With Crayons and Love (Romantic Suspense) [COMPLETED]

Chapter 8 - Beautiful

When you get accustomed to sleeping with another person, no matter how little that person might be, you start to notice things you would not have noticed if you were still a lone sleeper. Like the emptiness of the bed, and the gust of awkward air that hits your side when there's no one there to block it.

I shot out of the bed and into the hallway, my heart literally galloping in my chest. Every single light leading to the kitchen had been turned on, and when I verged on the edge of the protective wall of the hallway that shielded me from view of the dining room, I caught a glimmer of copper underneath the kitchen lights.

Stella was jumping over the counter, her hand outstretched toward the cookie jar. She jumped and reached again, a little grunt of frustration escaping her with the force of being knocked ineffectively into the counter.

I shook my head in disbelief. It was five in the morning, and Stella happened to have a craving for cookies. Quietly I made my way to the refrigerator and leaned against it, my arms crossed over my chest as I watched her jump again. A smile tickled the corners of my mouth, and Stella froze when she saw my shadow looming over her head.

Her turn was casual, the look on her face was purely angelic. "Hi, Tessa!"

I raised a quizzical brow, and kept my voice patronizingly sweet, "Hi, Stella, honey. Did I really just see what I think I saw?"

"Nope." She pursed her lips and blew a curl of hair out of her face.

I gave her a pointed look. "Hmm. I thought so. How about you tell me next time you want a cookie, so you don't hurt yourself in the process?"

"Okay... Does that mean I can have a cookie now?" Her eyes glimmered.

"Nope," I mimicked, "it's five in the morning, sweetie. Let's try for a few more hours of sleep, and then we'll talk about those cookies." If I gave her those sugary sweets now, God only knew what she would be capable of.

She nodded, and skipped over to me to take my hand. We walked to my bedroom, or rather I walked and she bounced, and I seriously doubted she would get any more rest. I let myself smile now that she wasn't looking at me, because I no longer had to play the part of a pissed off authoritarian figure. How could I possibly be angry at a cute little girl who was trying her damnedest to grow out her arm in the process of some cookie-snatching?

We laid on the bed, and I felt her fidget restlessly beside me. I would give it ten more minutes before giving up and starting the day.

I rolled onto my side, facing her while she looked up at the ceiling. She followed suit and rolled so that we were face to face. "Hey, Stell?" I said.

"Yeah?"

"Don't ever do that to me again. You scared me half to death."

"Really?"

"Yeah. You don't want me to have a heart attack, do you?" I let my eyes widen theatrically.

"No! I mean, no."

I chuckled, and gave her a smile. "Good. Neither do I."

***

We managed one more hour of sleep before she tugged at my arm restlessly. "Tessa, pleeeeeease. I'm bored." It seemed the position of the earth's axis today was fueling Stella's energy like never before. Or perhaps she just liked Wednesdays.

I moaned exaggeratively, amusing Stella enough that she crashed backward into the pillows with the force of her giggles. I sighed, smiling, "Good morning to you, too, hun."

I gave up and rolled out of bed to prepare us some breakfast. Already I had taken note the night before of what I would do today. It had stemmed out of the need to create more after a rewarding pottery session. Four home stores had already called saying that they needed more stock, and thus, I needed more supply.