Page 76 of Arianna

I know what she wants.

To be held.

My touch.

I melt a little inside.

“I got something for you.” She looks at me with a frown on her face. Something I love about Ellaiza is that she has all the sweetness her father lacks. I give her the bag so she can see it up close. “It’s a princess dress for the cutest princess in all the land.” I laugh at her attempt to pull out the item. “Here, let’s put it on you.”

A couple of minutes later, Ellaiza wears a light blue dress with sparkling tulle fabric and a tiara. I brush her curls away from her face, and she was ready to go. “Ella, pwetty. Me pwetty.” She claps her hands excitedly, and my once-broken heart beats faster. How can someone so small and that I’ve known for such a short amount of time have this huge hold on me? Maybe it’s because she’s lonely like me. Her father loves her with everything he has and more, but she’s never around kids, and the paparazzi and strangers are always trying to get to her. They don’t care about her. Just her father.

She’s like you.

Like your sisters.

Maybe.

She’s my best friend. How sad that might seem to some, but also, how beautiful is this love? I dislike most of humanity, but I love her.

The world failed my sisters and me, but it will not be the same for Ella.

I won’t allow it.

I’m cold.

I’m heartless.

I might not be the best role model nor the best choice for her, but she is stuck with me, and I would do anything, and I mean anything, to keep her tender heart from being harmed. To keep her from ending up like me. To keep that beautiful smile on her innocent face. I grab my camera phone and snap some photos of her. “Smile, darling girl.” I smile when she does the opposite of what I tell her, as usual, and make a face as if she is about to poop her fresh new diaper. Silly, beautiful brat.

I choose from the seven pictures I took and make my favorite one my screensaver.

Then I hear the door click shut, and I turn around, but no one is there. Was someone here?

I don’t have time to think about it when a stuffed toy hits my cheek. “You brat!” I fake reprimand her, but she mocks me. I laugh more because that is all I do when Ella is around. I kiss her forehead and breathe in her sweet scent before putting her back on her bed and lying down with her.

“Moh, moh,” Ella whispers in that sweet baby tone of hers that melts my insides.

She means more.

More kisses.

I am more than happy to oblige.

I am certain that this kid’s kisses could heal any wound, and I have plenty. Yet when I am with her, I don’t feel so broken.

I feel…whole.

Leaning down, I peck a soft kiss on Ella’s cheek. “There.”

She grins, those blue eyes so innocent, so sweet. “Moh!”

B.E.

Before Ella, I used to find affection so tedious, but now, I cannot imagine a day when I don’t feel her tiny hand in mine or her sweet kisses on my cheek.

Taking her by surprise, I pepper kisses all over her face, her small nose, her chin, her cheeks, and her eyes, making smacking noises as I do.

Ellaiza giggles, making me laugh, as well.

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