Arian's point of view:
"Aunt Alice, where are we going?" I asked as she brushed my hair.
"We're going to the book store today," Aunt Alice replied.
"Oh, may we get me some new books to read with Grandma? I love to read," I told her.
"Yes, and I may get a new book too." She put my hair in a ponytail.
"You like to read too?" I asked her.
"Yes, sweetie. So does Uncle Jasper," she replied, picking me up.
"Oh." I thought for a moment. "May he come with us?"
"That's a great idea, Arian. Do you think we should ask him?"
I nodded, holding my hands together.
"Let's go find him."
Aunt Alice carried me up the stairs and into the library. Uncle Jasper sat in one of the large, comfortable chairs where Grandma and I would read a lot with a large red book sitting across his lap.
"Jasper, we wanted to ask you something," Aunt Alice said. "Go ahead, Arian."
I looked down at my feet, feeling quiet, but I was sure he'd go with us.
"Would you like to go to the bookstore with us?" I asked, saying my words slow while looking down at the floor.
"I'd love to go to the book store with you, darlin," Uncle Jasper said.
I looked up at him. He gave me a nice smile, which made me feel good inside.
"Let me put on my jacket, and I'll meet you downstairs?" Uncle Jasper asked.
"You should wear your mittens too because it's cold outside," I told him. "I'm going to get mine."
"I'll do that, darlin." Uncle Jasper stood up, giving me his nice smile. "See you in a minute."
"We'll see you at the car, Jazz," Aunt Alice said. "Let's go get your jacket and gloves, sweetie."
"May we get a book for Ness and Mr. Jacob's baby?" I asked.
"That's a very good idea." Aunt Alice carried me to my room and set me on my pink bed. "I'm sure the baby will love to read as much as you do, sweetie."
"And when the baby is born I can read it to them, too?" I asked her as she helped me put my jacket on.
"Of course." She turned to pick up my gloves and them on my hands. "Are you ready?"
"Yes. I'm excited, Aunt Alice."
Aunt Alice opened the garage door. "I'm excited to be going with you."
Uncle Jasper stood by the car and opened the door where my car seat was. Aunt Alice buckled me in while Uncle Jasper started the car. Because there was no heat in the garage, I was starting to feel cold.
"Uncle Jasper?" I said in a quiet voice.
"Yes, darlin?" he asked.
"I'm feeling cold," I told him just as quiet before.
"I'll turn on the heater." He pushed some buttons up in the front. "Better?"
"I don't feel any warmer."
"It'll take a moment to get to you, but you'll warm up soon." We pulled out of the garage.
"Okay, Uncle Jasper." He drove us up to a stop light. "Are you going to get a new book?"
"Maybe. I'll have to look for one I haven't read yet."
We passed the grocery store Grandma and I liked to go to when white flakes started to come down.
"It's snowing, Aunt Alice!" I said. "I like the snow."
"Maybe we can play in the snow when we get home," Aunt Alice said.
"Oh, I'd like that. Uncle Jasper?"
"Yes, darlin?"
"Will you play in the snow with us?"
"Yes, darlin. We can make snowmen." He smiled at me through the rear view mirror when we stopped at a red light.
"What are snowmen?" I asked.
"You use snow to build men," Uncle Jasper explained.
"Oh. That sounds hard, though."
"It's not when you know how. But we have to make sure there's enough snow to build with."
"Okay, Uncle Jasper." I looked out the window to watch the snow falling. It looked very nice now that the big white flakes were falling, but I wished we could be there already. "Uncle Jasper?"
"Yes, darlin?"
"Are we almost there?"
"In a few more minutes. We have two more lights to drive through, and then we'll be there, okay?"
"Okay."
We drove through the two lights and finally pulled into a parking lot. A store that said "book store" was the biggest building there.
"Uncle Jasper?" I whispered as we drove around to find a parking space.
"Yes?" he asked.
"What kind of book are you going to get?"
"Most likely a history book," he replied.
"About things that happened a long time ago?"
"Yes, darlin."
"Oh, Grandma and I should find a book to read that's a history book. Do they make them for kids?" I asked.
"They should." Uncle Jasper parked the car near the front. "Would you like me to help you find one?"
"Yes, please," I whispered.
Aunt Alice opened my door and unbuckled me as she smiled.
"You look nice when you smile, Aunt Alice."
She laughed. "Thank you, sweetie."
Aunt Alice held me as we walked into the store. It was a very big place, with books everywhere.
"This is way bigger than Grandpa's library," I told Aunt Alice as we stepped in.
"It is, isn't it?" she asked as she took off my gloves.
"Does Grandpa know?"
"Yes, he does." Aunt Alice laughed again, pulling off her own gloves. "How about we look for a new cookbook for you and Grandma while Uncle Jasper looks for a history book?"
"Okay. Uncle Jasper, will you meet us at the kid section in a little bit?" I asked.
"See you there, darlin."
Aunt Alice and I walked around the big bookstore. Rows and rows of shelves had a lot of books on them.
"How are we going to find cookbooks, Aunt Alice?" I asked.
"I'm looking for the section called "Cooking and Baking". Look, there is "Fiction"." She pointed to a big sign that said "Fiction", I think it said that anyway.
"What does fiction mean?"
"Books that didn't really happen are called fiction."
"I see the word cooking over there, Aunt Alice!" I pointed to the big sign that said cooking.
"What kind of cooking book would you and Grandma like to get?" Aunt Alice walked up toward the bookshelves near the sign.
"Um, maybe for dinner? Do they have cookie books?" I asked. "I can show my Uncle Felix it."
Aunt Alice laughed as we turned down the row to the cooking books.
"We should be able to find both. Hmm." She stopped and pointed to a red book.. "Maybe this one?"
She sat me down, picked up the book, and flipped through the pages. I looked at the book, and a lot of words on them I didn't know. I saw another book with a boy and girl cooking with an old lady. The words said Cooking with Grandma. I picked it up. This was something I could use to cook with Grandma.
"Aunt Alice, look at this book." I held the book up for her. "I found one for me and Grandma."
Aunt Alice put back the other cookbook and picked up the one I was holding. "Oh, Arian, she'd love this one. We'll get this one."
"Oh, Yay, Aunt Alice. Can we find a book about cookies now?" I asked.
"Sure. I think Baking is over here." She grabbed my hand and led me to another row.
"Do they have books about cookie decorating? Like when I made pumpkin cookies with Uncle Felix."
"Yes they should. Hmm, let's see." She walked down the aisle, her fingers running across the top row until she stopped and pulled out a book. "Oh, here is one. It says they can show you how to decorate for a lot of different types of cookies."
"May I see it?"
She crouched down and flipped through the pages with me. They had a lot of animals and shape cookies. I stopped her when we got to a cookie that was a fat man dressed in red and white.
"What's that one?" I asked.
"That's Santa Claus," she explained.
"Who is that, Aunt Alice?"
"On Christmas Eve he brings good girls and boys presents," Aunt Alice said.
"Why?" I asked.
"Because he loves to give good kids presents."
"Will he bring me presents?"
"I bet he will, sweetie." She gave me a quick kiss on the cheek.
"I like this book. May we get it, Aunt Alice?"
"Sure. I think Uncle Jasper is ready to meet us." Aunt Alice stood and grabbed my hand.
We walked to the kids' area where they had bright colored bookshelves, little tables, and chairs.
"I like it here, Aunt Alice." I looked up at her as she walked. "Maybe we can come here a lot?"
"I don't see why not." She smiled at me. "Maybe we can come every week."
"I see my Uncle Jasper over there." I pointed to him standing near a row of books with a funny look on his face.
"Sorry we kept you waiting." Aunt Alice kissed his cheek.
"Uncle Jasper, may we look for a history book now?" I asked.
"Yes, darlin." He reached out to hold my hand.
I put my hand in his while letting go of Aunt Alice's. We walked around the area until Uncle Jasper stopped and crouched down to look at a bottom row of books.
"Here are some history books to look at," he said and pulled out a book. "This one is about presidents."
I shook my head.
"No? Okay, how about this one? It's about airplanes."
"That sounds a little bit boring, Uncle Jasper."
He laughed loudly. "Okay. Oh, you may like this one. It's about Christmas."
"Oh, like Santa Claus?"
"Yes, and other things about Christmas too."
"I'd like that, Uncle Jasper."
"Okay. I'll hold to this one for you and I think your grandma would like us to get a few more books for you to read. How about you help me find some you'd like to read?"
"Okay, Uncle Jasper. I like books about puppies a lot."
"I believe they should have puppy books over here." He led me by my hand over to another section of kids' books, he lead me by the hand.
"It's nice to hold hands with you, Uncle Jasper."
"Thank you, darlin." He gave my hand a squeeze. "I like holding your hand too."
I looked down, feeling very happy in my heart.
Jasper's point of view:
I sat on the ground next Arian as she looked through her books. She hummed while she chose another book to read. Normally, I would've been bored out of my mind sitting in the children's area of the bookstore for thirty minutes. But contentment flowed through me from Arian. She was happy sitting here, which was a rare thing for her since we found her, especially because of her kidnapping. Over time, she'd become comfortable with the world, at least when she was around the family.
I watched her closely as she read. Part of the reason why I wanted to come was to watch for an anxiety attack. For a long time, I'd thought the greatest pain I felt came from when I'd killed others. That flash of fear they had before I ended their life was excruciating.
That was until we took Arian in. Fear was a constant undertone with her for the first few months. When she had anxiety attacks as a result of her kidnapping, the pain was crippling. It was so bad I had to cut myself off from the family so they'd not know how awful it was. I especially didn't want Rose or Emmett to know about the extent of pain she was going through. They had enough on their plate along with their guilt that I didn't dare tell them.
A strong sense of curiosity distracted me from my thoughts. Arian looked around the corner to where two women and a little boy were. The little boy was reading to a medium-sized white dog with wiry hair. A small chalkboard was set up that told about reading with Charlie the dog. Arian's eyes watched the boy reading as desire ran through her.
"What are you looking at, Arian?" I asked in a soft, gentle voice.
"That boy is reading with a doggy. Do you think I can have a turn too?" she asked in a low, meek tone.
"I don't see why not." I smiled as excitement ran through her. "We'll wait until the boy is finished."
"Okay, Uncle Jasper," she whispered. "Will you please go with me?"
"Of course."
We waited until the boy left with his mother.
"It looks like it's our turn. Which book would you like to read with him?"
"This one," she whispered, picking up a book.
"All right. Alice, will you take the rest of the books?"
Alice beamed at us as Arian grasped my hand while we stood up.
"Don't be scared, darlin. Are you ready?"
She nodded slowly in response. We walked over to the woman and the dog.
"Hello," the woman said brightly, smiling at Arian.
"Hello," Arian whispered very shyly.
The woman waited for a moment for Arian to initiate the conversation. "Would you like to read with Charlie?"
"Yes, please."
The woman crouched next to the dog, and I sat down next to Arian, who leaned against me.
"What's your name?" she asked.
"Arian."
"Wow, what a pretty name."
"Thank you, miss."
"Charlie, are you ready to read with Arian?"
Charlie wagged his tail and approached Arian. He licked her hands, making her smile.
"Oh," she whispered as peace ran through her. "You're a nice dog. I have a dog at home that's nice too."
Charlie nuzzled her hands and she started to pet him.
"He's very nice, Uncle Jasper," she whispered.
"Yes he is. Are you read to read your book to him?"
Arian picked her book up. "I found us a nice puppy book. It's called 'Just Me and my Puppy.'"
She sat in my lap as she read the book to the dog. Joy ran through her when the dog put his head in her lap. Alice caught my eye as she watched us from nearby, letting me have my time with Arian. She grinned at me as pride radiated from her. Even without my gift I would've known she was been proud of me.
When she pulled out her phone to take a picture, I scowled.
"It's for Rose and Arian," she said so quiet and fast that the humans wouldn't hear it.
I sighed as I focused on Arian reading. When she finished, she pet the dog as he cuddled with her. Eventually another little girl asked if she could read with Charlie, and we had to leave.
"Thank you for reading with me, Charlie," Arian said. She leaned down and kissed him on the snout.
"If you'd like to read with Charlie again, I'm here every other week," the woman said and handed me a flyer.
"Thank you. I'm sure we'll be back again," I said. "Tell her thank you, Arian."
"Thank you," she said boldly for once. "I'd really like to read with your dog again."
"You're welcome, sweetie. I hope to see you again soon."
"Me too," Arian said.
I nodded to her as I picked up my niece.
"Uncle Japer, we have to read Charlie again soon, okay?" Arian said.
"We'll make sure we'll do that, darlin." I kissed her cheek as we went to pay for our things.
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