Page 61 of The Child of Rue Royale
We spend the day shopping for items we’ll need for the flight tomorrow. Bastian has kept his word not to leave my side, but I’m able to convince him to wait for me in the café area so I can shop at my own leisure. Aven needs a few more outfits since he’s growing so quickly out of the newborn clothes. I go crazy inside Target, buying little shoes he will never wear, sweaters he probably won’t need for long in New Orleans, dapper hats suited for the cutest baby gentleman. Then I pass the girls’ section, my feet suddenly freezing, my hands clenching the shopping cart handle.
I’m not sullen for what I don’t have, I’m terrified about what I do have will bring. The daughter I was told to birth from as early as I can remember does not exist. I walk past the dresses, the patent leather Mary Janes, the blessing ceremony making me sick to my stomach. Trusting my mother hasn’t always gotten me where I want to go, and I’m frightened.
But then Bastian turns down the aisle, the face of an angel smiling at me. It’s a bizarre sight, this once vampire pushing a shopping cart with a baby in it. I step back from the spectacle of him, his wavy hair, his sparkling eyes, his wicked grin. Gone are the suits that had once been his vampire uniform. He wears jeans and T-shirts these days, and looks even more delicious than before.
“You look like you’ve seen a ghost.” He laughs, and I roll my eyes.
“I technically have.” I bat my lashes at him.
“Fact,” he says, raising his eyebrows in amusement, moving closer to me, smelling like freshly brewed coffee. His eyes move around the aisle, taking in all the little baby toys. “It’s like a wonderland for babies.” There’s an excitement in his eyes, a youthful glow at little toys that make crunching sounds when you squeeze them, little elephants whose bodies have mirrors in them, and boxes that light and glow from touching the shapes. “We need all of it,” he decides, quite seriously, hand on his chin as he accesses. He then proceeds to dump hundredsof dollars’ worth of toys into my cart, and I don’t stop him. Because this kind of joy is a drug, and right now, I need a hit.
IT’S MID-AFTERNOON BY THE TIMEwe have everything packed, settled for our flight the next morning. Luggage lines the walls of the family room, and everything else has been sent home via carrier.
With no plans for the rest of the day but counting the minutes until our flight, I feel anxious about what we’ll be met with back home. Chantal baby talks to Aven as she dangles his new toy cow over his head. I lean into the bed, smelling his head, the best scent in the world.
I pick up my phone after a text comes through.
It’s from Bastian’s new phone, the first text I’ve ever received from it because I’m with him almost every second.
“Hey, who’s that hot guy out the window?” I read out loud, looking at Chantal with an eyebrow raised.
She raises her hands and shrugs, but her face tells me she does know.
I pull back the shades to see Bastian leaning against the SUV, the passenger door open.
“What’s going on?” I ask, and Chantal bites her bottom lip telling me she knows the answer.
“He’s taking you somewhere,” she offers.
“What? Where?” I ask, staring between Chantal and Bastian.
“Aven and I are going for a walk. I don’t know where you two are going.”
Grabbing her wrist, I meet her eyes. “Are you sure?”
She tsks at me, placing her free hand over mine. “After tomorrow, I will be back in my own home. And you’ll be in the Garden District. Let me have my last night with Aven.”
The reality of that hits me hard because I’m not ready to be apart from Chantal. “I don’t want you to go home.”
“Baby girl, I gotta go home. But you’ve got a hot date,” she says, pointing to Bastian leaning on the car with arms crossed, the sun kissing his perfect skin.
“Okay,” I whisper, kissing her cheek but not letting go of her wrist. She firmly releases my grip and shoos me out of the house.
I walk down the driveway, the afternoon sun washing over my face, the ocean breeze pushing Bastian’s hair around his forehead.
“What are you doing?” My voice is heavy with suspicion as he pulls me flush against him, arms locking me in his embrace.
“I figured, since we don’t know what we’re going back to, and our lives may be…” he pauses, searching for the right word. “Intense in the near future, that we need to make a little time forspecial.” His hand slides over my hip slowly, so slowly.
I run the back of my fingers along his jawline, allowing his thoughtfulness to sink in. Because once, I thought I would never have special again with him.
“I will take all the special you want to give me.” I smile, raising my lips to his. “But the baby,” I say, pushing back. “We can’t be gone all night.”
“We won’t, don’t worry.” He pulls me hard against him, flames of desire in his eyes searing into me. He leans down to kiss me but pulls away when I lift my mouth toward his.
“Don’t tease me,” I whisper, grabbing the bulge in his jeans.
“Get in the car,” he orders, intensity flaring in his eyes, and I oblige.
