“Hey Chrissy, I’m going to order breakfast. You good with just some Special K and fresh fruit.” I ask her through the door.
“Yeah, that’s cool with me. Can you get some pulpy Orange Juice too please?”
“Okay, you gonna be long or is it okay to place the order now?” She opens the door and pops her head out.
“I’m just gonna have a quick shower, I’ll wash my hair when we get back home.”
“Okay, I’ll make the call now. You need me to pack anything while I wait?”
“Ummm ... You wouldn’t mind just throwing everything into my suitcase will you?”
“I wouldn’t have asked if I did.” I cock my brow at her, smiling.
“Yeah, yeah.” She laughs closing the door.
I go into the kitchen and order our breakfast then I walk around the suite making sure everything is in place and I haven’t left any of our belongings lying around. Moments later there is a knock at the door. I open it and who happens to be standing on the other side with our breakfast?
“Robert!” I squeal hugging him.
“Come in.” I quickly grab his elbow and rush him inside with the trolley.
“Good morning Nessa.” He smiles brightly at me.
“So...?”
“She loved them.” Reaching into his work blazer he pulls out a small envelope.
“Aroha asked me to give this to you.” He hands it to me.
“Naaawww... She shouldn’t have.” I take the envelope from him and flip it over to see Mine and Chrissy’s name printed on it.
“Chrissy! Can you come here for a sec?” I shout towards the room.
Chrissy comes out dressed in a white summer dress. The moment her eyes land on Robert she rushes over to him and pulls him in for a big bear hug.
“Robert, Good Morning. You're looking very dapper this morning.” She winks at him.
“Thank you very much.” He smiles and winks back at Chrissy.
“Here.” I give the envelope to Chrissy and her smile gets bigger as she reads the printing.
“Aroha wrote us a thank-you note. You wanna read it?” I look at her linking my arm through Roberts.
Chrissy opens the envelope, taking extra care not to tear it. She carefully unfolds the piece of paper and clears her throat before she starts.
“Kia Ora Nessa and Chrissy,
Thank you very much for my birthday presents. I like them a lot and can not wait to show them, my friends. My favourite gift was the fairy dress that you got me. My mum and dad got me a greenstone necklace and it looks pretty with my new dress. My Pa calls me a Warrior Fairy Princess. He said I am lucky to have two angels who sent me my birthday gifts instead of just the one. So thank you heaps and I am sorry but I didn’t save you any cake. It was too yummy and I had two big pieces.
From Aroha... The Warrior Fairy Princess.”
She folds the piece of paper back up and places it back into the envelope.
“That was beautiful, can you tell her she is very welcome Robert.” She fans her face with her hand warding the tears away.
“And give her a big hug from us also please. Such a cutie.” I coo in admiration.
“I will. Thank you both so much. You have truly brought this silly old fool to his knees in joy. The look on my Mokos face was priceless, I had to get my son to record the moment on his phone.” He pats his chest trying to conceal his emotions.
“I better get going before they start to look for me. Enjoy your breakfast and I hear you're both checking out this morning.”
“Yes, we need to get back to the real world in Auckland.” I scrunch up my nose.
“Take care and please come back to visit again soon. Aroha would love to meet you and thank you in person.”
“That would be wonderful.” Chrissy steps forward and lightly plants a kiss on Roberts's cheek.
“Come on, I’ll walk you out,” I say to him with our arms still linked I walk him to the door.
“Kia Kaha- Be strong, Miss Maddison. I sense that you are a slightly troubled soul." His eyes search mine.
"Kia Toa- Be brave my child.” He lightly kisses my forehead. “This is not goodbye my dear.” He smiles
“No, more of a ... I’ll see you later.” I sadly say to him knowing that it will most likely be goodbye for us.
Robert nods and walks away whistling. I close the door and walk over to the table and sit down. I pick up the envelope Chrissy left beside my bowl of cereal and open it smiling. I read the note again appreciating Aroha’s efforts in trying to print neatly with finger spaces. I’m really glad she loved her gifts, would've been a bit upsetting if she hadn’t. I place the note back inside the envelope and start eating my Cereal.
“So..... we're flying back in Lucas plane I hear,” Chrissy says as she takes a mouthful of cereal.
“Yeah, sorry... He offered and I didn’t want to argue with him. I’m done arguing.” I play with my bowl of fresh fruit salad.
“Is it a good idea to be left alone with him? I mean... It’s a bit sudden don’t you think?”
“Yes and No. Yes, it’s sudden and no I don’t think it’s a good idea. But what am I meant to do? He has meetings up to his eyeballs tomorrow and the sooner I get to see my niece the better.”
“You know you don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do when it comes to Luca right babe?” She says in a caring tone.
“Yeah... But I need to do this for myself too. I need this to happen so we can get the awkwardness out of the way sooner rather than later. I want to build a bond with Rosalia in whatever little time I have with her. Luca tends to fly out every two weeks and two weeks isn’t enough time to make up for a lifetime.”
“Okay, but if you need me... You know I am only a call or a text away. Don’t feel like you have to face this head-on all at once. Give yourself time to adjust yeah?” She sets her spoon down next to her bowl of cereal and picks up her glass of Orange Juice.
“Sure.” I smile at her.
“Are you sure you're in the right profession? I mean you dish out some really good advice, you should have been a student councillor.” I laugh as I take a bite out of my chunky apple.
“Then I would've never met Conrad. I seriously don’t know how I've been living all these years without him. He makes me feel whole. I didn’t even realise I was missing a part of me till very recently. How bizarre is that?” She puts her glass down and looks at me seriously.
“Conrad is a very alpha type of male. I’m assuming you are his long life mate that he has claimed.” I giggle at her.
“Bitch.” She throws a grape at me. “I was being serious.”
“I know, I was too.. kind of.” I shrug at her.
“You know you read too many of those damn shifter books right?”
“Yeah, and there’s still no shame in my name.” I waggle my brows to annoy her more.
“No, but I am pretty sure BITCH is.” She sticks her tongue out at me.
“That... is still debatable.” We finish eating our breakfast in light banter with each other.