Scorching Heat Down South

Chapter 9

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"You look fantastic." He said as he stood and scooped her up in his arms. Lauren grinned widely at him. "You picked these yourself?" And she said, "Yes, I did."

"Beautiful." He commented then tickled her, making her giggle with enjoyment. "Come on. It's playtime." He said and carried her out of the kitchen.

Claire was grateful for the few moments of respite to compose herself and shake off the tension that had enveloped her and Levi. After a minute she stood up and followed them into the living room. Levi was crouched down on the floor in front of his daughter helping her set up a pink and white toy tea set. The wide indulgent smile on his face made her heart clench. She'd never seen him actually truly smiling. It was full of joy and it reached his eyes, he looked ... happy, almost boyish in his delight. It instantly mesmerized her and she silently moved closer to them. He suddenly raised his head and as he looked at her the smile faded completely and she almost cried out from the sudden and outrageous longing she felt to see him smiling again.

He regarded her strangely until she realized she was staring. Her face flushed and she awkwardly looked away. He got up and walked past her in order to lean against the doorframe. Claire walked over and knelt down beside Lauren who was fiercely concentrating on arranging all her dolls on the tiny chairs. There was an elephant in a pink dress, two barbies, one blonde and one brunette. There was one chair that was missing an occupant.

"Do you mind a fourth guest?" She asked and Lauren looked up at her. Claire reached inside her bag and took out a cute, handmade mermaid doll she's seen the previous week at the thrift store. And last night when Levi had told her that Lauren liked mermaids, she'd passed by the store earlier and bought it for her. The doll had black hair and a pink glittery tail. "Here, I think she'll love to have some tea with your friends." She said and handed the doll over to Lauren whose eyes had gone wide with excitement.

"Oh wow she's sooo pretty. I like mermaids a lot."She said examining the doll, "What's her name?"

"She doesn't have one yet. You could name her if you like."

"Really?" And Claire smiled her confirmation. "Okay." she said and thought of a name.

"How about Marcy?" she asked while looking up at her, her eyes full of uncertainty.

Claire's smile widened, "I love it." And that earned her a pleased smile back.

Lauren put her little Marcy doll on the fourth chair next to the blonde barbie and the elephant "She can sit here next to Cece and Dory." She then turned to her, "Would you like to join my tea party?" She asked hesitantly as if expecting her to refuse.

That's when Claire suddenly realized that Lauren was probably very lonely. She had no one to play with and as kind as Pam was she was hardly the type to play games with a child. Claire's heart ached for her because not only did Lauren not have playmates she also didn't have a mother and Claire unfortunately knew what that felt like and it was worse for her because although her mother had been around she hadn't cared about her.

She sat down on the floor while saying, "I'd be honored." And her response earned her another beautiful, warm smile.

Claire had never owned any toys as a child nor had she ever played with other children, she had no idea how to go about it. She watched as Lauren placed a tea cup and saucer in front of her and then went on to pour imaginary tea into it from her little kettle. She then gave her a plate with plastic cookies in it. Claire followed her lead as they played pretend but she imagined that because she was so awkward it prompted Lauren to ask her, "Haven't you ever had a pretend tea before?"