The Act of Forgiveness

6

I slowly pulled out of his embrace and glanced around the empty looking apartment.

"Where's evie?" I asked, suddenly aware that my daughter wasn't around us anymore.

"Down for a nap." He smiled proudly and I sent a weak grin his way.

I walked into the hallway and turned into her room, I slowly reached down and picked her up, cradling her small body and carrying her into my room. I knew it couldn't be good for her to sleep with me so often, but she was like my rock, she held my world together. It couldn't hurt to nap with her every once in a while.

I set her in the middle of my bed and crawled in next to her. She cuddled into me and I pulled her against my chest. The bed dipped and I turned a little to see Jasper wrapping his arms around me and kissing my cheek lovingly. I tried not to flinch when I felt him kiss me, as it was so foreign after so much time apart, but it was so nice.

"Its nice to know that I can hold my whole world in my arms." I grinned and giggled a little at his sweet proclamation, the fear long forgotten.

___________

A small hand touched at my cheek softly and I peered through one eye to see a smirking baby.

"Excuse me, I don't believe I was done napping." I smiled at her questioning face as I pulled her into my body and rolled over to face Jasper. He was still out cold and snoring a bit.

Evelyn looked at me before taking her index finger and gently touching his tooth. When he didn't move, she glanced up to me and grinned with just her gums. Again, she reached out. But this time she touched his tongue and he jumped back in shock.

"Crazy baby." He mumbled in his beautiful morning voice that would make teenage girls across the globe swoon.

"Da!" She squealed so high pitched that we both flinched away from her, but she was oblivious.

"What shall we do now to get our minds off of packing?" Jasper asked as he stroked Evelyn's hair gently and she snuggled into his body.

"Maybe visit your family since they will hardly see us anymore." I answered quietly, my head bowing at the thought of not seeing Mary Kate everyday.

"That's a good idea, but we can always call and video message. Remember?" He asked gently.

"Yeah, it's just going to be weird s'all." I shrugged a little and tried to distract myself with Evelyn's pajamas. We had never changed while packing before Felix stormed out and we napped.

"Alright let's get going! It's already two o'clock and we're burning daylight!" Jasper's voice got comically higher as he lifted Evelyn off the bed and soared her over his head.

"Are you just going to wear that?" I analyzed his flannel shirt and khaki shorts that he wore over this morning.

"Yeah, do I look bad?" He actually looked like a sad puppy but I wasn't going to tell him that.

"Of course not, let's go get her ready." I distracted him easily.

Jazz carried Evelyn into her room and occupied her while I picked out her outfit for the remainder of the day. For once it was sunny, so I wanted to take advantage of the warmth and let her wear a summer dress.

The one I picked out was striped on the top but fed into a pink tutu which I loved. Evelyn looked precious in the fluffy skirt so I knew that it was going to be hers for the day.

I handed the dress to Jasper to slip onto her as I rummaged around for the matching head band.

"Ah ha!" I mumbled to myself as I pulled the pink hair piece from her stuffed drawer.