Page 25 of Take My Kiss
“Sometimes when I have bad dreams, it helps to talk ’bout it, and then it doesn’t seem so scary.”
He’s silent for a moment. “It was ’bout a masked man who hides under my bed and eats my toes in my sleep.
“Oh.” I blink, not sure what I expected, but it wasn’t that.
“Yeah, and then…he um…turns into an alien and eats my fingers.”
“That would be scary, but you don’t gotta worry ’cause aliens don’t eat people.”
“They don’t?”
“No way. They prefer reptiles and slimy creatures from the deep ocean. And since you’re neither of those, you’re safe.” I wink, hoping it’ll ease him enough to go back to sleep.
“They don’t eat peopleever?”
“Nope, they don’t like all the bones. They’d get stuck in their throats and choke to death, so that’s why they stick to smaller things.”
With narrowed eyes, his mouth purses, and I wait to see if he buys it or not.
Shrugging, he smiles. “That makes sense.”
I grin, getting to my feet. “Want me to tuck you back into bed?”
“Okay.” He catches me by surprise when he takes my hand, and my lips spread even wider when he squeezes it.
“Mornin’,” I greet Amelia when she walks into the kitchen, looking frazzled, but well-rested.
She looks from me to Sam and Lily, then back to me. “Is it really after nine?”
“Yep.” I look back at the pan and flip a few sausage links. “How’d you sleep?”
“Good. Great, actually.” She pulls her glasses off, then rubs her eyes. “I can’t believe I slept that long.”
“You needed it.”
“I’m even more surprised the kids didn’t wake me.” She puts her glasses back on, which are adorable as fuck on her. “How long have they been up?”
“A few hours,” I tell her, then point the spatula at the table. “Sit, I’ll bring you a plate.”
“Mom, look!” Sam exclaims when she takes a seat. “Mickey Mouse pancakes!”
Lily already ate hers, so I gave her some extra berries to hold her over since I wasn’t sure how much she could eat.
“You’ve been up with ’em this whole time? Got Lily dressed and fed ’em?” she asks as I set her food down in front of her.
When I nod, she directs her attention to Lily. “Did you potty?”
There’s hesitation in her voice as if she’s concerned I’m the one who helped her. I was worried at first since I don’t have one of those special toddler seats, but she seemed to manage without one. I kept my back to her while she went and waited until she flushed before spinning around.
The last thing I want to do is cross any boundaries Amelia would be uncomfortable with since the kids just met me, but her tone insinuates I already did.
“By myself,” Lily declares, although that isn’t one hundred percent true.
I had to bribe her with a cookie first, but we agreed that’s our little secret.
“Why didn’t you wake me?” she asks, frowning.
I pinch my brows as I go back into the kitchen. “What for?”
