Page 46 of Sherry and Sunflowers
She turned in his arms to look back at her sheet of paper on the floor. She'd managed to keep most of her glitter on it, but Alara planned to grab the vacuum before she went to bed. She didn't want Faye having to clean up after them.
Zia didn't notice the mess. Her little face lit up when she spotted her completed works in the corner.
"I made you something, Prince Daddy." She wriggled, and he set her down. She snatched up something that looked like a small, glittery pom-pom and presented it to him with a huge smile. "I made you a keychain. Now you'll never be able to lose your keys."
Alara bit back a laugh. She'd have to figure out a way to get him out of it. The poor man couldn't be expected to walk around with a ball of fluff and glitter attached to his keys.
To his credit, he didn't even flinch. He took it from her with a huge smile. "You made this for me?"
Zia nodded solemnly. "I did. Do you like it?"
"I love it," he said seriously. "In fact, I think it's my favorite gift I've ever received."
Zia jumped up and down on the spot. "I knew you would." She glanced over at Alara, as if she knew what her mom was thinking, and gave her a small nod. "I made Grandpa Grape a gift too. I want to give it to him. But…" Her smile faded. "I don't think he's happy today. I think it will cheer him up. But…" She sighed.
Reaves offered her his hand. "Maybe he'll feel better after dinner. Let's go water those sunflowers, shall we?" He turned to Alara. "Should we come back for you later, or wait for you to be done?"
She looked down at her work on the desk. "It won't take me long now. But I do need to finish."
"How about you come find us when you're done, then?"
"Thanks, Reaves. And when I'm finished, I want to show you my work, too," she added with a tentative smile.
He grinned. "You do? Awesome, I'd love to see it."
Zia tugged at his hand. "She's very clever, you know. She's painted it all, and when she's finished, she'll make it into a picture on the computer instead." Her little eyebrows drew together. "I used to think that the computer would take a photo and that would be good enough. But it doesn't work like that." She looked up at him, wide-eyed. "It's something to do with the pixies. They're in the computer, you know."
Reaves shot her a puzzled look, and Alara could only shrug. She'd tried to explain computer graphics in terms of pixels—andof course, Zia had turned them into pixies. And hey, it worked well enough.
After they'd gone, she sat back down at her desk. She only needed to make a few finishing touches, but she really wanted to get it done tonight. And as quiet as Zia had been, she was grateful to Reaves for taking her out into the sunshine. It was so much easier to stay in the flow when she wasn't checking on her daughter every couple of minutes.
It wasn't that Zia was a distraction—not like her phone, which Alara had turned off while she worked. Zia was more than that. She was a priority. But for this last little stretch, Alara was grateful that she could make the work her only priority. Until it was finished.
Chapter Eleven
After dinner, they all moved to the family room. His dad had been quiet while they ate, and Reaves desperately wanted to cheer him up. He was bursting with just how good Alara's new designs were. They were perfect—there was no other word for them.
But before they'd sat down, his dad had announced that he'd been busy noodling through business problems all day, and if no one minded, he wanted to take a break from it this evening. The disappointment that flashed across Alara's face had broken Reaves's heart. It’d only been there for a second—she'd covered it quickly—but he knew what it cost her. If he was bursting with the need to show his dad her designs, he could only imagine how she must feel.
Zia had tried to excuse herself from the table at one point, and Reaves knew she wanted to go and get her gift for his dad, but Alara had asked her to stay. No doubt she was trying to save his dad from having to muster up enthusiasm for whatever gift Zia had made him—but Reaves suspected she'd missed the point. Not that he would tell her that. A gift from Zia was probably exactly what his dad needed.
He smiled to himself. He would never have guessed that a glitter-covered, sequin-studded pom-pom keychain would give him so much pleasure. Until Zia had presented him with it, he would have sworn up and down that he'd never attach such a thing to his keys. He put his hand in his pocket—it was already attached.
While his dad settled into his armchair, and Zia scrambled onto the end of the sofa closest to him, Reaves went to the liquor cabinet and raised his eyebrows. "Sherry for you, Dad?"
Charles nodded. "Thanks, I think I will."
"What's sherry?" Zia piped up. "I thought you liked wine, Grandpa Grape."
"It is a kind of wine," his dad explained. "It's just sweeter." He seemed to search for words, and Reaves felt bad when he landed on, "And a little old-fashioned, I suppose."
He was grateful to Alara when she sat down beside Zia and said, "I'm not sure you're right about that, Charles. I think it did fall out of favor for a while. But it seems to be gaining a new following these days. I've noticed people talking about drinking it online, as though it's something new and trendy." Reaves loved the way she met his dad's gaze and held it as she added, "It's a whole new vibe."
His dad chuckled. "I'll have to take your word for that. You know I haven't mastered this wholevibething."
Reaves held his breath, hoping that Alara might dare to take the conversation where it needed to go—to her new designs. But before she got the chance, Zia asked, "What does it taste like?"
His dad looked thoughtful. "I'm not sure I can describe it. It's… sweet."
