"Well then, let's eat them together," I say in a cheerful voice. It's crazy how my mood brightens up every time he's around.
Aiden grins, and we start talking about something else that takes my mind off Luke for a while. It turns out that my weekend morning is not that bad, because I'm having breakfast on the bed with this little bundle of joy.
???
I stare at my reflection in the mirror, sitting at my dresser as I spray my favorite lavender body mist on my body. I had a long warm aromatherapy bath earlier to calm myself down, and it worked because I feel freshened up.
However, these bags under my eyes make me mutter under my breath. Since I became a celebrity, the existence of eye bags has become unnecessarily important, and it's annoying.
Aiden said earlier during our breakfast that he's going to paint for his art homework today, so I'm excited to spend time with him inside the gallery room.
Smiling, I stand up from my dresser and step out of my bedroom. While I'm walking down the hallway, relief washes over me because Luke is nowhere in sight.
When I finally reach the gallery, I open the door and step inside.
Like I've seen before, the room is filled with paintings made by Luke's deceased elder brother, Victor.
Sadness stirs inside me as if I just heard the tragedy all over again from Ms. Langston. My heart sinks remembering how much it must have hurt Aiden and Luke to lose Victor and Emily, but now that I stare at all of these paintings again, more pain strikes my heart.
As if I've seen before that painting a picture is a form of washing away all the pain. Something about...escaping.
But then again, this sadness might result from the irony that Aiden paints just like his father did, and that maybe the kid is trying to escape his loneliness.
I sigh, a soft smile on my lips as I find Aiden sitting on the floor with a brush in his hand, staring at the canvas lying in front of him.
"Hi, Aiden. What are you painting?"
Aiden turns to look at me and beams. "My teacher asked us to paint the planets in our galaxy."
I raise my brows, approaching him. "That's really cool."
I bend down next to him, observing his painting. And again, I'm impressed.
Aiden does an amazing job of painting the planets. His work is beautiful.
"Well, can you tell me about all of these beautiful objects?" I playfully challenge him.
"Of course," he says, excitement in his voice as he finds me interested in this piece of art. "This tiny planet right here is the closest to the sun. Mercury." He points at said planet.
I smile and ask him to keep going, "And?"
"Then there's this one next to it. Venus," Aiden says. "It's earth's twin in size."
As he goes on, the smile on my face stays. I watch him closely.
"Earth," he says. "Our beautiful planet."
"Mars."
"Jupiter."
"Saturn."
"Uranus."
"Neptune." He points at the pretty blue planet, and my heart suddenly feels like stopping.
Neptune...
