Page 78 of Stolen Dreams

“Yeah,” I answer.“She’s sleeping in my bed.”

“Can I go see her?”

“After breakfast,” I say.“Let her sleep a bit.”

“Okay.”She tosses the covers over herself, and I return to the kitchen, grabbing a mug to make coffee before starting breakfast.

I’m putting bread in the toaster when I hear the door open and see Lilah coming out into the kitchen.She’s wearing a pair of shorts and a T-shirt.One hand rubs the sleep out of her eyes while she smiles at me.“Why didn’t you wake me?”she mumbles as I put the mug down and open my arms for her to come and give me a hug.She comes without question, and when my arms wrap around her, I literally sigh, bending to kiss the top of her head.

“You need sleep, baby,” I reply softly.

“I need to get to work.”She disengages herself from me, and I look down at her and shake my head.

“You’re not going to work,” I state, turning and walking over to the pan when the sausage starts to sizzle.“You are going to stay in bed.”

“I most certainly am not.”She puts her hands on her hips.“I’m going to work.”

“Really?”I raise my eyebrows.“Okay, you leave me no choice.”I walk over to the counter where my phone is and pick it up, calling Charlie and putting it on speakerphone.

“What?”he answers after two rings.

“Lilah says she’s coming in to work,” I tell Charlie, who laughs.

“She’s off for the next month,” he says as Lilah gasps.

“I am not!”she shrieks, walking over to me to grab the phone out of my hand.“A month is crazy.”

“Fine,” he gives in, “you can come back in two weeks.”She glares at me.“Or not at all.”

“Are you firing me?”she asks Charlie.

“See you later when I come and visit you,” he says.“We’ll talk then.”He hangs up the phone before she says anything more.

“Glad that is settled.”I bend and kiss her lips before smiling and kissing her lips again at the same time that Lucy comes out of her bedroom.

“Lilah,” she says, rushing to her and hugging her around her waist, “you’re up.”

“I am,” she confirms softly before bending to kiss her head.“I smelled food.”

“Are you going to drive me to school?”Lucy asks as she walks toward the fridge to grab the orange juice.

“No,” I answer her at the same time Lilah says, “Yes.”

Lucy laughs as she walks over to the stool and sits down.“Is Lilah moving in?”she asks, and I look at Lilah, who is staring at me with big eyes.When we picked Lucy up last night, we didn’t talk about whether Lilah was staying.Lucy was just happy Lilah was with us, and everything else went out the window.

“Um,” Lilah says.

“I want her to.”I finally turn off the stove and then turn back to Lucy.“I want her to live here with us.”

“Me too,” Lucy agrees with me, while looking at Lilah with a smile.“Do you want to live here with us?”

“Um.”Her nerves make her hands shake.“I want to be wherever you guys are,” she finally says, making me smile.I can’t help but go to her and take her in my arms, rubbing my hand up and down her back.

“So then it’s settled, you’re moving in.”I look down at her as she wraps her arms around my waist.“I’ll ask Autumn to go and pack your things.”

“You will do no such thing,” she gasps, making Lucy giggle.“I can pack my own stuff, thank you very much.”

“Are you guys going to be boyfriend and girlfriend?”The question makes Lilah stop talking.

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