Birthday Gift

After leaving the living area, Aiden guided Claire through the house. While he did, his thoughts all revolved around the fact that they were walking hand in hand for the first time. Even if it was inside his own home, he was happy by the little progress they made everyday.

'Baby steps.' He thought to himself again as he made his way to the open space behind the house.

Claire on the other and was again lost in everything she saw. Every corner she spotted had yet another detail that made her love the house even more. It wasn't until Aiden opened the door for her to step outside that she snapped back to what they were actually doing.

"The original plan was to start by giving you a proper tour of the place, but we can leave that for later." Aiden said as they walked down a central stone path that seemed to break off into different directions. They hadn't walked far from the house, maybe five minutes or so, yet as soon as Aiden guided her under a wooden arc wrapped in flowery vines, she felt as if she somehow ascended into heaven.

Just one step past the entrance arc was one of the most beautiful gardens Claire had ever seen. Flower beds covered the vast majority of the floor with breathtaking flora. Dinner Plate Dahlia's, Delphinium's and Cockscomb's in every shade she could imagine were perfectly mixed and matched throughout the beginning of the path. Claire walked, or better said was pulled, as her eyes landed on more types of flowers than she could count. Stepping further in, her gaze brushed over another patch filled with proud Tulips and Gladiolus Flower Bulbs. Another with different colored Daisy's and Germander Sage. The more she scanned the place,the more her eyes widened in pure amazement.

It was truly any garden lover's paradise.

Everywhere her eyes wandered she saw amazing flowers and plants skillfully maintained and arranged. Claire felt like she was walking through wonderland. She didn't even notice how Aiden had purposely walked slower to let her enjoy herself.

After both Colton and Lily made reference to her hobby of gardening, he had made sure that his own garden was up to date and in pristine condition. But he never imagined she would be left so dumbfounded by it. Her face was filled with the same kind of wonder that the mini version of herself would get when she felt happy and excited. His Angel's face was finally regaining it's lovely pinkish color and her eyes seemed more awake. Taking her there was definitely the right move.

He just hoped his next one wouldn't send her tumbling down dark memory road again.

Aiden took her to an open space that was surrounded by flowers, but still had an ample room of untouched grass. On his way out, he had taken two blankets. Before he stepped out of the stone trail, he remember she was in heels. Seeing as he didn't want her to struggle walking on the soft ground, he bent down and picked her up. Immediately snapping her out of her garden fan daze.

"I don't want you to ruin your shoes." He said to her as soon as he felt her questioning gaze.

"I don't mind you know." Claire mumbled as she brushed her hand threw his hair. Although she didn't realize it, she felt the need to touch him as much as he did with her.

"But I do." Aiden replied while fully enjoying the sensation of her soft hand threw his hair. "And besides, I like having you in my arms." He gave her cheek a kiss before gently pacing her down. Claire couldn't help but smile at his comment.

After laying one of the blankets on the green grass, he sat down and gestured for her to do the same. Claire looked at him curiously, but joined him nonetheless. Sitting down in between his legs, she snuggled into his embrace as he covered her with the other blanket.

"It's getting cold so don't forget to start wearing more layers." Aiden said as he hugged her closer after making sure she was completely covered with the warm blanket. It was still light out, but since winter was approaching the air was starting to get chillier.

"Your place is amazing Aiden." Claire said after a few moments of comfortable silence. Aiden had his legs up on each of her sides, but she preferred to lean back into his chest as she enjoyed the cool breeze and the view of the garden.

"I'm glad you like it." Aiden replied as he gave the side of her head a kiss. After a few more seconds of silence, he decided to get over with what he needed to make sure of. "Angel."

Claire hummed in reply as she looked up at him. Her dark green eyes and kissable face coming into full display for him to admire at close range. He could get lost for hours in those green orbs full of mysteries.

"I did bring you out here so that you could see the garden, but there's another reason as to why were here." He studied her face closely as he hugged her a little tighter. "Since I don't know how this will go, I'm sorry in advance if you don't like my idea. I would never overstep your boundaries, but I think it will bring many good things to both you and Lily. So I want you to at least keep an open mind okay?"

Claire didn't really understand what he was talking about, but decided to just go with the flow. "Okay." She gave his cheek a quick peck before turning to look back at the garden. But as she did, Aiden grabbed her chin and made her look up at him again. He pressed his lips onto hers for a meaningful yet short kiss before he spoke again.

"Remember I would never hurt you okay?" Aiden stared at her with a gentle smile. He could see she was getting even more confused, but he knew she would understand soon. "Just let me know if you feel it's too much alright?" Claire raised her eyebrow with a million questions written on her face before she slowly nodded.

Aiden closed is legs a bit tighter as to have Claire practically caged in his embrace before he whistled loudly. After a few seconds of nothing happening, he whistled loudly again. As if realization hit her like a truck, Claire immediately felt weak.

She grabbed on to his sleeves with such a strong grip that Aiden thought she would pierce threw the fabric with her nails. He could tell her mind was running wild with ideas, so he quickly started to calm her unease. "Relax. It's not what you think Angel." His lips were brushing against her ear as he spoke softly and reassuringly. "Breath Baby. I'm not calling them over. There's no way in hell I would purposely hurt you like that."

And just as he finished saying, Claire saw the cutest puppy she had ever seen run towards them with haste. It stopped a few steps away from them and started to sniff the ground as he got closer. Claire started to feel nervous the nearer it got to her feet and instinctively pressed herself even harder against Aiden's back. Not a second passed before she heard his husky voice in her ear again.

"You're in my arms Angel. You're fine." After giving the side of her head another kiss he held her hands and gently removed them from his sleeves. He didn't mind her ripping his shirt, but he didn't like seeing her tensed up like that. Once he grabbed her hands in his, he rubbed them as he continued to talk. "He's a wolf-dog or better known as a hybrid." As he started to explain, the wolf-dog sniffed over Claire's blanket.

"The tamable ones, like this one, are extremely loyal and protective of their owners. They grow to be massive in size and live longer than normal dogs do." He could sense she wasn't as tense as when she first saw the dog run up to them so he relaxed a bit. The wolf-dog finished sniffing her and laid down in the grass in front of them. As if he were uninterested by them.

"You're not scared of him are you?" Aiden asked her after a few moments of silently staring at the hybrid.

"Not really." She replied.

The puppy wasn't as intimidating as the dogs she saw earlier, it's just that his sudden appearance took her by surprise. "He's cute." Claire watched the dog as he lazily looked around the garden.

He was all black with light brown eyes. His features were definitely more wolf like than they were dog like, but it just added to his charm.

She gently smiled since he somewhat resembled Aiden. It's aloofness and disinterested expression with them was the same as she had sometimes seen on the face of the man wrapped around her. A thought she would keep to herself.

"That's good to hear." He continued to say as he internally sighed in relief. Relief that only lasted a mere second since he wasn't sure how she would react to the rest. "You see, I was actually thinking of giving him to Lily as a birthday gift."