Right Here

Part 2: Morning Hustle and Night Time Bustle

Little fingers touch my cheek and then suddenly disappear. Opening my eyes, I find Max hustling Luna back to the kitchen. She must've escaped. Sitting up, I stretch and yawn and get up off the couch. It surprisingly was very comfortable last night. I think it's comfier than my own couch. Then again the Teal Beast is quite old. It isn't what it used to be.

"Sorry." Max says as he notices I'm up.

"That's quite alright. There are worse ways to be woken up. Good morning Munchkin!" I take her from Max and she smiles. She very rarely speaks to anyone but Max. She has a great vocabulary for being two, but is so introverted that she refuses to talk.

She just smiles and hides her face in my neck. She's such a tiny tot. She's below the 5th percentile for being 2 years old.

"Luna, say good morning." Max tries to get her to talk and she shakes her head and just taps her little fingers against the other side of my neck.

"That's okay. It's just wonderful seeing you this early in the morning." I sway from side to side and give her a kiss on her forehead.

"Did you sleep okay last night?" I look up at Max and smile.

"Yes, was very comfortable."

"Coffee?" He offers me a cup and I nod. He places it in front of me and I smile graciously.

"5 more to go." I say and he smirks.

"Still keeping count?"

"Yes." Luna finds some of my hair with her little hand and plays with it. "Did you find a bead?"

Luna holds the strand up and reveals the dark brown bead I have in my hair. She smiles and her thumb rubs over the its smooth surface.

"There's more there. I have pretty gold ones and in a few days I'll put red and green ones in. What do you think, Lu?" She just taps her little fingers against me and smiles sweetly. "She is so precious."

"Just wait, she's a stink pot. She looks all sweet and innocent, but in time she will have you pulling your extensions out." Sipping my coffee, I sit down at the table with Luna on my lap. She sits up and looks at me sideways and then touches my earrings in my left ear.

"I hardly believe that. Tell Daddy you only act like a stinker to get his goat!" She laughs and lays her head back on my shoulder. Max comes over with some eggs and bacon and sliced toast and sets mine in front of me. "Mmm, thank you."

"Your welcome. Work is going to go bye fast today. I can tell."

"Why?"

"Because I have a big conference this morning with NIH to discuss Valentina."

"Oh...is it that bad?"

"Apparently. They told me yesterday that they had been following closely with her research and that what they have in their findings is a make or break situation." I'm responsible for this one. I took notice of how she was messing up her numbers to make her drug look better, but in doing so she was also making many of her patients worse. So, I switched a few labels and set her research on it's path to destruction. All to save my used to be patients from her experimentation. With a little call to my friend Andrea at NIH: Valentina won't know what hit her by the end of the day.

Should I tell Max I had a hand in this...or should I keep to myself and play oblivious?

"Huh, Max, I need to tell you something..." His phone goes off. A sign not to tell him! Okay! Alright! Good!

"Excuse me for a moment." He gets up and heads to his bedroom. He shuts the door and I feel the pressure.

"Hi..."