Page 41 of Lost Times

Jasmine’s begging eyes landed on me, and I cringed. Before I could agree–despite knowing how much my stomach was going to pay for it–Ludwig stepped forward.

“I can go with you.” He offered, and Jasmine’s eyes sparkled. She latched onto his hand and beamed.

“Okay! See you in a bit, Mom!” She bounded over to the ride, Ludwig following while eyeing it curiously. With them occupied, I turned to Naomi with a raised brow.

“So, you want to tell me what the stomach issues are about? Because I’ve seen you ride the most gut-wrenching things for hours on end without any issues.” I snuck a look down at her flat stomach, a suspicion niggling away at me. “Are you pregnant?”

She barked a laugh, waving her hands. “No, I’m still firm on my ‘no kids’ stance, and so is Robby. I just said that because it was painfully obvious that she wanted to ride a few with Ludwig. You got your special time with him, now it’s her turn.”

Looking after the two as they got on the ride, I bit my lip. “I didn’t even consider that, though maybe I should have.”

Jasmine was getting closer to him by the day, just like I was, and it made sense she’d want to be around him more. Seeing how she cuddled against him melted my heart, and I smiled.

“I’m glad they’re getting along so well. I wasn’t sure how it’d go at first, and I was nervous.”

She nodded, watching them too, until an impish grin curled her lips, and she nudged my side. “So, are you excited for yourextraspecial time you’ll be getting with him later?”

Heat inched over my cheeks and I let it, not bothering to fight the familiar blush. “You know I am, and before you ask, that’s all the information you’re getting. He’s an intensely private person and he wouldn’t be comfortable with me telling you more.”

Thinking back to his earlier confession of unease, I added on. “And while I don’t mind you teasing me, can you ease back on him when it comes to our private life? He’d never tell you, but it really doesn’t sit well with him.”

He’d done a lot of adjusting and moving out of his comfort zone for Jasmine and I; if possible, I’d prefer not to throw that on him too.

Naomi nodded easily, leaning back to watch the ride zip into the air. “Sure thing. I wasn’t going to go crazy with him either way. He seems to be trying his best, and that deserves a break from me.”

Relaxing now that we’d talked about it, I enjoyed the companionable silence. This was one thing I loved about Naomi, we could just…sit there. We didn’t need a distraction or noise to fill the silence, we could just be.

The silence stayed until Ludwig and Jasmine came back, both wearing smiles as the latter cheered. “That was awesome! Can we ride more?” She asked, tipping her head up at Ludwig. He hesitated, looking my way, and I waved him on.

“I don’t mind. Besides, she’ll want to do the calmer ones when her stomach starts bothering her, and then I’ll join you.” With that, he nodded, letting himself be dragged to the next, and the next, and the next.

By the time Jasmine was finished with the thrill rides, the sky was getting darker, and I gently put a hand on her shoulder. “We have enough time for one more ride; which do you want to do?”

She looked around, stopping at the carousel and pointing excitedly. “That one!” Then she snagged myandLudwig’s hands, looking up at him imploringly. “You’ll ride it too, right?”

He hesitated, eyeing the pastel, rainbow-painted ride. “I’m not sure if that’s…” He trailed off, glancing down to Jasmine’s pleading eyes. I could all but see his will crumble and he nodded. “Alright.”

I barely bit back a laugh at how easily he folded. Eventually we’d have to work on that, since he couldn’t spoil her anytime she gave him those eyes, but for now I could enjoy it.

Jasmine tugged both of us over to it, zipping up and onto the platform with a wide smile. Pointing to the unicorn, her typical choice, she asked. “Can you help me up on this one?”

Before I could do that, Ludwig stepped forward, easily placing her in the seat. Jasmine beamed, throwing her arms around him in a hug before situating herself. Then she looked at the empty mounts around us and asked.

“Which ones are you two riding?”

Ludwig shifted in place, coughing. “Do I have to?”

Jasmine tilted her head, confused. “No, but why wouldn’t you want to? It’s fun!”

Taking pity on him, I slid onto the black stallion next to them, cutting in before she could continue. “Jasmine, just because it’s fun to us doesn’t mean it’s fun to someone else. Remember? If he doesn’t want to ride one, then he doesn’t have to.”

She nodded, not fighting that, and I turned to him and offered under my breath. “It’s up to you, but if you’re worried about image, trust me when I say no one here will care. See, look.” I gestured behind him to where a man was seated on a bright pink pony, shaking his head fondly at the child who’d inevitably pulled him onto it.

Ludwig looked at the little family, then, after a beat, he haltingly moved to the white horse on Jasmine’s other side. She grinned in triumph, and I shot him a smile when he looked my way. A light flush worked over his nose and he gave one back.

Once the ride started, Jasmine began making racing noises, as was usual, and Ludwig watched with an amused mask. From the crowd, I caught Naomi’s camera flashing a mile a minute, and I chuckled. Typical Naomi, she knew I’d want pictures of this.

Ludwig noticed, too, and grimaced. “Please don’t send those to anyone.” He muttered, and I nodded.

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