Ghost City

9

I felt a tugging on my arm and heard a soft voice calling my name, but I was too tired to wake up.

"Mommy!" Aurora's voice nagged. "Mommy, you promised!"

I opened one eye and sleepily asked, "What, Rory?"

"You promised to take me out in the morning so we could build a snowman," she pouted.

"We can go later," I mumbled, drifting off to sleep again.

She continued to nag, "I'm also hungry, Mommy."

"Ask daddy," I sighed.

"Daddy's not here," she said, causing me to frown as I turned to my side, where I had expected Damien to be. "He's not in his room."

I sat up and grabbed my bonnet, which slipped off while I slept last night. I put the bonnet on over my nest of hair and rubbed my eyes. Maybe my jungle scared him away.

I grabbed my phone off the bedside table and checked the time. It was 12 p.m, which surprised me because I didn't know why I had been sleeping for so long.

"Did you see your father earlier?" I asked, and she shook her head. Timely, I heard the house door opening, and Aurora ran out of the room. I climbed out of bed and walked to the front door, where I found Aurora already in her father's arms. He also held a few bags in his hands. "Where were you?"

"Out and about," he replied as he put Aurora down. He then handed her a bag, and she smiled widely while opening it and squealing.

While eagerly jumping up and down, she smiled, "A teddy?! Thank you, daddy!" She pulled the brown teddy out of the bag and hugged it tightly before twirling on a circle. "I'm gonna call you....Pumpkin Pie." Damien chuckled and ruffled her hair, causing her to giggle. He then handed her a bag of McDonald's, and she eagerly took it from him while hollering a loud "Thank you!" as she ran off to the living room to eat and most likely watch TV.

Damien walked over to me with another bag in his hand. "You just woke up?" he asked, and I nodded. "You look tired."

"Yeah, well Aurora just woke me out of my sleep," I said before yawning.

"You can go back to sleep if you want. I can watch her," he offered.

"I'm not gonna go back to sleep now," I shook my head, "but you can still watch her. I think I'll take a long shower today."

"Lemme run you a warm bath," he offered.

"Okay," I agreed while trying not to show my surprise. I figured he was truly getting over the gun thing, as opposed to just saying that last night as an excuse for not holding emotions in his eyes for me.

"Where's your phone?" he asked, and I frowned while lifting my hand. He then took my phone and unlocked it, surprising me once more because I didn't think he would remember my password. He began typing something, which caused my eyebrows to narrow.

With confusion laced on my face, I asked, "What are you doing."

The sound of a phone ringing in his pocket sounded, and he handed me my phone back before taking out his. He then answered, "New phone. Here." He handed me the bag that he had in his hand and then walked off. I looked inside the bag and blushed when I noticed the packs of Twizzlers that filled the entire bag. A wide smile immediately crept across my face, and I knew nothing would ruin my mood for the day.

One hour later
"Want a massage?" Damien asked as I exited my bathroom in my robe. He and Aurora were sitting on my bed and reading a book together.

I teased, "Gonna offer to scrub my feet next?"

"I mean, if you want me to, then yeah," he chuckled.

While slightly frowning, I questioned, "Why are you being so nice?"

"Is there a reason I shouldn't be?" he frowned, and I shrugged. "I know how hard you've been working, and I just wanted to treat you a bit. How was the bath, by the way?"

"Really relaxing," I answered. "Thank you."

"No problem," he nodded.

Aurora placed the book down and asked, "Are we still building the snowman, Mommy?"

"Yes, just let me get dressed and we'll build it in a few," I answered, and she nodded before reading with her father again. I entered my walk in closet and grabbed a sweatsuit. I quickly got dressed into that and a winter jacket, hat, scarf, and gloves. When I got out of the room, I noticed that Damien and Aurora were no longer there. "Damien?" I called out.

He replied, "In Aurora's room."

I walked to her room and noticed that he was dressing her into thick clothes. Aurora asked, "Are you coming with us, daddy?"

Damien smiled, "Do you want me to?" Aurora eagerly nodded while smiling, and Damien looked at over me and shrugged, "If I'm not intervening...?"

"You aren't," I shook my head. I thought this would be a great time for us to spend as a family. Besides, it would take Aurora and me forever to build the snowman by ourselves.