Twenty chapters!
Thanks to all of you who have left such kind reviews, it makes me very happy!
This chapter turned out to be a lot longer than I anticipated, but never mind.
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"Do you wanna go on a date tonight?" The question seemed to come from nowhere.
I laughed at his suggestion, rolling my eyes although he was out of my line of sight. "Carlisle, you practically live here."
"So, we're passed cute movie dates, then?" he teased.
The only movie we'd gone to see together was the disastrous unofficial date/not-date with Alistair, and the thought of it made me wrinkle my nose. Maybe redoing it wouldn't be so bad. Besides, I never did get to hold hands with a cute boy in a cinema during my teenaged years, so I may as well make up for it now.
"Is there something in particular you wanted to see?" I turned to face him, finding him focused on his phone, smiling slightly.
"How do you feel about horrors?"
.
.
Fine. I'd felt fine about them, until they were stretched across a massive screen. The hair on the back of my neck was raised, and I had to make a conscious effort to keep the pressure on Carlisle's hand even; he didn't need me breaking his fingers, and I didn't need him knowing I was scared. Twenty-six, and down-right petrified by some artificial paranormal shit which my boyfriend was loving every second of, apparently.
The boy liked fairy-tales, for god's sake, so why on earth we were watching this demonic crap I had no idea. I would be sleeping with the lights on tonight though. I'd expected something softer and a little more 'PG'; I'd expected Carlisle to be as easily scared as I was. Obviously not though, he didn't even flinch.
I wished I'd brought popcorn or a snack of some sort, so at least then I'd have a tangible thing to feel anxious about. Instead, I was worried about pissing my pants as an adult because of a film. Carlisle touched my leg without warning, and I just about hit the roof, my heart racing. I just hoped I looked collected; I wouldn't be living this down otherwise.
"What the fuck was that?" I grumbled as we walked back into the main part of the cinema building.
"Only the best movie of our lifetime." He was still excited, buzzing. He glanced over at me when I didn't reply. "You were scared," he teased.
"You didn't warn me it was going to be that bad," I whined at him, realising he'd baited me in to going.
"I'm sorry the scary movie was scary?" Laughing, he hugged me, squeezing me tightly and kissing my neck.
"You have to stay tonight to make up for it." I slid my arms around his waisted and leant my cheek on the top of my head.
"What a harsh verdict," he chuckled. "Come." Grabbing my hand, he pulled me over to the register again. My confusion over what he was doing ended when he handed me another movie ticket.
"Not again!" I groaned. "It's not going to be less terrifying the second time-"
He cut me off with a kiss. "Shut up, you idiot. Come and have your cute movie, since the last one scared you so terribly." Holding my hand and leading me forward, he pulled me toward another theatre.
"Carlisle," I laughed. "You didn't have to do that. And you're still staying tonight, as punishment."
Rolling his eyes, he held the door for me, almost awkwardly polite. "Deal."
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I was vaguely aware that the movie was something romantic and sappy, but I couldn't really focus on it. I'd watched the first ten minutes of it, but one kiss led to another…and another…and then we were the kids everyone hated in the theatre. Carlisle shushed me whenever I said something too loudly, apparently far more aware of our surroundings than I was, but all I was worried about was getting him closer to me and not breaking his ribs on the arm rest in the process.
"People on TV make this look really easy," I whispered to him, only able to see him smile in the light flashes of the film.
"Maybe we just need more practice," he whispered back, leaning a little closer to bring our lips together again. Tangling his fingers in my hair, he kissed his way down my jaw until his lips were against my neck.
"Practice is perfect," I murmured, leaning my head back against the seat and shutting my eyes; God, he felt good.
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We walked out of the theatre holding hands and giggling. I couldn't remember anything about the movie, other than how soft his lips were and how lucky I was to have him. Carlisle stayed the night like he had promised, and was cuddlier with me in bed than usual; maybe he was a little scared after all.
I had thought he'd fallen asleep, lying with his back against my stomach and my arms around his waist. It gave me a little bit of a fright when he did speak.
"…love you, Garrett…" he mumbled.
"Love you too," I whispered back, kissing the base of his neck.
He rolled over in my arms to face me, bringing our lips together before resting his cheek against my collarbone, his hand against my chest. Still wanting more contact, he slid his knees between mine, shuffling closer.
"My brother likes you," I murmured, still wanting to soothe any raw edges my family had caused. "I baby-sat Kate yesterday, and he wanted to know if you're okay." I wanted to know too, although I didn't want to nag him.
"I'm okay as long as I've got you."
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I was looking after Kate for the next day as well, while Eleazar and Carmen were out of town, sparing them both the cost and worry of hiring a competent baby sitter, especially while she was weighed down with a cast. Her father had gone over and over with me the times that she was due pain medication, and activities that might aggravate the break, so I was more than happy to push him out of my house so I didn't have to listen to him anymore.
Before he'd even made it to my front door, my phone rang, my boss's number visible on the screen. I groaned and answered it.
"Parker! I know it's your day off, but I need you in here today!" Phil barked, loud enough that my brother heard it too. His eyes widened as he calculated the logistics of finding someone else to watch her, or wrangling a day off himself.
"Sorry, sir, I really cant," I told him as firmly as I could muster while anxiety gnawed away in the pit of my stomach. "I'm watching my niece today."
"Well, get someone else to do it," he grumbled. "We're short staffed, and I can't run a business like this."
"She's already with me; it's too shorter notice," I argued; I wasn't sure what was worse, my boss being pissed at me, or Eleazar losing his mind.
"If you want your job, you'll get your ass in here," he snapped, hanging up on me.
I groaned, facing Eleazar again. He was panicking, mumbling nonsense about getting one of his work mates to cover for him. "Carlisle is off today too…maybe he could watch her?" My feelings on the suggestion were mixed; I knew he had never really looked after children before and I didn't want to disrupt whatever he had planned for today, but there weren't many other options and I trusted him.
Eleazar paled a little at the suggestion. "Does he know how to look after a child? He's only just finished being one himself."
"He's twenty-three and more mature than you are," I grumbled at him. "I think he would be okay with her."
"'You think he'd be okay?'"
"I know it's not ideal, El, but what else do you to want me to do about it?"
He emitted an unimpressed noise. "…I want to talk to him again first, before I leave my daughter with him."
"Oh, Jesus Christ, Eleazar. Fine. If he says yes, that is." I left my brother in the kitchen and called Carlisle from my room, not wanting Eleazar listening in on the conversation; I couldn't imagine my boyfriend being in favour of meeting a family member like this on short notice. I wasn't even convinced he'd say yes to Kate; he wasn't the biggest fan of kids.
.
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It took fifteen minutes of carful pleading to get Carlisle to agree to it. He'd brought every flaw he had in regards to children up immediately, but no matter what he scrambled for, nothing was that terrible. In the end, it was the promise of sex the following night that made him give in, as though he thought I might be withholding otherwise. Idiot.
Eleazar interrogated him over the phone, and then gave him the same detailed debrief I'd gotten before finally rushing off to work. He was about to do my head in. His daughter, however, was oblivious to the drama, already going about her business.
"How is school, Katie?" I asked her as she teetered around my apartment. After sitting in a classroom all week, she didn't have it in her to sit in front of the TV, so I just let her do what she wanted. The bag of toys that Carmen had sent helped a little, but I had no idea how Carlisle was going to manage with her. I had faith that he could keep her safe, but I wasn't sure either of them would be in a good mood when I returned from work. Kate was a good kid. Usually. But boredom could turn her into a little troll, just like any young child.
"They're mean to me because of my arm," she whined, almost tearfully. "Cause it's ugly…"
I picked her up, hugging her tightly. "Don't listen to them," I soothed. It was hitting a little too close to my own primary school experience. "They're just bullies."
"…I hate them…"
How the fuck was I supposed to leave her with my boyfriend when he had no fucking clue how to look after a happy child? This was going to be a disaster. I spent the next while calming her and trying to cheer her up enough to behave for him, but all too soon I was kissing both of them goodbye and heading to work.
Carlisle already looked stressed when I let him in, and was late. I was glad he didn't have to meet Eleazar in person; he was a little bit of a mess, having just rolled out of bed.
I laughed and kissed his forehead. "You look like shit."
He glanced at the screen of his phone. "I've been awake for half an hour, was on the phone with you for half of it, and spent the other half buying coffee because I'm hung over," he told me guilty, taking a sip from the cup he was holding.
"At least you managed to get dressed," I teased, rolling my eyes.
"…I literally slept in this."
Laughing again, I shook my head at him. "I have to go, but if you really get stuck, call me. Good luck." I hugged him quickly, waving goodbye to Kate; it was a bloody good thing he'd been to her birthday. She had some idea who he was, liking his accent because it was different from what she normally heard.
"Good luck," he repeated quietly under his breath, sighing.
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Neither of them heard me come in, and I'd never been more pleased. The structure in my living room could only be described as a goddamn castle; it was far more grand than a simple blanket fort. Kate heard me as I closed the door, bursting out from under the covers holding a torch.
"Carlisle teached me to read!" she shrieked happily, running to me through the darkened room.
I didn't bother correcting her grammar, picking her up into a hug instead. "I leave you alone with her for a few hours, and you turn her into a bookworm, huh?" I laughed as my boyfriend emerged as well.
He shrugged, almost guilty. "Yeah, but she's great at it."
"And look! Not ugly anymore!" She was trying to show me her cast, but I couldn't see it while the room was dark and my eyes were adjusting to the change in lighting from outside.
I reached back and flicked on the lights, making both my niece and Carlisle groan at the abrupt contrast. This time when she held it out to me, I could see what she meant; the white plaster had been coloured - painted over. With a surprised chuckle, I realised it was the tea party scene from Alice in Wonderland. I glanced up at Carlisle, unable to help smiling. "You did this?"
"Ah…we were painting, and she told me that the other kids wouldn't sign her cast, and she really like that scene in the book, so…"
"And you're an artist and never told me?" I accused, laughing more out of amazement than anything. I knew what art sets Carmen had sent with her, and quite frankly, kid's paints were shit. The brushes were worse.
"I wouldn't go that far…I just draw sometimes…" He was a little awkward under my praise, his face flushing a little.
"You and your bloody fairy-tales," I teased.
"It isn't a fairy-tale," he shot back quickly, almost defensively.
I just laughed, kissing the top of Kate's head. "What are we having for dinner, Miss?" There was no way I was cooking dinner now, and I certainly didn't expect Carlisle to do it. As expected, the exuberant cry of "pizza!" echoed around the room. Eleazar didn't approve of a great deal of junk food, so whenever she was in my care I let her eat what she wanted; consuming artery-clogging shit was a childhood rite, in my opinion.
We ate in the fort. Not because the five-year-old demanded it. Because my twenty-three-year-old partner wanted to. Kate charged under the blankets, occupying one corner with her food in front of her. I watched Carlisle do something very similar, folding his legs underneath himself and fitting neatly in the space. Building forts was obviously a lot more fun if you were under six foot. I sat awkwardly in the doorway, uncomfortable and having to slouch so my head didn't touch the roof. Still, there was something a little comforting about it; the air was warm and the closed in walls felt safe.
.
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I'd mostly hidden the pizza boxes by the time someone knocked on my door. The room still smelt of dinner, and I waited for Eleazar's reprimand about feeding his child fast food. Thankfully, it was Carmen. Instead of telling me off, she gave me a warm hug and an apology for being late. She wasn't; that woman was always perfectly on time.
"Mummy!" Bursting out of the fort, her daughter rushed to her, hugging her legs.
"You're all smiles today, aren't you?" she laughed, raising her eyebrows at me. She'd warned me beforehand that Kate had been in a miserable mood since her injury, and neither of us had blamed her, but now she her normal giggly self.
"Carlisle," I told her, assuming that she wouldn't need any further explanation; you couldn't not smile around him. Except, she didn't know him, so she wouldn't know that either.
Because my father was violently against him.
Sure enough, Carmen's smile faded just a little. "She behaved for him, right?"
"Look at my arm!" she thrust it in her mother's face. "And we built a hut!" Her chatter continued over top of everything else, and Carmen pretended to be attentive in the way that only mothers could, continuing her conversation with me behind her daughter. "Mummy, I can read!"
"They literally did her homework together," I laughed. "I'm not sure what they did for eight hours or how he managed to stop her destructing my apartment, but she was sulking when I left and laughing when I came back."
"The perfect babysitter," she chuckled. Running her thumb over the bright colours on her cast, she slowly shook her head. "She told you two about the kids at school, then? How did you get her to sit still long enough to do this? It's perfect?"
I shrugged. "Carlisle," I repeated. Somehow, he'd managed to become invisible, ghosting my sister-in-law. I didn't blame him for feeling nervous after his last run-in with my family. "Come in, Carmen. You don't have to stand out in the corridor." Stepping back, I led her inside, suddenly realising all of my chairs were part of the infrastructure in my living room.
Now that she was inside, Carlisle had to show himself, slowly emerging from the hallway to stand beside me. He nervously reached for my hand and I squeezed his fingers.
"Thank you, love. I haven't seen her this happy for ages." She hugged him as well, much to his obvious surprise. "I think you'll be her new favourite person for a while."
He remained quiet as we collected Kate's stuff, shoving it back into the bag she had brought with her. The kid was hanging off him, clinging to him whenever he tried to move. In the end, he crouched down to her and she wrapped her arms around his neck. He kept her entertained while I spoke to Carmen, and Kate's attention was captured until her mother called her back. Everything he said to her, she parroted back in a bad English accent, having us all laughing under our breath.
Carmen hugged me once more before she left. "Marry that boy," she whispered before she let me go.