Pure Bliss

9.

It took all day to get the house even close to looking normal. There was no way Nick or I could stay here. The windows were still broken and the front door still hadn't been fixed. Nothing would be open again until Monday, and it was only Saturday. Keagon drove me to Walmart though so I could get some necessities. I was to stay with him until everything was fixed. He wouldn't budge. I even got mad at him, telling him this was my life, my decision. He just laughed at me. Stupid man!

Walking around, I got a few outfits for Nick, and some for me. I decided to go ahead and buy myself two more books since mine were ruined along with everything else. I then got showering stuff and toothbrushes. Keagon informed me he had plenty of toothpaste. He tried to buy the stuff for me, but I put my foot down on that one. No way that was happening. I may live off of a teachers salary,  but I know how to save money. My older brother Nicholas had also left me all of his money when he passed in a car crash. So I had plenty and didn't need a pigheaded man paying for it.

That's who Nick was named after. My older brother. Nicholas was always like me. Carefree. Wanted to see the world. He never married or had kids. He was ten yeas older. And was 32 when he passed. He left everything to me, making my parents angry. He didn't own a house or car, just money. I rarely got into it, but I had a feeling with fixing the house, I'm gunna need it!

"You okay, over there?" Keagon asked once we got settled into the truck.

"Yeah, I am fine. Just thinking what all I need to do with the house."

"Don't worry about that right now. How about we go get the kids and all of us go out to dinner? Wind down from the stressful day." He looked over at me with a smile.

"I think that sounds amazing! What's good? Honestly I haven't been out since I moved here. I just cook at home." He looked at me like I was crazy, then his face turned to a mischievous smile.

"What?" I asked a little nervous.

"How about making it a date then?" He surprised me once again.

"What about the kids?" I didn't want to leave them behind. Plus, Paige had already watched them all day.

"They would come, of course! Sophie and I can show you the town. Go to a nice dinner. What do you say?" He seemed so excited. His eyes twinkled, making me smile that I had something to do with that. I couldn't tell him no.

"A date?" He simply nodded, waiting.

"I have nothing nice to wear." He looked me over for a moment making me feel self conscious.

"You look the same size as Paige. I'm sure she has something, and she wouldn't mind."

"Well, as long as she doesn't mind." I sent him a wide smile.

"A date it is then! I'll drop you off at Paige's, then pick you in an hour. How about that?" I couldn't help but laugh at his eagerness. I nodded and blushed as he looked at me with such intense eyes. He then threw the truck in drive and headed for her house.

Thirty minutes later I was ready to kill Paige. "Paige step away!"

"Geeze Claire. Don't look so murderous. I'm only trying to help." She sighed, coming at me with the curling iron again.

"And I appreciate that, I really do. But is all of this necessary? " I groaned.

"Keagon told me this was a date. Yes. It is very much necessary. Now shut up, and sit down before I burn you on purpose!"

I finally gave up. She had given me a black dress and some dressy flats. They were really nice and fit perfect. Nick was in the corner playing with some new toys I bought him. He was dressed in a nice shirt, jeans and some tennis shoes. I had retrieved the car seat from my car and Keagon said he would put it in the truck. I was starting to get nervous. When he said date, I thought he meant like get together. Not a date-date. I haven't been on one of those in years. Probably close to 4 years. I never knew what to do or how to act. So this time, I was going to try not to worry and just wing it. I mean, the kids would be with us, so it shouldn't be that bad. Right?

"Done!" Paige exclaimed. Her brown hair bouncing as she clapped and blue eyes glowing. I don't know why I never saw the resemblance between the two. Looking now, you could definitely tell they were related.

I looked in the mirror and smiled. She had pulled my hair up and curled the pieces framing my face. I had little makeup on. Just some eye liner, mascara, and lip gloss. I never saw the point in learning how to put on all that crap. If someone liked you, then they wouldn't care how you looked without make up. That's why I never wore it. I wanted someone to fall in love with me, and how I looked without being all dolled up. There I go again, being a hopeless romantic. I'm starting to think it will get me no where.

"It looks great, P. Thank you!" I gave her a hug. I pulled apart as soon as the door bell rang, feeling nerves take over my body once again. It's not a real date. I repeated over and over.

"I'll get it!" Paige yelled as she rushed down the stairs.

I rechecked the diaper bag to make sure I had everything, then picked up Nick. "Well here goes nothing." I said to myself before heading down stairs.

Walking into the living room the first thing I saw was Sophie. She was dressed in a pink dress that had flowers everywhere. Her blonde hair was straight and she wore pink shoes. She looked like a little princess.

"Ms. Claire. You look sooo pretttyy." I laughed as she grabbed the edge of her dress and swayed back and fourth.

"And you look like a princess!" I exclaimed.

"Yay!" She smiled before it slipped a little bit. "Daddy couldn't do my hair though." She sighed.

"Awe sweetie, come here. I know just what to do! I'm sure your daddy tried hard though." She quickly ran to my side, nodding, letting me know he did try. Poor man. I'm sure he felt awful that he made her sad when he couldn't do something. I put Nick down in the playpen then took her into the bathroom sitting her on the closed toilet seat. I then took two peices from one side, parted them, grabbed a different peice and put it between the two. Taking the first two pieces I twisted it around the other and repeated making a waterfall effect. After I was finish with both sides, I connected them in back with a bobby pin.

"How about that princess?" I lifted her up so she could see the mirror.

"Oh Ms. Claire. I love it," she gushed. She then looked to the side, "Daddy, look at my hair!"

I quickly turned around surprised to see Keagon had stepped into the bathroom watching us. How long had he been there?

"I see baby girl. I'm glad you like it. Ms. Claire did a great job!" He said with a big smile, looking me over. I then sat Sophie down and watched as she ran off. As soon as she was out of sight, Keagon wrapped his arms around me in a hug.

"You look beautiful," he whispered in my ear. I blushed a deep red muttering a quick thank you.

When he pulled back I was finally able to get a good look at him as well. He was wearing black dress pants and shoes with a nice blue button up shirt and a black tie. "Wow. You look great too."

"You sound surprised," he said as he lead me out of the bathroom with his hand on the small of my back.

"No!" I rushed to say. "I..I'm just not used to seeing you dressed up, is all?" Damn it, I stuttered. Ugh.

A deep laugh echoed through the hall, memorizing me. "I'm giving you a hard time Claire."

My shoulders finally relaxed. After getting Nick out of the play pen, we all made our way to the truck. I really hope this didn't turn out to be a disaster!