After a few more minutes of reassuring whispers and soothing back rubs, Aiden gently grabbed one of Claire's wrists and noticed how her pulse had gone back to normal. She was obviously more tired than before, which was to be expected, but he could finally relax a bit.
"You scared me for a moment there Angel." He said as he pressed his lips against her forehead.
"I'm sorr-" Claire began to apologize but Aiden interrupted her by shushing her.
Bringing one of his hands up to her cheek, he caressed it as he made her look up at him. "Don't apologize. You don't need to." He could see her beautiful jades fill with all sorts of emotions. "I won't pressure you to say anything you aren't willing to share. I'll always wait until you're ready to do so, but you need to tell me about things like this Sweetheart. Just like your peanut allergy, I need to be aware of the things you already know are harmful to you. It doesn't matter if I know the reason behind it or not. I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if something bad happens to either you or Lily under my watch. Especially in my house."
Claire suddenly felt guilty. She knew he only meant to watch out for her well being, but she couldn't freely talk about such a sensitive topic so early in their relationship. Opening her mouth to speak, she tried to explain whatever she could to him, but couldn't find the words to do so.
Aiden noticed it was a conversation too hard for her to have at the moment so he simply looked to understand to what extent she was affected by it. He didn't need the reason behind it. At least for now.
"Is it cynophobia Angel?" If she was truly frightened by all dogs then it would be harder for her. Especially considering the plans he had in mind. Carefully looking at her expression he tried to figure out the jiffs of it.
"No." Her voice was not much louder than a whisper. "It's not all dogs."
"Not all?" He inwardly sighed in relief. Besides the fact that he was a serious canine lover, his plans were still salvageable. "Is it big dogs?"
"Big dogs do make me anxious but..." She continued to explain while trying to push back haunted memories to the back of her mind. Her eyes filled with an inexplicable emotion as she stared into Aiden's. She truly didn't know how to tell him. "I-It's just....."
"It's the breed of my dogs isn't it Angel?" He quickly put two and two together. Seeing her slightly nod while she clutched at his shirt was all the confirmation he needed. "Shh shh." He once again nuzzled her into his neck as he gave her another tight hug. "It's okay. That's all I need to know Sweetheart."
A couple of things popped into Aiden's head as he whispered sweet reassuring words near Claire's ear. For starters, he was now very confused as to why Claire had her people designated into squads named after different breeds of dogs, when in reality she was so fearful of them. It made no sense to him.
He had understood her system revolved around pups turning into dogs and so on, the better the bread the more it meant they had climbed up the chain of command, but now it seemed very odd.
Another thing was the fact that Lily was completely unaware of her mother's fear. He was sure that was the case since her earlier reaction didn't seem to tell him she knew about it. If the mini version of herself knew, Aiden was more than certain that Lily would have said something or immediately gotten worried for her. It wouldn't have called his attention if it were any other mother daughter duo, but the fact was that Claire's parenting style was a very honest one made him wonder why Lily was kept in the dark about it.
Other parents tended to hide their fears and other unpleasant things to their kids, but Claire had proven him more than once such a custom wasn't included in her approach when it came to her little girl.
Questions regarding his little lady kept piling up in his head. He was actually taken aback by the amount of mysteries she had managed to keep him in the dark about in the small amount of time they've been in each others lives. She was truly a tough case to solve. But then again, he was a very patient man. He wouldn't mind dedicating the rest of his days to deciphering his little Angel's riddles.
"I'd love to stay like this with you all day Angel." Aiden said as he loosened his arms around her. "But we have a little Princess running around at the front entrance."
Claire lifted her head and meet his gaze. She felt very drained from the episode she just went through, but she understood what Aiden meant. They had been gone for a while and Lily would notice their absence any moment now.
"How about I take you somewhere you can freshen up and you meet us once you feel a bit more like yourself?" He said as he brought up one of his hand to tuck a stray strand of hair behind her ear. "I'm not very fond of the idea of leaving you alone right now, but there isn't anybody else here who can entertain her while you're gone." The task of helping Aurora gain Lily's favor was now at the top of his to do list. If anything were to ever happen, like what just went down, he needed at least one of his people to be in his Princess's good graces.
After Claire nodded, he placed her down and helped her fix her appearance. She wasn't seriously disheveled, but nonetheless, his carrying her around wrinkled her dress a bit.
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Aiden left Claire in a nearby bathroom as he went in search of Lily.
When he reached her, she was sitting on the front lawn on top of a thick blanket while both dogs laid their heads on her lap. He could see their tails wagging happily as she petted them. To his surprise, Aurora was also sitting with her. Whatever she was saying had his Princess giggling.
He got close to them, but made sure he could be seen coming from behind Aurora. That way Lily could clearly see him arrive. He didn't want to fright her by suddenly appearing from behind her.
As soon as her little green eyes saw him, she smiled brightly. 'Aiden!" She signed excitedly. She was about to get up when she remembered her lap was occupied. Aiden saw her predicament and chuckled. She was too sweet to even push them aside.
"Moose, Bear." Aiden called for their attention which made them immediately lift their heads and face him. Once they did, Lily wasted no time in getting up and reaching her arms up to him. He quickly obliged to her silent request and picked her up. Noticing her looking for somebody else he explained before she could ask. "Mommy is in the bathroom. She'll meet us once she's done."
Lily didn't ask for further explanation, seemingly satisfied with what he said.
"How about we have some snacks while we wait for her." He suggested to which she nodded in agreement.
'Ben packed my snacks for the day. They're inside my backpack.' Lily signed as she pointed towards the entrance where they had left it.
"Perfect. Let's go fetch them then." He said before looking at Aurora who had already stood up and folded the blanket. "Aurora, would you mind letting the kitchen know we'll be having snack time? And please don't forget to have some soothing tea prepared."
"Of course." She replied.
'A snacks and tea party?' Lily asked as her eyes filled with eagerness.
"That's right Princess. We're having a snack and tea party." He replied as he tickled her.