Page 27 of Grasp The Moment

“Papá… do you see the puppy too?” she asks, her voice soft as she loudly whispers.

“Yeah, Sunshine. I see the dog too.” He chuckles softly, watching as the puppy and small child interact.

She giggles. “Is she ours now?”

I’m at a loss for words, unable to figure out what to say when her brown eyes lock with my green ones.

Derek cuts in, taking the lead.

“Of course, you and Georgia should come up with a name for her. Shouldn’t you, Georgia?”

Kneeling to Delilah’s height, I take her hands in mine. “What do you think we should call her, Deli?”

She pauses, poking her finger into her dimple before her eyes widen with excitement. “Agnes!”

My eyebrows shoot to my hairline.

Did she just name our dogAgnes?

Derek and I share a look before grinning at the four-year-old, nodding our heads.

“Agnes, it is.”

Delilah’s eyes light up before she jumps into my arms, pulling me into a bone-crushing hug. For her to be only a four-year-old, she’s strong as hell. The weight of her body and the strength of her hug cause me to teeter a bit before she lets go, turning to the dog.

“Come on, Agnes! I’m going to show you my toys!” she exclaims, trotting over and picking up the dog to take back to her room.

“Be careful with the dog, Deli! And pay attention to her!” Derek calls back to his kid as she laughs her way down the hall.

Turning back to face the man, I smile. “How’d I do?”

“You were perfect. Now sit down and eat.”

The two of us eat in silence. Derek prepared a delicious lunch of shrimp quesadillas and fruit. After, we sit and talkabout what’s to come and our moving strategy while our friends arrive. Sienna is the first to get here, tugging a sleepy Jace along into the apartment, the two of them in pajamas. Jace wastes no time making a plate of food and parking his butt at the island next to Derek.

Sienna chuckles as her grumpy boyfriend falls asleep while eating his fruit and turns to me.

“How are you feeling? Ready to start bringing boxes in?” she asks, rubbing a soothing hand down my shoulder as I nod, taking a bite of my own food.

“As ready as I’ll ever be.” I chuckle through my bite, feeding her one of my grapes. Luckily, Derek didn’t prepare strawberries today since he knew that Sienna is allergic to them.

Blake, Cleo, and Denver arrive not too long after, the three of them hauling in boxes of my things that I couldn’t fit in my car and left in our apartment.

When Cleo sets down the box in her arms, the smile that breaks across her warm brown skin is magnetic, and I mirror her instantly.

“My girl!” she squeals, jogging over to me, hugging me from behind, swaying side to side.

“My favorite girl!” I mimic her as she giggles.

“I brought over the stuff for your vanity and a few of your sketchbooks. Blake has the last box from your closet with the rest of your shoes, and Denver has some of your fabrics.”

Eyeing Denver and Blake, I mouth a “thank you” before turning to Derek.

“Looks like the gang is all here; the only things left to bring up are the four boxes in my trunk.”

Derek nods thoughtfully, popping a raspberry into his mouth. “I’ll get Jace and Blake to help me bring those in, but first I have to give you a proper tour. I didn’t think to do it earlier, but now's a better time than any.”

Agreeing, I stand from the table and clean up the dishes that both Derek and I had, taking them to the sink to wash as Jace walks into the kitchen.