Penny Takes the Stage

Bonus Chapter: A Day at the Beach

AN: I am such a sucker for you guys lol 😉❣️

Cameron tilted his head back, eyes closed, and enjoyed the feel of the sun on his body. Of course, he had to be careful of his face, and always had strong sunscreen on it. His surgeon, Dr. Garcia, had done a superb job of closing up the wounds left by Frederick Berenson, and his face now looked like it was criss-crossed by myriad fine white lines. His eye still drooped a little bit, but even that was only really noticeable when he was very tired or had been drinking. He could hear the famed waves of Malibu washing up on the sand, and, even more pleasant than that, he could hear the laughter of Penny, his sister and baby as the cold water washed over them.

"Ohh, did the baby get cold?" Vivi asked in that extra high voice reserved for animals and very small children.

"Baby cold, baby cold!" Erina mimicked, and Cam could picture her perfectly, clapping her hands and kicking her little feet in the wet sand, her mother's beautiful green eyes glowing in her face. She was wearing her blue two piece bathing suit today, so her round tummy and lovely fat thighs would be showing.

"Hi."

Cam shaded his eyes and turned toward the voice, which was very young and female. He saw a little girl of about seven or eight sitting cross legged next to his lounge chair. She had curly red hair and blue eyes, and freckles that covered nearly her entire face.

"Hello there, young lady," he responded. He looked around and saw what must be her family, farther down the beach, and relaxed. The oldest, a young woman with a pony tail, had looked over and seen her, so it was a obviously okay for her to be talking to him.

"What happened to your face?" The girl asked with the honest and frankness of the very young.

"Well, a really mean man wanted to hurt me, and he would've done much more, but then my girlfriend came home and saved me from him," Cameron responded. He figured her directness deserved the same candor.

"Is that her in the water? The pretty one with the brown hair and the baby?" The little girl pointed.

"Yes, mm hm. The blonde one is my sister."

"Oh. Those girls over there are my sisters. The big one is our nanny."

They sat in companionable silence for a few moments.

"Does it hurt? Your face, I mean."

"Not so much anymore, though it did at first, very much."

"It looks kinda interesting, like you have a map on your face," the little girl said, scrunching up her face in a wonderful smile. "Though I am sorry that horrid man did that to you." She reached out as though to touch his scars, then pulled her hand back. "You must have been really pretty before." She heard her words and backtracked. "I mean, you're still really pretty, your eyes and everything, so I can tell what you looked like before." She was starting to blush, which was very obvious because of her coloring. "I'm sorry, I'm really sorry, I didn't--"

"It's okay, honest," Cameron told her sincerely. "I know what you mean. Thanks for telling me I'm pretty."

"My mother is really beautiful," the girl explained. She has red hair like me, and curly, too, that's how I know what pretty looks like. People tell me I look like her sometimes, but I know I have too many freckles."

"Oh no, don't say that!" Cameron protested, sitting up. "You're very pretty, and I have no doubt you'll be just as beautiful as your mother when you're all grown up!"

The little girl scrunched up her face again as she gave Cameron a dazzling smile. "You have a little accent, like my daddy," she remarked, changing the subject with a fluidity and ease that was a little bit dizzying.