Claire watched as he treated Lily the same way a person would treat a precious jewel. Again she was amazed by how quickly they were getting attached to each other. And if she were to be honest with herself, it also scared her.
Since each room had a private bathroom, Lily's had toys she would use at bath time. Claire sent her out first after getting her ready to clean up the mess they had made while playing with water. To her surprise, when she opened the door to step into the bedroom, she saw Aiden walk in from the living area with her little flower in his arms.
Silently, she leaned on the door frame until he finished tucking her in with a gentle smile on his face. It both baffled her and amused her. Such a burly looking and powerful man, not to mention frightening to most, being wrapped around her shy little girl's finger was worth paying money to see. Yet Claire had a constant front row seat to the show.
Claire felt a small tug at her heart when they noticed her and smiled. Again, the same sensation that had been looming over her from time to time popped up again. It was something she couldn't shake of no matter how wonderful everything seemed to be going.
Lily gestured for her to go near and she knew what it was for. It was time for their bedtime ritual.
'Goodnight Sweetie.' Claire signed as she bent down. Lily lovingly placed her hands on each of her cheeks and pecked her lips. She would never have her hearing aid on when going to bed so their goodnight ritual was always a rather silent one.
'Goodnight Mommy.' Facing Aiden she continued. 'Goodnight Aiden.' Again she used the sign for fire as his name. Seeing as it was bedtime, neither of them asked her about it.
'Goodnight Princess.' Aiden replied as he gave her a kiss on the forehead. He was quick to notice the reason behind Claire's signing and followed her example.
After they left her room, they found themselves alone in the living area. Aiden scanned the space looking for Anna, but Claire answered his unsaid question.
"She's an early bird. Not really one to stay up until late. Same as Colton." Aiden hummed in response. Her voice turned softer before continuing. "Do you have to leave already?"
Aiden faced her and smiled. "I was hoping we can talk for a little while longer."
Claire smiled. She was hoping for the same thing. "Give me a minute. I'll be right back."
After a few minutes, Claire stepped out of her bedroom dressed in her pajamas. They were a short sleeved and long pants set of baby blue pj's with a cute kitty pocking out of her chest pocket. Again, she looked adorable to him.
"Sorry." She said as she sat down next to Aiden on the sofa. "I didn't want to wake her up by accident later so I had to get changed before she went to sleep."
"It's alright." He replied as he pulled her by the waist so that she was closer to him. "So, how come Lily's been calling me fire?"
"To be honest I have no clue. I don't even know when it started. Today was the first time I've seen her do so." Aiden hummed in reply as she played with the fingers of his free hand. Her own hands were tiny in comparison. After a few moments of comfortable silence, she continued. "How come you know sign language?"
"Well, besides the fact that it's a universal language, it's easier to use in situations where my silent commands aren't enough." He answered as he drew circles on her waist.
"So you and everybody in your team learned sign language to better communicate on missions?" She knew from the start he didn't mean his day job team.
"Among other things." He was enjoying the way the soft skin of her hands felt against his. "How come you tell Lily not to talk to people who scare her? Isn't it usually not to talk to strangers?"
After a few more moments of silence, and what seemed to be Claire reminiscing about something, she replied. "Strangers aren't all bad." As she started to explain, she shifted in her seat so that both of her legs laid over Aiden's lap. Calling his attention towards her recently gifted bunny slippers. "I don't like lying when I explain things to Lily. And if I ask her not to talk to any strangers, I'd be doing a disservice to all of those people who were once strangers to me, yet ended up helping me in ways I could never repay them for. Lily is a smart and very cautious girl. She already has a difficult time meeting and even talking to new people, so I'd only be limiting her even more."
She took one of her hands up to gently play with his hair as he continued to caress the other one. "Don't think that what's happening between you two is normal because it truly isn't. How quickly she's gotten attached to you is something that has never happened before."
Aiden felt both proud and honored that he held such a position. He couldn't fight back the smile on his lips. "I didn't hear you mention how Colton's here to her."
"I wanted to let him properly rest. I'm sure his little stunt today drained him and if I had let her know he was here there would be no sleeping today. We'll surprise her at breakfast tomorrow." She paused as if she suddenly remembered something.
"What?" He asked as he immediately noticed her sudden shift in mood.
"I forgot to take a pillow out of my room." She replied with a frustrated sigh.
"What do you mean? Where were you planning to sleep?" Claire avoided his gaze and looked down at their seat. For some reason, she felt like he would scold her. Aiden followed her gaze making his jaw clench by her obvious yet silent response. "Here?"
"Well you saw Lily's bed, I couldn't possibly sleep with her." She nervously started to explain. She was right about assuming he wouldn't like it. He had made it clear he was overprotective of her body more than once by the way he treated her. Normally it would warm her heart, but now she was cursing herself for letting her plan slip out. "Anna has the absolute worst sleeping habits and Colton should be as comfortable as he can possibly be. Besides, I'm fine here. It's just that these cushions are too hard for sleeping. I'll have to ask somebody to bring me one from storage."
Aiden looked obviously displeased by her sleeping arrangements. Making his face too serious for her liking. Without warning, he pulled her with the arm he had around her waist and made her sit on his lap.
"I know you're an adult and can make your own decisions, but you're also a woman in charge of thousands of people. Including a small child and an injured family member." He started to scold her in a stern voice. "Besides the fact that you're petite, you had a full day of training. You're exhausted." Claire looked at him shyly with a somewhat surprised expression. "What? You think I wouldn't notice how slow you've been walking? Or how your thighs trembled when you sat down?"
She pouted her lips as she tried to defend herself for doing absolutely nothing wrong. She was just going to spend the night on a couch! "I know but-"
"But nothing." He interrupted her while cupping her face with both hands. "You're the CEO of a multi millionaire company. There's absolutely no reason for you to sleep uncomfortably. It's amazing that you're willing to do so because you're thinking of everybody else, but everybody else needs you in top shape. They're all depending on you." Giving her a quick peck on her pouty lips, he continued in a softer voice. "I won't be able to leave knowing one of my girls is gonna sleep on this hard ass sofa. I'd be punished in hell for something like that."
Claire couldn't believe the man with one of the most bloody and ruthless reputations around was giving her such a hard time for the mere idea of her sleeping on a damn sofa. It was laughable. Yet all she felt were butterflies in her stomach. "Fine..." She started to say in a low voice. "I'll sleep with Colton." She buried her face in his neck as he chuckled. Her childish reactions always made him feel like squeezing her.
"Good." He said as he wrapped both of his arms around her waist. "Now that we're in agreement about you needing a proper place to rest, how about you let me take you girls out tomorrow? I have something I want to show both of you."
Claire leaned back to properly face him. "You're free tomorrow too?" She was surprised at how flexible his schedule seemed considering his workaholic reputation.
"Yeah." Little did Claire know he had never taken so much time off work. Her appearance in his life was the only reason behind it.
"Okay. We can meet up with you after breakfast." She replied making Aiden grin in satisfaction.
They fell silent for a moment while staring at one another. Aiden lifted one of his hands and caressed her face. He wanted nothing more than to pick up from they had left things earlier, where he had kissed her silly on the island countertop, but he knew it was time to call it a night.
"I should go Angel." He semi whispered in his usual husky voice.
After a few seconds more of enjoying his loving touch, she responded. "Okay." Slowly standing up, she accompanied him to the door. "I already arranged for somebody to escort you out since you can't do so on your own."
"Thanks Sweetheart." He said as he gave her a kiss on the top of her head. Seeing as she was obviously expecting more, he grinned. Grabbing her chin with two fingers, he lifted her face while he bent down to press his lips against hers. "One for goodnight."
Claire smiled. She enjoyed the little tradition between them. After giving him a short yet sweet kiss in return, she replied. "One for the road."