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She removes wrapping paper, and a little black box appears.
"Okay, on three you can open it."
Charlotte's face is beaming with excitement when he counts.
"One… Two… Three… Open it."
The second she does, she lets out a surprised, high-pitched squeal. Curious, I peek inside, and I'm lost for words.
"Do you like it?"
"This is for me?" she asks while gliding her fingertips over the shimmering golden necklace lying on a pink velvet background. Attached to it is a heart-shaped pendant.
“Turn it around.”
She does as he asks, and when she mumbles the engraved word, her eyes fill with tears. I lean in and read, Smarty.
Nick touches her cheek, "I and this necklace promise to protect you against any bears in your life."
I don't know what it means, but they do. And she answers by giving him a giant hug.
"I love you, Nick."
My palm covers my mouth as I gasp. This is the first time she has said that to him while calling him Nick instead of Giant.
"I love you too, Charlotte," he answers.
Both face me when they hear a snorting sound coming from my direction.
"Mommy, are you crying?"
"Oh, they're happy tears," I say while wiping them away.
Nick lets go of Charlotte, pulls me against his body, and places a brief kiss on my lips. I lay my head against his chest while Charlotte hugs Nick and me by spreading her arms around our legs. We both brush a hand through her blond locks, and I wish we could stay like this forever. After a while, Nick speaks. "How about going out and forget everything that happened for a while?"
Charlotte and I nod, and we end up spending the next few hours going to the ice cream store and filling our bellies with cold sweetness. After the delicious treat, we take a long walk through the park, and when we return home, I bake pancakes. We eat them, sitting on the couch next to each other while watching TV. Ultimately, when it's bedtime, Nick reads Charlotte a bedtime story and brings her to bed.
As I'm standingin the kitchen, two strong arms snake around my waist, and my heart smiles as his familiar soft, warm lips contact my skin. His fingers pull my shirt off one shoulder to make way for his traveling mouth. "Is… she..."
"Yes, she's fast asleep. She dozed off while reading."
"How is your bruised lip?"
"More than fine, now that they're touching you. I think you've got healing powers, so I must proceed with this method."
I chuckle at his smooth words, and heat pools inside me as he sucks laboriously on a spot on my neck.
"Don't you dare give me a hickey, Mister Brown!”
"I wouldn't dare, Miss Campbell. I have a better way of claiming you in mind."
"Oh, do you?"
He twists me around, grabs both my hands and places a kiss on my knuckles. "I have something for you. Wait here.”
“What?"
He jogs away, and when I'm trying to guess what's going on, he returns.
