Page 80 of Sherry and Sunflowers
"Thanks, Z."
He loved the sound of her voice no matter what, but this morning Alara sounded sleepy. Tired.
"Where are you?" Zia called.
He pushed the door open wider with his foot. "I'm here. Is it all right if I come in?"
"Yeah, come in," Alara called.
Zia met him at the door and took the bowl of berries from the tray. "Mrs. Faye says there's lots of goodness in these." She set them on the nightstand.
Alara was sitting propped against her pillows. She was dressed, but she looked pale and tired. She smiled when she saw him.
"Sorry about this. Dr. Ambrose warned me that I might not feel great this weekend, but I didn't expect this."
"You don't need to apologize. All you need to do is rest." He lifted the tray a little. "Do you want it right there on the bed?"
"Please. I am hungry, but I…" She met his gaze. "I didn't want to risk trying to make it down the stairs."
"You did the right thing. Maybe you should take it easy today—stay in bed. I can bring you what you need."
"I can too," said Zia. She was checking the contents of the tray. "And you need butter. I'll go and get you some butter."
She was gone before Alara could say anything.
Alara met his gaze and said, "I hate putting Faye out like this. I know it must have taken her by surprise, having to put together a tray for me. She never usually forgets anything."
He perched on the edge of the bed. "Want to know the truth?"
She frowned. "What do you mean?"
"That she never forgets anything. If there's no butter, it's because she wanted Zia to have to go back down for it."
"Aww. That's so sweet of her."
"Yeah. She might not be all warm and fuzzy, but she cares."
Alara reached for his hand. "I'm glad she wanted us to have a minute alone."
He leaned across and kissed her forehead. "Me too. But it doesn't have to be just a minute. I'm here for the day. I'll stay with you as long as you want me—or leave you in peace, if you want me to."
She stared at him for long enough that he started to think she wanted him to leave. Then she patted the space beside her. "Want to join me? I'd like to be able to lean on you while I try to eat some of this. And you can have most of the muffins. I can only manage one."
He didn't need to be told twice. He kicked his shoes off and sat next to her, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. When she turned to smile up at him, he dropped a kiss on her lips.
He pulled back, startled, when Zia cried, "Prince Daddee!" from the doorway.
He gave Alara a worried look, but she just smiled as Zia ran across the room and climbed up onto the bed.
"You just kissed Mom!"
He swallowed. He should have been more careful. Should have talked to Alara about how she wanted to handle this. He shot her a quick look, but she didn't look worried. She was still smiling.
Zia crawled up onto his legs. "Was it a real kiss?"
He looked to Alara again, but she didn't help him out.
"What's a real kiss?" he asked.
