Baby Steps - Chapter  Six

Kris woke up the next morning, the house was awfully quiet. Was he the first one up? He looked around in the living room and kitchen, not a person to be in sight. Camellia. He jerked his head up and sprinted silently to his daughter’s room.

He opened the door as quietly as he could and peeked in. Kris stood in silence as he saw Claire fast asleep next to his little girl who was clinging onto her dress. They must be exhausted. Kris remembered coming home at such an ungodly hour. He walked in quietly to close the blinds and froze when Claire stirred in her sleep. Kris took his hoodie off and placed it on her shoulders, he didn’t want to pull on the blanket, and Camellia was a very light sleeper.

Kris gasped when he closed the door behind him, Sehun stood in the hall with his stack of papers. “So…uh, what was that?” He asked.

Kris wrinkled his nose. “Huh? What was what?”

“I saw that…you put your hoodie on her.” Sehun said.

“Well, she…must’ve been cold in that dress.” Kris stuttered.

“Why do you care?”

“B-Because, she’s taking care of Camellia so I don’t want her to be sick.” Kris rubbed his arms. “I’m cold myself.” He said before walking off.

Sehun scoffed. “King of making excuses…I guess I have competition.” He said to himself. He looked around, “It’s not even that cold.” He said softly.

Kris pulled a hoodie out of his closet and went down into the kitchen a few hours later when everyone was awake. He sat down for his morning cup of coffee. “You don’t have work today?” Kyungsoo asked.

Kris shook his head. “No…thank God. I’m tired.” He ran his fingers through his messy hair and took a sip. “I’m free until next Monday…which isn’t so bad. I don’t mind a break.”

Luhan shot his head up and eyed Kyungsoo with a suggestive eyebrow. Kyungsoo only turned back and gave him his cheeky smile.

The two literally stormed into Claire’s room half an hour later. “Claire?” Kyungsoo peeked in. “She’s not here…”

“Camellia’s room...” Luhan grabbed the lad and dragged him down the hall. “Claire?”

Camellia opened her eyes and frowned at the sudden disruption. She sat up and rubbed her eyes. She looked over to see Claire fast asleep. She put her little hands on her face a few times before Claire woke up. She looked at the time and flew up. “It’s twelve already?”

Camellia just stared. She reached for Claire’s earrings again. Claire chuckled and stood up. “You really like sparkly stuff…” She picked her up. “Let’s get your ears pierced today…with daddy.”

Camellia held onto her ears as if she knew what Claire was talking about.

“Gack!” Claire also dropped the girl when she noticed Luhan and Kyungsoo at the door. “What the…good morning.” Claire fixed her hair before walking out.

Luhan grabbed her arm and pulled her back. Kyungsoo picked up Camellia, “So…Kris is free until Monday…You thinking what I’m thinking?”

Claire furrowed her brows. “Actually…no…no I don’t.”

“Hello? Have Kris bring Camellia somewhere…” Kyungsoo hinted.

“Ah…” Claire gave him a thumbs up. “Smart…okay; I’ll see what I could do.” She took Camellia and walked down the stairs. Her waves were loose and her dress was wrinkled from sleeping in such an odd position. She set Camellia down on her high chair and ran back upstairs to change.

Chanyeol looked up from cooking and smiled. Kris was sipping his coffee and reading a magazine while Camellia just looked at him.

“Kris, you’re not gonna say good morning?” Chanyeol walked over with a strawberry and handed it to Camellia. “Good morning Camellia.” He smiled earning a smile from Camellia as well.

Kris looked over and put his iPad down. “Ah…right. Good morning.” He said shyly.

Claire came down with her short shorts and knee high socks, she wore a tank top and took a seat next to Kris. “So…I heard you’re free?”

Kris turned to her and nodded. “Yeah…?”

“Perfect, let’s go somewhere.” Claire said.

He looked back down at his iPad. “Um…where?”

“Camellia wants her ears pierced.” Claire said. “It’s about time anyway, its better if you do it at a younger age.” She said.

Kris looked over at his little girl. “…She’ll cry.”

“But you will be there.” Claire said. “Then, we could go shopping. Your closet is all designer clothing, you can’t run and play around in those. You need sweats and stuff.” She cringed a little inside, she at making excuses up.

Chanyeol chuckled as he stood by the stove. “Kris, you better say yes or Camellia won’t be a happy bear.”

Kris nodded. “Fine…let’s go somewhere.”

Claire sat in the passenger seat and fixed up her makeup while Kris drove. Camellia sat in the back; she looked out the window in silence while they drove around the city.

Claire sighed. I wish she could talk or something.

Claire walked around the jewelry store while Kris stood by Camellia. She smiled when she heard their conversation.

“Which one do you want? Pink? This one? It’s pretty. Oh, this? This too?”

Claire looked at the large selection of earrings while Camellia sat in the highchair.

The lady came out. “Is she your daughter?”

Kris nodded shyly. “Y-Yeah.”

“She’s beautiful.” The woman commented as she got all of her material out. “Where’s her mother?”

“Um…” Kris scratched his head, unable to answer the question.

Camellia turned around in her seat and pointed to Claire.

The lady chuckled. “Really? You’re lucky.”

Kris shook his head. “Ah..no it’s not like that…”

“You like her, don’t you?”

He stared down at his feet. “No…”

Camellia cried after her ears were pierced. The slight stinging pain was a little too much for a little girl. Kris picked her up and patted her back. “Sh…it’ll be okay. You’ll be extra pretty.” He said.

Camellia sniffed a few times before rubbing her eyes. The stinging pain was gone; Kris walked over to a mirror and gently touched her ear. “See? Pretty.”

Kris, Claire and Camellia went shopping after. They walked through department stores hand in hand with Camellia in the middle. Kris could almost see the articles that were going to be posted up about having a girlfriend, but he couldn’t care less at this point.

After a long five hours of shopping, they got ready to go home. Claire sat in the front seat and dozed off while Camellia was wide awake.

Claire shot up when she heard something she’s never heard before.

She turned around with her eyes wide when Camellia spoke.

“Daddy?”