09: He Still Had The Same Look When Sleeping

The faster she ran upstairs in her sandals with a tray in her hands, the more sound she produced.

Now, everyone in the Anderson mansion knew she was holding a tray.

Not looking into their prying eyes, she kept walking forward and forward. 

Knocking gently on the door, she expected Elian to be awakened by now, but who would have thought that he was still sleeping like there was no tomorrow.

Oh, she forgot. 

He was a heavy sleeper.

"Elian, are you awake?" Zaria's voice was gentle and soft as a feather.

Very gentle which was a little incredulous. If someone on her campus were to watch her like this gentle, they would feel dizzy. 

Gentle Ria was totally different from the Indifferent Bossy Ria.

Everyone remembered how she beat a boy when she was in her sixth grade and how she ruled the school.

This memory was such a scary trip down memory lane for them.

Excluding this, her beauty was up to the top and so many girls were envious of her and the boys wanted her to be theirs.

Boys liked pretty and rich girls, after all, and she was both.

Still not getting a reply in return, she decided she should open the door.

Chewing her lower lip in anticipation, she twisted the doorknob silently without making any type of noise. 

There he was laying in his bed with his left side pressing onto the bed mattress, his breathing calm and even. He was facing her.

He looked so Godly and boyish. So Divine. Like a deity.

She had so many words to describe him.

Zaria wished she could still watch him sleep like this forever. 

He still had the same look when sleeping. She smiled noticing it.

A memory came into her mind.

She remembered his sleeping posture when they were playing a game.

She insisted Elian sleep on the bed and she, on the chair holding a book. 

Just to make Zaria happy, Elian agreed. Zaria was finally accepting the Andersons. 

Zaria was reading him a bedtime story, a new thing she heard from her classmates about their parents tucking them into bed.

Since she had no parents and she considered herself a big girl, she decided she would play this game with her newfound friend, Elian Anderson. 

He was faking his sleep.

He was not asleep at all. 

How could he sleep when her voice was this high-pitched and piercing, but he did not want to hurt her, so he still faked sleep.

Of course, Zaria was excited. It was her first time reading a story out to someone.

'Elian should be glad that I am reading him a story.' She conceitedly thought.

"...The knight realized that he loved the princess from the beginning and confessed his love for her. The cute princess was so happy hearing this. In the end, the princess and her knight lived happily ever after."

When the story was over, he heaved a sigh secretly, not realizing that Zaria had seen him.

He was thankful that the story had ended. Zaria narrowed her eyes a little. 

This friend of hers did not appreciate her story at all!

Hmph. 

How rude. 

She contemplated a little.

She knew how to make him asleep. She would make him asleep.

If she could not, she would not be called Zaria Smith anymore. 

When Zaria did not move from her seat, Elian thought to open his one eye slightly to see Zaria.

BAM!

But before he could open it, a hand was slapped over his eyes making him still. 

Now, that he was found out, he expected her to shout at him.

She did not. 

Instead, he felt her softly tapping him on his forehead and heard her sing a foreign song he had never known before. 

No, it was not a song. It was a lullaby for a little child.

Sleepy little child, you continue your sleep. 

Sleepy little child, be whatever you want to be.

Close your eyes a little, and imagine what you love to do.

Surround yourself with warmth, with the people who love and adore you.

Sleepy little child, I hope you are asleep.

Sleepy little child, be in a world of bliss. Carry on with closing your eyes up until the sun manages to wake you. 

So, sweet little child, fall into the valley of your dreams.

Sleepy little child, you continue your sleep.

Sweet little child...

"...I hope you are finally asleep."

At the end of the verses, her voice cracked and tears gathered around her huge brown orbs.

Her mother used to sing it to her when she had trouble sleeping.

She vowed to herself that she would not cry. She shook her head and swiftly rubbed her red turning eyes.

Not ever again.

Otherwise, her parents above would be worried. 

She was a big girl. She would not let her parents be sad when they wanted her to be happy.

So, nope. 

She would not shed tears.

They were here. With her every time, watching her, so why would she bother crying? 

When she withdrew her hands from her eyes and sneakily wiped the traces of tears with her shirt's sleeve, she saw her friend Elian sleeping peacefully, looking as soft as cotton.

He was actually sleeping this time. 

His breathing was of a child's breath; soft and soothing which relaxed her.

A sweet smile appeared on her face. At this moment she decided that she would help him whenever he needed her.

This was the first time in her seven-year-old life she sang this lullaby for someone else other than her to sleep.

Never once in her wildest dreams, she thinks she could make someone sleep with this.

She tried it with her teddy bear, grizzle, but he did not even close his eyelids for one minute.

She glanced at his face. He was sleeping soundly and nothing on his face resembled that of a troublemaker who loved teasing her.

She instantly became delighted.

Unknowingly, she bent down and kissed him, but who knew he would turn his face in her direction!

Ah. 

Her eyes were very wide. Almost like she was in disbelief. What did she just do?!

She quickly put her both little hands on her mouth.

Her aim was at his cheek not on his lips! 

What had she done! Only her mother would do this with her father. 

It was her first kiss... with him and she lost it when she was only seven. Just seven. 

Subconsciously, she touched her lips but soon retracted her fingers back.

But her mother said only couples in love could do that. Elian was just her friend. Her newfound friend.

How could she kiss a friend?

Groaning a little, she hid her face and continued hiding it in her hands.

She did not even look like a seven-year-old, but an adult who had done a grave mistake.

Little did she know that this innocent mistake was seen by the two people who were silently peeking from the door. Both had gentle smiles on their faces. 

"Darling, I want her as my daughter-in-law." The woman revealed her wish happily.

She wanted this girl for her son selfishly. She believed her son and her late friend's daughter could live happily. She promised her best friend that she would care for her daughter as her own in her stead if she were not there someday and vice versa.

Now, she believed that in their place Ria could take care of their son genuinely when they would not be present someday in future.

"My wife, don't worry. Everything has a right time." The man smiled looking down at his wife and then at the little children.

They went to their room quietly, so the little girl would not be mortified facing them the next morning.

In the latter days, Zaria was made a lot of fun of as the residents of Anderson household were calling her 'Pequeña Esposa', a word Elian learnt from his Spanish school friend and teased Zaria Smith with this!