Someone Hiding in the Shadows...

71 - Telling Jarod (Part Four)

Before I knew it I was there, without any idea how I arrived there, as if I had been beamed here by Scotty from Star Trek. I knocked again at his door and then I heard a noise in the corridor and thundering feet and turned towards the sound.

"Athina, Athina, look," and I turned to see Sophia skipping with something in hand along with her father, by her side as I smiled at them.

"Sorry, we are late, we got a bit delayed picking up some supplies," said Jarod.

Oh, he was so good looking. Ahhh, I could just eat him. He caught me staring at him and his wolfish look matched mine of hunger and it wasn't for food. As he reached me, he put his shopping down and put his arm around me and gave me a long kiss, as Sophia, giggled.

"I think we have an audience, Jarod." I nudged him as I pulled away, as he didn't seem keen to stop. Sophia giggled a little more.

"Athina, for you," said Sophia and handed me her masterpiece from play school a mirage of colours.

"Thank you darling, I shall treasure this, shall I put it on the fridge?" she nodded jumping excitedly.

She grabbed my hand, as she looked at her father and said, "I'm hungry Daddy."

He looked at us one from the other, "Mmmm, so am I, I better get dinner going then, with Athina's help," and we went into the apartment.

Jarod put the shopping down and turned the oven on, as Sophia and I put her new picture on the fridge, and I sat her at the kitchen table with some pencils and as I helped Jarod prepare dinner.

We all sat easily around the table, eating pizza, Jarod said, "sorry, I couldn't talk earlier, the Judge hauled us all back to Court, what it anything important?"

I looked at him and knew that my smile was a little strained as I replied, "Let's talk later when we have got Sophia to bed."

I abruptly changed the focus of the conversation as I said, "so Sophia, did you have fun at school today?"

She was only 3, but you had to say school as she thought she was big girl then. We even had to get her a bag like the big girls had, as it made her feel older.

Jarod cleared away the dinner things and I took on my usual role of sorting Sophia's bath and bedtime routine. She loved to play with her bath toys, and she liked to play a story. So whilst the bath was running, I would put her toys in different places around the bath and then make up a story about them as I washed her. It had to be different every time, or you were in big trouble and she would look at you with those eyes that said, don't try and pull the wool over my eyes. Sometimes, when I was tired, I would try and rush the story, but she would never have any of it.

The last thing before she went to sleep, she often liked me to get in bed with her and she had two finger puppets and she would have one and I would have another, sometimes they would read the book or other times I would create a story.

She had a few favourite books at the moment which were "Guess How Much I Love You?" to which we did big hearts in the air, pointing to the sky, acting out the book and she also loved books like The Gruffalo and she would join in with me when I got to the chorus part of the books. Tonight's favourite book was "The Very Noisy Night" with the mice and I had to do a little squeaky voice for the baby mouse and gruffly one for the big mouse. Her father wasn't good at the book reading; so I tended to get that job. You had to do the voices, or it just wasn't the same and Sophia wouldn't let you get away with a below par performance! Don't even try it!

I suppose I always thought, whenever I read to her, that's what I would have liked when I was a child. I hadn't had that and it gave me great joy to give what I never had. The joy on her face when I read to her was self evident.

I was just nearing the end of the book....

"Big Mouse lay and listened to the wind huffing and puffing..." when Jarod popped his head round the door, "I'll be five minutes", I told him and he nodded, closing the door too.

Soon I had finished the story and I closed the book. I looked at Sophia, as she settled down further into the bed; yawning and I pulled the covers up a little. She was such a lovely child but was she Jarod's child? I was starting to love her as my own but should I be doing this? Was she mine to love?

Soon it would seem I would also be looking after another child, a sister or brother for Sophia. I carefully got up from the bed, trying not to disturb her as I placed her book back on the book shelf and let myself out of her room.

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Kimberley S B Lieb (aka