Chapter 13

Eileen stared at me with wide eyes. She was shocked speechless, I would guess from Patti calling me and Lionel "mommy" and "daddy."

After a long moment of her staring at us all in surprise, she finally seemed to decide what she was going to do. She took her son's hand. "Come on, let's go." She said in a low voice as she pulled him away.

Lionel waved his hand and someone blocked their exit from the line. He crossed his arms over his chest, looking down at Eileen with a frown. "Apologize."

"What?" Eileen said before she could think better of it.

"Apologize to Nan and the girls." He demanded with a pointed look between them.

Eileen let out a huff. "I'm sorry." She finally spat out.

"Sorry." Her son grumbled out.

They quickly left the line. I watched them leave, seeing how embarrassed Eileen was. I almost felt bad for her.

Lionel cleared his throat, looking down at the girls with a bit of concern in the corner of his eyes. "Do you still want to go on this ride?" He asked softly.

The girls exchanged a look before they finally nodded. "Let's go!" Patti exclaimed, grabbing Vera's hand and starting towards the entrance.

Lionel and I followed behind them. I cleared my throat, looking down as we walked side by side. "Thank you for helping out."

He looked at me with raised brows. "Of course." He responded, looking away.

"It wouldn't be good for the girls to see something like that. It would also look bad if any paparazzi managed to catch any of it." He explained rigidly.

I nodded. "Of course." Of course he had a perfectly reasonable explanation for it all.

Despite his logical explanation, I still felt warm at how he had jumped in and protected me like that.

We spent the rest of the day at the park without any more incidents. The girls ran between the rides, laughing and screaming with joy on each one of them. We sat through a couple of short shows that the girls were interested in.

Finally, as the sun started to set, we waited to board the Ferris wheel. I sat on one side of the cabin, Patti sitting next to me. Lionel sat on the other side, Vera next to him.

"Alright, are you ready?" The employee asked, about to close the door to the cabin.

"Wait!" Vera exclaimed. She grabbed Patti's hand, the girls rushing off of the cabin.

"Close it now." Vera nodded. She waved at me and Lionel with a bright, mischievous grin.

Patti waved too, smiling. "Have fun! We'll get on the next one." She said

"What? Patti, Vera?" I stood up, but the employee had closed the door. I stumbled as the Ferris wheel started up and we started moving upwards.

Lionel reached out to help steady me. "You may want to sit down." He advised, lightly.

I let out a huff, moving to sit back down. I couldn't figure out why Patti and Vera would do this. I felt Lionel's gaze on me, heavy and dark.

I couldn't help the nerves that bubbled up in my stomach. I looked down, watching the girls as they climbed into the next cabin on the Ferris wheel, giggling and talking together. At least they were having fun.

I glanced back up at Lionel, finding his intense eyes on me. My face started to flush and I quickly looked away from him. He let out a low chuckle.

The longer we were in the cabin, the quieter it got as we moved upwards away from all of the crowds. I looked down, trying to ignore everything and just look at the crowd as it got smaller and smaller.

Lionel was the first one to break the silence we had fallen into. "You know, when I was a kid I never really liked stuff like this." He admitted, looking out the window down at the people on the ground.

"Really?" I asked, looking back at him. "Why not?"

"I always went to amusement parks alone." He said, still looking out of the cabin window.

We were getting close to the top of the Ferris wheel. The sun was almost fully set, the last beams of sunlight streamed through the windows, lighting Lionel's face in a way that made him look like he was glowing. His eyes sparkled in the low light as twilight took over the sky.

I had never seen him look as handsome as he did at that moment. No tabloid or TV interview could've prepared me for how handsome he really was.

"People are an important part of amusement parks." He said slowly, as if he was thinking each word through carefully. "But the crowds, those aren't the people that matter."

Finally his eyes left the window and he looked at me again, our eyes meeting with an electric spark that zipped through me. "It's the people by your side that are important."

I swallowed, my face flushing. I didn't look away this time. I couldn't bring myself to break the eye contact this time.

Lionel broke the eye contact. "I need to try and spend more time with the girls, especially now that I have Patti. I need to work harder to connect with them in the future."

It was an admirable and beautiful statement, and I hoped he truly meant it. But my heart sank at the words. Internally, I scolded myself for inadvertently getting my hopes up. Of course he wasn't talking about me.

The cabin swayed as it stopped at the top of the Ferris wheel. Lionel looked around in confusion. He furrowed his brow, clearly worried.

"What happened? Is this a malfunction? The girls- we need to check on-"

I couldn't help the laughter that escaped me, as I watched him be so frantic over nothing. "It's fine." I reassured him.

"All Ferris wheels stop for a bit when a cabin reaches the top." I explained.

"Why?" Lionel asked. He was no longer worried, but his brow was still furrowed in confusion.

"Some people believe that if a couple kisses at the top of a Ferris wheel, it means they'll always be together." I answered him, only somewhat awkwardly.

Lionel's expression was unreadable. "Are you trying to hint at something, Ms Lupa?"

My face burned bright red. "No, no, of course not!" I shook my head quickly.

It was Lionel's turn to laugh at me, the sound deep and rich. "Am I really so bad that you'd reject me so quickly?"

I couldn't help but be annoyed. It was juvenile for him to tease me like that. "Stop teasing me, please." I said , wrapping my arms around myself.

"I'm sorry. I'm just glad to see you... showing some true emotions." He said, tilting his head as if he looked at me.

"What do you mean?" I frowned in confusion.

"You've been a bit downcast since the... altercation, but you smile whenever the girls are looking." He responded.

He was right. Seeing Eileen had reminded me of a darker time and it threw me off. If I had known I would see her, maybe I would've been prepared, but I was surprised.

"Oh." I nodded, surprised that he had noticed my state. "Yeah, I guess I do that."

The Ferris wheel started moving along again with a stuttering movement. We both fell into an awkward silence again.

"Did you know that woman?" He asked after a moment.

I cleared my throat. "Yes, I did. She was my friend back before I adopted Patti." I said hesitantly.

He looked at me, as if waiting for me to continue. I explained the situation to him as quickly as I possibly could. I didn't want to linger on it.

"I understand." Lionel said after I finished the story. "I'm sorry that happened, but I think maybe the breakup was for the best. You deserve better."

"Thank you." I said, surprised by the genuine way he responded.

We got off the Ferris wheel and waited for the girls. We started back towards the exit, but as the fireworks started going off behind us, we all took a picture together.

I couldn't help but think how it almost felt like we were a real family. I tried to shake the thought away, it was silly.

"Vera, can we have a sleepover in my room tonight?" Patti asked on the drive home.

"Sure." Vera yawned. "That'll be fun."

"Mommy, daddy? Will you sleepover too?" Patti asked, batting her eyes as she looked between me and Lionel.

"I don't know." I immediately said, glancing at Lionel awkwardly.

The girls spent the rest of the ride home trying to convince us that we should all sleep in Patti's bed together. When we got back to the house, Lionel and I finally agreed.

After we had all gotten into our pajamas, we met up in Patti's room. I laid on side of Patti's bed, Lionel on the other, the girls were in between, tightly holding our hands and each others.

I had hoped to just sneak out once the girls were asleep, but Patti's hand was holding mine so tightly, even after she fell asleep. I was so exhausted from the day, I finally just fell asleep in Patti's bed.

The next morning, I woke up to the sun streaming warm and bright on my face. I yawned, trying to move, but something was holding me tightly.

Lionel was holding me tightly.