'What were you thinking, Claire? That was far too intense!' I chided myself, and bit my lip in an attempt to settle my anxiety.
It was the truth though. Sherry and I did need him. I couldn't imagine being able to handle this all on my own. From the moment we met, and each little meeting throughout that horrific night, he had been my comfort; my reminder that I wasn't alone. Heck, I'd been so relieved to see him again after we got separated that in my giddiness I'd even flirted through that darn fence!
Just remembering how desperately I'd wanted to touch him and had eagerly poked my fingers through to embrace his made my face flush scarlet. Shaking away my embarrassment, I quietly opened the door to Sherry's room and tiptoed inside.
The afore-mentioned blonde was curled up sweetly with her small hands folded under her head like she was saying a prayer and breathing in and then out in adorable little puffs. I felt a surge of almost overwhelming affection and protectiveness at the sight of my beautiful baby girl.
'There is really no other way to explain it,' I thought as the feeling of possessiveness joined the others. When my gaze had met the eyes of the then terrified little girl for the first time, an all-encompassing need to nurture and protect had been born. My very soul seemed to have reached out and claimed the child. There had never been even the slightest chance of fighting it. I have always been an advocate for "following your heart" and the sleeping angel in front of me had a very big chunk of mine. So much so that I had been unable to leave and search for my brother like I had originally intended.
I worried a lot about Chris still, but had sent out what messages I could to his known teammates in hopes that someone would be able to get me answers. She'd also caved in easily to Leon's point about how vast Europa was and the fact that she didn't even have a starting destination.
'Of course, those silently pleading baby blues hadn't done my argument any favors either...' I grumbled to myself.
"Sherry? Sherry, baby. Time to wake up, honey." I gently shook the child's shoulder.
Innocent robin's egg blue eyes blinked open and looked around before settling on my face. A wide smile followed by an even bigger yawn and a soft, "good morning, Claire." The little girl stretched her hands high over her head, sat up, and slid her toes into the slippers next to her bed. They were actually mine from my childhood visits, pink and fluffy, before her mother had given up on my being a traditional "girl".
Sherry's room was decorated in the same fashion; handmade furniture (like the rest of the house) with pink and lace bedding, curtains, and even a child-sized vanity in the corner that was white and pink. Thankfully, Sherry had loved it immediately.
'Mom would be so happy to know her granddaughter approved of the little princess theme... I had always wanted to be the dragon,' I thought with a smirk.
Walking to the door, I held it open and teased, "I've made pancakes. Better hurry before Leon eats them all!"
Sherry gasped, sleepiness fading, and ran out still in her frilly pink nightgown. Giggling, I followed her back out to the kitchen where she was giving Leon a hug and saying good morning.
Pulling her chair out for her, he leaned down and said, "it is a good thing you hurried. I'm so hungry I almost started without you." Looking up from pushing her in he sent me a wink and a smile to show he had heard my earlier statement and was playing along.
My stomach fluttered with sudden butterflies and I could feel myself blushing again. 'How does he keep doing that to me today?' I wondered. Trying not to show how much it had affected me, I settled for reminding Sherry to say thank you to Leon for seating her. The girl piped up with a quick "thank you, Leon" while she spread syrup over her breakfast.
He chuckled warmly and moved over slightly to hold out my chair for me. I accepted with as much grace as I could muster, mumbling an embarrassed thank you.
"You're both welcome," he replied as he sat down in his chair and reached for the syrup that Sherry had finished with.
We all ate in comfortable silence for several minutes. I let my gaze travel over both of them watching Sherry's happy smiles between bites and Leon's smiles at her enthusiasm while gently admonishing her for eating too fast. My heart feels almost full enough to burst and I find myself wishing the moment would never end.
Just then Leon looked directly at me, those baby blues almost seemed to glow, and gave me the goofy shy smile I adored so much. My heart started pounding loudly in my chest and I could feel my cheeks warming for what seemed like the hundredth time this morning. My lips answered him of their own accord tugging up into a matching grin.
"Hey!" Sherry yelled, startling us both. He turned to look at her breaking eye contact and I released the breath I didn't know I was holding. "I was asking what we are going to do today?" Her little cheeks were puffed out in annoyance as she directed her question to me.
"Hmm… I'm not sure. What do you want to do, darling?" I asked in return, playing for time as my heart slowed down and my thoughts unjumbled themselves. 'Those eyes should be illegal!'
Sherry fidgeted a little, finally slowing down her bites as she thought. "Well, in the book you read me last night the teddy bears were all having a picnic. That sounded like fun. Can we do that?" Hopeful round eyes turned full force on me.
I looked first at Leon, who gave a nod in agreement, and then at the window closest to us to check the weather. The sky seemed clear enough. It was a bit chilly, but seeing how we had had to have Halloween (none of us were interested in that this year) on the road and Thanksgiving was next week, I figured a small picnic lunch would be alright.
Turning back to Sherry's expectant face, I smiled. "Only on one condition, that you help me make the food for it."
Her eyes go even wider. "Really?! You want me to help?" I nodded to show I was sincere, and she gasped again in delight. "I've never been able to help before! I usually just watched or heated up frozen dinners when they weren't home."
Fighting back the sudden ache in my heart I laughed and said, "well, I've been being instructed since I was six and you're twice that age. I'd say it's time."
She grinned at me and asked for seconds on her pancakes. I handed the plate of them to her automatically, consumed by my own thoughts. I knew Annette and William had been workaholics, but the more I learned about just how alone their little girl was the more determined I became to give her even a fraction of what I had growing up.
I was five when the last of my grandparents passed away (my maternal grandmother out living her husband by only two years). Then there came the horrible accident when I was eleven… I tried to suppress those memories and just push forward. Chris had been two months from turning 18 and if it hadn't been for Barry stepping in and vouching for my brother, Child Services would have put me in a foster home.
Thankfully, Chris had been able to keep me and no matter how tough it got we had each other's backs (though the first year was extremely rough for us both). Still, I'd had my big brother and we'd spend time with the Burton's (who were old friends of our parents), so I was never really lonely. I also knew with my very core how much I had been loved by my parents before I lost them. Sherry on the other hand had had none of that support or assurance.
My face must have given away some of what I was thinking because I felt warm calloused fingers gently brush mine and looked up to see Leon's concerned gaze. I quickly shook my head and smiled, peeking to the side to see Sherry blissfully unaware and eating her forth pancake.
"You'd better save some room for lunch, kiddo, or there will be no need for a picnic," I warned her with a laugh.
The little girl turned to me with a panicked expression and hastily pushed the plate of extra pancakes away from herself. She shoveled the last few bites in her mouth, drained her juice and asked to be excused. I nodded and watched her scramble out of her chair, rinse her plate, and go zooming off to her room to change.
A warm chuckle had me turning to Leon as he said, "Never a dull moment." He turned towards me with a big grin. "I'm already dressed. I'll take care of the dishes. It doesn't look like she is going to give you much time to change."
I laughed. "No, it does not. Thank you, Leon," I replied getting up and rinsing my dishes as Sherry had before heading down the hall to get ready for the day - humming a tune.