A New Dawn

Chapter 44 - Briar

Idris runs ahead to tell my family about his decision. I want to come with him, but I still have to watch Amalia. It's not until another hour or so that her dad texts me to bring her home. I have to fight the urge to run and drag Amalia after me just to know all the details about the dinner, managing to walk slowly while Amalia skips next to me, her hand in mind.

"Where's Idris?" she asks.

"He needed to tell my family something," I say, lifting my hand as she jumps on a bench and skips across it.

When she jumps back on the ground and continues to skip, she asks, "Is he telling your family he wants to marry you?"

I laugh, making a mental note to mention this to Idris and use it to tease him later. "No. That's not what he's telling them."

"What else would he say to your family?"

I smile down at her. "If they want to have dinner with his family."

"So he can ask to marry you?"

Oh, my God, this child... "No, Amalia. Just to talk."

She frowns, but she doesn't push the matter. "Where are you gonna have dinner?" Her eyes light up and she gasps before I have the chance to respond. "You should have dinner at Tasting Symphony!"

I shrug, adjusting my grip on my guitar. "That's up to Idris."

She tugs on my arm. "You should tell him to pick Tasting Symphony, so you can sing for everyone again."

I doubt Idris' family wants to hear me sing. It looked like they thought my voice was pretty good, but that doesn't mean they like me enough to sit through a song or two. "I'll let Idris decide."

Amalia nods and changes the subject to other things. Mostly cartoons and Broadway Musicals. Sometimes she'll ask me to sing a random part of a song, and I oblige. She gives me the most adorable smile every time, and it makes me want to sing even more.

Something about that look is rewarding. Like someone's in awe of my performance. But it's not just that. Honestly, if that was the case, I would've quit performing way sooner than I did because there were people who made sure I knew they weren't awed at all. Myron's the only one that got to me because of how aggressive and insistent he was about it.

I let that make me forget about how nice it is to get lost in the performance and explore different parts of my personality through characters. Or getting lost in pent-up emotions when I let it out through performing.

And I covered it up with the idea that it wasn't really what I wanted and it was just something forced on me. And I pinned it on Grandpa... I need to talk to him about that...

Amalia lets go of my hand and runs up the porch steps to the front door. She lifts herself on her toes and hits the doorbell. I'm just coming up behind her when a woman opens the door. Amalia gasps and throws herself at the woman.

"Mommy!" she exclaims.

Mrs. Lambert smiles and wraps Amalia in a hug. "I missed you too, sweetheart."

Amalia pulls away and grabs her mom's hand. "Can we go play now?"

Mrs. Lambert glances past Amalia to me. "In a minute. Let me talk to..."

"Briar," I smile, holding my hand out. "It's nice to finally meet you, Mrs. Lambert."

She takes my hand and firmly shakes it. "Please, call me Coralie." She releases my hand and gently brushes some stray hairs out of Amalia's eyes. "Armand and Amalia have said a lot of nice things about you."