Eli's eyes opened to the sound of Clare shuffling around the room. The sun was not up yet but the sky was a light grey. He sat up on his hands, ready to say something, when Clare pulled her shirt off, exposing the purple bra from last night. Eli smirked and moved back onto his forearms to take in the sight.
Clare continued to strip down to her underwear, which Eli discovered was a thong, and her bra before pulling on a different outfit. Eli recognized the outfit as the uniform she had to where at the gas station she worked at. He turned his head to see that it was Sunday and Clare shouldn't have to be getting ready.
"Clare? What are you doing?" he asked, surprising Clare.
"Oh Eli," Clare gasped, "sorry I woke you. I was trying to stay quiet."
"It's fine, but the question is why are you even up?"
"I got called in to work today."
"What? But it's your day off?"
"I know that but I have to or I'll lose my job."
"Then so be it. You don't need the money or even a job I can take care of us."
"It's not going to work that way Eli. Our relationship isn't said in stone and I'm not going to depend on you like that." Clare sighed.
"Well at least search for a better job."
"Fine later, but right now I have to go." Clare pecked his lips before hurrying out the door.
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The bed shifted and Eli was lifted into the air before it settled back down.
"Clare?" he frowned and turned. Erin was sitting on the bed, cross-legged, and stared at him. "Erin?" Eli sat up. "Hey sweetie what's going on?"
"Where's Mommy?"
"Um Mommy had to go to work today."
"Why? She's always home on Sunday."
"Well since she took Saturday off they needed her to come in today."
"But I didn't get to spend time with her." Erin whined.
"Well, how about you and I spend time together." Eli smirked.
"It's not the same."
"Well, what did you and Mommy do?"
"Ate at the Dot with Peter and then played at the park."
"We can do that!"
"But that's what Mommy's supposed to do."
"Anyone can do it. So today," Eli climbed out of bed and picked her up, "me and you and going to eat at the Dot, go to the park, and go to little carnival place down by the lake."
"Really?" Erin gasped.
"Yep, but first you gotta go get ready." Eli set her down on the floor.
Erin took off sprinting to her room to get dressed.
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Erin skipped down the path a pace yards in front of Eli with Hughes. He watched with a smirk plastered to his face at the happy-go-lucky girl giggling ahead of him. Eli hated to admit it, but he had imagined doing something like this with his own daughter, and Julia at his side. He pushed the thought away when Erin turned around to face him.
"Can we go on the boat?" she asked, a cute smile on.
"We could but I don't think Clare would want that."
"She doesn't have to know?"
"Oh, that's evil! I thought you were an angle?"
Erin giggled and continued to merrily go down the sidewalk with her dog at her side. Eli hurried to catch up with her and they settled into a regular walk.
"So, what's going on at school?"
"Nothing."
"Oh come on, tell me anything. Who's your best friend? Got boys picking on you?"
"No, everyone is really nice there."
"So, any boyfriends I should be scaring off?" Eli teased.
"You can't scare off boys!"
"Why not?"
"Because you're not scary."
"Oh really? You're not afraid of me?"
"Nope."
"You're gonna want to take that back." Eli stopped walking and glared at Erin, but with a smirk.
Erin saw the face and screamed, running away as Eli chased her. She laughed and screamed more as they ran around the jungle gym. Hughes barked and wagged his tail, panting as he ran alongside Erin. She finally got caught when Eli jumped over a swing and cut her off, she ran right into his arms.
"Now I got ya!" Eli said in a creepy, yet playful, voice.
Erin laughed and screamed, kicking her legs in the air as Hughes stood on his hind legs to reach her. Eli sighed and put her down, stopping her as she tried to run away again.
"No, no more okay?"
"Please?"
"How about tomorrow, after school?"
"Yeah!" Erin cheered and jumped back into Eli's arms.
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Clare sighed when she walked in the front down and once more when she plopped down on the couch with Erin and Eli. A fire was going, making the house a perfect temperature compared to the frost biting cold outside.
"Hard day at work?" Eli smirked as Erin snuggled closer to him, fully asleep.
"Yeah." Clare kissed the top of Erin's head before taking her to bed. "How was your day?" she asked, coming back into the living room.
"Good, I got a lot of chapters written, even after I took Erin to the park for two hours and then had to color and draw picture with her. I think I should take up art." Eli smirked cockily, handing her his drawing.
"You drew a dragon?"
"It's a giraffe." Eli furred eyebrows.
"It has wings."
"That's its tail!"
"Eli I think you should stick to writing."
"I think I show potential." Eli smirked.
"Of course, but for now you should focus more on finishing that amazing book you said is due next week."
"It's almost done and I got the rest of the book all in my mind, I just need to put it on paper."
"Then get on it." Clare lightly patted his chest.
"Well, maybe I could use a little inspiration." He winked and kissed Clare slowly.
Her hands intertwined in his black locks of hair and moved her lips with his. Eli's hand rested against her left side, and the other moved to her lower back, pulling her closer. She moaned before pulling away, keeping her hands on Eli's chest.
"You really should get writing, and I need sleep for tomorrow."
"Clare please can you just quit that stupid job?"
"Eli I'm not able to get a new job. My experience consists of working at the Dot, a theater, and a gas station. Nobody will hire me."
"I don't think that's true. You have a college degree and everything; someone will see that you can do more than manage a counter."
"I'm not going to mess with my life right now, it's too dangerous." Clare said and left to her room.
Eli sighed in defeat and fell back on the couch. He reached over and pulled his laptop over to him and started to type.