𝐎𝐛𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 (𝐛.𝐛)

Movie

Riley's squeal wakes up all of Jersey.

James opens the door as I relearn how to breathe.

"Riley?! Are you okay?" James says while kneeling down at the bed 6 feet away from mine.

"I had a nightmare, Daddy." Riley says while sobbing. James engulfed his daughter in his bare arms. I struggled out of the harsh mattress and ran my arm across James's shoulder, indicating him to follow me.

Thankfully he followed me into the kitchen with his daughter who is still sobbing into arms. Dad must've left the living room light on, leaving the yellow hue to light our path.

James stayed close behind. Not that he had too, but that he wanted too. I like the he wanted too.

"Set her on the counter." I whisper while rubbing my eyes. I grab a small glass Mom most likely found at a local antique shop and filled it with a small amount of milk. I turned and handed it to James who gave me a thank you smile.

Any smile would have done.

Riley let her father go as she drank the glass of milk. James and I watched her shoulders fall in relaxation.

"I'm sorry, Daddy." She whispers loudly.

"It's okay baby doll. Just drink your milk and you can get back to bed."

"Can I sleep with you?" She asks after a gulp. With those eyes, it'd be impossible for anyone to say no.

"Of course Ry." He says before turning to me.

I hate morning. I hate everything about them. The only good thing about mornings is coffee. And according to the stove, it's 4 in the morning. 6 hours before my morning cup of coffee.

"I'm sorry, she's been having nightmares lately." He whispers, leaning against the fridge. "She should be growing out of that stage soon." He adds.

"Don't worry about it, Josh was the same when he was a baby." I say wiping my eyes. "Can you hand me the mug behind you?" I ask. He nods his head while turning to pick up the red mug. My brother made it for me in art class when he was in 10th grade and I've used it ever since.

I turn around to the coffee machine behind me that has been used by my family for years. Dad calls it rusty but it's just... antique.

"Coffee at 4 in the morning?" He asks, leaning down to my side. Right next to my ear.

"Daddy I'm done." Riley says behind us. James turns around to face her.

He grabs her cup out of her hand. "Okay baby, hop into bed. I'll be there in a second, okay?" He says, running his hand across her cheek.

"Okay." She says through a yawn while slumping to the guest room. James turns to me and his hands wrap around my waist suddenly. But it's the warmest I've felt in a long time. He starts leaving small pecks across my open back. It felt like fire sparklers. My skin was burning under his mere breath let alone his body.

"I'm sorry we woke you up, Kara." He whispers into my shoulder blade, leaving a lingering kiss there. I let my head fall in satisfaction as the coffee finally starts brewing.

"It's okay, James."

I can hear and feel him sigh against me. "I just want you to know it's not gonna be the same with me." He starts, I could hear the emotion behind his words. "Us isn't just you and I. She's my life and I can't let someone walk out of it if they aren't ready to fill a void in her life."

I turn to him and wrap my arms around his chest, leaning my back against the counter tops. His hands moved to my hips and starts spreading the fire. But I didn't mind this fire.

"I know. And I'm scared but willing to give it a try." I say looking between his eyes. "God forbid this doesn't work out, I won't let it go without trying. Promise." I whisper, letting my thumbs caress the bare back that was growing goosebumps.

He kissed my forehead before his thumb hitched under my chin to give me a small peck on the lips. "Is it bad I'm like an addict when it comes to you?" I smile against his before hearing the lovely brewing stop. I turn excitedly to my coffee to see the rich, brown liquid steaming hot.

I grab the creamer that always sits next to the coffee pot and pour it in. I've tried to convince Dad to keep the creamer in the fridge (where it belongs) but he always tells us that "if the creamers cold it will make my coffee cold and I don't drink cold coffee."

I take a sip of the angelic drink to fall deeper into James's chest. "I could get used to this." I say before taking a much bigger gulp.

"Me too. But I have to go check on my daughter. I'll see you in there." He says against my head before kissing it again.

I could also get used to that.

Now that I'm up and I've already drank my coffee, I could get some work done. I head over to the study that Dad built for himself. He loved working in a library but he hated leaving Mom after her incident, so he built his own.

Books lined the walls from old law school books to the newest editions of his favorite lawyer, Scott Reinsland. He even has one of those Beauty and the Beast ladder on his bookshelf's. Not that he couldn't easily reach the top shelf, but my Mom loves the classic princess movie and wanted an excuse to have another DIY project.

My Dad couldn't have told her no even if he tried.

Their love is the one that is so rare, you can't capture just one moment of it. My Dad loves my Mom so much, he used to spray himself with water if he stared at another girl too long.

True story.

I open the desktop and sign into my work account before opening up my file for Rachel. We've been working on the restraining order just in Micheal walks out of jail with bail or something and tries to hurt Rachel again.

2 hours later

James is up now. And he's sitting right next
to me on the couch as the sun rises.

He had come checked up on me about 25 minutes ago and urged me to the couch. I was nervous at first since we haven't really had alone time since we decided we were a we.

But I like it. The way his thumb just slowly and slightly grazes my upper arm. His body heat warming me up and eating me alive. His other hand messing with my fingers and the few dainty rings that are a constant to any outfit. The tiniest gulps he makes or even the heavy sighs he has every now and then.

But I liked that he was here. In my family's home. With my family. And his.

"Do you think unicorns know they have horns?" He whispers. I stop and question it before bursting into laughter. Why in the world is a 30 year old man asking if questions about unicorns?

"I'm not sure, maybe ask your daughter." I finally let out with a few sighs.

"Okay. We should ask her after you and I go ice skating tomorrow." He says flirtatiously.

"I wasn't aware that was on our schedule."

He scoffs. "Obviously. It was on the itinerary."

"Oh. Well I definitely should've read that. My fault." I say sarcastically.

His chuckle only lasts a couple seconds in real life but replayed in my head like a movie.

I would totally make a movie with him.