“I’ll let you feed Frog again,” I cringe, remembering how yesterday she wanted to kill the poor goldfish by feeding him the whole tub at once. Though, death by food doesn’t seem like a bad way to go.
Her little face lights as her eyes pop out of her head and before I know it, she barges me out of the way and practically shoves her toothbrush down her throat.
Half an hour and a clean living room later, we’re finally ready to get ourselves out of here.
Aria climbs up into the back of dad’s pick up truck and I wait patiently for her to buckle herself into her carseat, as you know, she insists that she’s big enough to do it herself. “Are we going to Tully’s house?” she questions as I jam the key into the old ignition and pray that it can make it through another day.
“Sure are, Squirt.”
“Is Rivers going to be there?”
I press my lips together and try not to grin at her ridiculous little crush. I don’t know what it’s all about, but for some reason, she seems to have bonded with the guy without realizing that he’s probably the most dangerous and lethal guy in Haven Falls. He probably snuck her candies under the table while she was supposed to be eating her vegetables, but if he did, she’s never going to tell me because she’s loyal as hell to him. Like I said, it’s ridiculous.
It’s funny though because Rivers has absolutely no idea what to do with the attention. He’s so awkward that watching him trying to communicate with a child where he’s visibly trying not to be scary as hell is the most hilarious thing I’ve ever seen. He becomes stiff as a board and his eyes start flicking around to anyone nearby begging them to help him out. Naturally, we let him suffer as Aria is good for his soul. He needs her innocence in his life. They’re the perfect match as best friends.
As we drive to Noah’s place, I can’t help but watch her in the backseat, watching out the window as the world goes by. She’s a completely different child than the timid, scared one I saw just a few days ago. It’s almost as though she’s happy here, hell, I’m going to go ahead and say she feels safe here too. At least, I like to think she does.
I never knew having a sister would feel so…comforting. It’s like, no matter what, I’m never alone. I have a sister to share my world with. I spent eight months by myself until Noah came and barged his way into my life bringing his pack along with him and I’ll forever be grateful for that. Noah, Tully, and Rivers are my family, but now so is Aria and even though it’s only been a few days and she drives me crazy, I wouldn’t give that up for anything. Hell, not even if our mother came to take her back, she would have to put up one hell of a fight, and I have a feeling my father would agree with me. But…something tells me she’s not coming back and when Aria realizes this, it’s going to shatter her little heart, the same way it did to mine.
Dad did a video chat with her yesterday so when he got home, she would feel a little more comfortable with his presence, and I swear, the second dad laid his eyes on her, he simply fell in love. You could see the connection between the two and it was like long lost souls reuniting. He found his child and not even the slightest flash of doubt was in his mind that she was his. It was honestly beautiful to watch, and maybe I was a bit jealous of the kid. I mean, dad never gave me that much attention as a five year old, or maybe he did and I just don’t remember that well.
“What are we doing today?” comes her small voice from the backseat.
“I don’t know,” I tell her. “But I bet if you give the cutest little smile to Noah, he’ll let you do just about anything you want.”
She sucks in a breath loud enough to be heard a mile away. “Really?” she breathes.
“Yep,” I say, popping the ‘P’. “Just remember to say please.”
“Can we…can we go to the beach? The girl Rachel in my class said that she goes to the beach all the time.”
“I think we can arrange that,” I tell her. “We might have to stop in to get you a swimsuit first, though.”
“Can it be pink? Oh, can it have a unicorn on it?”
“I don’t know,” I laugh. “We’ll have to wait and see what they have at the store.”
We pull up at Noah’s place a few minutes later and she practically barges her way out of the truck and storms up the driveway in her rush to beg Noah to go to the beach.