Momentary Bliss | Dark A.I|

Chapter 4

Taking her hand in mine I began leading her back towards the way I came. Food and then plan that's what I had promised and that's what I would deliver. We began walking back towards my house, her small fast steps trying to match my larger strides. 

"Alright Miss" I began "What are we feeling for breakfast this fine morning?" Her face scrunched up in thought "mmmmm eggs" she began "no... Pancakes!" she continued, "wait wait wait eggs AND pancakes!" She concluded smiling widely. "Eggs and pancakes it is." I said taking her suitcase from her. 

We kept walking, a peaceful silence falling onto the two of us, both of us lost in our own thoughts until finally I could see the brick outside of the house that I guess I should start calling home. "Here we are" I said pointing to the house, " Irwin's bed and breakfast." I said as I started to ascend up the steps of the porch, she followed behind hopping up each step. 

Walking into the kitchen I set her things on the ground "I'm home!" I called out to the guys upstairs. " Alright Miss Sage you go ahead and make yourself right at home while the chef starts whipping us up some breakfast." She plopped herself down on one of the bar stools, still clutching the bunny close to her chest. I began to move towards the fridge grabbing the ingredients for our breakfast, or dinner or whatever you wanna call it. 

I started to mix together the ingredients for the pancake batter, turning back to her with the bowl in my hands. " So I live here with three other guys, we are actually in a band which I guess you could say is how we know each other." I started to explain my situation to her, for now I would leave out how we met, but she still deserved to know at least a little something. She looked around at the house taking it all in. 

" I know it's a lot but our band is slowly gaining popularity, I guess right now you could call it a passion project." I said setting the batter down. "Cool" she said, still looking around, I could tell my life as an entertainer did not impress her in the slightest. It stung slightly but nothing my ego couldn't take. " It's nice" she finally said " big house". " Big enough for five" I said, smiling slightly. 

"Is scrambled ok?" I asked pulling the eggs out of the fridge. "Perfect" was the only response I got, although I could hear her stomach rumble in agreeance. Cracking the eggs onto the stove I began the second part of our mission, the plan. 

" So Miss Sage" I began tentatively "do you have somewhere that you plan to stay while you wait for your dad?" I asked scrambling the eggs. She shrugged, looking away in what I could only guess was slight embarrassment. " Guess not" she finally mumbled hiding her face in her well loved bunny. 

"Well I was thinking" I said turning back to her "maybe you could stay here?" Her eyes widened and I waited in pure anticipation. " I could... stay here?" she asked "with you?" I could see the uncertainty in her eyes. "Well yeah, the house is big enough, our band makes enough money, and honestly we've all been looking for something to spice up our lives a little bit more." I told her honestly.

 "Look at it this way" I began "free food, free bed, some new friends, and it's only temporary. Once your dad is healthy and ready to come home you can go right back." I looked at her expectantly but I could still see the hesitation on her face "what do you have to lose?" After a couple moments of pondering she came to a decision. "Alright" she said softly "but just until daddy is better." I turned to her with a wide smile on my face "sounds like a plan" I said handing her a plate of freshly cooked eggs and pancakes. 

As soon as she saw the food she inhaled it leaving no crumbs behind. For a second I truly thought she would eat the plate as well. "Hungry are we?" I asked between laughs. Her face turned red. "Gotta eat for two, and me and Mr.Snuggles are starving." She said holding the bunny up for me to see. 

I laughed again using my thumb to wipe a small drop of syrup that was stuck to her chin. " I'm sure you were ,poor things, I would be hungry too if I got kicked out." She nodded and her eyes started to droop. I could tell the stress of the day was starting to wear her out. Plus the time was also nearing 4am, way too late for a kid her age to be up. 

I looked over at her again but this time her eyes fully closed as she slumped over the island. I chuckled standing up to grab her, lifting her up into my arms. It would be easier to carry the sleepy child up the stairs than have her stumble around in her tired state. Plus she deserved the sleep with the day that she had had. 

Walking up the stairs I softly opened the door to the first guest room I came across. This would have to do for now. Gently I laid her down on the bed trying not to wake her up. I brought the blanket up to her chin lightly, it was too cold for her to be going without it. Bending over I gave her a light pat on the head. Walking over to the door I clicked the light off, tossing one last look over my shoulder to make sure she was ok. 

Maybe this is just what we needed.