“You’re welcome.” I point to the device in her lap. “What are you reading?”
Emberleigh takes the flowers and sets them on the nightstand. Avery carefully puts the stuffed elephant down beside her against the pillows and picks up the kindle.
“The Boxcar Children. Em says she used to read them when she was my age. Her and Mom bought me a bunch for my Kindle for my birthday.”
“I read a couple of those when I was in school.”
When Emberleigh looks at me with a shocked expression, I lift a brow. “What?”
“I just can’t picture you reading something like that,” she snickers. “I see you more of a Tales From the Crypt or Goosebumps kind of guy.”
“I read those too, but any kid who’s really been a kid has to have read at least one Boxcar Children book. It’s like a childhood rite of passage or something.”
She laughs lightly, the sound quickly becoming one of my favorites.
“I agree. Every child, no matter what generation, should read The Boxcar Children. There’s so many lessons kids can learn from them. Until I reached fourteen, I had every single one printed and I read them all. I just wish I had kept them to give to Avery.”
I look back at the little girl in bed, who’s watching us with curious eyes. “Well, it looks like she carries your like of them.”
I regret the words as soon as they leave my mouth. Pain etches across Emberleigh’s face, and I know it’s because I inadvertently likened Avery to her in a way that reminds her of her parental situation. When her eyes drop to her lap, it’s all I can do to not pull her into my arms. That might seem weird to Avery though.
A moment passes before Emberleigh recovers. Her head lifts and she’s plastered a smile on her face, but I know it’s not completely natural. It doesn’t reach her eyes like it normally does. My chest aches with the need to take away her pain.
I take the seat that’s next to the bed, and for the next twenty minutes, Avery tells us about the current adventure the Alden children are on. After, she talks of a new Pixar movie that’s coming out she wants to go see. Emberleigh promises to take her, while I secretly plan to worm my way into going with them. Over the girly chatter, Emberleigh’s mood lightens.
Jeffrey comes in carrying a tray holding the soup I brought and a glass of juice. He murmurs a few quite words to Avery, making her giggle, before bending to place a kiss on her forehead.
“Your mom said she’ll bring up a popsicle in a bit if she needs something else to soothe her throat,” he tells Emberleigh.
“Okay. Thanks, Dad. I’ll bring this down when she’s finished.”
“You got it, honey. Want me to take those flowers down for your mom to put in a vase?”
For the first time since I knocked on the front door, the look he gives me isn’t one of aversion. Uncertainty still furrows his brow, but there’s interest as well. I can work with that.
“Sure.”
“Can we put them on my nightstand?” Avery asks, sounding tired.
Emberleigh smiles at her. “I’ll get them when I take your tray down.”
Jeffrey leaves with the flowers, and while Avery eats her soup, Emberleigh talks about her classes and how excited she is for them to be over soon. She goes on to tell me she already has a job lined up once she graduates, working with the same doctor who delivered her. I’m mesmerized by the light in her eyes as she talks. Her face is so expressive.
Instead of taking the tray down when Avery finishes her soup, she sets it on the end of the bed. I watch as mother and daughter converse. It’s amazing how much alike they are. They not only share the same facial features, but a lot of the same personality facets and mannerisms.
It’s a shame for both of them that Avery doesn’t know Emberleigh is her mother. I’m not disillusioned to think that Avery wouldn’t be upset because she was lied to, but I have every confidence that it wouldn’t be as bad as Emberleigh fears. Avery loves her too much for that pain to last long. I think after the initial shock, she would be happy and excited. It’s not like she would be losing Martha and Jeffrey, they would just be moved to the grandparents’ roles.
Avery yawns, and I push the sleeve of my thermal back to check the time on my watch. I’m surprised I’ve been here for over an hour.
“It’s time for me to head out.” I don’t want to leave, if it were up to me, I’d stay with them all night, but I don?
?t want to monopolize Emberleigh’s time, and it looks like Avery is about to doze off.
“Okay.” Disappointment flashes in Emberleigh’s eyes, and it makes me happy as hell that she doesn’t want me to leave either.
“Will you come back and see me?” Avery asks sleepily, her eyes drooping more by the second.
I tug the end of her braid that’s hanging over her shoulder, and smile. “If not here, then maybe when you visit Emberleigh.”