Hello, R4L and LSR here. We're updating again! and R4L's beta, Bella Tonks has come back from her long vacation. And she edited this as soon as she had a chance. We love her and so should you! Lol. Hope you enjoy this chappie!
Disclaimer: "LSR and R4L own Snow, Damien and Sky and Mr. and Mrs. Long. Oh! and Pierre too. But I own, well you know who I own. Enjoy, lovies!" S.M.
Chapter three
BPOV
"I really appreciate your help, Mel. I know it was short notice and a lot of work to be done in a week."
Melanie shook her head as she helped me pack the last few things in Damien's suitcases and mine.
"No problem, Bella. I'm glad to help and with the amount of money you pay me, how could I not?"
We laughed. I did pay her a handful of money for taking care of Damien while I was at work. She was helpful, caring and I knew she'd miss him when we left.
"I'm going to miss him," she sighed. I smiled. "I've gotten so used to him for the past year it seems like he was a permanent fixture."
"I'm sure he'll miss you, too." I smiled at her.
A second later we heard squealing and laughing then light, fast footsteps.
"Momma! Momma! Mel! Mel!" Damien came bursting through the doorway of his room. He'd been walking, running, and occasionally crawling back and forth in the hallways as we packed. One of us would poke our head out the door if he didn't come by it for a long period of time.
We'd find him sitting in the middle of the floor playing with the few toys I'd be able to pack in our carry on, or going to the potty (which he did wonderfully on). Once we found him sprawled about the floor, sleeping, on his stomach of course.
He'd been up earlier than he'd liked to be so he was cranky and stubborn. Then he didn't want to take his bath like he was supposed to. Our flight was leaving in five hours so we had to be up early, packed and ready.
A&M had sent everything I'd packed into boxes to Paris already. It was mainly the T.V., all the movies we had, cooking materials, almost all the furniture in Damien's room save for a dresser he didn't like too much, a few pieces of furniture from the living room and anything else we couldn't fit into our five suitcases and two carry-ons.
The house looked pretty bare. Melanie had let us stay with her and her boyfriend when we ran out of furniture to sleep on. She kept the gate that blocked the stairs; we brought it back when we came to the house to finish packing. Mel planned to take whatever we left because she was moving to a new house and she needed the furniture and on top of that she was expecting. It was practice for her, babysitting Damien. With the way she treated him I knew she'd be a good mother.
Melanie and I packed the last of his clothes in his suitcase. She zipped it up and placed it by the door.
"Yes, baby boy?" I squatted down to his level.
Damien waved Snow in front of him.
"Me an' Shnow hunggy!" He giggled.
Melanie laughed behind him and walked in the direction of my room. Damien turned in her direction but she was gone and he looked at me expectantly.
"Let's wait till Mommy finishes packing, then we can eat."
He pouted, sticking his bottom lip out. He pushed Snow in my face.
"But Shnow wanna eat. Me too!" He whined.
It took all I had not to laugh in his face. He was so adorable.
"Wait a little longer, okay? We'll have pancakes if you do." I knew I was bribing him but I really needed to finish packing; it was getting late.
I saw the light in his big brown eyes glow and he looked thoughtful. He titled Snow towards his face and looked her in the eye. His mouth was moving as if he was having a private conversation with the fluffy white bunny. He took so long that my legs started to hurt, so I sat Indian style. I watched him. After a minute he smiled and looked at me.
"Okay, Momma!" I laughed.
"That's my baby boy." I pulled him towards me and tickled his sides. Damien squealed and laughed and thrashed around in my lap.
"Awe, you guys are so adorable!" Mel's voice came from the doorway. My head shot up and my hands stopped tickling Damien. I held him in my arms, my head resting lightly on his tiny shoulder. His breathing was slightly labored but he was smiling.
"He looks exactly like you, smile and everything! It's so cute. I wonder what the father thinks about you guys." She wondered.
The smile that was on my face fell almost immediately. I grimaced and turned my head to fight back the tears that threatened to fall.
"Damien, go ahead and play with Snow. Mommy and Mel have to finish up." His face met mine in a second.
"An' den we have pa'cates?"
I smiled a small smile and nodded.
"Yes, go on." I kissed his forehead and he ran off.
I sighed. Melanie caught my mood change. I saw her mouth open, ready to ask questions.
"No." My voice was flat. "I don't want to talk about it."
She knew about as much as Davidson did that I was stubborn and a force to be reckoned with. If I didn't want to talk, I didn't and no one could budge me when my mind was made up.
She nodded.
I didn't want to talk about his father. I didn't even want to think about him. He was—
No.
I stopped myself from thinking. I forced myself not to think about anything but what I was doing; packing.
We finished packing up the remaining clothes I had and my toiletries and Damien's. I put a few things in my carry-on and Mel and I took the bags downstairs. I packed Damien's few toys in his carry-on and we went to living room. The house was so empty. I felt a little nostalgia coming on and I hadn't even left the house yet.
We had three hours until the plane left. Mel helped me pack the car. Damien made sure he had Snow and his little bag to take on the plane.
"Thanks, again, Mel. We'll miss you." I hugged her. I felt something move by my leg and then Mel laughed. She let me go and we both looked down to see Damien hugging her leg. She squatted down and hugged him.
"You be good for me, okay? I'll miss you, little guy." She looked close to tears.
Damien nodded his head rapidly.
"I will. I will. Missh you, Mel." Then he shoved Snow in her face. "Shnow say she missh you, too."
Melanie laughed and hugged both of them.
"Well, you best get going. We wouldn't want you to miss your flight." I hugged her again.
"Call me and tell me everything about the doctor's appointment tomorrow. I'd love to hear about it." She was getting her ultrasound done tomorrow. She nodded against my shoulder.
I picked Damien up when she let me go and buckled him into his car seat. He waved as I backed out of the driveway.
"Momma?" Damien called after a minute.
"Yes, Damien?" I glanced at him through the rearview.
"We gonna eat?" I smiled. Boys always want to eat.
"Yes, as soon as we get to where we are going."
He didn't ask where we were going and I had a feeling he wouldn't understand either way.
We were at the airport a half hour later. I pulled against the curb in front of Entrance A. It wasn't busy as it was almost five in the evening. I waved down a man with a luggage cart and he loaded the luggage on his cart that was in my car.
I took Damien out the car. He was talking to Snow and rubbing her fur. I helped him into his Blue's Clues book bag. The man that loaded my luggage told me to wait right there and he'd be back. A moment later he came back with another man.
"Name?" The other man asked.
"Isabella Swan."
He looked through a clipboard he had with him.
"Ah. A&M. Here you go." He handed me a ticket. I looked at him questioningly. "For your car. I'll park it. Don't worry; A&M took care of everything."
Oh. Figures.
He took my keys, placed a sticker on the back window of my car and then drove off. The man with my luggage followed Damien and I as we checked in. A&M had made it mandatory that all upscale employees get passports for reasons such as mine. They even made Damien one. He had quite a cute picture.
I paid the luggage man a few dollars for helping me and he went about his way. The last thing we had to do was go through the metal detectors. There were minimal people there so we didn't have to wait long, but it was a hassle going through because we had to take off our shoes and Damien didn't want to put Snow in the box with the rest of our things.
"Momma, we ridin' tat?" He asked as we walked by a window wall to the gates and restaurants. We could see three huge planes sitting out there. His tiny hand slipped from mine as he walked to the window.
"Yes we are. We'll be up in the air."
"Ta air?" He turned his wide brown eyes on me.
"Yup." I smiled at him.
Damien's little mouth formed an 'o' and he turned his head back to the planes.
"C'mon, baby boy. I promised you pancakes, didn't I?"
He giggled and reached for me, Snow dangling in his hand. I adjusted the bags on my shoulder and picked him up.
I got him some pancakes and myself a turkey sandwich with chips from a place called Ed's Diner that was sandwiched between a McDonald's and Elizabeth's Pizza. We walked to the waiting area near the gate to our plane and sat down to eat. I gave him a bottle and he alternated between eating and drinking.
We finished a while later and I threw our trash away in a trash can across from us. Damien started dozing off on the floor while playing with Snow. I picked him up and let him bury his head in my neck as he made that funny gurgling noise again. I'd have to figure out where he got that from…
Something was shaking my shoulder. I heard a faint voice a second later, and then it got louder.
"Miss? Miss?" The voice was female and the thing that was shaking me was a hand.
I sat up after realizing I'd fallen asleep. I almost dropped Damien when I sat up so fast.
"Miss?" I turned and there was a red-headed woman looking at me.
"Yes?"
"Are you supposed to be on this flight, because we're boarding and we want to make sure we get everyone," she said.
I looked past her and sure enough there were people going through the gate.
"Oh sh—" I caught myself before the whole word came out. My cheeks flamed and I looked towards the lady. "Sorry." I said sheepishly.
The woman smiled.
"It's okay." She walked to the gate where a man was standing, checking people's tickets as they walked through.
I was glad I made Damien put his bag on. It would've been hard trying to get it on him while he was sleeping. I grabbed my bags, threw them on one shoulder, adjusted Damien on my other so he wouldn't fall off and went to the gate.
Fist class was quite nice. It had reclining seats, pillows, blankets, and delicious food. A flight attendant reclined a seat so I could lay Damien down, as he was still asleep. The flight was relaxing with the exception of a bit of turbulence. Damien slept for most of it. He'd wake up, eat, play, go to the bathroom or gaze out the window that was the size of his upper body.
"Momma! Look!" He'd pointed out the window at the 'big whi' puffy stuff'.
The flight attendants gushed over how adorable he was and Damien ate it all up, giggling, squealing, laughing, and introducing Snow whenever they paid him any attention. It was increasingly annoying and I was glad when he was asleep. It gave me a reprieve from the gushing flight attendants.
It was hell trying to catch the next plane. We had to take a merger from Frankfurt, Germany to Paris, France. The airport in Germany was like rush hour on the interstate in Miami, but we made it, barely. The two hour flight didn't do well with Damien, though.
"Eeee' poppin'! Eeee' poppin'!" He kept whining. His ears were popping and I could only imagine what it felt like to him. Mine were popping too but I could chew gum and he couldn't so I gave him a bottle.
There was a man with a sign that read 'SWAN' standing in front of a luggage cart when we headed towards baggage claim.
"Ms. Swan, à partir de A&M?" He asked as I approached him. His French accent was strong.
"Oui," I nodded confirming that I was from A&M. Damien was holding my fingers, oblivious to what was going on around him, as he chattered to Snow.
"Je suis Pierre Jones. Je vais être votre pilote de votre séjour ici. Je crois que c'est l'ensemble de vos bagages?" He said his name was Pierre Jones. It took me a minute to translate the rest because my French was slightly rusty but I knew he said he'd be my driver for my stay here and that he wanted to make sure he had our entire luggage.
I counted the bags and then checked the tags to make sure.
"Oui, ils sont tous là. Et maintenant?" I confirmed that he had all our things and asked him what we'd do next. He smiled.
"Si vous suivez-moi," He gestured with a hand for us to follow him.
I asked him if he spoke any English while we followed him and he nodded.
"Yes, I do. It is hard, you see, 'cause is not my, uh, native language." He was right.
"Which do you feel comfortable with speaking in the most?"
"It does not matter, much. I can speak both pretty good. But I must warn you, my French sometimes is mixed with my English if I speak English. You, uh, understand?"
I nodded.
We made it to some sliding doors and outside awaited a black limo that was no longer than an average limo in the U.S. Pierre loaded the luggage in the trunk which didn't look big enough to fit all our things but he managed.
It was hot, I'd realized, the sun glaring down on the pavement and the car. Pierre looked like he was sweating bullets under the black uniform and hat he wore. I made a mental note to talk him out of wearing that ridiculous uniform. I mean, it wasn't like he was driving around royalty or anything.
The ride was long and Pierre stopped at a McDonald's along the way as Damien got hungry. I wasn't surprised that there was one here in Paris, because really, where wasn't there a McDonald's in this world? The only difference was that you couldn't use credit cards; cash only. I was glad I'd traded a few dollars for Euros before leaving the airport.
Damien gazed out the window at the many historical monuments we passed; the Eiffel Tower, Les Champs Elysees, Notre Dame, and plenty more. If his eyes were any bigger they'd roll out of his head.
After about an hour and a half Pierre turned into a cobblestone road. It was tight between the two tan sun-baked buildings but we fit through. It soon opened out into a wide street where people were walking and small cars and mopeds were flying by.
A few people stared as we passed but otherwise went on about their business. We passed quaint little shops; a pastry shop, a music store that read 'Masen's Musique', an antique shop and some others. I made a mental note to visit Masen's Musique later on.
I was so busy looking out the window that I hadn't realized Pierre was on the phone. He hung up a second later, looked back at me, smiled, and then made a left turn into another small street. We pulled up to a building.
It had 'The Long Building' written in French across the glass doors in elegant script. The building was the same color tan that the quaint shops were and sun baked, too.
There was a small group of four people standing outside the doors.
An old stout man with graying hair that went to his shoulders was smiling at an old woman next to him. I could vaguely see his hand on her back playing with her long gray braid. The woman kissed his check after laughing at something he whispered in her ear.
On their other side was another, younger couple. There was a woman who looked about my age with brown hair much like mine but maybe a tad darker or lighter, I couldn't tell because of the sun glaring down on her, that went a little past her shoulders with bright blue eyes and a soft face that looked like it could warm anyone's heart.
She was standing next a man who had black hair that kind of swooped over his forehead much like Zac Efron, but his looked better. He had the same blue eyes she did except slightly darker and they shined as he looked at her. His dark jeans and blue shirt made him look tall and built and quite delicious if I do say so myself. He must be French to look that hot.
We pulled up right in front them and I could read the black haired man's shirt. It said 'I'm with beautiful' in French and had an arrow pointing towards the woman. The shirt looked bleached and like something out of Hot Topic. He and the woman were holding hands when Pierre opened my door and Damien and I got out.
"Bienvenue, bienvenue!" The old man said happily. The traditional French greeting was given all around.
"You speak English, yes?" I asked them all in French. They all four nodded.
"I'm Herbert Long and this," he smiled at the old woman next to him, "is my beautiful wife, Berta Long. This is our building as you see on the doors." I nodded and he continued. "I've already fixed up your living quarters and placed the furniture in it. If you would like to rearrange anything don't hesitate to let me or Berta know. She's always at the front desk and if you have any other problems with the apartment just let me know and I'll be happy to help."
Herbert smiled a warm smile. His English was impeccable. It surprised me.
"Merci, Monsieur Long." I said gratefully. He guffawed.
"Oh, please, call me Herbert." I nodded.
Damien whined and tugged on the fingers he was gripping. I looked down at him and he reached for me. I picked him up and looked to the couple that hadn't spoken yet.
"I'm Krista. I'll be that little guy's babysitter. He's so adorable!" She smiled at him. "Damien, yes?" She didn't have that French accent like Pierre did. I wondered where she was from.
Damien giggled, waved Snow around and reached for her. I was surprised because Damien didn't take well to new people; people he didn't know. If he didn't like someone he whined and hid his face in my hair or my neck and if he did like someone, which was rare, he giggled like he did to Krista and reached for whoever the person was. It was like he had a people-radar; who he knew he could like and who he knew he couldn't. I found it useful sometimes.
I smiled.
"Well I guess he likes you. That's good." Krista took Damien.
"Why?"
"He doesn't take well to new people, people he doesn't know."
"Ah." She nodded in understanding. Krista bounced him lightly and he giggled again.
"Kisha! Thish ish Shnow! She goesh wiff me to e'erywhere!" Damien introduced his white fluffy bunny. Everyone laughed.
"Hello, Snow. It's very nice to meet you both." Krista tweaked Snow's nose.
"Does he really take Snow everywhere?" She asked me incredulously.
"Yup, everywhere except when he has to go to the bathroom. He won't go anywhere without her. He cries something fierce if he does." She laughed.
"Oh! I almost forgot!" Krista suddenly said. The man beside her had been smiling at her like a man seeing light for the first time and then he rolled his eyes, amused. "This is my boyfriend, Sky." She looped her free arm through his. "He'll be helping me sometimes, not that I need it but he likes to, so I let him. He has another job that he does so you'll see him around."
Krista was rambling and I think she noticed as her cheeks turned a slight pink when she stopped. I thought it was amusing and funny and I had to fight the laugh I wanted to let out. Sky shook his head and looked at me.
"Ms, uh…" Sky started. He hesitated, not knowing my name.
"Bella, just Bella, please," I told him, well everyone since they were all looking at me save for Damien who was talking to Snow again.
"It'll be a pleasure working with you or for you, rather. A&M has filled us all in on everything. You're in good hands." He leaned forward a bit and a playful smile fell over his face. "Don't mind Krista. She tends to go on about crazy things sometimes." He laughed when she lightly slapped his arm.
Sky's voice was strong and deep and coupled with his French accent made it sound alluring. His smile was something that could make any girl swoon. With the way he held himself, he looked like a model from Calvin Klein. Krista was lucky.
I shook his outstretched hand.
"Merci, Sky." I frowned, thinking about his name. "That's an unusual name for a guy…"
Sky's smile faltered a bit and his dark blue eyes went a little darker as they tightened.
"Don't ask. Ma mere did it." His mother? His tone was clipped but gentle, making me think he didn't want to talk about it anymore.
Krista squeezed his arm and he softened his features. He turned his gaze towards her and her lips moved but I couldn't hear what she said. Sky nodded and then kissed her lightly. Damien was distracted so he didn't notice.
It peaked my curiosity but I thought it best not to ask. Whatever it was it was between them. Berta took that moment to speak up.
"Well, Bella, let's get you settled, shall we?" Her accent was thick.
She led the way through the glass doors while Sky, Pierre, and Herbert got the bags from the car. Krista followed us with Damien still chattering on.
We took the elevator up to the fifth floor.
"Herbert has been fixing up this apartment all week. The, uh, other tenant moved and left it a mess. We got him to pay for damages and whatnot but we never knew what he was doing in it. I don't think we want to know either. Your, uh, company made sure everything was in order before you came." Berta chattered on. Her English wasn't as impeccable as Herbert's and she had as hard a time speaking it as Pierre did.
We walked down a hallway that reminded me of those medieval castles with the stone walls and archways. There were wooden doors along the walls but they were so spaced out you'd get lost if you went too far and didn't know your way around.
"You guys have been great, so far. I know it was sort of spontaneous but—" Berta interrupted me with 'tsk, tsk'.
"Nonsense, cher, no worry about it." I smiled and nodded at her when she looked back at me.
Damien seemed to be having a ball talking to Krista.
"Where are you from?" I blurted out.
Krista laughed.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be so forward but I realized you didn't have the accent everybody else does and it made me curious and you know curiosity killed the cat." I said.
"No, no, it's okay. I get that sometimes. I'm from Florida. I moved here with my dad when I was five after he got out of the military."
"Where in Florida?"
"Tampa. Born and raised for five years."
"Hmm," was all I said.
Krista then laughed at something Damien said.
Berta finally stopped walking after we passed two doors on the left and two doors on the right. The door read 507 in gold. Berta took out a set of three keys. She unlocked the top and bottom locks with one.
"Here we are dearies." She said.
The apartment was beautiful and spacious. It explained why the doors were so far apart.
There was the living room as soon as you walked in. Herbert had placed my couches in a nice manner around it with the coffee table in the center and the entertainment center in front, along a stone wall. Past the living room was a step up and on the right was a den that had ceiling to floor windows where I could see the Eiffel Tower and the Sienne River. On the left was a dining room with my table and chairs set up already.
I walked further past that and saw a full kitchen with an island in the middle and two stools to sit on. My kitchen accessories and whatnot were already put away as I checked the cabinets and drawers. There was a dishwasher and a double sink. It was nice.
There was an opening on the other end of the kitchen that led out the den so you could walk in a circle around the one level. When I met Berta in the living room she gestured to two glass doors I hadn't seen when I walked around the first time.
I opened those and saw my bedroom, almost as it had been at my house but again the walls were stone and they weren't cold, quite warm actually. And the bathroom was on my right instead of my left. The balcony was on the left where I could again see the Eiffel Tower.
The door next to my bathroom was a walk-in closet and then there were three steps to another room next to my closet. That room had Damien's furniture in it. His window didn't have as good a view as mine did but it was enough. All his furniture was set up close to the same way it was at the house.
"Berta, this is—I don't know what to say." I told her when I got back to the living room. She smiled.
"Don't say anything. We just hope you enjoy your stay here."
"Oh, I will."
Krista was walking around with Damien holding her fingers. It looked like they both were taking a tour of the apartment.
"Oh, I almost forgot. There is second room behind door in between kitchen and den. That's an extra room or a bigger room. You could use it for when Damien gets to be a big boy if you stay long enough. I knew the other room is so small." Berta said.
I hadn't even noticed a door there. That room was empty. It was pretty big and I could see Damien moving into that room when he got a little older.
I heard some footsteps and voices and then Pierre and Herbert came through the still open door with Sky not far behind. They dropped the bags behind the couch. I rushed up to Herbert and hugged him.
"Thank you so much. It looks almost like my house back in Florida. I was scared you'd gone and done something hideous." He laughed and I pulled back some.
"It was no problem. Besides it's all about the happy tenants, oui?"
I nodded and laughed.
"Momma!" My head whipped around so fast I thought I popped something. Damien was running towards me, his arms stretched out, smiling. I scooped him up when he reached me.
"Hey, baby boy. Do you like it?" I smiled at him.
He nodded enthusiastically. "Yay, momma!"
"Did you see your room?"
Damien's brown eyes widened and he shook his head. I looked towards Krista. She was smiling at us.
"He wanted to see you after he finished gawking out the window at 'the bi' poin'y thingy'." She did air quotes on the last part. I laughed. It sounded like him. My guess was that he was looking at the Eiffel Tower.
"Why don't you go see it with Krista, okay? Mommy has to finish up here." He nodded and then reached for Krista.
She took him and Berta led her to my room.
"Is that everything?" I asked the gentlemen.
"Oui, it is." Pierre answered. "Will that be all?"
"No, Pierre. I need to talk to you about something. Could you stay for a minute?" He nodded.
I turned to Sky. "What is your other job, if you don't mind my asking?"
He smiled that charming smile again. "I work on cars. Well, I sometimes design them but I like to fix them more than I design them. I can rebuild them or fix them up, you name it."
My eyebrows rose.
"Really?"
"Oui. Krista says I should talk to someone who can help me start my own, uh, company? Oui, company or something along those lines." He shook his head as if dispelling the thought and scratched the back of his neck. He looked nervous for a second.
I smiled. "Anything else?"
"Well, uh, I make my own shirts." He gestured to the shirt he was wearing. "I sometimes sell them in the streets. I have a permit to, uh, what's the word?... ah…" He trailed off.
"Vend?" I suggested.
"Oui, oui! I do it mostly during the tourist season like now since it is June. Sometimes during any outside event that's going on and if I don't have to work at the shop or if I'm not helping Krista."
"I see. Well, if you really want it I might be able to get you a connection." I knew a lot of people who were looking to make money off of new car designs.
Sky's blue eyes lit up and his charming smile was back. "Really?"
I nodded.
"I'll get you my portfolio soon."
"Okay, then."
"Well, if that is all, tell Berta I will be at the front desk. She will give you your keys to the apartment and mailbox." Herbert smiled and left.
"Bella…" I turned to Pierre.
Sky made his way to my room I guess following the sounds of the female voices and boyish giggles.
"Okay, Pierre. I want to talk to you about this ridiculous uniform…" I said firmly.
He looked surprised. "My uniform?"
"Oui, I noticed you sweating like you ran a triathlon when you picked us up from the airport. So from now on don't wear that uniform. Wear something you feel comfortable with and will let you breathe. I'd really prefer not to have you have a heatstroke and we've just met."
Pierre's face flushed slightly. "Oui, madame."
"You go change into something comfortable and come up when you get back. I'd like to go food shopping since there's no food here and I'm sure you know where I can get a few things…"
He nodded and smiled.
"Good, good. Go on then." He left.
A minute later Sky, Krista, Berta and Damien came back into the living room.
"Your son is a special one. If I had a son like that…" Berta trailed off shaking her head. She had a wistful look on her face.
"No kids?" I asked.
"No. Herbert and I traveled too much to have kids and then I found out I was sterile…"
"Oh, I'm sorry."
"No worry, dear. I'm fine."
"Does he usually talk so much?" Sky asked. He was holding Damien and he picked and played with his black hair mumbling something.
I nodded. "Usually, when he gets attention and when he's around people he feels comfortable with."
"He'll be a handful but I think we can take him." He said. Krista nodded, smiling.
"Here are your keys. There's two to the room and one to the mailbox. They are right next to the front desk on the right. Yours is the number on your door. If you need an extra key made just find Herbert, ou moi."
I took the keys from Berta, thanked her again, and told her Herbert was at the front desk. She left.
Sky, Krista, Damien and I took a seat on the couch.
"Well, I'll make copies of my itinerary so you know when to baby sit Damien. He likes you both so much already so it won't be a problem leaving him with you guys. Do you have phones?"
They nodded and simultaneously pulled phones from the back pockets of their jeans. It was the same phone, sidekicks, but Sky's was black and Krista's was blue.
"Well, here's my number and office number in case anything happens."
They put it in their phones and we sat there for a minute reading the papers I got before I left Miami. There was a knock on the door.
"It's open!" I yelled.
I went over a few more things with the couple while whoever it was at the door came to the living room.
"Bella, are you ready?" Pierre's voice came from behind me.
I nodded absently.
I looked over to Damien who had taken to playing with his toys he brought out from his trunk in his room.
"Hey, Damien?" His brown eyes found mine instantly.
"Mommy's going to go get some food, okay? Do you want to go?" He looked so engrossed in playing with his toys that I wasn't sure whether or not he wanted to go anywhere, but I doubted it because he hasn't been stationary much in the past fourteen hours.
"NO! I wanna shtay wi' Kisha and Shky and Shnow!" I laughed.
"Okay, then. Pancakes when I get back?"
He nodded his little head rapidly. Sometimes I got real worried when he did that. It seemed unnatural.
"Well, his things are in these bags, at least enough food and such to keep him from complaining. I'm guessing you already know where his movies and toys are…"
Sky and Krista nodded. I kissed Damien's head and he smiled before talking to Snow again.
"Be back later, guys." I headed out with Pierre by my side. He'd changed into some nice cargo pants and a button down white shirt. "Much better, Pierre, much better,"
"Merci," He smiled.
"You don't live far from here, do you? It didn't take you that long to come back…" He shook his head.
"I live a few, uh, twists and turns from here. I show you someday. You meet my wife."
"You are married?"
"Oui, but only about a year, not long as you see."
I shook my head. We reached the elevator and he pressed the down button. The doors opened a second later and my breath caught.
A man with broad wide shoulders, bronze hair and pale skin stood in it. He had what looked to be a biker's jacket thrown over his shoulder. He looked up at me and his piercing green gaze wouldn't let mine go.
I saw such sorrow and pain in them before he masked it with indifference or more like something numb. I couldn't be sure. He sneered at me before his face became expressionless. He shouldered past me and Pierre looked ready to say a few choice words when I stopped him by pulling him into the elevator.
I closed my eyes and took a few deep breaths. I had the urge to figure out what was wrong with him and why he sneered at me but something was telling me not to.
Something was warning me that that was a bad idea.
Something told me that talking to that man could either break what was left of me or make something of the rest of me.
Did you like? Let us know! R4L's beta loves Damien. She wants three of him. Any favorite characters so far?
~R4L and LSR~