Love's Butterfly

Family reunions

I woke up to the sound of a door opening and a pair of feet walking closer to me. I slowly opened my eyes. The room was dark, so it was easier to open my eyes.

I heard a familiar voice, which brought butterflies to my stomach, greeting me "Good morning, love". He sat down on the bed and caressed my foot gently.

I rolled on my back and looked up to see Dominic smiling at me. My heart filled with joy as I said "Good morning, Dom". He came to sit next to me, leaning to the headboard, asking me "How did you sleep?".

I yawned and answered "Super good, this is the most comfortable bed ever". I heard Dominic laugh and I looked at him, leaning on the headboard. I rolled on my side so I was facing him.

"You fell asleep in my car as we were driving home, so I put you sleep on my bed" Dominic explained as he brushed a damp of hair off my face gently. I couldn't help but smile and he added: "Don't worry, I slept on the sofa". I nodded slowly as I still closed my eyes.

Why does that make me...sad? I mean...it would've been nice to sleep in the same bed. At least now, he is next to me, caressing my hair.

We laid there in quiet until I fell asleep again. I guess I was so nervous and anxious about being in Nicco's cabin so it all came out now. Now I was feeling safe again.

I woke up to the sound of quiet jazz playing in the background as I heard Dominic humming something. I got up from the bed unhurriedly.

I opened the door slowly as I looked outside of the room to see Dominic in the kitchen cooking something. His apartment was very modern, all white. It had probably only one bedroom, kitchen, and living room. I liked it tho, very cozy. I looked outside and saw some other buildings but I didn't recognize any. He turned his head around quickly as he noticed me walking towards him.

"Hey, what ya cooking?" I asked as I leaned on the kitchen island. He chuckled as answered, "I'm making banana pancakes, I remember that you liked them back at work". I smiled widely. He remembered.

I nodded and petted his arm as I walked past him to the coffee maker. "Can I take a cup?" I asked and looked up at him. "Yes, the rest is for you" he answered and continued cooking. I took a cup that was next to the coffee maker and filled it with coffee. There was also milk so I put it to my coffee.

We ate breakfast while jazz was playing in the background. "Do you have plans for later today?" Dominic asked as he raised his eyebrows to look at me. "I have to go to a family dinner," I said as I stuffed pancake into my mouth. Dominic nodded slowly as he said, "Okay, my sister is also coming to dinner tonight". I chuckled and stated "Family reunions". He chuckled as we continued to eat.

I had changed into the normal clothes that I had with me as Dominic was in the living room, doing something with his phone. It looked so small compared to his hand. It was hot weather so I chanced into a white cotton dress.

I walked to the living room as he looked at my outfit and then met my eyes, a smile forming on his face. I sat down next to him on that extremely comfortable sofa. He got a text message on his phone from Dafne.

I felt like I had a heart attack. He is texting with another girl? How could I be so dumb?!

"It's my sister, Dafne," Dominic said which made me feel relieved. I let a big sigh out. "Really? Do you have any pictures of her" I asked just to make sure he wasn't cheating on me.

I mean not cheating. We're not together. Just making sure he's not dating that girl.

Dominic stood up as he picked up a photo album from his bookshelf. He sat down next to me, even closer to me, and opened the album. I gasped as I saw a little boy, who I assumed was Dominic. He chuckled and said, "That was me when I was 10 years old". "You were so cute! Jesus you were so pretty", I said as I placed my hands on my cheeks.

"I'm not anymore?" he asked and chuckled. I laughed loudly as I said "You're even cuter now", and looked at him in his eyes. That look that we shared was something special. Butterflies.

"That's my sister, Dafne", he said as he pointed to a picture of him as a kid hugging a younger girl. "Aw that's so cute picture", I said in awe. He chuckled as we continued to flip through more pages laughing together for funny pictures.

We had been talking and looking for the pictures for almost an hour now. I found out that he has 4 other siblings, all around the world. His parents are married. Dominic is the second oldest sibling.

We walked outside of the building and I noticed that it was in a very nice neighborhood in the city. He opened the door to his red car with a big smile and slammed the door shut after I had sat inside. He drove slowly to the summer house, leaving me one house before the summer house so nobody could see us.

I opened the door as he picked out all my bags and handed them to me. "I had so much fun and thank you for everything! I mean it" I said with a big smile. "No problem, I'm always here for you," he said and smiled back, which made me blush fiercely. He kissed my forehead which made the butterflies go feral. I walked to the gate and I looked back at him, only to see him leaning on the car, looking at me back. I waved and he waved back and flashed his beautiful smile, making my heart filled with fireworks.

I was laying on the sofa in the summer house when I heard the front door open and a manly voice saying "Hi!". I ran to the entry and greeted my stepbrother, Paul, "Hi". "Were you on a run?", I asked as I looked at him taking his shoes off. He was red as a tomato and he looked like he had been swimming. "Yeah, such a good run!", he said.

I nodded slowly as I asked: "I thought your girlfriend was here". "Oh she was but she left this morning", Paul answered. I couldn't help but smile a little as I said, "Okay! Have you heard anything from Mila?". He thought for a second until he answered, "Yeah she texted me last night that she was spending another night at Matilda's". I nodded as I started walking back to the sofa.

I was reading a book on the couch as my mother, sister, and stepfather walked in. All of them greeted happily. "Is Paul here?", my mother, Anne, asked.

"Um, yeah, he's upstairs," I told. Edith jumped on the sofa next to me. "Is Anna coming here today?" I asked. "Yeah, in 10 minutes, I think" Edith answered. "Yes! I love her" I answered.

"Were you over at Sage's last night?" Edith asked. "Um, yes" I answered and didn't take my eyes off the book.

I just came up from the water as it was dinner time. The sun was shining, but it was a little cloudy. I sat down at the dining table around my family. We were gathering food on their plates.

Anne proposed a toast "to family reunion". All of us raised our glasses. Family. I didn't consider this group as our family. Paul isn't our family. My stepfather, Bruce, is family.

My mother isn't a normal mom. She is something different. My mom is always fake around other people. She has been through some really tuff shit in her life and sometimes I just wonder how is she still smiling. She is a real survivor.

Edith is two and a half years younger than me. For the past years, we had grown really close. Her friend, Anna, is basically like a little sister to me. She hangs out with us always and stays for the summer here also with us.

The dinner went quite slowly with small talk. I hated small talk more than anything. Sometimes I joined Edith's and Anna's conversations.

All I could think about was Elias...and Dominic.

Dominic has been on my mind lately. I realized he meets my standards.

I'm scared to even think this but to be honest, I have always had a tiny crush on him.

After he picked me up from Nicco's summer house, the feeling had gotten a little stronger, and the butterflies bigger.

He makes me feel so much more comfortable and better than Elias.

---------------

Word count: 1558