Innocent

Chapter Sixteen

NOT to come off rude, but there is nothing special about the party Amaya was throwing. The usual items like food and drinks were set up with people already feasting on them. The decorations were simple yet elegant all in lavender and royal purple shades. The floor was covered in black rose petals which everyone's feet began to trample on and big, purple ribbons were tied on every corner of the ballroom.

I've heard rumors around that this was no ordinary anniversary party. They said that Amaya might even get engaged today which isn't hard to believe considering how long she had been with this lucky guy she speaks of.

Being extra cautious, Alfred decided for me to take all my bodyguards who all looked dashing in their black suits. Many single ladies passed by us and not one ever failed to glance at each one of my guards with lust in their eyes. It bothered me a little, but it wasn't like I owned any of the men to be jealous.

The music had just begun. Everyone joined and held hands with their partners, merrily swaying across the ballroom floor. Everyone except my three body guards, Liam, and I. Although a few ladies had went up to them to ask for a dance, the men politely dismissed their offer.

There weren't much little children to play with Liam, and I was beginning to think that he would rather be at home than here. I watched a pout grow on his angelic face and it broke my heart seeing him so lonely.

Then, a bright idea came into my head. I excused myself and Liam to Grey and explained that we would just be at the balcony outside near the ballroom.

"Mom? Where are we going?" Liam asked, but I did not reply to him. Instead, I slowly draped the curtains just enough so that no one would see us outside but enough to have a small stream of lighting. Once I was done, I shut the glass door behind us, leaving a small gap for the music and laughter to seep through the outside.  I quickly turned around to face Liam and embraced him into a tight hug.

I nuzzled my nose in his hair and whispered to him, "There aren't any other children around for you to play with. Want to dance with mommy instead?" I felt his head bob up and down. I took Liam's palms in mine and we began to twirl around in a circle slowly, just us mother and son.

Liam suddenly moved a bit faster, finally matching the slight upbeat of the music inside and pulled me along with him in our non symmetric circle.  We both laughed at how silly we were but we did not care about what others would think of us. This is the most fun I have had in awhile with just my son and I together. No one else could ruin this moment for us. 

The upbeat of the music slowly faded away and this is when Liam stopped dancing. We both breathed in some air in our lungs and tried to calm our racing hearts and laughter.

Then, he looked up to my face as I looked down at his. Seeing that his neck was straining from looking up to me, I bent down to match his eye level instead. In a quick motion, he wrapped his slender arms around my neck and squeezed tightly as if afraid that I was going to leave. He whispered softly in my ear, "Mom, thank you for being the best mom in the whole world. I love you." As a response, I gave him a gentle squeeze and whispered the last phrase back to him.

"I love you too, my Liam."

The drapes were abruptly pulled back which left a bigger stream of light to cascade towards the outside. The glass door began to creak open. Both Liam and I turned our attention to the boy who had intruded our moment. 

The boy's mouth opened in surprised and began to apologize repeatedly. "Oh, I am so sorry. My apologies. I thought no one would be out here. I'll just find another place-" The boy began to turn back around hastily.

"Wait!" I exclaimed and he flinched.

"Please, stay," I urged him, "You can hang around with my son if you'd like. We were just having a few moments to escape from the inside. There aren't any children around his age here that's why."