Chapter 158


    Chapter 158: Plein Air Painting


    Edrick


    As soon as I saw the hurt expression on Moana’s face, I knew that I messed up by taking her tooth.


    Obviously I still couldn’t tell her about the Golden Wolf, but I realized that maybe I should have asked if


    I could take her tooth ahead of time; I could have simply told her that I wanted to take it to have some


    tests done, or anything to not make her panic. She clearly had been frantically searching for the tooth


    when I came home, and I instantly felt like a jerk for making her feel that way.


    Even though Moana said that it was okay, and simply told me not to do that again, she was distant for


    the next couple of days. I noticed that she was being much more quiet than usual, and whenever she


    came to bed at night she would simplyy down and turn away from me. Maybe abination of


    taking the tooth, getting upset with her over what happened with her ex-boyfriend, and not being there


    when she woke up for two days in a row made her feel upset.


    So, I decided to make it up to her.


    One morning, Moana was busy giving E a bath when I found Selina in the kitchen preparing


    breakfast.


    “Selina,” I said, walking into the kitchen and pouring myself a cup of coffee, “can you help me with


    something?”


    The housekeeper looked up from the fruit sd she was mixing and furrowed her brow. “What is it?”


    I chewed my lip for a moment. It was a bit embarrassing to admit that I needed to find a nice way to


    make things up to Moana, but it had to be done.


    “I think I really hurt Moana’s feelingstely,” I said. “I want to make it up to her, but I don’t know how.


    Has she mentioned anything to you?”


    Selina stared at me for a moment, then shrugged and returned to stirring the bowl of fruit sd. “She


    doesn’tin much,” she replied. “But she has been a little cooped up since the media attention


    started. On Saturday, E begged her to go out for breakfast. I think they’re both feeling a little stir


    crazy.”


    I nodded slowly, considering what Selina had said. Maybe I needed to find something that Moana, E,


    and I could do as a family. Summer would be ending soon, and it wouldn’t be long after that before


    winter came and we would be spending a lot more time inside. Maybe it would be nice to do something


    outside in the fresh air.


    As I sat down and began to drink my morning coffee, I opened the newspaper and started to read it


    front to back, just as I always did every morning. I rarely paid any attention to the advertisements,


    however. At least, that was until something suddenly caught my eye as I was reading.


    It was an advertisement for an outdoor art ss. It was called “plein air painting”, which meant that


    students would be paintingndscape scenes out in the fresh air. And, it was family friendly. I


    remembered that Moana had brought her plein air easel to paint at the mountain estate, but that she


    had never been able to get any painting done due to the fact that we had to leave so suddenly. Moana


    loved drawing and painting, and I knew that going to a ss to paint outside with E would make her


    happy.


    I also thought back to the day that we painted at the orphanage. Even though Moana’s lesson that day


    was geared toward children, I had still had a lot of fun that day. It made me want to try painting some


    more, and so I decided to cut the newspaper advertisement out and slip it into my pocket just before


    Moana and E came out for breakfast.


    “Daddy,” E said as she sat down at the table, “do you have to work today?”


    I nodded. “I do, Princess. Why?”


    E let out an exasperated, almost theatrical sigh. Meanwhile, Moana poured syrup onto E’s


    pancake and tucked a napkin into the front of E’s shirt without a word before sitting down next to her.


    The entire time, Moana didn’t so much as look in my direction.


    “I just wish we could have some ytime,” E finally said. “ytime outside of the house. It’s stuffy in


    here.”


    I couldn’t help but smile. This only solidified the fact that the plein air ss would be good for everyone,


    but I decided not to say anything right away. I wanted it to be a bit of a surprise.


    The plein air ss was set for the day after the next, so I decided to give a little hint to get E excited


    as well as to see how Moana would react.


    “Well, I’ll take the day off of work the day after tomorrow,” I said with a smile. “Then, maybe all three of


    us can go out and have some fun.”


    E gasped. “Really?” she squealed excitedly.


    Moana didn’t say anything, but I caught her quickly ncing up at me with wide, sparkling eyes; that


    was all the confirmation I needed. I knew that this art ss would make both of them happy.


    “Really,” I replied, reaching out and pinching E’s cheek.


    …


    Later that evening, I decided to sneak into my bedroom just before dinner and ce the art ss


    advertisement in an envelope on Moana’s bedside table. I even added a little note on the front of the


    envelope that said to get her painting supplies ready, and couldn’t help but smile when I set the


    envelope carefully down for her to findter.


    As we ate dinner that night, I felt as though I could hardly contain my excitement. Even though I had


    never been particrly interested in painting, I had to admit that I enjoyed it now after my little art ss


    with Moana at the orphanage. Not only that, but I was even more excited to make Moana and E


    happy.


    Hopefully, I thought to myself as we ate dinner together, this art ss would show Moana that I truly


    was sorry for hurting her feelings. I didn’t want her to be stressed, and I also had to admit that I felt


    lonely without her affection. Already I had be too used to feeling her snuggling up to me in the


    middle of the night, and it hurt a bit to only ever see her all the way over on the edge of myrge bed


    every night.


    But, that wasn’t the only reason behind why I wanted to make Moana happy.


    Since the Mother Witch gave me the special potion to keep Moana’s wolf from emerging, I had been


    too nervous to try using it yet. I was worried that it would not only be potentially dangerous for Moana


    and the baby, but also that she would be too suspicious of me after the way that I had disappeared so


    much for two days as well as the fact that I stole her tooth that day.


    Hopefully, this painting ss would help Moana rx enough for me to start putting the drops in her


    morning coffee, just as the Mother Witch said.


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    After all, I did need to make sure that her wolf wouldn’t emerge for her own safety.