Unexpected

Chapter 37

We sat at a terrace with a wonderful view to the blueish sea in front of us, and under a huge shadow provided by a white awning above our heads. We put Willow's stroller in the middle of us and we sat face to face so we were able to talk. Immediately, the waitress brought us the carts and we both chose grilled fish and fresh water to drink. Then, Willow became really cranky and we both tried to divert her attention so she'd stop bothering the other people in there with her persistent whimpering, but our baby was insistent and maybe feeling uncomfortable.

"I think it's too hot for her." I told him.

"And she's fighting her sleep." James added.

"She's like that. She's so stubborn." I smiled looking at my daughter who had stopped crying for a moment and was watching me attentively. Maybe expecting me to hold her. "I need to go to the toilets." I said after and James nodded.

"Go ahead. I'll take care of her." He smiled. "Right, princess?" He asked then making a face at willow who smiled instantly at him.

When I came back he was holding the baby. James sat her on the edge of the table while holding her under her arms and his hands supporting her little head.

"She was crying..." He said as some sort of excuse, or I felt it that way.

"James..." I called his name to make him look at me. "You don't have to explain to me why you took her off the stroller. It's ok..." I said in reassurance. "She's mine as much as she's yours. So, even if you just felt like just holding her it's ok." I wanted James to feel free to deal with Willow the way he wanted. "I do that too. Why do you think she has all these vices?" I giggled.

"She's so cute." He added with a smile on his lips while looking at her and my heart raced so much that moment where I saw so much tenderness in his eyes.

"She looks like you..." I said.

There, his eyes encountered mine and we stayed in silence. But it was true... Willow looked so much like him it was impossible to ignore it.

"You were right..." He said breaking the awkward silence. "She was hot in the stroller..." James explained. "...the back of her neck was just soaked wet in perspiration."

"Let's see how se behaves once the food is here as she has to come back in it."

Willow behaved relatively alright, letting us eat not in a rush to leave the place, but also not as relaxed as I wanted to. Still, it was alright and still she didn't close her eyes to sleep. There were moments where we both thought she would, but just the second after she'd open her eyes wide open and stared at one of us, making us laugh and comment about it. We talked like two normal people. There was no awkwardness after a while. No silent moments, and it was as if no sort of fights ever happened between us. There wasn't also weird subjects. Our talk that morning had been enough for us to be alright. I guess we needed that. We needed to have a decent and honest conversation to come to terms with our past.

After lunch, we decided to prolong our getaway from Kirk's house and we walked along the pier until we found a traditional market that we decided to visit. Willow, lost in her will to sleep and stubbornness to not do so, became cranky and James held her in his arms while I pushed the empty stroller. We stopped at every tent admiring the local art craft and Willow ended up falling asleep in his arms. James tenderly carried our little girl against his chest and her head leaning against his shoulder and since he didn't put her back in the stroller, I also let him carry her that way. Sometimes we stopped as people wanted to talk to him. Other times we'd just talked friendly and laugh with his jokes or funny things we'd see. I bought some tops and a funny hat for Willow, and James bought two pairs of shorts. Again, we looked like a family, but we weren't one. We were just parents of the same little girl he was holding in his arms.