox had other plans. Their previous dates had been thought out, personal and romantic. She didn’t know why she assumed this would be any different. He’d admitted that he was ruining dates for her with men who weren’t him, and he was living up to that claim.
Aiva turned her attention back to him, wrapped her arms around his neck, and softly kissed him. When they pulled apart, he led her to the table and pulled her chair out for her. She ran her hand over the napkin as he took his seat.
“Did you fold these?”
“I did,” he responded. “Folding napkins is not as easy as an origami swan or crane.”
She would take his word for it. She’d never attempted to fold cloth napkins or do any origami. It looked so pretty that she didn’t want to mess it up, but she knew some of the form would fall as soon as she moved it from the plate. So, she bit the bullet and picked it up, placing it in her lap.
“This all looks so delicious,” she complimented.
“Thank you, gorgeous.”
Once the food was on both plates, Aiva said a quick blessing before tasting the omelet. It tasted just as good as it looked. The first half of their breakfast was filled with silence as they enjoyed the food.
“You’re going in later today than usual. Was there a reason?” Knox asked.
“Not particularly. I think Finx was trying to give me a bit of a breather after a specific case I’ve been working on. My client’s soon-to-be ex-husband is a piece of work.”
“I’m sure you’re handling him well.”
“He and his lawyer hate me, but I don’t care.” Aiva couldn’t talk much about that, so she shifted the conversation. “When is Yasmine out for spring break?”
“Next week. Which I’d completely forgotten until dropping her off this morning when my mom called. So, if you would rather do dinner on Sunday, we can.”
“Whichever is easier for you works for me,” Aiva responded. “Do you have something planned for the two of you to do over the break?”
“I will be left to my own devices for most of it. My parents are taking Yas to visit some family. It’s the first spring break that they could get her, and since I’ll be taking her on a couple of vacations this summer, I didn’t see a problem with her spending some of the break with her grandparents. Honestly, she probably prefers it, since they spoil her rotten.”
Aiva laughed. “You’d never be able to tell. Most spoiled children are little brats, but Yasmine is such a well-mannered child.”
Knox smiled at her. “Thank you.”
He didn’t need to thank her, but she was sure it was all his doing. She didn’t see Mia trying to teach Yasmine manners with how she constantly acted, but who knew? It could have been a do as I say, not as I do type of situation.
“You mentioned origami birds earlier. Is that something you like to do? Origami crafts?”
“It can be relaxing,” Knox stated. “My mom and I used to do it together when I was a kid, and it’s something I recently started doing during craft time after school or on the weekends with Yas.”
Aiva smiled. “That’s so cute. I vaguely remember my art teacher in elementary school trying to teach us origami, but I don’t think they quite knew how to do it.”
“I’m not an expert at it, and I can only fold a few things, but if you want, I can show you how to fold a crane after breakfast.”
“Yeah, that sounds like fun,” Aiva agreed.
Once they finished breakfast, she volunteered to help him clear the table and do the dishes, but he waved her off. So, she asked if she could use his bathroom, and he directed her to it. She freshened up, using a Colgate Wisp from her purse.
She emerged from the bathroom several minutes later to find he’d cleared the table and was putting the leftover fruit into a container. Again, she volunteered to help with the dishes, but he waved her off, telling her to have a seat in the living room.
The main area of his condo was open, and one space flowed into the other seamlessly, but you didn’t feel as if it were all one room, even with it being so.
Aiva sat on the couch, placing her handbag beside her as she took in the space for the first time. It was nice, and the different distinctive colors from the dining room to the kitchen and living room meshed well while keeping them separate. There were pictures of him and Yasmine, and he and a couple she assumed were his parents. There was also a keyboard.
“Do you play?” she asked.
He looked at her before turning to the keyboard. “I do. Another hobby I find relaxing.”
Knox excused himself, and she was left alone in his living room for a few moments, taking in the decor and the different smiling faces in the frames. When he returned, it was with pieces of colorful paper in his hand. He sat beside her, pulling a laptop tray from the compartment on the coffee table.
“Are you a visual learner or a hands-on learner?” he asked.
“Hands-on,” Aiva responded.
She watched him place the tray and the paper beside him before pulling her onto his lap. He put the tray on her legs and grabbed a piece of paper.
“That works better for me, too,” he stated, kissing her shoulder, and Aiva knew it was not for the same reasons it worked for her.
A iva waved at Cedella on Saturday afternoon as Kendrick got into the car. The original time for her plans with her little brothers had gotten postponed a couple of hours because Kendrick had gotten in trouble and was almost unable to go. Once Kendrick had his seatbelt on, she pulled out of the driveway.
“What did you do to get in trouble?” Braden asked almost immediately, and Aiva glanced in the rearview mirror at her little brothers.
“It wasn’t even that bad,” Kendrick started. “I just forgot to clean my room and take out the trash.”
“Probably a few times,” Braden replied.
“You don’t know,” Kendrick responded.
Aiva refrained from laughing, because she knew Braden was right on the money. If Kendrick ended up getting grounded, then he’d already been told the first time he forgot. Cedella was a woman of habit. You got one warning from her. The second time you forgot, she allowed you to realize your mistake. By the third, there were consequences.
“Aiva are we still doing everything?” Braden asked.
“We sure are. We’re going to the go-kart park first, lunch, the arcade, and then the comic book cafe.”
They were doing all of her little brothers’ favorite things. The two were creatures of habit when they spent the day with Aiva. The only deviation was where they would have lunch. They alternated who chose, and her little brothers tried to choose something different each time.
When they arrived at the go-kart park, Aiva paid for their entry, and her little brothers immediately headed towards one of their favorite courses to get in line.
“Kendrick, don’t leave Braden on his own,” Aiva told the fourteen-year-old. She knew he wouldn’t on purpose, but sometimes he would head off somewhere thinking the eleven-year-old was following him.
“I won’t,” Kendrick responded, and Aiva went to a nearby table to keep an eye on them.
The current course they were doing was for younger children. She typically only participated in the last two courses they usually wanted to do. Mainly because Kendrick liked to ride by himself ever since he’d gotten tall enough to reach the pedals. Since Braden still wasn’t quite tall enough, he’d ride with Aiva and they’d race one another.
She took a couple of pictures of them while they were in line. When they got into the go-karts, she knew it would be at least ten minutes before they would come back around to the finish line, and she would be sure to get a picture of each of them when they did.
Her phone pinged with a notification. Aiva thought it might have been Knox or one of her siblings, but after checking it, she found it was a text from Edison. She didn’t bother to open it, knowing that he’d likely found out that she was spending the day with her little brothers and would try to use it to get her to communicate with him. Aiva didn’t feel the need to. Both of her brothers’ moms knew where they were and she would contact them if something happened. She didn’t see a need to play the tired game Edison liked to strike up by using his younger children to get to her.
Aiva moved to the finish line as the last lap was called over the speaker. As her little brothers crossed, one after another, she took pictures, and moved to the exit to wait on them. They spent the next hour and a half there before going to the restaurant Braden had chosen for the day.
“ I want these three please,” Braden said, holding up the comic books excitedly. Visiting the comic cafe was his favorite part of their outings. Her little brother enjoyed so many different ones that it was hard for her to keep up.
“Okay. Once Kendrick chooses his, we’ll grab smoothies at the counter and you can read for a bit.” Aiva always liked to have them home before dinner if they weren’t having it with her, and there was roughly an hour left before she needed to take them home.
“Braden, you can choose another one. There are only two I want,” Kendrick responded. Unlike Braden, Kendrick only read four comic series currently, and if the store didn’t have the next issue when they came, he’d often allow their younger brother to choose extra since Aiva allowed them to pick three apiece. If she didn’t limit them, she knew Braden would try to walk out with half the store each time.
The eleven-year-old happily thanked Kendrick and bee-lined to a shelf. He picked up another comic book and was back within thirty seconds. Aiva assumed he’d been eyeing it, but left it for the ones he’d initially chosen.
They went to the front counter to have the comics rang up and ordered their smoothies. Five minutes later, they were sitting at a table by the window. Her brother’s reading as Aiva did some online shopping. Having a plethora of siblings meant there was always a birthday around the corner. Anytime she found something, she thought one of them would enjoy she would buy it, and hang on to it until their birthdays or Christmas.
“Aiva, what does sanc…ti..monus mean?” Braden asked, then turned the book to her.
“Sanctimonious,” Aiva supplied, the correction. “It’s when someone tries to show off that they’re morally better than someone else.”
“Oh, okay. That makes sense because the villain said it to the hero,” Braden replied.
“Is that the one where you don’t like the hero?” Kendrick asked, glancing up from his own comic.
“Yeah. I want the villain to win. The hero’s unbearable,” Braden responded.
After that, they fell silent and Aiva went back to her shopping for the next forty minutes before ushering her brothers out of the cafe.
She dropped Kendrick off first, waiting for him to enter the house and waving at Cedella before pulling away. The ride to take Braden home was quiet except for the soft music from the radio, and glancing in the rearview, she found her little brother reading a second comic book. He was so engrossed in it he didn’t seem to notice when she pulled up to his house.
“We’re here, buddy.”
He looked up and then out of the window as the front door opened and Kandice approached the car. Braden slipped the comic back into his bag and exited the backseat as Aiva rolled the window down.
“Did you have fun with your sister?” Kandice asked.
“Yeah. I’ll tell you about it during dinner,” Braden responded, and Aiva knew he was eager to get inside and continue his comic. “Thanks, Aiva. See you later.” He was then bounding into the house.
“New comic?” Kandice asked.
“Four of them,” Aiva responded.
“His stacks are going to start falling over before long. I need to get him another bookshelf for them.” Kandice passed a container through the window. “These are for you. Strawberry crunch squares.”
Aiva smiled at her. “Have I told you recently you’re my favorite? Thank you.”
Kandice laughed. “It never hurts to hear it. Thanks for taking him out. With Kayley spending the weekend with your grandmother, it gave me some quiet time.”
“You know you don’t have to thank me.”
“I know, I know. I probably should be apologizing. Edison called while you were out and I let it slip that you were spending the day with the boys. I’m sure he called you.”
“It’s fine,” Aiva responded. “He sent a text.” That I didn’t open.
While the mothers of her siblings had a strange relationship with Edison, they each respected that Aiva wanted to deal with him as little as possible.
“I’ll let you go,” Kandice said, stepping away from the car.
Aiva waved to the other woman, pulled away from the curb, and headed home. She knew she wouldn’t feel like cooking and decided to order in and catch up on the episodes she’d missed during the week of some of her favorite shows before choosing an outfit for her lunch date tomorrow with Knox.