Chapter 14
Chapter Fourteen
Damien
“Oh my God, look at the smile on her face!” Emerie exclaims as Levinia comes down the Buckaroo Banzai water slide. Thankfully, the water park that Emerie found is extremely kid-friendly. There’s a section for older teens, and adults of course, but the bulk of the slides and lazy rivers are for little kids like Levinia.
“Guess we’re getting that picture too,” I tease, looking up at the monitor that captured her as she came down the slide. Most of the rides have a photo opportunity at the key point of the ride, and so far, we’ve bought every one of Levinia’s. Not that I’m going to complain because she’s photogenic as all get out and seeing both her and her mama so relaxed and smiling has me falling even more for her.
“Was there any doubt?” she asks, grinning at me. She told me what the captain at the fire department said about sunscreen, and she coats it on herself as well as Vinnie, but still, her cheeks are a bit pink as is her nose.
She’s the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen. Her goodness practically oozes from her skin, and I’ve watched time and again how people seem to naturally gravitate toward her. Even Vinnie has cultivated a small posse of little girls to play with in the splash pads. She’s a natural-born leader like her father was, that’s for damn sure. I grab my phone and snap a few pictures of the two of them, as Vinnie is grinning up at Em while she smiles down at her. It’s a profile shot, but I can already picture it printed and in a frame, hanging on the wall of their home as a memento of this week.
So far, my leg has held up. It probably helps that Vinnie loves the lazy rivers, likely because the float we brought specifically for her is an inflatable chicken. That means that I’ve been able to do a lot of my exercises without the pressure I usually have since the water is a good resistance for what I have to do therapy wise. I have no clue where Dale found it, but Vinnie’s eyes were huge when he presented it to her the night before we left. Surprisingly, the park had no issues with her using her own, which is a good thing because I don’t want to see one of her tantrums. I’ve already met Morning Vinnie, and she’s definitely not an early bird whatsoever.
“How about some lunch for my two bathing beauties?” I ask as Emerie wraps a kid’s beach towel around Vinnie, who’s shivering a little bit after coming out of the water.
“I think that’s a great idea, then we’ll go rest during the heat of the day and come back later,” Em says, appearing ready for a reprieve from the activity.
“Mama, I don’t want to rest,” Vinnie protests, her lower lip slightly pushed out.
“Well, we’re going to because it’s too hot for me to be outside right now,” Em firmly states in a no-nonsense tone of voice. “And if you start with an attitude or throw a fit, we’ll be done for the day, how about that?”
I pick up the chicken float in one arm and hold out my hand to Emerie. “I heard this restaurant has chicken fingers, Vinnie. I didn’t know that chickens had fingers!”
She giggles, her miff over having to go rest all but forgotten as she shakes her head at me. “Mr. Damien, chickens don’t have fingers.”
“Well, I guess you’d know since you help your memaw with hers and you have Bonnie,” I reply, grinning down at the little girl who has captured my heart as much as her mother has done.
* * *
“For someone who didn’t want to rest, she didn’t last very long,” Emerie murmurs as she carefully places a throw over Vinnie’s sleeping body.
“The sun wears a body out,” I reply, holding back a yawn. “Come on, let’s rest while she’s napping. I honestly had no clue that kids her age had that much energy.”
She giggles as she turns toward me then walks over to the other bed. While I wish she could sleep with me at night, I’ll make do with our naps since they’re on top of the covers, although she also covers herself with a light throw. I don’t like feeling restricted, so I typically don’t use anything. Even a sheet bothers me at times. As I curl my arm around her waist, I send up a silent prayer that what’s going on between us continues to grow.
Because I’m captured, hook, line, and sinker.
* * *
“I’m glad you thought to pack so many swimsuits,” I say as we get out of the lazy river to head over to another water slide.
“Honestly, I don’t like putting on bathing suits that are wet. It feels icky to me,” she confesses as Vinnie skips just ahead of us, arm in arm with one of her new friends. Since we’re going in the same direction, I’m not worried something will happen to her.
This slide is a bit different; the three of us are in a raft together, but the attendant assured both of us that Vinnie would be fine. She better be, she’s wearing a vest with floaties attached and is buckled into a special seat. Em and I are not since adults don’t have to be, and I suspect we’re about to be flung to and fro, but I can’t wait to see what the picture is going to look like, since both Em and Vinnie have their curls somewhat tamed by ponytails. The thing is, the little tendrils bounce along the side of their faces which has them constantly pushing them back or trying to flatten them back with water from the park.
“Are y’all ready?” the attendant asks after checking Vinnie’s seatbelt, making sure it’s securely locked in place. He looks at her and smiles then says, “This is one of those rides you can scream because it’s so much fun.”
“I can scream really loud,” Vinnie boasts.
He laughs, shooting a glance at Emerie who nods, then he replies, “I’m sure you can. Be sure to stop at the photo booth at the end to look at your pictures. Have fun!” He then spins the raft before giving it a push so it gets onto the waterway… and away we go!
I laugh while Emerie screams and Vinnie throws her arms up, pumping her fists while cheering. This thing is a whirlwind but I’m happy to see that outside of getting wet, which is expected on a water slide, Levinia remains securely in place. Right now, Em’s in my arms as she alternates between hysterically screaming and laughing, which keeps me going.
Man, if you meant her for me, thank you , I think.
When Em looks up at me, I can’t help but lean forward and kiss her. It’s no more than a peck on the lips considering Vinnie’s with us, but the moment is perfect as far as I’m concerned. While I wish I could deepen it, we come around another curve and a man-made water feature pours water over our heads, causing Vinnie to burst into giggles while she points at us.
“Mr. Damien! Mama! You look funny,” she exclaims as I wipe the excess water from my face. I turn to see Em doing the same thing with a huge smile. When she grins up at me, I know she was okay with me kissing her.
“Just wait, little girl, your time is coming,” Emerie replies. I look ahead and see one that’s due to spill over just as we go under it.
Vinnie screams in shock as the cold water washes over her then starts laughing while clapping her hands. “Now I look funny, right, Mama?” she asks.
“You look beautiful, like a little drowned rat,” Em tells her.
The same attendant is there when we finish the ride, and he smiles down at Vinnie. “Did you have fun?” he asks as he starts unbuckling her.
“Yes! I got very wet,” she tells him as I reach down and pick her up, placing her on my hip. This was our last ride for the night, and I can tell she’s drooping a bit.
Once we’re all safely off, I capture Emerie’s hand in mine while keeping Vinnie in place, smiling at the little girl as her eyes fight to stay open. “You were a big girl to ride that ride, Vinnie,” I tell her, leaning in to press a kiss to her forehead.
“Thank you, Mr. Damien,” she sleepily mumbles. “It was a good day, Mama.”
“Yeah, it was, pumpkin. I think, since you’re so tired, me and you will take a shower together, okay? We just really need to rinse off this water and chlorine, so it doesn’t dry our skin out.”
“M’kay, Mama.”
I glance down at Emerie and chuckle. “I think you’re going to have to hold her up, Em.”
“She’ll wake up long enough for that, but not for me to brush and braid her hair. I normally don’t do that at night, but it’ll be wet and if I don’t, we’ll have absolute chaos in the morning.”
“You can always dry it,” I suggest.
“It’ll dry pretty quickly even though it’s thick. She’ll be okay.”
We make it to the hotel and are back in our room in no time at all. While Emerie showers with Vinnie, I order the two of us one of their movie snack packs, which comes with a huge bucket of popcorn, several soft drinks, and two boxes of candy. Should Vinnie manage to rally enough to watch a movie with us, there’ll be plenty for her to choose from as it’s for a family of four. If not, well, then Emerie and I will have a date of sorts.
I see Emerie struggling to carry a sound asleep Vinnie and rush to her side to take the little girl from her. “Thanks,” she whispers. “She went out like a light while I was braiding her hair, then I moved weird and tweaked something in my shoulder.”
“Just pull her covers down, I’ll put her in bed,” I reply, already walking to the bed that Vinnie claimed when we entered the room the first time.
Once I have her settled, I move to my duffel bag to pull out the topical pain salve I have so I can tend to Emerie. She leans in, smooths the flyaways away from Vinnie’s face then kisses her on the forehead. “Love you to the moon and back again, Levinia,” she murmurs before she pulls the blankets up. When she turns to face me, she asks, “What’s that?”
“My pain salve. Come over here and point to where it hurts. This stuff is miraculous,” I reply. “Then, we’re going to watch a movie because I have snacks coming up from room service.”
“Ooooo, it’s like a date,” she says, clapping her hands while grinning at me. “Granted, I’m in my pajamas, my daughter is asleep in the bed I’ll be crawling into in a few hours, and we’re not quite alone, but I’ll take it.”
* * *
Em doesn’t make it halfway through the movie, so once it’s over, I walk over to the other bed, scoot Vinnie over, then pick Emerie up and lay her down next to her daughter. As I straighten the covers, I whisper, “You’re gonna be my end game, Emerie, because I’m falling in love with not only you, but your precious, precocious daughter, as well as Levi’s parents. I’m positive once I meet your folks, I’ll feel the same way.”