Page 105 of Arianna

Late afternoon light floats through the window as I move with a happy, bouncy baby in my arms toward the kitchen in search of more cupcakes. It’s been us and Benjamin all day while Sebastian has been busy conquering the world.

I am not even sure the man sleeps. Every time I see him, he has Celene trailing behind him or his phone in hand, typing away. All he does is work besides the time he spends with his child.

“Everything okay, ladies?” Benjamin’s voice booms through the kitchen’s intercom. Rolling my eyes at Ella, making her giggle while she’s sucking on her thumb, a clear sign that she is hungry for that cupcake, I holler back at Benjamin. “We’re fine. Just like we were five minutes ago when you asked.” When he’s not in the same room as us, he makes sure to ask for updates through the intercoms in every corner of this gigantic home.

Benjamin laughs, the sound making Ella look up curiously, trying to decipher where he is and where the voice is coming from. Tapping her chubby cheek gently, I grab her attention while pointing at the far corner of the wall where the intercom is perfectly placed between the light switches and the AC one. “Don’t be a brat.”

“When am I not?” Shrugging, I place Ella on her highchair, open the fridge, and grab the rest of the birthday cakes Benjamin baked for us. That Viking of a man spent his night baking girlish goodies, not only for a toddler but for me as well. Beautifully decorated cupcakes with pink and white frosting and sparkly sprinkles made Ella shriek with happiness all through the baking process.

The gesture almost made me cry…almost.

“Have at it, stink,” Placing one cupcake on her tray, not wanting to hear her father or Benjamin bitch at me over the surge of endless energy she gets when she consumes large amounts of sugar. I learned my lesson.

Ella tilts her head at me and bangs her small hand on the tray, annoyed.

I suppress the urge to burst out laughing. Most people will think the sass of a toddler is a bit crass, but not me.

It warms me.

How her tiny body carries so much confidence and attitude at such a young age. It makes me proud, and I encourage her, even at this young age, to form thoughts and speak her mind as much as she can.

Ella is as brilliant as she is beautiful.

I reach forward and make a show of grabbing her cupcake. “Should I take it then?” I say, mustering a stern look.

The little girl pouts, giving me those puppy eyes that undo me. “No,” she says with so much force that she crumbles the small cupcake in her tiny hand, making a mess.

“What do you say?”

Ella looks up at me with a huge grin. “Tankoo.” I hand her the cupcake, only for her to shove the entire thing in her small mouth, covering not only her mouth and nose with frosting but the entire upper part of her light pink princess dress.

Christ, my chest could combust at any given moment with how much I feel toward this child.

“Good girl.” I wink at her and wipe her mouth. “Was that good?”

“Nomy, nomy!” She then oinks like a little pig, making me laugh at her antics. That damn pink pig on TV…

Ella breaks into a fit of giggles when I make disgusting faces at her because of the mess she made. The kid even threw three bites of chocolate cake at me, staining my new Gucci shirt. Then I join her, and we’re both laughing like two loud hyenas, and I have never felt happier than in this moment right here with a stinky little giggler making a mess.

I hear clicking sounds behind us, followed by a white flashing light.

What…

I turn, giving my back to Ella, and find her father leaning against the wall with his ankles crossed, one hand holding his phone pointing towards us, and the other hidden behind his back.

“What is so funny?” He pockets his phone, completely disregarding the fact that he just took a picture of us. My heart flips in my chest for the second time today. These two are doing things to my heart, and I am helpless against them. I motion to my shirt, watching as those wolfish eyes took me in. “Votre child is a menace,” I tell him his child is a menace as I walk towards Ella and take her out of the highchair. The moment she is in my arms, the little traitor wiggles her feet and calls out to her father.

Sebastian, not one to ignore his kid, struts over to us next to the kitchen island, smiling from ear to ear as he nears his kid.

Thud.

Thud.

Warmth spreads through as I watch them both smile at one another as if nothing else matters when they’re together.

When he is close enough to us, Ella throws herself at him and completely ruins his expensive suit with chocolate and frosting. Holding my breath, I stare at Sebastian’s reaction for a second, scared of how he will react. The moment takes me back to a time when a little me ran up to her father, proud of herself for a job well done planting flowers in the garden with Modesto, our landscaper, with dirt on her hands. That day I not only got scolded for ruining his dress pants, but I was left with a bruise on my tiny arm where he held me so harshly to keep me from ruining more of his clothes.

I know Sebastian would rather rip his own heart out before ever hurting his child and that he is nothing like my father, but I cannot help holding my breath and thinking the worst. It is now that I come to terms with the trauma of my childhood. Everything I buried deep down in the darkest corners of my mind and heart is resurfacing now that I see how humans are meant to be loved. What a father’s love for his child looks like is completely different from what I had.

---