Page 39 of Black
CHAPTER 9
The Ugly Duckling
Cia
The rest of that day went by quickly. It turns out toddlers can’t play pool, but we played with some of the things in the common area, and at one point we even wrestled in the mattress area where pillow fights were allowed.
I could have told you that everything was horrible and bad, but it would be a lie. I had fun with Gabriel and we laughed together like I haven’t laughed since forever.
The guy is strong and threw me around like I weighed nothing, but I got him back and smacked him right in his face with a pillow. That had him check his nose to see if it was bleeding, and in his minute of distraction I wrestled him to the floor and shouted in triumph.
He didn’t have to carry me anymore but he took my hand whenever we went from one place to the other, and a little part of me liked it.
Dinner was a huge improvement as I could have solid food. Gabriel still had to feed me but that was okay; I even teased him by annoying the hell out of him like a little baby bird constantly interrupting papa bird’s own meal. Every time he tried to take a bite from his plate I would elbow him and point to my own mouth with a sad face saying feed me please.
He knew I was messing with him and elbowed me back a few times.
Bruce shot us a few hard looks and I figured we were a minute or two from being chastised, but we made it through dinner without any confrontations with the mad scientist.
As a toddler, my bedtime was a little later than a baby’s, which meant I got to stay up until eight o’clock. Bruce recommended to Gabriel which book to read me for my bedtime ritual, and agreed that since I had already had a bath today we could skip that part tonight.
Halle-freaking-lujah.
The others around us were playing and talking, and I noticed one of the men in the group kept looking at me.
He was the father of another girl who was a bit older than me and I figured that just like Gabriel and me, they weren’t really father and daughter.
While I was busy drawing with crayons, the man came over to speak to Gabriel.
“Hello, I’m Mark,” he introduced himself.
Gabriel shook the man’s hand. “Nice to meet you, I’m G.”
“That’s my daughter Anna over there.” He pointed to the woman, who had to be in her mid-twenties. “You have a cute daughter, what’s her name?” he asked Gabriel and gave me a smile.
“Her name is Cia,” Gabriel said and lowered his voice. “And she’s really my niece.”
“Ohh, your niece. That’s nice.”
“Are you related to your daughter?” Gabriel asked.
The man, who looked to be in his late thirties, shook his head. “We’re good friends and enjoy coming here.”
I was glad that Gabriel asked the same question I was thinking. “You’ve been here more than once?”
“Yes, I come here a few times a year.”
Bruce came over and gave Gabriel a discreet nod in my direction. “I think it’s bedtime for the little one,” he said.
“All right,” Gabriel got up and took my hand. “Time to go, Candy,” he teased and waved at Mark. “Nice to meet you.”
“Same to you; maybe we could let the girls have a play date tomorrow,” he called after us.
“Uh-huh,” Gabriel answered on the way out and squeezed my hand.“Wanna have a play date?” he whispered.
I didn’t answer until we were outside. “I’ve never had a play date in my life.”
Gabriel grinned. “Well, this whole place is a first, so why don’t we just take a day at a time? Right now it’ll be my first time reading a goodnight story.”
