Page 93 of The Plan

“Sire, it’s been weeks, I can’t live here forever.”

“Yeah, you can.” I immediately regret saying that, and not because I don’t mean it, I do, but she looks like she wants to run for the hills. “I mean, you can stay as long as you need, and if that's forever, then—”

“It’s not. I’ve stayed long enough, and the plan was to stay with Hazel, not you.”

“Technically, you’ve been staying with both of us.” She barely ever sleeps next door anymore, thanks to my plan, but during the day, she splits her time evenly between my place and next door with Hazel and August.

“Why are you so adamant that I stay?”

“Because.”

“Because what?”

Because it’s been four years since we’ve spent this much time together. Because I’ve missed the last four years of your life. Because I don’t want to be apart from you for another minute. Because I’m still in love with you.

I shake my head at everything it’s spinning with because if I say either of those things, she’ll really run for the hills. “Let’s go. We’re going to be late.” I look over at Isa and nod my head toward the door. I grab my keys, but before we walk out, Vid also grabs her car keys.

I go stop her, but she speaks up before I can object. “You two can go. I can’t reschedule my appointment.”

“I planned this for us, Vidia. Not for Isabelle and I.”

“Planned what, Sire?” I look down at her keys still in her hands, but she puts them behind her back as if she knew I was going to snatch them from her.

I let out a sigh and plead with her. “Just cancel. I promise it’ll be worth it. If it isn’t, I’ll personally get you an appointment to go see any apartment or house you want.”

She looks like she’s considering it, then lets out a sigh and hangs her car keys back up. I open the door for her, but just as I walk out, I quickly grab Isa’s EpiPen from her bag.

We head for the garage, and Vid and Isabelle make their way to the Range Rover when they see the lights flick on as I unlockit. I open the passenger door for Vid and then buckle Isa into her car seat.

As soon as I get in, Isa starts with her guessing game. “Are we going to get ice cream?”

“Better.” I can feel Vid eyeing me, but I don’t turn to her and pull out of the garage instead. “Are we going toDisney World?”

I keep saying better to all her guesses, although the place we’re going to won’t be better than Disney, not to Isa, at least.

After a lot more guesses, I pull in front of the bakery, and the girls look out the window, confused. “This is not better than Disney, liar.” I glance at Isabelle in the mirror, and she has her arms crossed with an angry face. Little brat.

“Yeah,liar.” I look over at Vid, and she also has her arms crossed, but she’s fighting a back smile, most likely because she knows the bakery wouldn’t be my surprise location.

I roll my eyes at her with a smile and step out of the car. As I walk into the bakery, Tony is already waiting for me.

“Hi, Mr. Griffin, here’s your special order.” He hands me a basket, but I don’t take it since there's a slight change in plans now that Isa is with us.

“Hey, Tony, do me another favor and switch out everything that has berries for anything chocolate flavored instead.” He nods like it’s not an issue, maybe because there weren't many pastries with berries.

After putting the basket in the trunk, I head to our destination. It’s about a thirty-minute drive, so I make sure to keep Isa talking so she doesn’t fall asleep.

She sounds tired when we arrive, but as she looks out her window, I can tell she’s wide awake again. “Wow! Look at that!”

Vid and I look over at all of the light-up animal sculptures, and I notice she’s biting back a smile. It’s Light Up The Night at Grand Park tonight. They have huge sculptures of a bunch of different animals, and they light up in different colors.

This isn’t why we came here, but I knew Isa would like it. I planned on coming after Vid’s appointment because I didn’t think it was to go see an apartment, but since I got her to cancel, we’re here a bit earlier than the actual surprise.

Getting out of the car, I open the door for the girls, then grab the basket and bag from the trunk. We walk through all of the light-up sculptures, and although this wasn’t a part of my plan, Vid seems to be enjoying them just as much as Isabelle is.

We take a few pictures of Isa next to the sculptures, and we walk around as she names a few animals. “Woah, what’s this one?” I look up at what she’s pointing at and feel a smile grow on my face.

I look over at Vid, and she’s still looking up at the huge light-up animal sculpture, absolutely mesmerized.

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