Ten minutes. That's what it took for him to be back home after picking up his dear girl.
Those minutes had be spent in a lovely way.
He had sat there, hands on the steering wheel, as the young girl told him about her day.
Michael was so amazed at how excited she was about everything and most of the time, to others, those things were insignificant. Like how one of her friends had given her a new pen or how she had written her name in cursive , on her French assessment, in a neat and beautiful way.
Things like these were what made him love her so much. She had so much to say all the time and he was more than willing to sit there, for hours, and listen to all of her train of thoughts.
He wished he had all the time in the world, and he'd make it, just for her, if he could.
But now, as he parked in the family's driveway, he was thrown back into reality. Where sadly, he lived a lie.
His self pity time was cut short though because of how the girl jumped out of the car, her school bag on her shoulders as she stumbled her way to the front door.
His eyes widened at that. God Forbid he'd let the little angel hurt herself by carrying such a heavy bag.
And with that thought, he hurried out of the car, keys in the front pocket of his dress pants, and he caught up to her.
"Love, here. Hand me your bag, yeah?"
Never had he ever not spoken to her in a gentle way. How could he? For a teenager, she still had the innocence so many looked for and he wouldn't dare to upset her to the point where her eyes would tear up.
Oh, he wouldn't be able to forgive himself if such thing happened.
As he looked down at her, due to their great height difference, a smile appeared on her lips and she started to pull the bag off her shoulders before and amiably handed it over to him.
"Thank you!"
Michael knew that her thanks were sincere. Never had she ever did a bad thing, on purpose that is.
Sure, she did use some white lies to get out of certain situations.
It was a common thing for anyone but hers, were not that shameful of lies.
Sometimes she did lie about who ate the last cookie or who forgot a glass of water in the living room.
But that was it, she was an honest girl. A pure darling.
Michael shook his head at that thought. Such a good girl she was.
After grabbing her school bag, he watched as she ran up to the door and turned the knob of it just before he could tell her to not run so she wouldn't fall.
She was so full of energy, even after a long school day, that to other teenagers, seemed to never end.
As soon as the man stepped foot into the residential house, he was engulfed in marvellous aromas.
He placed his step daughter's bag on the floor and then made his way into the kitchen.
What he noticed first was his sweetheart, sitting at the table, rambling on about her day to her mother.
He warmly smiled at her before noticing his wife who was in front of the stove, stirring what seemed to be pasta.
Michael approached his spouse and wrapped his arms around her waist. He placed a kiss just on the side of her neck, and felt her shiver.
