Received And Noted

Everything in the kitchen was now a mess. There wasn't a single spot that wasn't covered with sugary frosting, except for the very well protected desserts that Claire had made and set on the other side of the kitchen. The very side Aiden had skillfully blocked from being ruined by their on going laughter filled battle.

"Well well well." Claire's voice made three of them halt as if they were naughty kids being caught by the school principle while pulling a prank. "I guess next time I should hide the piping bags away before leaving you three behind huh?" She stood by the door with her arms crossed over her chest as if she were about to reprimand them.

Looking like a comical skit, the three of them simultaneously hid their hands behind their backs as they turned to face her. Claire had a raised eyebrow as she looked at them.

"Claire!" Lucas said loudly as he slowly realized the situation they were in. "Um...um you see....we um..." His brain wouldn't go fast enough for him to come up with a way to get out of the mess they were standing in the middle of.

Looking at their nervous expressions made Claire burst into a fit of laughter. One that both scared and confused the nervous trio. She took some steps until she had Lily in her reach and took off some of the frosting she had on her little nose with her index finger. After tasting the green candy flavored mixture she grinned at her. "It's almost as sweet as you Sweetie."

Lily giggled as both Aiden and Lucas sighed in relief. They thought they would be done for. Claire might be half their size, but they knew better than to mess with a woman that held the kind of look she did in her eyes. A whole life time of experiences dealing with a similar person was more than enough for them to learn their lesson on the matter. Even if it was the hard way.

"Good job Princess. We are the obvious winners in this battle." Aiden gave Lily a high five to which she happily responded. But after doing so, she looked over at Lucas with the most dazzling smile they had seen on her face so far.

'You can try again next time Uncle Lucas.' She signed with her fingers covered in colored frosting. It was the cutest thing ever. Making all of their hearts melt at the same time.

"I'll only admit defeat because it was you Kiddo." Lucas chuckled as he squeezed Lily's cheeks.

"Well I guess that's the end of today's baking session." Claire said as she started to clean Lily's hands with a kitchen rag. "We need to get you cleaned up Sweetie."

"That sounds great right about now." Aiden chuckled as he too wiped frosting off of his forehead.

"Seeing as I'm going to start attracting bees soon, I'll see you guys in a bit." Lucas laughed at the fact that he was the worst out of the three. He made his way out of the kitchen and left to clean himself up.

"Come here Princess." Aiden said to Lily as he took her down from the kitchen island and carried her. "Let's not get your Mommy covered in this too."

Claire took off her apron and followed Aiden up the stairs until they reached a large dark oak door. She opened it for them, to avoid the door knob getting sticky from the frosting on his hands, and went in after him. Once inside, she noticed it was one of the largest bedrooms she had ever seen.

As soon as she walked in, she was faced with a spectacular view of the enormous garden at the back of the house thanks to the balcony doors drapes being open. To their right was a king sized bed with beautiful wooden pillars that were decorated with fabric hanging loose from the top. To the left was a fireplace with comfortable looking furniture placed in front of it, which matched the bed and the night side tables next to it. Everything in sight was colored with light cream and milk chocolate tones that made the space feel as warm as the rest of the house. But in the bedroom's case, there were subtle tones of blue here and there tastefully incorporated with cushions and other decorative trinkets.

"I'd take you to one of the guest rooms, but my bedroom has the biggest bathroom in the house." Aiden said as he walked towards the door next to the fireplace. Once he opened it, he turned around to see that Claire had stopped by the main entrance and was currently in a daze. "Angel?"

Claire snapped out of her thoughts and turned to look at Aiden and Lily looking back at her while waiting by the door. "Oh, sorry."

She stepped inside the bathroom and was just as entranced by it as she was with the bedroom. It was half the size of the previous room. It had two sinks, a private space for the toilet with it's own door, a glass shower and the biggest custom made tub she had ever seen in her life. It was placed by a ceiling to floor window that gave view to a piece of the wine grapes that were near the garden.

"You really have a thing with views don't you?" Claire asked as Aiden placed Lily down.

"Maybe." Aiden chuckled while he walked over to a cabinet. "There are clean towels and other things in here. Aurora will bring you a change of clothes for Lily, so if you need anything else don't hesitate to ask her. I'll be back to get you two once I finish showering too. We'll have some dinner afterwards."

"Thanks." Claire said to him. After winking at her in response, he headed out of the bathroom. She then turned to Lily. "Sweetie, why don't you take off those clothes and get in the shower?" She said as she turned on the water in the shower for her."I'll be back in a minute okay?"

After receiving a thumbs up from her little flower, Claire stepped out of the bathroom while leaving the door just slightly open to be able to hear her if anything were to happen. Just as she turned around, she saw Aiden walking out of the door near the bed with a change of clothes for himself in his hand. She assumed that the door led to his closet.

"Do you need something?" Aiden asked her as soon as he saw her. He made his way to her, but avoided touching her. He didn't want to ruin her clothes by getting frosting all over them.

"No thanks. I think we have everything we need in there." Claire replied to him while taking a few steps closer.

"If it's about the clothes, I already sent a message to Aurora. She'll be here with them by the time you're done."

"It's not about that either." Claire responded while she took another step closer to him. Aiden didn't think much of it, but he wasn't happy about not being able to touch her. So the fact that she wasn't helping him keep a safe distance between them was making it harder for him.

"Then what is it Angel?" He started to to get confused and worried at the same time when Claire grabbed his face and pulled it down to her level making their lips meet.

At first Aiden was shocked, but his wanting to avoid getting her dirty flew out the window after only a second of feeling her soft lips on his. Letting the clothes he had in his hands drop to the floor, he wrapped one of his arms around her waist to pull her closer to him while the other found the back of her head. Claire immediately wrapped her own arms around his neck while the kiss intensified.

He tasted like her made from scratch frosting, which only made her feel like melting even more. His arm firmly grabbing her waist and the way his hot breath fanned her face, made her feel like every second they weren't in each others arms like that was a waste of time.

The arm he had at the back of her head moved to her waist so that he could lift her up. The fact that she was short in height was something he found cute, but the need to press her against his body was overwhelming every time they kissed. As soon as she felt she wasn't touching the floor anymore, Claire wrapped her legs around his torso as well.

Aiden could again feel his body refusing to cooperate with his rationality. His little Angel was indeed adorable most of the time, but when she pulled stunts like the one she just did, she made him feel like his sanity would slip out of his control. He hadn't moved from where they were, but every cell in his body was screaming for him to slam her against the bed behind him and have his way with her. Discover everything she had to hide and make it impossible for her to live another day without him making her scream with pleasure. But he knew he couldn't. Not yet at least.

Claire could feel the situation between them escalating at a quick pace, which prompted her to pull back. Both of them were panting as they looked into each others eyes when a smirk slowly appeared on their faces. It was astonishing how they both felt so comfortable and drawn towards one another after knowing each other for a few months. It was scary, but exciting.

"What was that for?" Aiden was the first to break the silence between them while he continued to hold her up in his arms. A position she didn't seem to want to break apart from either.

"Well..." Claire began to reply as her hands made their way up into Aiden's hair with a smile on her face. Immediately making him want to continue with their spontaneously intense make out session. "I'm really happy today."

"And happy equals wanting to kiss me?" He questioned her with curiosity and serious satisfaction written all over his face.

"It does if the reason behind my being so is thanks to you. Which as you can see..." She gave him a peck on the lips before she continued. "It is in this case."

Aiden took a deep breath before burying his face in her neck. After a long content sigh, he smiled against her skin. "Well if that was your way of asking me to keep it up then..." He gave her neck a kiss before snuggling into it again. Actions which sent involuntary shivers down Claire's back. "Message received and promptly noted Angel."