'You can use sign language Mr. Prince!?' Lily excitedly asked Aiden. Her precious dark green orbs filling with child like wonder as she looked at him.
'Not as well as you can. But I'm hoping you can teach me sometime so I can be as good as you.' Aiden was enjoying the reactions from both of the girls in front of him. On one side Lily was looking at him with stars in her eyes while on the other, Claire's face looked as if she was about to burst from embarrassment.
'Mommy! Mr. Prince Charming can understand me!' She told her as the genuine smile on her face grew bigger. It filled Claire's heart with warmth.
It wasn't everyday her little flower got so excited. She was just as surprised as the shinning girl looking up at her when Aiden started using sign language, but the emotion was quickly fading away and being replaced with a bittersweet sensation. She wished her silly Lily would always smile like that.
"What's this I keep hearing about me being prince charming?" Aiden asked while looking at Claire who was now reminded of the reason behind her original embarrassment. She instantly started to blush again causing a smirk to appear on his face.
'So she's aware of me now. Baby steps.' He thought to himself.
'Mr. Prince wants to spend time with mommy because you like her and want to make her your princess. So that makes you mommy's prince charming. Right mommy?'
"Um Lily, you see..." Claire looked at Aiden from the corner of her eye and felt like running out of the cafe. He was obviously enjoying her struggle. She looked back down at Lily and tried to think of a way to get out of such a mortifying situation. "When I said that, it was meant as an example. Mr. Villan isn't really a prince and he isn't trying to make me a princess either. Isn't that right Mr. Villan?" She looked at Aiden and prayed that he would simply agree with her and forget everything Lily said.
"She's right. I'm not trying to make her my princess." Aiden could see the shine in Lily's eyes start to dim while Claire sighed in relief as he explained. "I'm actually trying to make her my queen. So that would make you the princess." He smoothly said causing Claire's and Cameron's eyes to bulge out of their heads.
Cameron was sitting in the table next to them which made him able to perfectly hear their conversation. He couldn't believe what his boss just said. Sure he knew he was interested in her, but making her his queen!? That meant making her Villan Enterprise's matriarch. Not to mention it would also make her one of the biggest targets for his enemies in both the business and the underworld to take aim at. Even if he was talking to a child it was an outrageous statement to make.
Claire felt her jaw drop. It wasn't even eight in the morning yet and she had already been launched one grenade after another none stop. She could see Cameron was just as shocked as she was, meaning that what she just heard wasn't something she imagined. Aiden is out of his mind! But before she could even attempt to try and say something to mend the situation Lily beat her to it.
'A queen!? Mommy you're going to be a queen!' Lily was beyond the moon happy with Aiden's words. 'Mommy is going to be the best queen! And the prettiest one too!' She stood up on her space of the booth and gave Claire a kiss on the cheek before she hugged her head into her chest.
"Don't forget that would make you a princess. And the most adorable one at that." Aiden chuckled at the sight of his little angel being hugged by her mini me while her face turned the same color as her hair.
Claire was at a loss for words. Her face was so hot she thought it would be melting off any second now. Her head was in a mess while she silently sat there as the waitress placed their food on the table. She watched as Aiden cut his french toast into small bite size pieces and then changed his plate with Lily's. All while sitting completely still and the gears in her head spinned out of control. She was so stumped by what just happened she couldn't even think of what to say.
After a few more moments of trying to make sense of her jumbled thoughts, Claire finally managed to speak. "Mr. Villan you-" But she was quickly cut off.
"It's Aiden." He didn't want her to keep addressing him in such a formal and impersonal way.
"What?" She replied.
"Call me Aiden. And we'll talk later. First you have to finish eating." He gestured her plate that remained untouched. Something he didn't like at all.
'Mommy you don't like your food? You can have some of my french toast if you want.' Lily saw that she hadn't touched her food and stopped eating her own. 'We can share mommy.'
Seeing as her inner turmoil was making Lily uneasy, Claire decided to put everything else aside for the time being. It wasn't fair for her little flower if she made today about herself when she almost never went out. Especially since she was only discharged from the hospital a few hours ago.
"Thank you sweetie, but I'll just have my omelette." Claire sighed in relief when Lily went back to eating. She picked up her tea and took a big gulp. The waitress was right. She was too stressed out.
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"You girls have any plans for today?" Aiden asked them as they left the cafe once they finished having their breakfast. He looked down at Lily who was holding Claire's hand while having a somewhat sad expression on her face. He crouched down to her eye level before Claire could answer his question. "What's wrong princess?"
Claire looked down at Lily and noticed her small frown. "What's wrong baby?"
Lily looked at Aiden and then up at Claire and gave her a pained smile. 'Nothing mommy.'
Claire expected her to answer untruthfully so it didn't faze her at all. "You know you can tell me sweetie." She bent down a bit to lessen the strain on Lily's neck from looking up at her.
Seeing as she had no way of convincing them to ignore it, Lily decided to say what was on her mind. 'Its just..I miss uncle a lot mommy. I wish he was here to have french toast with me.' She honestly replied.
Claire's chest hurt. She knew Lily wouldn't be at peace until she saw him and made sure he was alright, but she couldn't make it happen. While she thought of what to say to her Aiden spoke.
"How about we go and have a little adventure princess?" He said as he smiled at her.
'An adventure?' Lily asked him as she tilted her head to the side in curiosity making her look even cuter.
"Yes an adventure. You see, I believe that once your uncle's doctors let him see visitors, he's going to be sad that all you did was miss him while he got better. And you don't want him to be sad when you finally get to see him right?"
Lily quickly shook her head. She would hate for her uncle to be sad because of her.
"Then how about we go on an adventure today so that when you do go see him, you'll have a great story to tell about what you did while he was healing. We can even get him a present for when you meet and make him even happier."
'Do you really think so? Will uncle be happy if I do that?'
"Are you kidding? Who wouldn't be happy receiving a present from a princess? I know I would." He smiled as he patted her head. "So what do you say? Wanna go?"