Accidentally In Love

Stalling

Emma's POV

During breakfast, Melody bombarded me with a million questions. I had to listen very closely because it was difficult to understand most of what she said with her cute, little baby lisp.

Even though Melody was only three years old and barely reached up to my waist, she was sort of intimidating. I felt like a suspect being interrogated for some extremely heinous crime. The girl would make for an excellent cop some day.

None of the questions were hard to answer, they were simple, little trivial things like my favorite color, and how old I was. The reason I felt like I was in the hot seat was because of how relentless she was.

I was afraid if Melody didn't like one of the answers I gave, she'd throw a hissy fit and hate me. And I really didn't want that to happen considering how much Killian clearly adored his little niece. Children were known to be good judges of characters, and if Melody decided she wasn't a fan of mine, what did that say about me?

Cool your jets, Emma. The kid is only three years old. All you have to do is talk about cute puppies and kittens, and she'll be your best friend, I reminded myself.

"I'm going to start loading up the dishwasher," Killian announced as he stood up and gathered our plates and silverware. "In the meantime, why don't you show Emma some of your toys, Mel?" He encouraged.

"Otay, come on, Em Em," Melody ushered, grabbing my hand to tug me to her Hello Kitty backpack laying on the couch.

We sat down and she started unpacking a bunch of nicknacks out of the sparkly pink bag. I felt Killian come up from behind me, resting his hands on my shoulders. He leaned down and pressed a kiss to my cheek, making me instantly blush.

"She gave you a silly nickname, that means she likes you," he smiled against my skin.

"It's cute," I giggled. "She's a sweetie pie."

"Aye, when she wants to be," Killian chuckled. "You lasses have fun playing while I clean up." He pecked the top of my head and than sauntered towards the kitchen.

When I turned back around to face Melody, my eyes went wide. How the hell could so many stuff animals fit in such a tiny bag?

"Wow, you've got a lot of little friends there," I noted with a laugh.

"That one my favwit," she informed, pointing towards a black dog that resembled Buckley in the mountain of plush. "Uncle Killy get her for me."

"She's cute," I smiled as Melody handed me the fluffy toy. "What's her name?"

"Lulu," Melody answered proudly, petting her head "She Bucksy's wittle sister?"

"Can she do any tricks like Buckley?"

Killian had taught Buckley a wide range of tricks. From the basic sit, stay, and roll over, to the tad more complex fetch, shake, and heel. He'd even taught him to ring a bell on the front door when he had to go to the bathroom.

I teased Killian constantly that he was making a money out of poor Buckley, which resulted in him always coming back with how it kept the dog's mind fresh.

"No, silly," Melody shook her head, her voice slightly condescending. "She no real."

"Oh, right. Forgot about that," I thumped the heel of my hand on my forehead, playing along. She squealed out a rather loud giggle at my silliness, making me laugh as well. 

"Do you have a dog?" She asked.

"No, but I've always wanted one." With how much we had moved, the only pet Mom allowed me to have was a goldfish. But after I accidentally killed five in a row, I gave up on the whole institution of it.