Chapter 11
Anani
Honestly, after the day at school we had, I expected a lot.
Maya in my house making cookies in an oversized hoodie and paint splattered face was not one of them, but I loved it. Her dark hair was in a messy bun and pale blue paint on her face as she helped Ledger make cookies. I’d literally been maybe thirty minutes behind them, how the hell did this happen?
“Peanut?” I asked as she turned to look at me with a big smile.
“Anani,” she chirped, “I missed you today.”
I felt my ears pinken as Henry chuckled, kissing her head in passing. Wasn’t it crazy how at home this already felt? She was here and looked domestic as fuck, wandering around the kitchen and tossing out beautiful smiles. Upstairs I could hear Marco and Sai talking with the contractors who were working on her room.
“What’s with the paint?” I asked curiously as her eyes warmed.
“I got a job today!” She chirped as Atlas let out a frustrated sound from the other room.
Henry rose a brow, “where at?”
“Clara’s Crafts,” she chirped and rolled a cookie in her small elegant hands.
Interesting.I smiled slightly, “are you interested in crafts?”
“Can you put in the cookies?” She asked my brother sweetly.
He nodded, like the obsessed fool we all were and she dusted off her hand on the dish towel before she grabbed my hand. I followed her to the family room and instantly smiled at the large easel that stood over a plastic sheet. We rounded the corner and my eyebrows went up.
Well, fuck me.
“Have you shown this to anyone else?” I asked quietly. There was no way she had.
Maya tilted her head, “no, it’s not really finished.”
Not finished? It was fucking perfect. I wasn’t even a fan of watercolor and this was a stunning sunset pallet that featured what seemed to be a bird pushing through the clouds on a vertical path. This couldn’t be a fucking coincidence.
“Henry!” I called out.
“It's not good enough,” she whispered as I shook my head.
“It’s stunning Maya,” I amended. Her cheeks pinkened.
Henry rounded it while adjusting his glasses. As a dragon, he shouldn’t have needed glasses in all technicality. However, he had suffered from an injury early on in life that had hurt his vision, so if he wasn’t shifted, it helped to wear them.
“Oh wow,” he muttered, “you painted this today, sweetheart?”
Maya nodded and twirled a brush, “pretty neat, huh?”
Understatement of the fucking century.
“Maya!” Marco called from the stairs as she perked up. I offered Henry a look and followed her as a group of work men passed through the front door.
“Why are they here?” She asked softly, almost worried. I realized it probably looked like we were moving to her considering the exchange of furniture going on.
“Go check it out,” I nodded as she jogged up the steps and one of the workers looked back at her pert ass. Motherfucker. I threw my arm out to stop his path as she rounded the corner upstairs and then I looked at the man, his face paling.
Dumb fucking humans.
“If you want to keep your job,” I hissed out, “I suggest keeping your eyes where they fucking belong, understood?”