My Best Friend's Daughter

Almost Kiss

We went inside and sat on the couch. Delilah crawled up into my lap and laid her head on my shoulder. "You tired?" I asked her. She nodded. Waylon handed me a blanket that was over the back of the couch and wrapped it around us. I smiled at him. "Do you still want to go tomorrow night? It's fine if you don't." He told me. "I asked Delilah about it. Told her she can call me anytime she wants, she said okay." I told him, messing with Lilah's hair. "I was going to see if Anthony wanted me to bring them over there and then I would just stay with them until in the morning." I told him. He nodded. "That would be good. The car outside can go over there to. Just to be on the safe side." I nodded and laid my head on his shoulder.

I knew I forgot something when Natalya came and leaned against the door jam to the kitchen and just stared at me. I stared back her until it clicked. "Ugh, I forgot!" I whisper yelled. Nat laughed. "Its fine, you're lucky I'm here though or else it would have burned." "Thanks Nat. Let me lay her down and I'll fix the drinks." "I'll take her." Waylon said. "Don't you want to eat?" I asked him. "Guess you'll have to feed me." He grinned. I laughed and handed her to him. She snuggled up closer to his chest and grabbed a fist full of his shirt. I smiled as I stood up and went into the kitchen.

Rory looked up at me and I laughed at her face. She had spaghetti around her mouth and on her nose. "What, do I have something on my face?" She asked. I chuckled "Just a little bit." Nat laughed. I fixed everyone a cup of water and then fixed Waylon and me a bowl of spaghetti. I set the cups on the counter behind the couch and then took the bowls into the living room. "Open up." I told him as I twirled some on the fork. "Don't stab me now." He joked. "Can't make any promises." I grinned slowly bringing the fork up to his mouth.

I was half way to his mouth when I saw the flash of a camera, my camera. I looked over to see Natalya with an innocent smile on her lips as she took another photo. "Frame-able right there folks." I laughed as Waylon shook his head, smiling. She went back to her food so we could eat in peace. "Thank you." He said as we finished eating. "You're welcome." I picked up a napkin and wiped his mouth. I started laughing; I don't know why I did that. He smiled at me and chuckled. I picked up our bowls and left the room before I did something even more embarrassing. "Are you blushing?" Nat asked me in a whisper. "Shut up, Nat." I whispered and ran my hands over my cheeks. She and Rory laughed at me.

I walked over to the corner where Whisky and Red are. "Are you two going to behave?" I asked them. They looked up at me with guilty eyes. "Come on, go get supper." I told them. Delilah started to whimper; she was having another nightmare. I picked her up out of Waylon's arms and woke her up. She started crying a little. "Shhh, its okay Delilah." I hugged her. After a minute I wiped her cheeks with my thumb. "Do you want to talk about it?" I asked her. She didn't say anything for a minute. "He took you away. I couldn't find you anywhere. He said you were his now and I would never see you again." She whimpered. I snuggled her into me more. "I've told you a thousand times Delilah and I'll tell you a thousand time more. Nothing and no one will ever take me away from you. I will always come back to you. I may be gone for a little while but I'll be back as soon as I can." She nodded. I kissed her head.

After a little while, she looked like she wanted to ask me something. "What about Grandma Rachel?" She asked me. "What do you mean?" I asked her. "I don't see her any more. What if you go away like she did?" I didn't know what to say. "I will always be with you. Even if I'm not in person, I will always be in your heart." I told her. "I won't give up; I will fight until the end to get back to you. Alright?" She nodded kissing my cheek. "You want some spaghetti? Better get some before Aunt Natalya eats it all." I joked. I heard Nat huff. "That was one time." She complained, making Delilah laugh at her childish tone. I smiled and took her into the kitchen.

Waylon came into the kitchen with his cup of water and set it on the counter. However, it wasn't all the way on the counter top when he let go of it and what was left in it spill on the ground...Red had picked the wrong place to sit. Waylon, hearing her hiss, jumped up onto the counter and screamed. I started laughing so hard I had to sit on the ground; the counter wouldn't even help me stand. A grown man is even scared of Red. Everyone started laughing.

When I finally stood up, Waylon had a scowl on his face. I was giggling none stop as I picked up a rag from the drawer by the sink and started to clean up the mess. "It's not funny." He pouted. Natalya started laughing again with me. Rory and Delilah grinned. I looked into the living room and Whisky was lying over Red, licking the water off of her. "I think you're safe now, Whisky is keeping her calm." I told him. He slowly slid off of the counter and helped me finish cleaning up the water. "I'm clumsy." He said. "You think." Rory laughed. He chuckled. "Y'all go pick a movie to watch until nine." I told the girls while I started putting up the leftovers and washing the dishes.

Waylon came up beside me and started drying the dishes. "Where do the plates go?" He asked. "Second cabinet from the refrigerator." I told him. He nodded and put them up. The dishes seemed to go faster than I had expected. Everything goes faster when you're having fun. I was washing the last pot when I accidently splashed a little bit of water on Waylon's shirt. He gasped and looked down at it. He narrowed his eyes at me. "Hey, I did not mean to do that." I told him. He then grinned evilly and started twisting his towel. "Oh, fudge." I said before grabbing my own towel and running to the other side of the island. I wiped my hands off and twisted mine as well.

We both stared at each other, waiting for the other to make a move. Then he jumped around the island and popped my thigh. I jumped and started popping my rag at him as well. If you have ever done this, it really hurts if the rag is damp. After a few times, he caught my rag with his hand and pulled me to him, wrapping his arm around my waist, making sure I wasn't going anywhere. We were so close, I could feel my cheeks burn. He smiled. "You're cute when you blush." He whispered. I knew he did that just so I would blush harder.

We stared at each other for a minute, "Kiss her..." I heard someone whisper. "Kiss her..." It came again. He grinned at me and looked over into the living room. Rory, Delilah, and Natalya all were staring at us over the counter. "Kiss her." Rory whispered again. I laughed and put my head against his chest, hiding my embarrassment. His chest started vibrating as he laughed. I backed away from him and took my rag and wiped down the counter tops before going into the living room and sitting beside Delilah. They were watching Scooby Doo. My favorite show from childhood and now Delilah's.

The movie was almost over so I got up and took Whisky and Red outside. A little while after I went outside, Waylon came out with me. "Tomorrow morning I have to go to the station and do some paper work. I probably won't see you until I pick you up." He told me. I nodded. "That's fine." "Just let me know where to pick you up at." He said. "I was going to let Natalya take my car out there and then they can come back here in the morning. Or something like that. I'm not really sure yet." He chuckled. "Yeah, you can do that. Let the guys follow them out there and I can protect you here." He said putting his arm around my shoulder. I giggled.

We went in after a little while and I went to put Delilah to bed. "Can you sleep with me tonight, momma?" She asked. "Of course baby." I told her. "Let me go get some pajamas on and I'll be right back." She nodded. I went and put some shorts and a tank top on and went down stairs to take an aspirin. Natalya and Rory already went up stairs to lie down. "You feel alright?" Waylon asked. "Just a little headache, it will go away in a while." "Is there any chance I can see the dress you're wearing tomorrow?" He asked me. I smirked. "Not a chance. Where are we going anyway?" I asked him. "To the policemen's ball, it's in Fernandina right off the beach. It's a really beautiful place." I smiled. "At least tell me the color so I can get a tie that matches." He said getting closer to me. "A blue or white tie will be fine."

Delilah called me from the top of the stairs. "I'll be up in a minute baby." I told her. I looked up at Waylon and he was closer than I thought, our noses touched. My breath caught in my throat. He brought his hand up and rubbed his thumb over my cheeks that turned red. He smiled and leaned in slowly. "Momma." Delilah whined. I sighed leaning my forehead against his. "I'm coming right now Delilah." I said, giving Waylon a peck on the cheek. I picked Delilah up and gave him one last smile before going up the steps.