Young Love

Pink bunny slippers were the first thing he saw when Namid walked down the wood steps. His insides were jumping around, and his stomach was in knots and had butterflies all at the same time. Some of his muscles were twitching, either from nerves, anticipation, or both, but he didn't care he was just so excited!

When she reached the bottom of the stair it was obvious she had just woken up. She accompanied her tiny pink bunny slipper with an Elmo nightgown that was a bit too big for her frame. In one hand she held worn teddy bear with a missing eye and obvious patch work and her other hand was rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.

"Hi Grandpa." She said to Chayton with a groggy tone. Then she looked up to Paul. Nobody said anything for a few seconds.

"Namid, I would like you to meet a friend of mine. His name is Paul and he is very nice." Chayton said breaking the silence and started walking over to her and put a hand on her shoulder. Namid said nothing to him; Paul's stomach lurched in discontent. "Say hi to him, Nami."

"Hello Paul," She said. She put her hand that held onto the teddy and hid it behind her back. Chayton smiled softly at her.

"Hey Namid." Paul said gently. He then gestured to the teddy that was behind her back. "He's awesome. What's his name?" Namid pulled the teddy from behind her back and looked down at it.

"Jesse McCartney. But I just called him Jesse." She said, "My older sister named him."

"Oh! Where is your older –?" Paul started but was interrupted by Chayton telling Namid to go get some cereal for breakfast. She complied and started walking towards the kitchen but stopped abruptly.

"Do you want some cereal with me Paul?" She said turning her head to look at him. Paul smiled brightly and started walking towards her but was stopped by Chayton.

"I need to talk to him for a second, he'll be right in." Chayton said. Namid nodded and headed into the kitchen. Paul frowned and turned to glare at Chayton.

"Now, now Paul. We need to talk first." Chayton said and raised his hand in surrender. Paul begrudgingly walked over to him.

"I just need to say a few quick things and then you can go eat with her. First, I know you are prone to outburst of anger and she doesn't need to be around that." He started

"I would never!" Paul defended. Chayton continued.

"Secondly because of your reputation of being a hothead I don't want you around Namid."

Paul growled deeply, "You cannot keep her from me."

"I meant alone. I apologize. I don't want Nami and you to be alone and something to happen that sets you off." Chayton explained.

"I could never hurt my imprint." Paul answered defensively.

"Sam thought the same thing about Emily." Chayton said.

"That's different." Paul snapped.

"How exactly?" Chayton questioned. He then continued, "I also don't want her to know about your furry pastime, not until she is a bit older."

"I agree, for once." Paul said, mumbling the last bit.

"The last thing before I let you go," Chayton said, Paul got excited. "Don't mention anything about her parents to her sister."

Chayton slapped Paul's shoulder, smiled, and said, "Welcome to the family Paul." Then left and walked up the stairs. Paul sighed and headed towards the kitchen.

When he got there he saw Namid sitting down at the kitchen table looking at the Lucky Charms box. Namid heard him walking in and looked up at him and smiled. He smiled back at her. He sat down next to her and she handed him her Lucky Charms and then gave him a bowl and spoon. He took the box of cereal and dumped the remaining that was in the box, which was a lot into the bowl and started eating. Namid just stared at him, surprised at how much he was eating.

"Are you full, Paul?" She asked him when he finished his bowl.

"Yeah I'm good; I had breakfast before I came." He said then patted his stomach.

"Okay." She said and continued eating.

When she finished eating she cleared the table with Paul's help. He put the cereal away and she washed the dishes and he dried them and put them away with Namid telling him where to. Chayton came downstairs to check on them seconds after they finished cleaning.

"You guys finished already?" Chayton asked surprised.

"Yeah! He ate so much! Like all my Lucky Charms!" Namid said smiling. Paul looked bashfully at Chayton.

"Well then," Chayton said laughing. "I guess we will need to go shopping soon."

Namid nodded and giggled. Chayton left and went back upstairs.

"You can watch Loony Tunes with me if you want Paul." She said and started walking over to the small living room that was connected to the kitchen.

"Sure Namid!" Paul said happily and followed her into the living room. He sat next to her on the plush couch.

"Paul." Namid said never taking her eyes off of Bugs Bunny.

"Yeah?" He replied.

"You can call me Nami, that's what my friends do." She said and looked over to him and smiled.