Second Chance

Chapter 10

Adalyn would not take a nap and did seem like she was looking for something, but nothing we gave her seemed to help. 

Faith had gone shopping and grabbed me everything I was going to need for Adalyn. But nothing made her happy. I almost called Everly to cancel but couldn't bring myself to do it.

This was not how I wanted her first meeting with Everly to go. But here we were pulling up to her house with a cranky 6-month-old. 

Everly opened the door with a big smile and I couldn’t help but smile back as I took in her scent. 

“Hi.” She said, stepping aside for us to enter. 

“Hi. This here is Faith, my sister, and this cranky baby is Adalyn.” 

“Nice to meet you.” She said, taking Faith’s hand and shaking it before turning her attention to Adalyn.

“Hey pretty girl. I’m so excited about meeting you.” 

To my surprise, Adalyn instantly reached for Everly. Without skipping a beat, she instantly took Adalyn into her arms. 

“You’ve had a busy day haven’t you?” Everly said directly to Adalyn. To my surprise, my little girl put her head on Everly’s shoulder and closed her eyes. 

“I’m sorry I can take her.” I said to Everly. 

“Oh she is fine. It’s been years since I have held a baby. You just leave me be.” She said with a smile. 

She walked with us to the kitchen and food was already set on the table. 

“Everly do you always go by Everly?” My sister asked. 

“Oh umm no, I usually go by Eve.” 

“May I call you Eve?” Faith said, glancing over at me. 

“Of course.” 

“I like the name Eve but I love saying Everly.” I told her with a wink.

“Eve! This is the best food I have ever eaten.” Faith moaned as she pushed more food in her mouth.

“Thank you.” 

“We have got to get you to teach our soldat umm chefs how to cook.” That was a terrible save by my sister. Soldat are the lowest ranking warriors, but still just as important as any warrior in my realm.

“You have a personal chef?”

“We do.” I answered. 

“How nice.” 

I couldn’t help but want her more as I watched her hold my daughter and not complain as she ate. 

As soon as Kennedy was done eating, she took Adalyn from Eve and, to my surprise, she didn’t wake but snuggled into Kennedy. 

After dinner was cleaned up, we made our way to the living room. Faith and Eve seemed to be getting along like they'd known each other since birth. 

Everly stepped away to get drinks and I followed behind to help. I couldn’t help but steal a kiss before we went back to the living room. As we entered, we noticed Adalyn was awake and curiously looking at Kennedy who was still holding her. But the moment her eyes landed on Everly she started to reach for her. 

Again my flame went right to her and took Adalyn in her arms. Adalyn instantly appeared happy and content. Both Faith and I couldn’t help but be surprised. 

“Why are you two looking at me like that?” Eve asked. 

“Adalyn doesn’t really take to people,” Faith said. 

“I’ve never seen her allow somebody to hold her the moment they first meet. I assumed earlier it was because she was tired, but now I realize that is not the case.” I added. 

“Oh, I guess that means we are going to be the best of friends,” Eve said, looking back down at Adalyn. 

The attention caused Adalyn to giggle and babble. 

“I think you will be,” Faith said with a smile. 

The rest of the evening went very quickly and before I knew it, I was kissing Everly goodbye. 

“I’ll call you tomorrow.” I said, pulling myself away.

“I’ll be waiting.” She whispered before giving me one last kiss. 

Thankfully, by the time we made it home, Adalyn was asleep. I placed her in the crib and changed into some joggers and crawled into bed. 

I woke in the morning to a fussy baby. I grabbed my shirt from last night and pulled it over my head and picked her up. 

The moment I picked her up, she put her face in my shirt and calmed down. Once I changed her, we headed to get breakfast. Sitting at the table was Faith and she already had a bottle and some baby food ready. 

“Your mate is perfect for you,” Faith said, taking a bite of the food. 

“She really is.” I said, smiling back.

After breakfast, Faith left, leaving me and Adalyn. I managed to get some work done but most of my morning was spent playing with Adalyn.

I did notice that every time Adalyn got a little cranky she would bury her face in my shirt that still smelled like Eve. Which was odd but had me thinking my little girl liked my flame as much as I did.