Heated

F I V E ~ G I F T S

J A C K S O N

~ ~ ~

"Nerida, I have something for you." She crawled out of her little cocoon and made her way over to me. She crossed her legs and sat patiently and I found myself smiling at her obedience.

I took the medium-sized gift box off of the dresser and placed it on her lap. Her eyes lit up and I realized that this was probably the first wrapped gift she's ever received. 

"We were able to retrieve quite a few items from the fire, especially in your bedroom since the flames didn't spread that far. I thought you should have them," I explained as she lifted the top off.

A gasp left her lips and her eyes welled up with tears when she saw the contents of the box. As far as possible, I made Juliette handle the gift since I wanted to respect Nerida's privacy. I felt like if she wanted me to know more about her past, it should come from her mouth.

She pulled out a pale pink scarf and hesitantly brought it up to her nose. A soft sigh of what sounded like utter relief left her lips as she inhaled deeply.

She brought it to my nose and the strong lavender scent flooded my nose. I'm not sure how Juliette figured out that this scarf was supposed to smell like lavender or how she got it to smell like that after all the smoke, but she has definitely earned herself a shopping spree for all her help.

"This scarf belonged to my mom. I sleep with it every night and my daddy says it smells just like her. That's why lavender is my favourite flower, it reminds me of her." She wrapped the scarf around her body and crawled across the short distance that separated us.

She plopped down between my legs and leaned against my chest, bringing the box to her lap again. Hesitantly, I wrapped both my arms around her waist, telling myself that I just wanted her to be comfortable.

She proceeded to unbox all the items, telling me the importance of every item and the story behind it. She showed me a few portraits of her mother and the resemblance was unnerving. A literal copy and paste.

Joy emanated from her as she showed me photographs of her dad and mom when she was pregnant with her. Nerida said that these were her only family portraits.

Watching the photos and seeing how happy George and Freya were, it really highlighted some things for me. All along I was looking at George as the bad guy who neglected his beautiful little girl.

But when I looked between the lines, I realized that George and Freya were in love. They were probably so happy together and when Freya got pregnant, that joy probably increased tenfold.

However, Freya died whilst giving birth to Nerida and George was left to raise their daughter all by himself. Nerida looks exactly like her mother. He probably felt as though his wife died but she never left. It must've sent him crazy to see Nerida's face.

I'm not saying that neglecting her the way he did was right, but I think I'm starting to understand George Spade's point of view.

~ ~ ~

"So what made the wishes come through?" I pressed. Nerida had coerced me into watching a stupid Disney movie and of course, I agreed. I can't seem to deny her anything she wants. I believe we were watching something called 16 Wishes, but what do I know?