Protecting His Forever(45)

Laughing, I collapse back onto the bed. Kane threads his fingers into my hair to give me a good morning kiss.

“Morning, baby,” he says again my lips.

“Morning.” I kiss his cheek before throwing the cover off me to track Arabella down.

“Wait,” Kane tells me and grabs my arm again.

Turning around, I look at him. A small smile tugs at his lips. “You’re beautiful, you know that?” He rubs his thumb on my cheek bone.

Blushing, I bite my lip. He chuckles and kisses my forehead. Sighing, I drag myself off the bed. Looking into Arabella’s bedroom I don’t see her.

The sinking feeling of her going outside shoots through me. After checking every single room upstairs, I run downstairs, frantically looking around the living room.

Don’t panic, Syd. She’s just hiding somewhere: I tell myself as I walk into the kitchen. There she is. She’s sitting at the counter holding a bowl and spoon. Ready to help me make breakfast. Once my heart rate returns back to normal, I walk over to her.

She looks up and her smile lights up her chubby face, her blue eyes shining bright. The cutest little dimples pop out on both cheeks. She has come so far. The first couple of days when we got her, Kane and I walked on egg shells afraid something would set her off. She would wake us up screaming. For two whole weeks she had nightmares and they finally just stopped completely. We don’t find her in the closet anymore. I was so afraid that yesterday would set her back, but my strong baby girl is the same.

Someone is after me. I don’t think about it as much as I should. Kane has this way about him that makes you feel safe no matter what. His presence just being close I feel whole and safe. Arabella feels the same thing. You can see it on her face how much she cares about that man. I also love him with all my heart and soul. Arabella is my daughter, but she is a daddy’s girl all the way. Not that I blame her.

“Mommy, you gonna tome over?”

Arabella has her elbow propped up on the edge of the counter with a bored look on her face.

“Yes, love bug. I was thinking.”

Walking over to the refrigerator, I open it and pull out ingredients for French toast.

“What you thinkin’?”

“About how much I love you and Daddy.”

“Wuv you too, Momma,” she says in her sweet baby voice. My heart melts as I set stuff on the counter. Kissing the top of her head, I begin putting all the ingredients into the bowl. Taking out some French bread, I begin cutting it in half.

Arabella dips the bread in the mixture, and I put it on the stove. I enjoy our special time together every morning.

Kane comes up behind me. I smell him before anything else. His arms wrap around me from behind. “Smells good,” he tells me and runs his nose along my neck and cheek. Shivering, I flip the French toast.

He lets me go and turns to Arabella. “Good morning, beautiful.” He kisses her cheek and picks her off the bar stool tickling her. Her giggling fills the room. It never gets old hearing her sweet giggles.

Kane sets her in her seat and helps me carry breakfast over to the table. Kane cuts up her food and pours some syrup on it for her. I melt every single time I see him take care of her.

Smiling, I dig into my food. Arabella slowly eats. Any creak or sudden movement still frightens her and she still tries to hide the food. When she looks around her and at us she relaxes.

Once everyone has finished eating I put everything in the dishwasher. Kane goes up stairs to fix our headboard. He may or may not have broken it last night. I heard it crack, but hey, I was in another world. I had a Bella and Edward moment. Ha!

An idea pops into my head. Grinning evilly, I turn to Arabella. “Let’s play a trick on Daddy.”

She starts jumping up and down. Taking her hand, I lead her up to her bedroom. Her top shelf in her closet is a stash of water balloons and guns. Grabbing the water gun, we sneak to her bathroom. I peek in on Kane; he’s screwing something back onto the wall.

“Sweetheart, when Daddy comes in you have to spray him in the face with the water, okay?”

She giggles and nods her head. Turning around, I go to the hair dryer. Plugging it in, I take the baby powder and pour a good amount into the hair dryer.

Turning back to Arabella, I instruct, “When I say now you spray him in the face, okay?”

“Otay, Mommy.”

“Ready?” She nods with a big grin on her face. She sets her face and stares straight ahead, ready for business. It takes all my willpower to keep from laughing at her. “Kane, come here! The hair dryer won’t work.”

I can hear him move something around before I hear his footsteps heading in this direction. Making sure I’m standing by the plug so I can press the button, he steps into the room.