by T. J. Quinn
She was kind of standoffish until he put her back in her bed with some toys. She immediately began to play and involved him in her game. He didn’t know quite why but he liked playing with the child. She was small and precious and innocent.
He was surprised when the doctor released her with follow up in three days. Apparently drinking the blood of pureblood had gone a long way towards boosting her healing. He looked down at the tiny bite marks on his wrist and thought how wonderful it felt to give back after so many years of just taking.
He gathered her up, packed up all her things and called a cab to take them home. The little girl was surprised when they went into his apartment. He sat her down and explained that he would like her to be his daughter and she didn’t respond, but he could tell she wanted to give it a try.
The delivery came with her furniture and all the other things he had ordered for her. He began to clear out his guest bedroom and arrange her furniture in there when his bell rang.
It was little Selene, Rebecca, and Sharon. Durk greeted them warmly and thanked them for coming to visit.
Selene stated, “Miss. Dakota told us you were interested in adopting the child, but we didn’t realize it would happen so fast.”
Durk responded, “Dakota got the congressman I worked with to write a letter of recommendation and coupled with the ones from her and Alek ensured I was apparently a shoo in.”
Much to his surprise the little girl came and sat in his lap wrapping her arms around him. He pulled her into his arms, leaned her little head on his chest and asked, “Now, now. What’s all this about?”
Sharon smiled and said, “I think she thinks we came to get her. She really likes you. I can tell. You seem very fatherly towards her.”
He gently kissed her on the top of the head, and she continued to cling onto her until she noticed he had a small cat. She immediately sat up and went to chase after the animal.
Durk laughed and murmured, “So much for being frightened.”
The ladies nodded, and Rebecca asked, “How did you get so much stuff delivered so quickly?”
Selene laughed and replied, “Everyone knows what a shopaholic Durk is. He has more clothes than any woman I know.”
Durk glanced at Sharon whom he had been avoiding looking at and noticed she was wearing one of the outfits he bought her. He immediately wondered if she was wearing the sexy lingerie. He could tell she was because she was blushing slightly.
Selene noticed but didn’t know quite what to make of the situation, so she offered to help get the child’s room sorted. He immediately stood up, and they began sorting the furniture again. When they had most of the stuff in the room he realized he forgot to purchase curtains, so he got on his com device, pulled up the data stream, bought the matching curtains and expedited the request. They were folding and hanging the last of the child’s clothing when his com device beeped alerting him a delivery drone was landing with the curtains.
Durk quickly put those up and sighed saying, “Now I have to figure out what to do with the extra furniture I took out of the guest room. Selene suggested he donate it. He asked Sharon if she would like it and she nodded. He smiled, got back on his phone and arranged for it to be delivered to the institute. They were resting on his sofa watching the child play with the cat when the crew came for the furniture.
Sharon looked at him strangely and said, “You certainly get a lot done in a day, my friend.”
Durk smiled politely because he knew that was true.
Sharon said, “Come, Wendy, tell us goodbye.” The little girl’s anxiety had gone down since she realized she had her own room. I apparently communicated to her that she now lived there.
Durk pulled a jacket on the little girl, and they walked the ladies to their vehicle and as they left they noticed that Durk took the child to a small play park across from his apartment. Durk sat on the bench alone and watched the little girl playing. The look on his face as he watched Sharon pulling away tore at her heart.
Just as the shuttle lifted off, Sharon said, “Please stop, I want to get out.”
Selene and Rebecca looked at each other for a brief moment as Sharon stepped out of the vehicle. They watched as Sharon walked across the street to the park and the look on Durk’s face when he saw her walking up was amazing. He immediately stood up, and suddenly they were almost running towards each other.
She stopped just before she reached him, he opened his arms to her, and she launched herself into his warm embrace. He immediately began to kiss her over and over like a man starved of affection for his whole life. Sharon was clinging to him and running her fingers through his long hair. They were quite beautiful together as their love was just beginning.