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2 WEEKS LATER
CLARE'S PERSPECTIVE
"Are you excited for Christmas sweetheart? Did you put your list underneath the tree last week like I told you to so Santa can put everything you want in his big red bag before he gets into his sled tonight?" I asked Lilly, as she bit back her bottom lip, nodding eagerly as she said, "I put it under the tree, but I think he took it because when I came downstairs the next day it was gone!"
"Hm, he must've known you put it there," I said as Eli wrapped his arm around my waist, pecking my neck, "You know what they say Lilly, he sees you when you're sleeping, he knows when you're awake."
"I just want it to be Christmas already! I can't take the waiting!" Lilly growled, plopping down on the couch as she sighed in aggravation at how slow time was passing by until tomorrow.
"Eli, will you please get off your feet and just sleep for an hour? Just, lay down in the living room if you can't sleep," I pleaded him, as he smirked, "Clare Diane Edwards, don't you know me by now?"
"Yeah Clare, don't you know him by now?" Lilly mocked his voice, and I giggled, as she continued, "My daddy doesn't sleep unless everyone is tucked into their beds before him."
"That includes little girls like you," Eli said, letting go of me and gripping Lilly in his arms as I shook my head, "Eli don't-."
I watched as Eli smiled through the slight pain coming from his side, and I sighed in relief, realizing that he didn't tear any stitches. Eli is like a child, even after almost dying on us, he still stretches his body to its limits.
"Daddy I'm tired," Lilly whispered, resting her head on his chest as Eli whispered, "Alright, it's time for bed for all the little girls in the world anyways! Say goodnight to Clare."
Lilly stretched out her arms as I leaned in, letting her tiny arms wrap around my neck as Eli placed a peck on my lips. I rolled my eyes and rubbed Lilly's back, taking her out of Eli's arms as I said, "I'll put Lilly to bed tonight...then, I can fix your bandage."
"I'll meet you in my room," Eli said, trailing behind Lilly and I as I smiled, noticing Lilly had already fallen asleep on my chest. Her breathing was light, and her eyelids were heavy as she slept.
When we reached her room, I noticed Eli must've gone into his room and I smiled, placing Lilly down in her bed. Eclare twirled around her face, and then she curled into Lilly's side. I grinned from ear to ear, kissing Lilly's forehead and whispering "goodnight".
As I made my way through the hallway, I stood at the doorway of Eli's room and we instantly locked eyes. His chest was healing up well, and I couldn't help but smile at him, "It's almost Christmas Clare...you know what that means?"
"That Santa is going to be here soon and you better be asleep unless he won't leave us presents," I joked, as Eli gestured for me to sit beside him and I did as I was told, simply loving the feeling of his body heat invading my space.
"You know, I read Lilly's list before Santa could get his hands on it," Eli whispered, as I turned to face him, and he cupped my cheek, chuckling. My eyebrows tightened as I whispered, "The first rule of being a parent of a growing girl...never read her Christmas list."
"Well, I thought you'd like to know what one of the things she wanted was," Eli said, his cool breath hitting my face as our lips inched closer and I asked, "W-was it, something good?"
He smirked, my bottom lip trembling as he said, "S-she said that she w-wanted you as her new mommy. She even went out of her way and drew the both of us together, holding hands with her and Eclare in between us surrounding the Christmas tree."
My heart raced as I whimpered, "Y-you know they say that kids have vivid imaginations."
"They do indeed," Eli admitted, his breath tickling my face as I whimpered, "B-but I'd rather not disappoint Lilly, I mean, she's been through so much and I think she should at least be happy on Christmas?"
I felt Eli's hand inch under mine, and our fingers interlocked in one swift movement, "M-maybe we won't have to fake it...if you...if I...if we..."
Eli was nervous, his palms sweating with mine as I fucked everyone over whoever thought I wasn't going to get better than a no good, cheap guy who doesn't believe in orgasms and I pressed my lips to Eli's. His lips parted and I took that as a sign for me to do the same as his tongue thrusted through my parted lips, exploring every ounce of my mouth.
When we pulled away, our foreheads touching, chests heaving from the kiss, I giggled as Eli asked, "Clare Edwards, will you do me the honor in being my girlfriend?"
"No," I said jokingly, but with a serious face on and when I saw Eli's face sadden, I picked his chin up with the pad of my thumb. I stared into his green eyes, tears forming in the rims of his eyelids as I wiped the tears away, "Elijah Goldsworthy...I would very much love to be your girlfriend, as long as Lilly is okay with it."
"She will be," Eli reassured me quickly, cupping my cheek and bringing me closer to him, our lips crashing once again.
His lips were amazing, gentle yet rough, and I loved every second of it. When his tongue slipped through my lips, the feeling of his body being allowed to invade mine was definitely a feeling I could get used to. My heart skipped a beat when I felt him snake his arm around my waist, pulling me closer to him as if we weren't already close enough.
I gulped, pulling away from the kiss as I whispered, "Sorry, human problem...you know, the thing where we need to breathe and all."
"Sorry, I inherited the gills trait from my dad," Eli joked, as I gently traced my fingertips around his stitches, "Just one more week and these should be all dissolved, and surely enough the pain will go away."
"Thank god, I can't wait until these disappear and I can hold onto my new girlfriend without holding back," Eli whispered, inching closer to me as he said, "Lay with me tonight, please."
"Eli I don't think that we should, what if Lilly wakes up and gets the wrong idea?" I asked him nervously as he pecked my neck, making my knees buck even though I was sitting down, "It's just sleeping Clare...we can always say that you had a bad dream and had to sleep with me because you were scared."
"Or we can say you're afraid of the dark and too afraid to sleep without someone to guard you from the scary monsters," I joked, as Eli slowly moved onto his back, getting comfortable.
Once he twisted and turned, only to resolve in sleeping on his back, he opened his arms and scoffed, "Care to join a little boy who's afraid of the dark?" I slowly slipped off my socks, letting them drop to the floor and then I unzipped my Christmas themed sweater, letting it drop to the floor.
"You forgot something else," Eli whispered, eyeing my pants and I grinned, blushing, "You can dream on drummer boy."
"Clare, I'm down to only my boxers, that's not fair," He retorted, as I fought back playfully, "But that's only for medical purposes. You can't have any cloth around those stitches unless it'll get infected."
"What's your explanation for me being pant-less then?" I grinned, "Because you're a horn dog and like feeling the breeze?"
"Point taken, now come on, I'm tired and I need someone to hold onto," When I was about to get into the bed, Eli glanced up at me with puppy dog eyes, "Please take your pants off Clare...it'll be uncomfortable to sleep in jeans."
"Fine," I huffed, turning off the lamp so he couldn't see my body and then slid off my jeans. When I felt the wind puck up from Eli opening the blanket so I could join him, I hesitantly laid down.
This was the first time we'll be together...together...like, this close.
"See, isn't it better? Although I would like the lamp to be on so I can see your body," I watched Eli reach over to grab the lamp to turn it on and I gripped his wrist, "Don't. I can't sleep unless we're in the dark."
"You win this time Goldsw-," he stopped himself, apologizing from his heart, "I meant Edwards, Clare I meant Edwards, I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable."
I placed my hand on his cheek, "It's fine Eli, let's just...sleep."
Eli wrapped his arms around me, and I shifted on my side, facing the clock as Eli spooned me. He pecked my head, his lips feeling as if they were burning my skin with pleasure as I snuggled into his body, "Goodnight Clare."
"Goodnight Eli," He gently stroked the bicep of my arm, and my eyelids grew heavy as he placed butterfly kisses on my cheek. My heart raced as the clock stroke twelve, and the last thing I heard, was Eli whisper, "Merry Christmas...my Clare."
"Wake up, wake up, wake up! Sleepy heads! Daddy! Clareeee!" I opened my eyes to the sound of Lilly's cheery voice and her bright eyes as she tugged on our blanket. I smiled at her and she crawled over to sit on top of me.
"Wake my daddy up, please?" Who could say no to that beauty? I couldn't...so, I set her down on the ground, and instantly she ran all around the room. Yep, it must be Christmas.
I looked over at Eli and softly pecked his lip, "Time to wake up," I whispered.
He opened his eyes immediately and smiled, I rushed out of bed and tried to get Lilly to settle down a little since she was so hyper, as if she had drank at least fifty red bulls.
I failed.
"You have your jeans on?" Eli asked bluntly and I looked up at him wordless.
It stayed silent for a few seconds until Lilly yelled, "Presents! Come on you two! You're so slow! Slower than Grandma Cece!"
I smiled at Lill, but when I looked back to Eli my smile fell. He looked hurt, but I didn't let that bother me. Today was not the day for that, nor was it the right time to talk about it nonetheless.
"Okay, come on, Lilly, let's go open-," She was already halfway downstairs before I could even finish the sentence.
"Lilly, wait up!" Eli yelled down as he passed by me without even a second glance. I guess I couldn't blame him for feeling upset, but like I said, today was not the day and right where we are was not the place for it.
I sighed and followed the two newest members in my life.
"Which one do you want to open first, baby girl?" Lilly stood up examining all of the presents, trying to figure out what the best present was to open up first. I couldn't help but laugh at the sight, and when I did, Eli looked up at me, his eyes glowing and happy as can be.
He motioned for me to come over and smiled happily as I did so. I kissed his cheek and we sat down on the couch, side by side. Lilly came over and stood in front of us both, "Santa can wait, I want to open up your gifts." We both smiled at her and nodded.
She picked the two that said, 'Clare' and the one from 'Daddy'. She chose to open up mine first, and with little struggle she finally unwrapped the paper all by herself. She studied it for a bit, but then looked up at me with her huge eyes,"What is it?"
I laughed lightly and said, "It is a Barbie dream house, with two Barbie's and a car! On the house there is a swing and lots more! We can open the box after you have opened all of your presents and take a look inside, if you want." Lilly seemed very pleased with the gift, and I, for once, felt proud that I actually did something correct in my life.
When I sat back in the couch, I felt Eli's stare on me."What?" I mouthed to him, and there was no denying the hurt had returned back into his eyes. I wasn't paying attention to Lilly until she screamed, "Daddy this is so pretty!" I looked over and saw that it was a very nice looking Christmas sweater.
Eli smiled to his little girl, but immediately excused himself from the scene, "Is daddy upset?" Lilly asked me with small despair in her eyes. I smiled and shook my head, "I'm going to go talk to him, though, stay right here, okay?"
Lilly nodded, ignoring the disappearance of her father as I heard her tiny feet run over to Santa's gifts...
ELI'S PERSPECTIVE
"Hey, what's wrong?" Clare asked softly, touching my bicep as I hissed, "You got my daughter a gift that can't even compare to mine. How could you be so heartless, so stupid?"
"Eli I was just-," I cut her off, "Just what Clare? First you sleep in my bed, put your jeans back on like a fool and now this! It's like you don't want to be with me physically, nor emotionally! What's going on with you?"
"Are you really picking on me for that on Christmas? I didn't mean to, I just got the present that I knew a little girl like Lilly would love, all I wanted to do was something right for once," Clare whispered, hurt in her eyes as I whispered, "I'm sorry...its' just...I'm paranoid I guess."
Clare pecked my lips, wrapping her arms around my waist, "It's fine...I'm sorry about the gift, I just didn't want her to hate me."
"Clare, did you see her face? She loved it! Just, can you explain to me why you didn't...want to keep your pants off? I know this is an embarrassing question but I just need to know why, why you don't want to physically be with me," I whispered lowly, not wanting my daughter to hear.
"I don't want to talk about that Eli, please, not on Christmas," she pleaded as I sighed, "Fine fine...let's just, go back to celebrating, shall we?"
"Yes," Clare whispered, letting go of my hand as she walked back into the living room and she assisted Lilly in opening her gifts. I smirked, not being able to feel my heart fill with joy at the sight before me.
My trance was broken when I heard a slight vibration coming from Clare's phone in her jacket pocket. I shrugged my shoulders, deciding to just check it to see if it was from her friend who was dealing with Anya and I's official divorce case, and the suing that I was pushing because of the situation Lilly was placed in.
My eyebrows tightened, glancing down at this text before me:
Merry Christmas Clarabelle, I love you and miss you so much. My heart keeps beating, only for your touch. Don't tell anyone about my love marks I've left on you, or else I'll have to add onto the collection.
See you soon...very...very soon.
XOXO
P.S. Do me a favor and stop fucking around with that guy and his kid, it's quite pathetic.
END OF CHAPTER 12
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