It's been a year since Avery struck a deal with Seattle's most eligible bachelor. It's been a year since he uttered the words she was nowhere near ready to hear. It's also been a year since he asked her a question she didn't expect to be asked.
Fi...
"It's a surprise," Esme giggled. She now sat cross legged at the end of the bed while the portable table sat between us. After administering the numbing injection and watching as Emery stitched up Esme's wound, I traded my rolling stool for the more comfortable four-legged chair that sat in the corner of the room. Colored markers, crayons, and colored pencils were strewn out before us–Crayons being Esme's coloring tool of choice.
"A surprise?" I questioned, earning an enthusiastic nod from the young girl. "What if I'm already done?"
"Then you have to wait. We have to show our pictures at the same time. That's the fun part," Esme explained, switching out her green crayon for an orange one. Setting my picture face down on my lap, I watched as she concentrated on her coloring page. Placing down her crayon, she took one final look at it–a smile spreading across her face as she looked up at me. "Ready."
"On the count of three. One, two," I counted as I sat up straight in my chair. "Three!"
"Esme turned her paper around at the same time I did. We both decided on the same coloring page, so Esme decided to make a game out of it. We were to color our coloring pages in whatever random way we wanted. When we were both finished, we have to show each other the picture and decide whose page is more whacky.
Esme's page is full of different colors. She decided to color her cat purple with large green spots. She even drew in a top hat on its head and dress shoes on its feet. She even went the extra mile to color blue grass under the cat and threw in what looked like a coconut tree.
"Wh–You never told me you were an artist, Esme." I smiled. Setting my picture down, I gave a shrug and sat back in my chair. "There's no competition. You couldn't possibly compare mine to yours. You're a pro at this."
"No, I like yours," Esme combatted. "You put a plate of food in front of your cat and gave it an eyepatch. It's a pirate Kitty."
"A pirate Kitty. Is that what we are going to name it?" I asked with a chuckle. Esme's smile grew wider as she nodded her head. Placing the picture on the table, I grabbed the closest crayon and in large cyan blue letters wrote 'Pirate Kitty' across the top of the page. "Alright. It's official."
I had slid the paper toward Esme when I spotted movement in the corner of my eye. Turning my head toward the door, I spotted Damien standing in the doorway dressed in his normal business attire–his hair tied back into his usual neat bun at the back of his head. A small smirk decorated his lips as he gave Esme a small nod. I watched as Esme slowly set Pirate Kitty down on the table, her smile disappearing as she slowly shrunk into herself.
"I'll be right back, Esme," I stated standing from my chair. I could feel her eyes on me as I made my way over to my husband. Stepping out of the room, I slid the glass door closed behind me before placing a quick kiss on Damien's lips. "Hey."
"What's happening in there?" He questioned as we came to a stop in front of the Nurse's Station.
"Coloring contest. She won, of course." I answered, tearing my gaze from my husband and glancing back at the young girl–who was now invested in coloring another picture. Coming back to the matter at hand, I returned my focus to Damien and asked, "What are you doing here? Do you have a meeting with the chief?"
As if lost in his thoughts, Damien took a breath and shook his head. "No, actually. I met Tristian for lunch and had a feeling you wouldn't have time for lunch, so I brought you this."
With that, Damien set a white plastic bag on the desk. The smell rising from it was nearly enough to make my stomach rumble in response.
A smile spread across my face as I wrapped my arms around his torso. "Thank you."
"No problem, Love," He said, placing a kiss on my temple. "I'll see you at home?"
"I might be late," I say, taking the plastic bag in my hands. "I really want to make sure everything's okay here before I leave."
"Alright," With that, Damien took a step back and started toward the automatic glass doors. "I'll see you soon, Love."
"See you soon and thanks again," I say raising the plastic bag in my hands. With a nod of his head, Damien left and I let out a breath before making my way toward Esme's room.
•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~• A/N Longer chapters are on the way.
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