Ava and I where currently in the car on the way to the restaurant; listening to the radio. My little sister had been strangely quiet ever since she had come out to get in the car. The night traffic was very minimal so I was able to take glances at her every so often. She stared intently out the window not saying a word. Her silence was only just starting to unnerve me because she didn't look like she was in a happy or comfortable silence.
"Ava is something on you mind?" She drew her eyes away from the window. With a halfhearted smile she told me nothing was bothering her. It was not convincing in the least. I toyed with the idea of simply dropping it and continuing on with our reservation. But, in a quick decision I knew that her feelings were more in important than being on time for a dinner reservation. We were on the highway so I safely pulled over and parked the car on the side of the road. Ava looked at me with a confused look.
"Why are we stopping I thought we were going to dinner?"
"That's up to you we can get going again when you tell me what is bothering you."
"Aiden really nothing is bothering me; just ignore it and let's go."
"If there is nothing bothering you why do I have to ignore it?"
"You don't have to worry about anything its just stupid alright."
"Fine if you are going to play that way, we'll just turn around now. I'm sure you'll be more inclined to tell me after you've been punished. Then of course you'll have to be punished again for spoiling the night."
"No, no I'm sorry don't go back home. I'll tell you but it's not important."
"That's not for you to decide anymore; I don't want you keeping things from me."
"Yes sir, I won't hide anything from you. I was worried about this dinner. This whole weekend has scared me." Her words tore into my heart because this is what I have been dreading. Ava was looking over exactly what we were doing and coming to a decision that is was not right. Tonight I was sure there would be no third round for us.
"I'm sorry I scared you baby, if you want we can go to dinner and have some fun. Then I can drop you off home and we can forget everything that has happened."
"That's what I'm afraid of. I don't want any of this to stop; or be thrown away by you. Tomorrow night I'll barely be able to pry myself away from you. But, what if this is only for this one time what will I do then. I don't know how to go back again to being disowned. I've been so happy this weekend; I don't want to go back to that." Ava much to my surprise started crying. I reacted rather quickly to unclick her seat belt and drag her over onto my lap. She dug herself deep into my chest and continued to cry.
It took her quite a while but she did stop crying and pulled herself away from me. She had a few more sniffles but all in all had calmed down significantly. I let her sit there for a minute or two to collect herself while I rubbed her back. Wiping a few tears away from her rosy cheeks I asked if she was ok. She nodded her head and gave me a more convincing light smile.
"I'm sorry; I didn't know I was going to explode like that."
"Baby I need you to listen to me. I know all this is happening fast and we both have a lot to think about. But, those thoughts are for another time. What I want is for you and me to just live in the moment for today and tomorrow. No more nonsense of looking for what lies ahead for us; let's just do what we want for now. Now, what I want is to go have dinner with my beautiful sister. So what should we do about that?"
"Let's go Aiden; I want to go to dinner. But, after....." She bit her bottom lip in a provocative way. Just so that I could get some idea of what she really wanted. I laughed and tapped her bottom so she knew to go back over to her own seat. She settled back down and I started pulling back out while she belted herself in. The restaurant wasn't far away and I was more than happy to be pulling to the parking lot. We far enough away from our town, that no one would know who we were. Or better yet, no one would know how we were related to one another. So I had no fears walking around the car and taking her hand in mine. She seemed pleased by this as well. Since we were right on time for our reservation we were seated almost immediately.
We also got our food fairly quickly. I wasn't surprised because this place was fairly pricey and not many people were in here on a regular basis. It made it all the better for me to enjoy our night. Ava was eating her steak while stealing glances to me and the dance floor. I knew she was trying to be discreet and act like it wasn't happening so I didn't give away that I knew just yet. She was just too cute the way she was acting so nervous and shy. Ava took another quick glance up and this time our eyes connected. Her food suddenly became much more interesting to her as she looked back down. I chuckled and continued with my food, teasing her was just too much fun.
When I finished my plate Ava was fidgeting in her chair. I relaxed and just watched her. It was clear to me that she was completely uncomfortable with her current surroundings. Watching her so uneasy was actually making me hot for her. It was the idea that whatever I did, and however I reacted would ease her. Having that type of power over her emotions was indescribable to me. I decided she had, had enough of the nervous ticking and got up from my chair. On the other side of the table I pulled her up to me without looking for her permission. She squeaked as she stood up but found her bearings when she connected with my chest.
"Time to dance baby," I told her sending her off to the dance floor. She was all smiles being in my arms as we danced together. It was blinding just how much joy she could show me in that dazzling smile of hers. A slow tempo song started easing out of the speakers so I pulled her closer to me. Just as prince charming would to his Cinderella I led Ava all around that dance floor. Having her in my arms was probably the best feeling I could ever ask for.
"Aiden I don't ever want this night to end...more than anything I have ever wanted."
"Well dear sooner or later we are going to have to go home. Then eventually we have to go to bed. Now whether or not we decide to dance before bed is completely up to you."