Alexis Miller [Editing]

Chapter twenty eight: The Gallery

I had to lie to Cora about her dad. I told her he went away for a few days and would be back in no time. It hurts already knowing that I'll only see him in three months and that I had to lie to my own daughter.

“Cora! Come get your dolls so we can go." She runs into my bedroom where I am. She picks up all five of her dolls that she left from last night then runs out again.

I smile at her reflection in the mirror once she comes back in. She has her hands behind her and a huge smile on her face.

“Isn't that a pretty dress on a pretty girl." I turn around to look at her. She is wearing a light blue coloured thin strap, floral dress that reaches just bellow her knees. It is covered in white flowers of different sizes. She has a similar coloured hair tie holding back her blonde hair.

She giggles at my remark. I walk towards her to push a piece of hair away from her face. I turn around briefly to make sure I'm dressed appropriately.

I'm wearing a similar dress to Cora but mine is a dark, silk, navy blue (almost black) dress. It's strapless and reaches to just above me ankles with a short slit on the right side revealing a bit of my leg. I did my hair into a side braid.

I grab Cora by the hand and we walk out the door.

*****

As soon as we walk into the building a bunch of people are already there. I thought arriving at five thirty would at least get us time to talk to Sam but I guess so many other people had the same idea. “Okay Cora, always be somewhere I can see you." She nods her head.

A man in a white apron offers me a glass of champaign. I kindly decline because of this baby. Cora and I walk around talking to various different people. Everyone here seems to be living on the high end of live. Most of them wear expensive looking coats, watches and rings. I feel slightly out of place with my clothing.

Cora lets go of my hand and runs into a crowd of people, “Cora!" I shout after her. I try walking fast towards her but there are to many people and my ankles start to hurt. Once I reach past the crowd I see her standing there, in front of a bunch of photos.

I sigh a sigh of relief now that I found her. When I am next to her she smiles at me then points at the pictures in front of her.

I gasp at the sight before me. A huge grin makes its way onto my face as I step closer towards the photos. “You like?" Sam says from the right side of me. I just smile at her and fix my gaze back to the photos.

There are about ten photos shaped around each other in a spiral. All of them are in gray scale. I walk closer and touch the very first picture of the spiral. It's a picture of Cora, just after she was born. Her eyes are closed and I think she was asleep. The next picture is similar except she's still sleeping but in my arms. I have a genuine smile looking down at her.

My fingers glide across each photo and I stop on the sixth one. I look back at Sam and smile. It's a picture of Cora's birthday party.  Ryder is holding Cora and they are both laughing. In the corner of the photo is me, smiling at the both of them.

My hand continues to move until I reach the seventh picture. It's of me and Sam. She is holding up her camera and taking a picture of our reflection in the mirror. I have my arms around her shoulders and we are facing the mirror, pulling funny faces where we look at our noses and try to imitate the lips of a fish. “That's my favourite." Sam says.

I turn to give her a warm hug and slowly let go of my grip. As much as I want to enjoy this moment with Sam I also want to finish looking at the photos.

The next photo is of Cora eating an ice cream in the park. Her hair is in two ponytails and she's wearing a cute pink top with shorts. She is looking at a brownish butterfly that is flying above her so her head is tilted back and her toes pointed as she stands one them. A huge grin is on her face while her free hand is reaching out for the butterfly. It's so cute because it seems like she's at peace with the world, it seems like nothing could ever go wrong with her in that moment.