16. RHETT #2
We started The Little Prince last weekend, and she’s asked me to read to her every night since. It’s become a kind of ritual—I read her a chapter, and then I manage to steal a kiss from Avery before heading home.
“I can’t read you another chapter, otherwise we’ll both be in trouble with your mommy.”
There’s no argument from her today. She cuddles her Care Bear and rag doll tighter. They both look as though they’ve seen better days, especially the pink bear.
“Do you love my mommy?” she asks me plain and simple without a single flutter of her lashes.
“There’s no one in the whole universe I like more than your mom.”
“Like the prince loves his rose?”
“Yeah, champ, like the prince treasures his rose.”
“So, if you love my mom and we’re staying, does that mean you love me too?” Iris doesn’t give me a chance to answer before she adds, “It’s okay if you only like me.”
“Hey.” I manage to get her to look back up at me, but she won’t meet my eyes. “Look at me.”
I wait for her to do it before I sit forward in the wicker seat by the side of the bed. There’s a sadness in her eyes that I’ve never seen before. A needy dejection that has me pulling her onto my lap and holding her to my chest.
“Can you keep a secret?”
“Sure,” she tells me even though I know she’s as bad as Scarlett for sharing things.
“I can’t love your mommy without loving you. You want to know why?”
“Why, Doc?” She nuzzles deeper into me, one arm cuddling her bedtime buddies while the other wraps around the front of my chest.
“Because when you love someone, you love all their heart, and the biggest part of your mommy’s heart is you. So, you see, it’s impossible for me not to love you.”
“I love you too.” She tries to squeeze me as tight as she can, and I squeeze her right back, peppering her hair with kisses.
I’m putting her back into bed and tucking her in when she asks me another question. “Are you going to take my mommy on a date?”
“Do you know what a date is?”
“Umm.” Iris thinks hard about it before she replies, “It’s when a girl and a boy are hungry and they share food together. If he really likes her, he lets her try his food.”
“Yeah?” A chuckle escapes me at her definition of a date, and it makes me wonder how much more does she know about life that I don’t realize?
For seven years old, she’s really switched on and savvy. She has a real old soul to her tender years.
“That’s what Scout said. She told me that her mommy steals her daddy’s food all the time and that he always moans about it but lets her have it because he loves her.”
“You know what? That’s kind of true. I wouldn’t share Jo’s pie with anyone except your mom, and maybe you.”
“So, are you going to take my mommy on a date?”
“Absolutely.”
“Are you going to take Jo’s pie too?”
“I think I’m going to have to.”
“Mommy should take some red velvet cupcakes too, that way you can both share and that means that you love each other.”
“Tell you what, if you go to sleep, I’ll come over extra early tomorrow so we can make more cupcakes.”
“And then we can have a date?”
“Hell yeah, you, me and your mom.”
Turning on her side, she squees, “I can’t wait.”
“We can go for a picnic, and I heard that tomorrow night there’s going to be a meteor shower, so we can put the stargazing tent up and watch it too.”
“That sounds nice.”
“Good, but you have to go to sleep.”
“Okay,” she yawns on purpose as I tuck her in, and just as I’m about to leave the room, she tells me, “Don’t forget flowers. It’s not a date if you don’t bring flowers, and my mommy loves roses, and they have to be red because that’s the color of love. Okay?”
“Sure thing, champ.”
I make it downstairs as Avery’s finishing up in the kitchen. Jo wasn’t feeling too great after a restless night, and with everyone having turned up for dinner, she went to bed the minute they left. It’s just me and her Care Bear theme tune singing self.
Finally.
It takes her a moment to realize I’m watching her, and as always a beautiful blush colors her cheeks.
“Did she make you read another chapter?”
“I think she’s loving the story so far.”
“It’s more about who’s reading it rather than the story itself.” She smiles, biting on that gorgeous lip I’m partial to while she watches me close the space between us.
The cute little pink dress she’s wearing makes her light golden tan glow.
With her hair knotted atop her head, my eyes are drawn to the heart-shaped neckline and the way the frilled straps fall off her shoulders where she’s so slender.
Still, she’s a stunner with all her freckles and high cheekbones.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” Her hand hovers over my chest like she’s not sure whether she can touch me or not, and as always, I place it over my pounding heart to the sight of her broadening smile.
“I’m looking at you because I like what I see. Because you’re beautiful, Avery.”
Blinking, she lowers her gaze to the ground, much like the way Iris did when she asked me if I loved her, and it dawns on me that they haven’t been shown much love from the one person that should’ve showered them with it.
I want to fix that. I want to be the one to pour it on them, to drown them in all the affection I have for them.
“I mean it, sweetheart.”
Eyes widening at my endearment, she sways on her bare feet with a sigh. “Doc…”
“Yes, sweetheart?” I repeat. Hooking a finger in one of the gaps between the buttons on the front of her dress, I draw her to me until we’re flush to one another.
Tears line her eyes even though she’s evidently trying to force them away. “Why are there tears in your eyes?”
Shaking her head, she brings her other hand to my chest too. “I’m not just Avery to you,” she murmurs into my chest.
“No, you’re not. You’re my sunshine.”
“Your sunshine,” she repeats, tipping her head to meet my gaze.
“Yeah.” I bite the tip of her dainty nose before pressing a kiss to it. “Mine.”
Slowly, she rolls onto the tips of her toes and wraps her arms around my neck. Her breath licks over my lips, scorching and magnifying my thirst for her.
“Yours.”
With her eyes still locked on mine, I press my lips to hers in an awkwardly perfect kiss that has her wrapping her legs around me when I sit her on the counter. My hands bracket her hips so that my thumbs stroke over the flat in the middle.
Hum after hum, she kisses me back deeper with her fingers knotting in my hair and her tongue dueling with mine. And I want her so damn much. I want every part of her. To devour every moan and taste every inch of her body. My need for her is overwhelming, coursing through me without mercy.
But with Avery it’s not about my need; it’s about hers. Reluctantly, I pull away with one last lick into her mouth and a bite of her lip, tracing my hands over her sides all the way to her shoulders.
“I should go,” I tell her, but as I try to step back, she refuses to release me. “Avery…”
“I don’t…I don’t want to be alone, Doc.”
Nuzzling into my neck, she holds on tight as I lift her from the kitchen counter and take her over to the couch. The TV is on one of the movie channels showing Piranha.
We settle in a huddle along the length of the couch, and with Avery tucked into my chest and our legs tangled together, there’s nothing I can do to distract from my reaction to her.
My jeans have never felt so tight in my entire life as they do now with her body flush to mine and her hot, trembling breaths seeping beneath my skin.
I would give everything up to live in this moment forever. To never let go of her and be the one constant in her world that never lets her down.