S.P.Y.

Chapter 12: KISS

After returning home and putting on a dry set of clothes the family got ready for bed.

"Good night, Piper." Sylis planted a gentle kiss on his little peanut's forehead while tucking her into bed.

"Good night, Papa." The little girl reached out to touch his face as if giving her own chaste gesture to him. Sylis was about to get up, but Piper stopped him. "Papa, do you want to know why I like peanuts so much?"

Sylis rested down in a kneeling position. The room was quiet and had a calm stillness to it. They both appreciated the arua. He nodded so as to not disturb her. It was a question that was quietly simmering at the back of his brain.

She reached under her pillow and pulled out the mix nut bag the three of them made a few days ago. The little girl then took a peanut out and held it in her hand. At this time she was sitting up and placed the bag on her side for a midnight snack. A single peanut lay in her palm with its shell still intact.  "Peanuts are one when they are in the shell, but—" With her small finger she squeezed the shell and it made a clear line, cutting the two sides perfectly in half. "—there are two peanuts." She opened it as if it was a ring box or a clam and inside were the two small peanuts. "They always come in pairs." She took one out and gave it to Sylis who held it in his hand not wanting to consume it if she wasn't. She popped hers in her mouth and he copied her.

After she swallowed her nut, Piper continued: "Peanuts also grow their roots outwards or what Mama calls hor-rye-see-nal." Piper tried to illustrate what it looked like and made her hands together, the palms of them were parallel to the floor. She then moved them in opposite directions and wiggled her fingers to act like roots. "My teacher said that this makes the roots of the peanut very strong and stable while also fer-ti-lye-zing the ground around it which means that the ground is healthy and good." Sylis didn't need Piper to explain what fretizarion was, but still, the sentiment was sweet.

"Finally, peanuts mean perfect timing—what my teacher calls frew-i-tion." She took out the mixed nuts bag again and took out a peanut and a nut from a peanut that was already open. She managed to hold them with one hand as she took out an almond."You came to us at the perfect time." She then moved the nuts together into one of her hands. After the illustration was done she ate all of the nuts in her hand. Piper then looked up at Sylis. She held his hand like she had seen loving people do. "You are a peanut—you are my peanut papa!" she celebrated, wrapping her arms around him once again. He hugged her back with the warmth of a father but didn't fully understand what she was talking about. He didn't question it. She let him go and he tucked her in bed again.

"Good night, Piper."

"Good night, Peanut Papa."

He exited her room with a quiet Piper slowly falling asleep. He shut the light off and took one last look at the little girl sleeping in the bed before closing the door.

Sylis exited Piper's bedroom to see Lilin trying to fold up the pull-out couch with a long, white nightgown. He sped-walked to her aid. "Here, let me help you." Sylis pushed the mattress and the mechanical legs into the base of the couch which caught the bottom of Lilin's pajamas. She pulled it out of the couch and just giggled to herself. Sylis just awkwardly chuckled along, tempted to massage the back of his neck.

She held out her hand, her fingers attached like a star. "Dance with me?" He was wearing a teal, three-piece, silk pajamas which included a robe that went halfway down his shins which looked like a more casual version of his three-piece suit. He took her hand.

Their movements were slow as they walked in a box, Lilin's soft humming being their only source of music and rhythm. It was a nice dance to drift off to, but the music changed.

The tempo increased and the notes started to play louder and have more feeling in them. Lilin started tapping one of her bare feet.

She spun in place like an ice skater while Sylis held her in place as a base. When she stopped spinning she bent backwards and Sylis slid a swift hand under her back to support her. She took a curt breath as she tried to catch up from the vigorous exercise that is dancing. Her eyes were stars as she looked at him. They were close, mere inches from their lips making contact.

That's when Sylis looked away and propped her up into a standing position. He turned away; the process of repressing the scene had already begun.