Page 182 of Lovestruck at Sundown
“Is Daddy force-feeding you strawberries again?” I laughed,and she gave me the sweetest smile. My dad kissed her rosy cheeks and handed her over to me. Adina was William’s clone, but she had inherited my auburn hair color. Hers was still a bit lighter than mine when I was her age, but there was no doubt she was a redhead like her mama and grandpa.
“Just making sure she doesn’t turn out like her strawberry-hating mother,” William teased, grabbing Adina’s chubby hand and kissing it. My dad laughed.
“Someone needs to take her medicine!” I sang in a cheerful tone.
“Uh-uh!” Adina quickly replied, burying her face in my neck.
“But the medicine tastes like strawberries, Adi,” I reminded her. “And you love them, don’t you?”
“No wanna!” she said, refusing the idea. She’d just turned two last month and was as stubborn a Taurus as William. “Cook, Daddy.” She reached out to William, and he grabbed her.
“But I’m done cooking, sweetheart,” William cooed. “You were a great sous-chef today, but it’s time to go out and take your medicine.” Adina loved watching William cook. He loved treating her and making her all sorts of yummy and fun meals and snacks all the time. I was in charge of the yucky medicine, so we all knew who her favorite parent was.
“The little devil is after my job,” Eric joked. He’d been bugging William nonstop about becoming sous-chef, but they didn’t think he was ready yet. He would eventually be, but not yet.
“Everyone’s job is safe until Adina decides to work here, and then she’ll run the place,” William said proudly. I laughed.
“Hey!” Moira complained as she rinsed off her hands in the large stainless-steel faucet. As executive chef,shewas the maximum authority here.
We all laughed.
“Come on,” I said to William, waving him to follow me. “She needs to take her medicine.” Adina had a low fever this morning, but it went away quickly after she took her medicine. Since she started attending nursery, she caught a different bug every other week.
I pulled the medicine bottle from the diaper bag, and Adina began to fuzz in William’s arms. But she stopped suddenly at the sight of Aaron. “Awen!” she cried with a smile, holding out her arms for Aaron to carry her.
Adina was obsessed with Aaron, and I knew it made William jealous, even if he didn’t want to admit it. I would see it in his eyes and how his lips puckered when he handed her over to him.
“Aaron, could you help me with her medication?” I passed him the medicine dropper and gave him a nervous grin. She would forgive Aaron for giving her the medication, but not me. It was best if he gave her the ibuprofen.
He raised a brow and grabbed the medicine dropper, offering it to her. She made a cute pout and shook her head, but all Aaron had to do was say, “Please, Adina.” And she opened her mouth and took her medicine with a grimace.
“Why is her face bunched up like that?” Zara said with a laugh, touching Adina’s cheeks.
“She just took her medicine,” I explained as Aaron handed me the dropper, and I put it back in the diaper bag.
“Aw! Poor thing. Want to come play with Auntie Zara?”
“No!” Adina shouted her reply. “I want Awen.” She rubbed her eyes and yawned.
“Don’t be rude to Aunt Zara, Adi,” William said to Adina, grabbing her back from Aaron. “We don’t shout like that.”
“I think it’s time for her nap.” We’d brought her small portable crib and placed it inside the restaurant because we knew she’d get sleepy right after noon.
William took her in, and I followed. “I’ll put her down,” I offered.
“You sure?” William lowered Adina into the crib.
“Yes, of course. You deserve a beer after all the hard work today.”
“You’re the one who slept four hours last night.”
“You know I’m used to it.”
I had stayed up late the night before shooting Empire Magazine’s cover and wrapped around 11:00 p.m. We usually never worked this late, but due to a conflicting schedule, we had started shooting at 10:00 p.m.
Abigail’s column in the magazine became so popular that they promoted her to the cover stories. Since we were a team, I became Empire Magazine’s official cover photographer. This allowed me to step out of my comfort zone and grow even more creatively. Before, they hadn’t used a specific photographer for the covers but had hired a different one for each.
Once I ensured Adina slept peacefully, I tiptoed away and found Aaron by the terrace door.
