A Walk to Eden

16

"Eden!" I yell from the back of the store. I almost have the entire room cleaned out, just a few more boxes to sort through. "Eden?" I yell again. Where is this girl? I walk to the front looking around and I hear giggling from behind the counter. I peek over and see Eden and Sam coloring. "Well. What's going on here?" They both look up at me.

"Coloring." Sam smirks.

"It's a very enticing process." Eden says. Me and Sam both look at her. "What?" She asks.

"Where did you learn that word from?" I ask.

"I dunno. Heard it somewhere and looked it up." She grins.

"Smart kid." Sam chuckled. He stands up leaving Eden to continue coloring. "Hey. I got a question for you."

"What's up?" I ask.

"You two busy later?" He asks. I shake my head. "Good. Mom is making dinner and we are throwing a bon fire. You two should come over and hangout."

"Sounds good." I smile.

"Oh. Another question." He says.

"No." I state. He blinks at me and I giggle. "What's your question Sammy?" I ask. He smirks.

"I like it when you call me that." I stare at him. "Anyhoo, my question is, can i kidnap Eden?"

"Kidnap? I'm down." She jumps up, sitting on the counter.

"What?" I ask him. "Kidnap?"

"Not actually. But I noticed things were slow, and you seemed busy sorting again, so I thought I could take her out for some ice cream or something." He says. Eden nods her head and he looks at her and smiles.

"If that's okay with her. Not too much ice cream though." I say. They both jump up and high five one another.

"Okay. Do you just want me to bring her to our house after? Since it's only a couple of hours until you close?" He asks.

"I guess. You don't have to if you don't want to." I say.

"I want to. She can learn how to build a fire from Jake." He grins.

"Jake? I thought Josh was the pyromaniac?" I giggle.

"No no. Definitely Jake. Though, josh loves lighting things on fire too. It's a family trait." He chuckles and picks Eden up and sets her on the ground. He looks at her. "Why don't you get your stuff and say by to mom." He pays her head. She goes running off to the back where her coat and shoes are. "I like that kid." He says.

"Really? What makes you think that?" I ask.

"Well. Only really for one reason." He smirks. "It's not because she's absolutely hilarious, or smart, or sassy, but because of one special reason." I blink at him. "Its because she's always barefoot." He laughs. I brake into a smile.

"We both are always barefoot." He nods.

"I noticed that." He says. Eden comes running back out.

"Bye mama! I'll eat some ice cream for you!" She runs past us saying.

"Hey wait a minute!" I yell. She quickly turns around and looks at me. I raise my eyebrow at her. "Forgetting something?" She laughs and runs to me. She jumps into my arms and I hug her tight. "Now. Be good for Sam. Mind your manners and behave for Mrs. Kiszka when your there. Got it?" She nods and salutes me. Sam laughs and walks her outside.

Though I'm not used to letting Eden go anywhere without me, i really do trust Sam with her. He really pays attention to Eden and everyone else is not that attentive. Jake is a child at heart and would accidentally lose her. Danny is to nice and won't say no, and she would get anything she wanted. And Josh... I haven't really talked to Josh for a bit. Now thinking about it, i don't know how it's going to be when we see each other tonight. Will it be awkward?

*Eden POV*

"Sammy." I stare.

"What?" He asks. Oblivious monkey.

"You need to tighten the strap." I say. He looks around my seat and looks confused. I pull the strap next to my leg and tighten it.

"Why does it need to be that tight?" He asks.

"Because." I loosen the strap and start to wiggle down the seat. "If it's not tight, I could slip out." I say.

"Well. Don't slip out." We both laugh and he tightens the strap. "That any better?" I nod and he smiles shutting my door. We're driving and finally FINALLY get to the ice cream shop. Sam gets out and starts walking away from the truck.

"Sammmy!!!!!" I yell. He spins around and starts pretending he can't hear me. I sigh and unbuckle myself. He sees me hop out of the seat and he opens my door.

"Oops. I forgot I stole a four year old that is as smart as a thirty eight year old." He smiles. He picks me up and carries me inside. We're looking at the flavors and we both spot the best one there. We look at each other and smile.

*Sam POV*

"Mmmmmmmm!" Eden sighs eating on the birthday cake flavored ice cream.

"What's your mom's favorite?" I ask.

"Strawberry." She says licking her spoon. "She's very boring when it comes to ice cream. She's no connoisseur like us." She giggles. I laugh and shake my head. We eat in silence for a moment and she perks up again. "You gonna throw mama a party?" She asks.

"What do you mean party?" I ask and she stares at me. "What?"

"Mama needs a party." She glares. I look at her confused. "Oh. You must not know." She smiles getting another spoon full. "Mama's birthday is next week."

"What?!" I yell. Eden nods and I start panicking. "She never told me!"

"Well. That makes sense. She doesn't tell anyone." She says.

"Why not?" I ask.

"Well, grandpa never threw mama a party. And it's always just me and her on our birthday's." She says. That's so sad.

"We can throw her a party." I say. She nods and eats another bite. "But your going to have to help me." I smirk knowing Eden would definitely want to help. She looks at me with a big grin on her face and nods quickly. We start talking about a plan and how we are going to sneak her mom out of the house. The sun is slowly setting and I check my phone. Shoot! The store is about to close and I need to get Eden to the house. "Alright! We gotta move!" I scoop Eden up and quickly, but carefully, place her in the truck and speed off.