Child of a King

Chapter thirty-foor - Paint

Holding onto Hope's tiny hands, I guided her over to the sandbox she had been pointing at earlier, squealing in excitement. Chantelle had said her daughter could take a few steps if someone helped her which makes sense as I had to tighten my grip on her hands as she wobbled forward on unsteady legs.

Plopping down on the soft sand, Hope clapped her hands together with a delighted squeal showing off a few of her little teeth.

Grinning, I sat down beside her, the warm sand grains brushing against my bare legs. Collecting a few shovels and buckets, I tried to show Hope how you could build a sandcastle. The small girl on the other hand found it funnier to smash the sand whenever I removed the bucket. Her little laugh and beaming eyes were too precious for me to get mad at. Instead, I allowed her to smash as many of the sandcastles as she wanted.

"It sounds like the two of you are having a good time", Uncle Anthony said as he squatted down beside the sandbox, sunglasses glistening from the reflection of the sun.

"We are", I giggled as Hope slammed her tiny fist into the newest puddle of sand, happily blabbering incoherent words.

Sitting with us for a few moments, Uncle Anthony played with us, building more sand figures for his daughter to smash.

"Stells, I was wondering if you mind doing me a favor", Uncle Anthony dwelled.

"What is it?" I asked, shifting my gaze from the bucket in my hands to him.

"You see", he moved to sit on the side of the sandbox, coming a bit closer to me. "Josiah hasn't visited your family before. I think he would be happy if you showed him around. Perhaps you could play together or something".

Humming thoughtfully, my vision drifted passed him and focused on the boy who was sitting by himself, his nose stuck in the iPad. "You think he would want to play with me?" I wondered uncertainly.

Yes, Josiah and I shared a moment last night but this morning it was like it never happened. He ignored my good morning, rolled his eyes when I asked how he slept and shoved my shoulder on the way outside. I was beginning to wonder if our moment even happened or if it was something that I dreamt. I couldn't tell why he acted the way he did or what I might have done that would make him mad at me.

"To be honest, I'm not quite sure", Anthony sighed, watching the boy too. "But I think it would be nice to ask him".

"I can try", I agreed, my mind drifting back to the moment in the hallway once again. It isn't easy.

"Thank you, sweetheart". Stroking my hair, Anthony swapped places with me in the sandbox so Hope wouldn't be playing alone. Brushing off the sand, I headed towards the patio where most of my family were lounging around, sipping cool drinks and chatting amongst them.

"Hi little darling". Ray smiled at me, a few playing cards held in one hand while a cigarette hung from the corner of his mouth.

"Hi", I mumbled, pausing beside him to watch him, Marc and Slade play. In all honesty, I wasn't that interested. It was more of like a small procrastination to gather more courage to approach Josiah.

Finally, after fumbling with my fingers for too long and watching a game I had no idea was about, I exhaled a deep breath, turning towards the lounge sofa where Josiah was hidden from the sun beneath the umbrella.

"Hi Josiah". Smiling kindly, I sat down beside him, catching a glimpse of whatever he was playing on the iPad.

"Don't bother", he muttered, his gaze remaining firmly on the screen in front of him where some characters were shooting at each other.

"What do you mean?" I frowned in confusion.

"I saw you speaking with Anthony". His thumb moved fast on the screen, making the character he was playing shoot multiple bullets at the same time. "I'm not some charity case for you to fix".