Fabio looked at Dany with interest.
She, however, was not as interested as he was.
She only wanted to be with Ashley. Even just sitting around without doing or saying anything sounded nice enough.
She liked being in Ashley's company.
Every now and then, she watched Fabio and Richard as all three of them played together. For a second, she opened her mouth, but nothing came out.
She had decided to play with them for a while, seeing that it was still early.
After spending some time with them, she couldn't take it anymore. Finally, she asked, "Where's your mommy, Fabio?"
'How I wish I could just call her Mommy, ' she thought.
She knew, however, that it wasn't possible at the moment.
Ashley was Fabio's mother, not hers.
She couldn't call her that for the time being.
"Mommy should be in the study right now. Why? What's up, Dany?" Fabio inquired.
"It's nothing. I was just wondering," Dany said innocently.
The conversation continued, and it eventually bored her.
Suddenly, the door swung open, and a man with gray hair, who appeared to be around seventy years of age, entered the room. Interestingly, he looked like he had the energy of a younger man.
Upon seeing the older gentleman, Fabio and Richard immediately stood up and ran toward him. They addressed him as their great grandpa.
"Good boys," Chant said.
He held the children's hands.
Playing with Fabio and Richard was Chant's favorite thing to do.
As he was playing with the children, he noticed Dany sitting close to them. He was intrigued.
However, before he could even think of what to say to the little girl, Fabio took him by the hand and dragged him toward Dany. "Great Grandpa, this is a friend I made in kindergarten. Her name's Dany."
Fabio then turned to the girl.
"You can call him Great Grandpa, too," he said.
"Great Grandpa," repeated Dany.
"What a sweet little girl," Chant told her. Immediately, the children resumed playing.
Not long afterwards, Ashley came out of the study and joined them. At last, she was done with her work.
By then, Richard had left to do his homework, but Fabio and Dany remained in the living room watching TV. Ashley decided to sit with them.
As they all sat together, Dany kept stealing glances at Ashley.
She tried to be very careful, but Ashley still noticed it.
"What's the matter, Dany? Do you miss your mom and dad?"
"No," replied the little girl.
Although she did miss Cayn a little, she preferred being with Ashley.
So, she tried not to think of Cayn.
Cayn could never have imagined that her adopted daughter of five years would reject him like this.
Ashley patted the little girl's head and smiled. "It's okay. If you miss them, you can tell me. I will drive you back. But if you want to play here longer, that's okay, too."
"I want to stay a little longer," Dany replied.
"Okay."
Today, Ashley did not come home with Andrew, as she had to pick up Fabio and Richard from school.
Of course, Andrew, who had just gotten home, couldn't help feeling disappointed.
As soon as he arrived, he headed toward Ashley's direction.
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: A Love Trap