Beforetime

Chapter 5

She walked in on the two of them playing what seemed to be a very serious and intense game of... Go Fish? How did Jonathan even know how to play that game? The only thing Lorraine could guess was that Casey had given the toddler a crash course of the game sometime during their stay.

"Do you have aaannyy.... fives?" Casey questioned the boy hesitantly.

"Go fish!" Johnathan happily cried, causing the older male to  dramatically take a card from their pile of cards, all the while looking extremely "upset". Which seemed to add even more joy and laughter to the over exuberant child.

The bedroom they were in was roughly the size of the room Lorraine had been staying in for the past few days.

It also had the same alabaster colored walls, as well as a similar dresser, chest of drawers, and wardrobe. The only big differences were that there were almost no books in sight, while there were piles of books in all four corners of Lorraine's. And the quilt that lay atop his bed was a simple red and green type pattern, not blue and yellow.

"Well, I see you two are having fun. And without me!" She said walking into the room began to tickle Jonathan. "All right, c'mon, time for you to go to bed. You get to stay with me tonight."

Lorraine watched with amusement shining in her eyes as he jumped off the bed and ran through the hallway and into the bedroom she was staying in.

She turned her gaze back to Casey, who quickly stood up and started to clean up the cards that lay scattered all over the bed. "I can't thank you enough for taking us in. Especially Jonathan. He's grown really attached to you over the past few days."

"It's not a big deal. Truly. Anybody around here would have done the same."

She couldn't believe her eyes. He blushed. He actually blushed. This man looked like he could tackle at least five other guys, and not even break a sweat. No wonder her little brother followed him like a lost puppy.

"Go Fish? That's what you taught him?"

"Well, he's a little young for poker. Plus I'm guessing he doesn't have much to gamble with anyway."

     "Yes, I suppose he is. Well, um, thank you again. Good night. See you tomorrow." Lorraine waved to him as she left his room and headed towards hers.

As she walked back down the hallway, she noticed Leslie cradling an antique blue book close to his chest as he made his way to the stairs. When he saw the girl, he just nodded his head in acknowledgement to her. As soon as she returned the gesture, he continued his descent downstairs. It felt like an odd experience, but not one of her meetings with the man had been normal.

When she reached the bedroom, she noticed that Jonathan was already under the covers. She grabbed the pajamas that Leslie had left for her and changed quickly into the light blue soft garments. And realized that that may be the reason as to why Casey had been blushing. She was still in the green robe.

But, then why did Leslie not even blink? Oh right, she remembered. He's a doctor. He's seen a whole lot more than her in a robe. Lorraine flushed at the thought which just washed in her mind as if it were a typhoon. He was there when she collapsed. He was there when he and Ethel had brought her to the room she now stood in. He probably helped Ethel change her clothes. He already saw her... Lorraine's face turned an even brighter red, if that were even possible.

"Okay," she climbed into the bed next to Jonathan trying to calm herself down. "Do you want a song or a story?"

"Both!"

"Both? You can only have one, okay sweetheart?" He slowly nodded, a seemingly tad bit sad. "I want a song."

"A song," she mused. "What song shall I sing for you tonight. Oh, I  know!"

"Every town
Has its ups and downs
Sometimes the ups
Outnumber the downs
But not in Nottingham
I'm inclined to believe
If we weren't so down
We'd up an leave
We'd up and fly if we had wings for flyin'
Can't you see the tears we're cryin'
Can't there be some happiness for me
Not in Nottingham"

--

He finished his book. He didn't realize that he had so little of it left.

As he quietly walked up the stairs he heard singing. The sound of which was beautiful, entrancing even. He followed the siren song which led the young man to his very own bedroom. The room which the strange young girl had been staying over the course of the past couple of days.

The door was slightly ajar as the curiosity of a girl finished her song to the little boy who lay in her arms. He couldn't stop his body from moving forward towards the door. As if his body had been enchanted by a succubus.

The man gently knocked on the hard wood door in front of him before he could completely understand what he was doing.

The girl's soft coos stopped immediately, as she turned her head towards the door. "Oh, Leslie. Please come in."

She raised up gently and sat up on the bed trying to not disturb the sleeping young child next to her.

"I apologize if I'm disturbing you. I just finished my book quicker than I thought I would." Leslie held up the book, and tried not to show his surprise that she remembered his name.

"Oh... Oh! This is your room. I should be the one to apologize, I've taken over your room. I am so sorry!"

"No, don't be. You needed it more than I did. May I?" He gestured to one of the pile of books in a corner of the room.

"Ah, yes, sorry." Lorraine responded quickly, blushing as he sat the copy of the book he had just finished down on the nightstand next to her, adding yet another level to already tall stack of novels. "Um, may I borrow a book to read? I sometimes have trouble going to sleep at night." She added as if to justify wanting to read in general.

Leslie had to force himself to not smile. "You can read anything in here you want."

"Thank you." She reached over to the nightstand and picked up the book he had only moments ago sat down. It was Ivanhoe.

He finally chose a novel, The Scarlet Pimpernel, one of his favorites, and slowly rose up from the crouch he had positioned himself in. He began to walk to the door when he suddenly stopped in front of her. "How are you feeling?" He said after a moment of just standing there. Leslie knew he was stalling. He didn't want to leave this unearthly beauty just yet.

There was something about her that didn't add up. Her clothes for one, they didn't look like anything he had ever seen. Her shirt was tight fitting, and she was wearing skin tight jeans, and a type of shoe he had never seen before. And then there was her undergarments. His mother had muttered something that night about how odd they were, not that he really paid attention to that. He was too busy focusing on how he could help her.

"I'm a lot better. Thank you. For everything you and your family has done for the two of us." Lorraine gestured to her younger brother.

And with that, he forced himself to leave her. Bidding her a good night he retreated out of the door and back down the stairs.

Downstairs, he couldn't focus on his book. He couldn't even read past the opening paragraph. It took him well over an hour to fall asleep that night.