Page 6

Amaya bounced on her toes in front of the lift doors, and I laughed at how excited she was.
“I’ve never ridden a lift before Cartie,” she said, her words coming out so quickly that I could barely understand them. I thought about telling her that this was the fourth time she had ridden a lift, since she had ridden a lot of them while she was unconscious. Instead, I stayed quiet and let her have her moment, happy that she was acting like herself again.
We were lucky enough to be the only ones on the lift, and we rode it down to the basement level where my car was parked. I held her hand tightly as we walked to my car, always on the lookout for danger.
When we got to my car, my sweet Escalade, I didn’t expect Amaya to scream. It echoed in the empty space, and I laughed as she jumped up and down.
“This is the first time I’m going to be in a car too!” Wow, this is so exciting!”
I opened the door for her and helped her in because it was a little high for her. I think everything might be too high for her, though.
The ride was probably the most fun I’ve ever been on. Amaya was so excited that her face was pressed against the glass for almost the whole time. She only took it off to tell me what she saw.
I heard her whisper, “So many people,” a few times, and her voice was full of awe.
Seeing someone appreciate every little thing around them warmed my heart. It made me appreciate the things I took for granted, like being able to go to school and ride lifts. Amaya was showing me a new side of things, and I wanted to show her everything she had never seen.
I wanted to help her do all the normal things she had been denied.
When we got to my apartment building, Amaya was amazed at how tall and shiny it was. She also made sure I knew that this was only her second time in a lift.
As we walked to my floor, my hands got clammy because I was worried that she wouldn’t like everything I had made for her.
I opened the door to my apartment and let Amaya go in first. She gasped when she saw the view right away. The windows that went all the way to the floor were hard to miss.
She walked slowly towards it, and I watched as she stood there for a few minutes, taking in the Portland skyline. I cleared my throat to bring her back to reality, and she turned to me with a shy smile.
She walked slowly around the living room, brushing her hands over the big grey sectional. For a moment, I wondered if she would realise that all the pillows and blankets on it were just for her.
It was clear that I was a minimalist, and my flat showed it. I wasn’t home very often because I was a certified workaholic, so I never really paid attention to the little things in my home. Until now, that is.
Amaya moved to the kitchen, and I went in and showed her all the snacks and drinks I got just for her. I got her a lot of stuff to try because she’s been missing out on so much.
I thought it was better to show Amaya her room and the present that was waiting for her now than to wait.
I took her hand and led her down the hallways to the bedrooms. Mine was right across from hers, and I told her this before opening the door and letting her look around.
I made sure that Amaya’s room showed that she wasn’t a little girl. She told me she loved pastel pink, but I wanted the room to have a more grown-up feel. Once I told Tessa this, I let her decorate it however she wanted because I didn’t know what teens these days liked.
I was only twenty-eight, but being with Amaya all the time made me feel like I was a hundred.
Amaya really liked the room; the number of blankets and pillows seemed to make her happy. She jumped right into bed and wrapped herself up tightly, leaving her cute little face peeking out from the top.
I walked over to the bed and sat down, putting my hand on her cheek. She smiled up at me, and I felt that familiar tingle in my chest that told me what I felt for Amaya was anything but innocent.
~ ~ ~
“Amaya, I have something for you.” She crawled out of her little cocoon and came over to me. She crossed her legs and sat still, and I smiled at how obedient she was.
I took the medium-sized gift box off the dresser and put it on her lap. Her eyes lit up, and I realised that this was probably the first time she had ever gotten a gift that was wrapped.
“We were able to get back a lot of things from the fire, especially in your bedroom because the flames didn’t spread very far. “I thought you should have them,” I said as she took the lid off.
When she saw what was in the box, she gasped and her eyes filled with tears. I let Tessa handle the gift as much as I could because I wanted to respect Amaya’s privacy. I thought that if she wanted me to know more about her past, it should come from her mouth.
She took out a pale pink scarf and slowly brought it to her nose. As she breathed in deeply, she let out a soft sigh that sounded like relief.
Tessa brought it to my nose, and the strong lavender smell filled my nose. I don’t know how she knew that this scarf was supposed to smell like lavender or how she got it to smell that way after all the smoke, but she definitely deserves a shopping spree for all her help.
“This scarf was my mom’s. My dad says it smells just like her, and I sleep with it every night. “That’s why lavender is my favourite flower. It reminds me of her.” She wrapped the scarf around her body and crawled the short distance between us.
She sat down between my legs and leaned against my chest, putting the box back in her lap. I slowly wrapped both of my arms around her waist, telling myself that I just wanted her to be comfortable.
She opened each item and told me how important it was and the story behind it. She also showed me a few pictures of her mother, and they looked just like her. It was like a copy and paste.
She was so happy to show me pictures of her parents when she was pregnant with her. Amaya said these were the only family pictures she had.
Seeing how happy Patrick and Siobhan were in the pictures really made me think. I had always thought of Patrick as the bad guy who didn’t care about his beautiful little girl.
But when I read between the lines, I saw that Patrick and Siobhan were in love. They were probably very happy together, and when Siobhan got pregnant, that happiness probably grew by ten times.
But Siobhan died while giving birth to Amaya, and Patrick had to raise their daughter on his own. Amaya looks just like her mother. He probably felt like his wife had died, but she never left. Seeing Amaya’s face must have driven him crazy.
I’m not saying that what he did to her was right, but I think I’m starting to see things from Patrick Chase’s point of view.
~ ~ ~
“So what made the wishes come true?”I pushed. Amaya had forced me to watch a dumb Disney movie, and of course I said yes. I can’t say no to her anything she wants. I think we were watching something called 16 Wishes, but what do I know?
I thought it was funny that my little angel was getting mad at me. Amaya was the definition of an angry bunny; they were completely harmless, but their rage was the cutest thing ever. I was scared she would start gnawing on my wrists.
“I just told you, Carter.” “The candles have the power of birthday magic in them and are making her sixteen sixteenth birthday wishes come true,” Amaya said, turning her face back to the TV.
We were comfortable on the couch, with me lying behind her and her back against mine. Amaya covered us with two blankets, even though the apartment was only 12°C. I like it really cold, so when I offered to raise the temperature for Amaya, she actually wanted it to be lower.
It seems that colder weather makes it much more fun to bury yourself in two or more blankets.
“But what—” I started again, but I got a surprisingly hard elbow to the gut.
“Shut up Carter or I’ll never watch another movie with you again,” Amaya said, and I laughed hard. She was too cute.