Chapter 2 Ice-cream date

Aedlin

I bounce up and down in my seat as I wait for Lamia to come out of the school gates. When she steps out the doors, she looks around, craning her neck, trying to see where her father is. I quickly get out of my car and start walking towards her. I watch as her shoulders sag when she realizes her father isn't there, but then her eyes land on me and she starts to scream, throwing her bag to the ground as she runs to me. I meet her halfway, nearly falling over when her little body flings into the air, my arms wrapping around her just in time. "Aedlin! I have missed you." She says, hugging me close. I tighten my grip on her, tears burning my eyes as we just stand there for a moment. After a few minutes, she pulls away and wiggles her body and I put her down. "Please tell me you will be picking me up from now on again. Daddy is always in a hurry to get me back home so that he can go work and I miss going on our secret ice-cream dates." She says, speaking so fast that she isn't giving me much time to say anything.

"Take a deep breath my dear." I remind her and I am proud that she remembers what I taught her. Sometimes she speaks so fast that she doesn't take a second to take a deep breath and that makes it hard for anyone to answer her three hundred questions. "I will not be picking you up everyday. I am afraid that this will be a one time thing unless your father gets swamped with work again and I do pray that it happens often because I have missed my little monster. As for the ice-cream date, I am sure that if we hurry, we might have time to sneak that in." I tell her and she nods sadly. I hate that she didn't just lose her mother when Diera passed, but she also lost me, even though that is the last thing I wanted.

"Why can't you pick me up anymore? I don't understand why daddy has to pick me up every day now." She says and I wish I could explain. It is a miracle that she hasn't said anything to James yet about me picking her up, but I can't have her tell him any of this, so I bend down to look her in the eyes, hoping that she will listen to me.

"Darling, your father misses you and he wants to spend time with you. I know it doesn't happen in the way you want it to happen, but he is here for you every single day. You are all he has left." I tell her and she starts to tear up. "Please don't cry darling." I tell her, wrapping my arms around her again.

"I don't want to hurt daddy's feelings, but I miss you." She says and it breaks my heart.

"I will find a way to come pick you up more often my dear, but if we don't go now, we won't be able to have our secret ice-cream date. I tell her, looking at the time to find that I have only twenty minutes left before I need to be at work. "I tell you what, why don't I take you in to the office, you can say hi to your daddy and the you can spend a few hours with me at work?" I tell her and her tears quickly dry up. Kids are so easy to work with, they are always honest and haven't learned yet to hide their emotions. You don't have to struggle to understand what they want and need if you just take the time to listen. We quickly make our way to my car and I put some Disney songs on my radio. We sing at the top of our lunges all the way to the ice-cream shop, and I thank the Lord that there is no line today. We quickly choose our ice-creams and then we are on our way to the office. I head into the building and watch as heads turn as we make our way inside, but I ignore them. I know James might be pissed that I brought his daughter to the office instead of taking her home to her nanny, but I also know that he won't turn her away.

I knock on his door and then open when he calls me to come in. "What took you-" He stops when he sees his daughter with her ice-cream in hand and he quickly forces a strained smile on his face and opens his arms for her to run into. My heart melts at the sight of them together, but I force myself to stay professional.

"You didn't instruct me on what to do with this princess after I picked her up, so I thought it might just be best to bring her here. We did make a stop at the ice-cream store on the way here and that is why we took a bit longer than anticipated." I explain, trying to cover my ass.

"That's fine. You can go back to work while I quickly go drop her off at home." He says and I open my mouth to tell him that it won't be necessary, but Lamia beats me to it.

"Daddy, I want to stay here. Aedlin told me she would show me around and I really, really want to spend some time with her." She says and I hope he only takes it that she has been missing female contact rather than the fact that she missed having me around. "I really don't like the old lady at home. She makes really terrible jokes." Lamia tries to whisper but I hear it and I have to fight to not laugh. James sighs but nods his head and then picks her up, placing her in his lap.

"Well then, seems like I will have an extra worker here today." He says and I sigh in relieve, grateful for the next few hours I have to be close to her. "Aedlin, will you help to show Lamia the ropes?" He asks.

"I am on it, Sir." I tell him and then hold my hand out for Lamia. She jumps off her father's lap and then runs to me, taking my hand and pulling me towards my desk.

"I want to see it all." She says and this time, I laugh. By the time my work is done and it is time from me to leave, Lamia is passed out on the chair I had pulled up for her. I had shown her the entire building, answering all her questions. After the tour, I took her back to my table where I had shown her my work. She asked a few times what she could do to help me and I gave her the easy stuff. Printing files for her to take to her father, stapling some things here and there and then placing things in the correct files. When there was nothing for her to help me with, she drew me pictures and we displayed them all over my desk. I loved every second I had with her, but now it is time to say goodbye again and I hate that I have no idea when I will be seeing her again. I give her a soft kiss on the head and my tears start running down my cheeks as my heart breaks. A door opening has me quickly wiping my tears, but I am a bit too late. James looks at me with a question in his eyes.

"Are we done for the day?" I ask him, covering up my heartache with a smile. He shakes his head and then looks at Lamia.

"Yeah, I think it is time I got her home and get her fed." He says and I want to ask him if there is anything I could do for them, but I am afraid I might overstep the line more than I already did.