"Sierra!" Her aunt yelled from the bottom of the stairs. "I let myself in."
"Hi," Sierra said walking out of Cameron's bedroom with him on her hip. "I'm running a little behind. Thank you so much for coming and watching them for me."
"Well it's not every day that my niece goes on a date and that makes me happy." Her aunt smiled. "Where is Cora?" She started up the stairs, "and let me see that baby boy." She reached for the little boy in Sierra's arms. "You go get ready, we'll be just fine."
"Thanks so much Aunt Carrah," Sierra turned to go into her room, "Cora is in her room." She said as she disappeared and closed the door behind. Sierra fumbled through her closet before pulling out a pink skirt and white button down shirt to wear.
Sierra looked at the clock and pulled her t-shirt off. She put the shirt on and buttoned it up quickly before taking her shorts off and replacing them with the skirt. The doorbell rang and she ran downstairs to answer it. Justin stood on the other side of the door with his daughter at her feet.
"I'm so sorry I didn't call before but my baby-sitter canceled and I couldn't get anyone else," He said as Sierra invited the two of them in.
"It's all right. My aunt will watch her," Sierra said with a smile. "Aunt Carrah! We have a guest." Sierra's aunt appeared at the top of the stairs with Cameron still in her arms and Cora at her feet. They started down the stairs. "This is Justin's daughter, Olivia. His baby-sitter canceled at the last minute."
"That is not a problem," Aunt Carrah said.
"Are you sure?" Justin asked.
"It isn't at all. I'm just glad to see Sierra going on a date," the older women smiled at Justin and then looked down at Olivia. Sierra rolled her eyes at Justin when she said that, and he smiled at her.
"I'm sorry. I'm not even ready," she looked frazzled all of a sudden.
"Take your time I am in no hurry," Justin said. Sierra smiled thankfully and ran up the stairs to finish getting ready.
"Olivia we were just about to go make some cookies would you like to help out?"
"Yes." Olivia smiled and took Carrah's free hand. Cora ran off into the kitchen.
"Would you like to join us in the kitchen for a few minutes, Justin?" Carrah asked.
"Sure," He smiled and followed her and his daughter into the kitchen. He watched as they got out all of the stuff to make the cookies and chatted with Sierra's aunt for a little bit.
"All right, I'm ready." Sierra came into the kitchen and reached for the little boy in her aunt's arms. "I love you baby." She kissed his cheek and he smiled, "you be good for Aunt Carrah. You too Cora." Sierra kissed the little girls cheek.
"All right, you two, go. Have fun," Sierra's aunt pushed them out of the kitchen as she took Cameron from her arms. The baby fussed being taken from his mother, "He'll be fine." Carrah said seeing Sierra's face.
"Thanks again," Justin said.
"No worries. Just have a nice night. Bye." She waved him off. And the two disappeared down the hall and out the front door.
"So where are we going too eat?"
"On the Border, is that okay?" He asked as they got into the car.
"That's fine." Sierra answered as she buckled her seatbelt. "You can never go wrong with Mexican food with me." Justin smiled at her as he pulled away from the front of her house.
"Your aunt seems nice." Justin said.
"She's great. I have lived next door to her all of my life, and when my Mom died she helped out a whole lot, especially with Cora." Sierra explained.
"That is nice that she was there." He looked down at the table. "If you don't mind me asked what happened to your Mom?"
"Not at all." Sierra paused for a minute. "She died from breast cancer. They found it to late, and couldn't do anything to help her."
"That's too bad." Justin said.
"It is. She doesn't get to watch Cora grow up or ever meet her Grandson. I wish she could though." Sierra reached for her drink. Justin covered her freehand and gave it a squeeze. She smiled behind the glass, and then set it down.
"On a lighter note, you said you were taking classes, how is that going?"
"Not this semester. I had to take off because of Cameron. I'll start up again in January and Aunt Carrah will watch him and Cora for me. I'll graduate in the spring."
"Did you not get behind?"
"I was already ahead, just by one semester though, so it isn't that big of a deal." She answered. "I love being home with them, but I'm ready to get back to school."
"Understandable, I am going to get back into the studio. Especially since Olivia is in school all day long, it is torture sitting at home by yourself." He said with a smile. Sierra chuckled.
"Feel free to come over." Sierra grinned and looked down at the table before looking back up at him. "So you got to ask about my mom. Can I ask about Olivia's?" Sierra asked him and hoped she didn't step over her boundaries.
"Actually … I adopted her."
"No kiddin'?" Justin shook his head no. "Wow … I just figured she didn't look like you. That's really neat. Why did you decide to adopt?"
"I wanted a kid, without the wife, I guess. It was just something I wanted to do." He said, "Olivia was almost two when I adopted her."
"Does she know?"
"Yeah. I thought that was important for her to always know." He explained. "It's been really fun the past five years and I love her a lot."
"Very understandable, so why did you adopt a girl?"
"Challenge," he shrugged, "girls are easier to spoil the boys are anyway." Sierra chuckled at this comment.
"That's sweet," Sierra said. "You've done a good job keeping her out of the public."
"When I adopted her, my career was slowing down a little anyway, which was why I decided to adopt her. And from what I know she doesn't have very great birth parents, and you never know what people will try and do. Cameron's dad?"
"Mmm…" She made a noise and thought about it for a couple of minutes. "I don't normally behave the way I did that night. I had a pretty rough time the year after my Mom died and I went out that night with some friends and got into trouble. But it was definitely a blessing. Cam was my little wake up call."
"So he wasn't something you would regret."
"Never in a million years. I never thought at this age that I'd be raising two kids, but it is all worth it."
"It certainly is." Justin agreed and lifted his glass. "To the kids?" He asked. Sierra raised her glass too and nodded. They tapped glasses and took a small drink.
"So do you have any good stories about Olivia?" Sierra asked as their waiter set their food down. The man nodded as they thanked him and walked away.
"I have so many." Justin smiled. They ate their meal while sharing stories about the kids.
"I had a great time tonight Justin." Sierra smiled. She hadn't been out in so long and it was a pleasantly surprised with his company.
"I did too," Justin responded genuinely. Sierra unlocked her front door and pushed it open. The two stepped inside.
"Aunt Carrah?" Sierra asked quietly when she spotted the older women reading and Olivia sound asleep on the couch. Her aunt stood up and walked over to the two.
"Back so soon?" Carrah asked slyly.
"Oh hush …" Sierra blushed and noticed Justin doing the same.
"What time did she fall asleep?" He asked and walked over to where his daughter was curled up on the couch under a blanket.
"Around nine," Carrah answered. "She and Cora had a great time together tonight. Let me get some of hose cookies for you."
"You don't have to do that." Justin said as he reached down and picked up Olivia. "You're getting so big," he said to her quietly and planted a kiss on her forehead when her eyes opened. "Did you have fun?"
Olivia nodded with her head resting on his shoulder. She closed her eyes and fell back asleep in his arms. Carrah walked back into the living room, and handed him a container of cookies.
"Thanks again." Justin whispered and walked back towards the front door. "I'll call you." He said to Sierra.
"Sounds good. Drive safe." Sierra opened the front door for him. "Good night."
"G'night," he nodded and turned around. Sierra watched him go down the steps and lay Olivia down on the backseat. He waved as he got into the drivers seat and Sierra waved back before closing the door.
"So how was it?" Carrah asked.
"It was nice," Sierra sighed. "I had a really nice time with him. How were Cameron and Cora?"
"Angels. Cam went down about 30 minutes ago." Carrah said.
"He'll be up in a couple of hours then." Sierra looked at the clock.
"I am going to go. Have a good night." Carrah grabbed her bag.
"Thanks again for watching Olivia as well." Sierra gave her a hug.
"Not a problem," Carrah opened the door and stepped out onto the porch. Sierra followed. "Night sweetie."
"Good night." Sierra said. Carrah stepped off the porch and Sierra watched to make sure she got across the yard and to her house safely. Sierra closed the door after the porch light shut off and back on across the yard. She moved upstairs and into her room.
The clothes she wore ended up on the floor as she moved towards her dresser. Sierra pulled out her pajamas and put them on. She finished getting ready for bed and went down the hall to check in on Cora and Cameron. Both were sound asleep and that made her happy.
