He Came Through the Window

Part 6

(Holland's Perspective)

Ayden grasped her hand in mine and pulled me down the crowded toy aisle. Her chilled fingers intertwined in mine, but somehow the chill sent a warm sensation through my body. I watched her caramel ponytail bob up and down as she swaggered down the aisle, and I tried to drown out children's shrieks and parents' chatting to drink in the sound of Ayden's giggling.

"Where are you taking me?" I laughed a bit, gripping her hand more tightly and jogging up to her side.

"To the toys," she replied matter-of-factly. "You have the list?"

"In my pocket." I patted my back jean pocket as I caught my breath. "You're too quick for me."

A sly smile stretched across her face. "I know."

We stopped at one of the store's back aisles and stood in front of shelfs upon shelfs of art supplies. I fished the crumbled piece of paper from my back pocket and looked over the writing. India's chicken scratch was scrawled clumsily across the lines in purple jel-pen.

"It's Crayola," I confirmed. "And it has different colored glitter paint with it."

Ayden knelt down to the lower shelves, running her finger over the labels and scanning the pictures of happy kids drawing with their friends. I covered the upper area, craning my neck to meet the products stocked far above Ayden's head. The top shelf was stocked with every other type of art set imaginable, most of which coming equiped with glow in the dark colors that were "no mess."

"Found it." Ayden had the multi-colored box in her hands, scanning the labels before handing it off to me. "Is this what she asked for?"

I recognized the picture of a happy little girl sprawled across a floor while she paints something like a heart or flower. The first color of paint I noticed was violet, India's favorite color. A crooked smile formed on my face. "Yeah, this is what she wanted."

Tucking the box under my arm, I fished my wallet from my back jean pocket and sifted through its contents. There were barely enough crumbled bills leftover to last until pay day.

"Here," Ayden broke the silence, and as I looked back from my wallet to her, she had a few bills in her hand. "take these."

I put a hand up. "No, Ayden-"

"Shh!" she gently pushed my hand away and reached up to set a finger on my lips. "It's no big deal. She's worth it."

I swallowed a lump in my throat and sighed, taking Ayden's finger from my lips and kissing her hand. Running my thumb over her soft, delicate hand, I couldn't help but smile again. "Thank you," I told her, looking into her lively, brown eyes.

She giggled and took my free hand in hers, leading the way to the register a few aisles away.

"I'll pay you back," I added, slowing my pace and letting her drag me.

"I won't let you, Holland," she snapped playfully, turning to flash me a satisfactory grin for a moment.

~~~

We weaved our way through hoardes of furious shoppers armed with plastic swords and orange jack-o-lantern buckets. The sale on candy was about to end, so women and children were hurrying to the register with bags upon bags of treats.

Eleven days until Halloween.

"So where does your dad think you are?" I asked Ayden as we marked a spot behind three different families in line. I held the art set under my arm and Ayden handled our combined money.

She snorted a bit and shook her head. "I just told him I was with my friends."

"Yeah, a special friend."

"Oh," She chuckled. "You're special alright." She lightly smacked my arm, earning a pull of the ponytail from me.

I scanned the surroundings as the line slowly inched forward. Children with wide grins plastered on their faces clutched the plastic coverings of their superhero and princess costumes, and mothers filled their carts with family-sized bags of Milky Ways and Hershey bars. A girl maybe around eight years old held a dancer costume to her chest. It looked like something India would wear.

We moved forward a bit more in line. There was only one family in front of us by that point.

"Do you think your dad would mind you going out tomorrow, too?" I asked, turning back to Ayden.

Her big eyes danced when she looked at me and laughed a little. "Sunday's his day off, he'll want to watch cartoons or something with me."

I laughed at the image of her father, the man who hated me and thought I had left the picture months before, the police officer who made the hair on the back of my neck stand up, watching Sunday cartoons with his little girl. "Well, can I steal you away in the afternoon?"

"Why?"

I grabbed Ayden's hand. "India really wants to see you, and it's been forever since my mom's seen you."

Ayden's expression hardened a bit and she averted her gaze to the floor. "Are you sure?"

"Yes!" I took her other hand as well and gripped them both tightly. "Please, Ayden, they both want to see you." I cleared my throat and swallowed a lump in my throat. My gaze fixed on Ayden's as my voice lowered. "We really don't know how many birthdays she has left."

She sighed and looked up at me, cracking a bit of a smile and nodding. "What time?"

I felt my expression soften and a weight lift off my shoulders. Leaning down, I kissed her soft, glossed lips and let my thumb stroke her cheek. She returned the kiss, her tongue sliding against mine delicately and sending sparks through me.

"Next!"

Our heads nearly knocked together at the sound of the elderly cashier's shrill voice. Looking up, we both moved to the front and set the art set down.

"Sorry, ma'am," Ayden and I apologized simultaneously.

"Mhmm." Her tone was irritable and impatient.

Ayden and I stood shoulder-to-shoulder in silence as the white-haired grouch rang us up. As she was distracted with the barcode on our purchase, I leaned closer to Ayden and breathed in her ear. "Be at my place around one tomorrow. We'll all leave around one."