HIRAETH

Nine

"Bye daddy!" I hear Aurelia's voice from across the hall.

It's Friday night and Aurelia is spending the night with a friend. Hopefully.

Sebastian is afraid she will get scared at bedtime.

I open my door to see Sebastian and Aurelia hugging in the hallway. Carlie, Aurelia's friend that I met at the party, is holding her mom's hand waiting for Aurelia.

"I love you, baby girl."He says before he realizes I am also standing in the hallway now. "Give Madelaine a hug before you go."

Aurelia spins around and runs to hug me.

"Bye, sugar." I say laughing as I crouch to her height and kiss her forehead.

"Love you, Mimi." she whispers in my ear.

"Love you, too." I whisper back. I give her one last squeeze before letting her go.

She takes her little bag and teddy bear from Sebastian and takes off down the hall with her friend.

"If she gets scared just give me a call," Sebastian tells Carlie's mom, " I'll come pick her up."

"Okay. Good night." Carlie's mom says and waves bye to me before walking down the hall.

Sebastian and I stand there watching as the three girls go around the corner at the end of the hallway, out of sight.

I turn to go back into my apartment since I was in the middle of cleaning. I push the door to close behind me as I walk into the apartment, but I never hear it latch.

"I hope you're coming to help me clean." I say, moving to the laundry that I had sat on the couch to be folded. I still have my back turned when I feel Sebastian's arms slide around me from behind.

"That's not really what I had in mind." He says lowly in my ear.

The past few days had been full of subtle glances and the occasional kiss when Aurelia was out of the room. Sebastian had been back on set for the last few days, only coming home late since a big portion of the movie has to be filmed at night. By time he makes it back to the apartment, I'm asleep on the couch.

He told me that I could sleep in his room, but I'm afraid of Aurelia waking up and finding me there.

"Sebastian," I say laughing a little, " I really need to get this place cleaned up. It's a wreck."I motion to the laundry in front of me.

The apartment wasn't really that dirty, but I did need to at least get the laundry done or I would have nothing to wear tomorrow.

"It can wait." He says as he kisses up and down my neck. As much as I want to agree, my mind is already focused on how much I need to get done before tonight.

"No, it can't." I say laughing as I spin in his arms to face him and wrap my arms behind his neck. " Liz asked me to go out with her tonight."

"Liz? Olsen?" He asks.

"Yeah. We planned it at the birthday party." I say, giving him a quick kiss before stepping out of his hold and grabbing the towels I had folded to take them to the bathroom.

"Where are you two going?" He asks, grabbing the pile of wash cloths and following behind me.

"Um, I think we are going to a male strip club." I say, completely serious trying to scare him.

"Oh- wait, what?" He asks, stepping in front of me. "Are you serious or joking? I can't tell."

"Yes, I'm completely kidding." I say laughing at the look on his face. Poor thing. "We are just going dancing, I think."I say stepping around him and walking into the bathroom.