“Why’d you call me sunshine?”
“To be honest, it slipped out,” I admit, running my hand over my face, trying to hide the emotions roiling inside me. “I knew I needed a way to get him to leave without being too aggressive, and staking a claim on you… that was the only thing I could think of in the moment. The name felt fitting.”
She nods thoughtfully, not speaking any more on the subject as we exit the elevator and I let us into our room. I inwardly cringe at the thought of sleeping on that couch another night, but I’m not going to say anything. I don’t want to do anything to make her uncomfortable. I already can’t believe I called her a pet name and pretended to be her boyfriend. I could have approached the guy and made it clear she wasn’t interested, but no, I had to stake a claim.
The worst thing is… she didn’t deny it. She didn’t push me off. She leaned in closer, let me get another whiff of the perfume that keeps infiltrating my senses every second. Both when the guy was still there, and then again now when we were making our way back to the hotel room.
I’m going to shower quickly,” Fallon says, gathering her things from her bag.
“No problem,” I reply, sitting down on the god-awful couch.
She heads into the bathroom a minute later, and after I change into my own pajamas, I decide to call Josie, and see if Lennie wants to chat since they were out and about earlier and couldn’t chat then.
I pull her contact up, and start a FaceTime call. I hear giggles first, and there’s a lot of blurriness on the screen, and then Lennie’s face fills my phone. “Hey, peanut,” I say, a smile crossing my face.
She looks so happy, her hair is in some sort of weirdtwist on her head, and she’s in her princess nightgown. “Hi, Daddy!”
“Are you having fun with Uncle Andrew and Auntie Josie?”
“So much fun. Today, we went and visited Gramps, and then Uncle Andrew took me to his shop and told me he would make me my very own jewelry box!” she babbles.
“Wow, that’s so nice of him,” I say, eyeing my younger brother in the background. He’s already made her a toy box, and so many other things, there really isn’t a need for more, but he loves to gift his family with things he makes.
“How’s your trip?” Lennie asks, eyeing behind me. “Is the hotel pretty?”
“It’s really nice,” I say, standing up from the couch. “Let me show you.” I flip the screen, and show her the room. I take her over to the windows and show her the view of the city in front of us. We chat for a while longer, longer than I thought, because the bathroom door opens, and Fallon strides out in her pajamas, her long hair damp on her shoulders. I try to flip the camera, but I’m not fast enough.
“Daddy, was that Presley’s mom?” Lennie asks, her eyes bright and curious.
I inwardly curse, and glance over at Fallon with wide eyes. I’m not quite sure what to do. Fallon smiles softly, and walks over to us. She steps in right beside me, so close her head nearly rests on my arm. I can smell her sweet floral shampoo. It smells so good, and it brings me right back to my fantasy from last night's shower.
“Hi Lennie,” she greets my daughter with a wave, directing my attention back to them. “How are you?”
“Hi Fallon!” Lennie says with so much excitement, you’d think I’d told her we were going to Disney World. “Is Presley with you?”
Fallon shakes her head. “Nope, it’s only me. I’m at the same event that your dad is.”
“Huh,” Lennie says with a grin. I wait for the inevitable question about why we are in the same room, but it doesn’t come. However, I can see Josie in the background, her face blazing red, trying to gesture at Andrew. I’m assuming she’s trying to get him to shut up. Well, so much for keeping a secret. Though, it’s kind of my own fault. I took the risk, knowing Fallon could walk out of the bathroom at any time.
Fallon talks with Lennie for a few more minutes, her body so close to mine I can grasp at her warmth. When Lennie yawns, I decide it’s time to call it.
“Alright, Lenners, I think it’s time for you to get to bed.”
She shakes her head. “No, I’m fine. I want to keep talking to you, Daddy.”
“We can talk tomorrow when I pick you up, okay?”
Lennie hesitates, then agrees.
“Have fun with Josie and Andrew, Lennie. I love you, and I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“I love you, Daddy.” Lennie passes the phone back to Josie, and Fallon waves, then steps away.
Josie widens her eyes, giving me a look. I do the same, hoping to convey a glare that says, “don’t bring it up.” Thankfully, she doesn’t say anything, but Andrew is standing behind her, glancing between the two of us, and he starts to mouth words.
I scoff as he continues to mime words to me I definitely can’t understand. “Alright, well I’ll see you guys tomorrow,” I say, cutting off his silent rant. “Thanks again. Is she behaving?”
“She’s perfect,” Josie responds. “I think we might need to babysit the twins though, because if anything, she’s giving me more baby fever, and I don’t think we are there, yet.”
