“It’s crying.” He cringed once he realised we were all waiting for an explanation.
We all stayed silent for a moment, the only thing making noise was Adam’s wailing, before Adrian pushed him towards us. Instantly, Sienna, Blake and my mom burst into a fit of howling laughter, and I joined them shortly, making Adrian give us a glare of frustration before he looked at Adam with caution again. “Take it and make it stop! Maybe it’s hurt, or hungry or something.” He tried again in a strained voice, making us laugh even harder.
I sobered up after a few moments, feeling sorry for Adrian, as the rest of my family continued to laugh at him. I stepped towards him and pushed Adam into his arms gently. Adrian stiffened as the child came closer towards him, and he looked over at me with the same panicked expression as before.
“Shortcake, what are you doing?”
“Adrian, relax. Just hold him like this,” I began to explain, altering Adrian’s grip on Adam to the proper way of holding a toddler. “See? Look, he’s already stopped crying. Now, rub his back gently and smile at him,” I coached. Adrian hesitated before slowly placing the palm of his hand on Adam’s back, and gently began to stroke it in a comforting motion.
“Smile,” I reminded him with a grin of my own as I watched the interaction occur between the two boys. Adrian glared down at me, before looking into Adam’s and grinning widely; showing every pearly white tooth in his mouth.
I laughed as Adam began to sob again, making Adrian stiffen in his position. “Too much teeth! Smile like you smile when you look at me.”
“I can’t,” Adrian snapped, looking over at me again.
“Why not?” I replied, raising an eyebrow.
“Because I like you. I don’t like him,” he grumbled, cringing at Adam.
I blushed at the comment before speaking up again. “Adrian, just smile! Don’t show your teeth, just look into his eyes and smile. Pretend he’s me.”
“That would be a very wrong thing to do considering the thing’s I’d be doing to you right now if we were in this position,” Adrian grumbled.
“Adrian, smile!” I snapped.
Adrian dropped his frown and smiled falsely at Adam, and the toddler instantly stopped sobbing as he noticed Adrian’s expression. Adrian noticed this too, and wonder overtook his expression momentarily before another grin – a real one this time – replaced the awed look. “He likes me!” Adrian exclaimed happily, looking over at me with a wide grin. I looked at the sight of Adrian with a child in his arms with pure admiration, soaking up every single detail of the image in front of me and smiling at the pair.
Adam began laughing in Adrian’s arms, before he shoved a small finger into one of Adrian’s nostrils with a grin. “Hey! Wrong hole, kid. That goes in a woman’s vagi-”
“Stop!” I squeaked in horror, before snatching Adam out of his arms. “Don’t say that to children!”
“Why? It’s good to teach them from now,” Adrian nodded, smirking.
“And suddenly you’re the expert?” I asked with a raised eyebrow, smiling.
“Hey, aren’t you the one who told me to talk to them like they’re one of you? That’s what I did!” he exclaimed incredulously.
“You talk to each other like that?” Blake spoke up in amusement. “No wonder he has a love bite on his neck. I wonder what else you two say to each other when you’re alone.”
“A LOVE BITE?!” My mom and dad exclaimed at the same time, glaring at both Adrian and me.
“I thought he got into a fight for you?” my mom brought up, raising an eyebrow at me.
“I thought it was a mosquito bite,” my dad added, glaring at Adrian.
“Blake,” I growled, glaring at my older brother, who was now grinning cheekily.
“Whoops?” He shrugged, before using a chair to shield himself from me.
“I think we should all sit at the dinner table, the food looks almost ready!” Sienna brought up, trying to change the subject.
I gave her a grateful look before I felt my phone buzz in my pocket. “You guys go ahead, I need to get this,” I announced, pointing at my vibrating phone.
“Don’t be long,” my mom warned. I nodded and answered the phone while walking away from the group, making my way around the house.
“Hello?”
“Emily Johnson,” a low voice greeted, making the blood in my veins freeze in its path.
“Mr. David Walter. I- I didn’t know you had my number,” I stuttered, swallowing nervously.
“I didn’t. I got it off a… friend. That aside, how are you, Emily? That short encounter we had at the charity gala a month ago didn’t go the way I wanted it to. I was hoping we could talk.”
I frowned at his words before speaking up. “I’m really sorry, sir. I’m actually with my family at the moment. Maybe another time-”
“No, I’m sure now is a great time, Emily,” David insisted coldly. “I want to have lunch with you. Alone. You don’t tell anyone, not even your precious little boss.”
I shivered unconsciously, before clearing my throat. “With all due respect sir, I don’t think that’s going to happen.”
“Your friend Amy is a lovely girl. She’s a teacher, correct? She takes the same route to work every day. It’d be shame if someone noticed that and did something to her.”
I froze at the mention of my best friend’s name, growing angry. “Are you blackmailing me?” I snapped.
“Why Emily, I would never do that to you. Am I blackmailing Amy? Well that’s new territory we haven’t crossed yet. So I guess that’s a yes to the private lunch? I’ll text you the details. Goodbye, Emily. It’s been lovely, hearing your voice.”
The line went dead after that, just as I heard my name being called out by Adrian. “Shortcake? Are you okay? You’ve been on the phone for a while.” Adrian rounded the corner just as I slipped my phone back into my pocket, feeling it vibrate again just as a text message came through.
“Sorry, it was Amy. She’s having a meltdown about a dress she can’t find.” I tried to force out a laugh, but settled with a smile instead.
Adrian studied me closely, and his eyes narrowed in suspicion. “I don’t believe you,” he growled with a fierce glare.
“Hey, Lovebirds! Are you two going to eat with us tonight or not?!” Blake called from the dinner table.