“That’s shocking to me,” she shrugged, now wrapping something for my dad.
“Shocking?” I repeated with lifted brows.
She nodded. “Very actually.”
“How so?”
“Come on, Kiyan,” she grinned. “You’re clearly a catch. Attractive, educated, successful, I mean the list goes on. I was fully expecting you to tell me that one of these was for yourfavorite headache.”
I laughed lightly at the way she said that but shook my head.
“Naw, no favorite headache yet. I’m not really a fan of wasting my time, so if I put energy into something or someone,I expect it to become something,” I admitted. “I’m not closed to relationships, but I’m not in a rush to jump into one either.”
“So, all of this house just for you?” she motioned her hand around the room.
“For now, yes,” I nodded. “I’ll start a family eventually, when the time is right.”
“Well, when that time comes, she’ll be one lucky woman. That’s for sure,” she smiled. “I’d kill to wake up in a place like this to a man like you,” she said then quickly covered her mouth. “Wait, no, I didn’t mean that.”
“Which part didn’t you mean?” I angled my head to the side while smirking at her. “The part about the house or me?”
I watched her swallow hard before saying, “I just… the wine is talking for me.”
“True.” I chuckled, not buying it, but understanding that it was probably something she didn’t mean to say out loud. “Want some more?”
“Absolutely not,” she laughed. “We only have three more gifts to wrap and then we’re done,” she pointed and asked, “why don’t you have a tree yet?”
“I normally get it with my dad and brother, so I was waiting,” I answered, “but since you and Ava are here, do you two want to go pick one with me?”
“Oh, no, we can’t.” She held up a hand while shaking her head. “You have a tradition with your family?—”
“They’ll understand,” I cut in. “You two have dealt with a lot in these last couple of days, and I’m sure baby girl could use some fresh air.”
“Kiyan, we?—”
“I’m telling you it’s fine, Leila,” I insisted, cutting her off again. “They have a little reindeer farm there too. Baby girl can meet Rudolph and Santa,” I added for good measure causing her to smile.
“Fine, but if your parents get upset, you’d better let them know this was your idea and fault.”
“I got it,” I chuckled. “Let’s get these last three gifts wrapped then you can get some sleep. I want to get to the tree farm early so I can get a good one. That’s something my motherwon’tbe understanding about.”
“Stop distracting me so I can get to work then.” She playfully snatched a roll of wrapping paper from beside my leg.
She ended up doing the last three gifts on her own while I got the den straightened back up. When she was finished, she helped me by clearing the items she used to wrap the gifts, the trash, and our wine glasses.
After that I scooped baby girl up from the couch and walked them up to the room they were staying in, gently laying her on the bed. I noticed that the duffle bag she’d brought in was still pretty full, letting me know that she hadn’t unpacked anything.
“Are those all the things the two of you have?” I frowned at the luggage that was lined against the closet.
“It was all that I could get at the time since he was rushing us to leave.”
My jaw flexed out of habit as I continued to eye the bags. There wasn’t nearly enough stuff in those small bags for them to live off of and if he was rushing them, I knew that she didn’t have enough time to make sure they had everything that they needed.
“You don’t have to live out of bags, Leila.” I finally looked her way. “Unpack your things and put them away while you’re here.”
“I know, but I don’t plan to be in your space that long, so I figured why not just leave it in there, ya know?”
“Yeah, but you’re here now, and it will make me feel better if you’d get all the way comfortable,” I admitted. “When we figure things out, I’ll come in and help you pack all of your things back up.”
