Are You Tired Or Something?

Two weeks had passed and Damon had yet to have another outburst like the one in his study. It seemed like his progress seemed to be promising. He had yet to get any other leads on who may have shot him. I knew he was frustrated by it but he seemed to be handling things quite well.

"Sterling, come on!" I hollered as I had Scarlett loaded up in her car seat. "Let's not keep your father and grandpa waiting!"

"Coming!" He shouted back as he hurried in from the kitchen. "I'm ready mommy."

"Good." I responded. "Let's be on our way then."

Sterling followed me into the garage and got in the car as I put Scarlett in. Once they were both secured I got into the front seat and started the car. I opened the garage and began to back out of it. Then I headed for Martin's mansion. He had asked us over for dinner. Damon was at his office so we would be driving there separately.

I focused on the road while I listened to the children in the back seat. Sterling was talking to Scarlett. By the coos she responded with it was clear that she was happy to be in the presence of her big brother. They had developed such an amazing bond together since Scarlett had come home. Scarlett would give the biggest smiles when she heard Sterling come in after he had been gone all day.

I remained focused on the road and we finally pulled up to the driveway of Martin's home. Damon's black BMW had finished parking as I pulled up behind it. I turned the car off as Damon got out of his. He came over and helped get Scarlett's car seat out as Sterling and I got out.

"Hey." I smiled at him. "How was work?"

"Work was well, work." By his tone I could tell it was clearly not the best day for him.

"Anything you want to talk about?" I asked.

"No." He hid the emotion on his face and in his voice well. It was hard for me to try to see through it. "Let's go inside Love."

"Okay." I responded.

Damon led the way with Scarlett and Sterling took my hand in his. Damon rang the doorbell and Davis answered the door quickly. "Welcome." He greeted us as we stepped inside of the mansion.

We made our way into the living room where Martin usually was when he waited for guests to arrive. "Grandpa!" Sterling let go of my hand and ran towards Martin.

"Hello to you too." Martin smiled as he hugged Sterling.

Damon set the carseat down and took Scarlett out of it. She for sure was keeping the golden blonde hair I had passed down to her. Her eyes had lightened up from the blueish grey they were at birth. They were a little more blue now but it was still too soon to tell what her permanent color would be.

"I think Scar is excited to see you too! I was talking about our visit while mommy drove." Sterling spoke to Martin.

"Is that so?" Martin responded. He then looked at his granddaughter in Martin's arms. "May I see her?"

"Of course." Damon proceeded to hand Scarlett over to Martin.

Martin sat her on his lap and began to make faces at her. He supported her head with his hand but as time went on that was not as necessary as before. She was able to hold her head up on her own better and better, it was nice. She didn't seem as fragile.

Damon took a seat next to me and leaned his head back. Whatever had gone had to be rough. He seemed disconnected from the rest of us in the room. I was trying to give him the benefit of the doubt here, everyone is allowed to have their rough days. But my gut feeling was back that I had weeks ago.

"How are things with Amethyst?" Martin asked as he still gave his attention to Scarlett.

"Pretty good actually." I answered with a smile. "It's good to be back. It's almost like I never left."

"I knew you'd be able to bounce right back into it." Martin was pleased with my response. "Anything big planned for the store or the site?"

"No. Not right now anyway. I didn't want to take on more than I can handle at the moment." I explained. "Damon and I have discussed options for the second location recently though."

"And what about you Sterling?" Martin turned his focus on the young boy. "Is there anything exciting I should know about?"

"I've been helping at the orphanage." Sterling smiled wide. "Mrs. Strahm and Miss Emily said that I'm doing a good job."

"That's good to hear. Are you excited for first grade in August?" Martin asked.

"Yes." Sterling nodded.

Sterling and Martin talked about various things back and forth. That's how it was when talking to a child, they could be all over the place. It was interesting to see how their brains worked. One moment he was talking about school and the next he was talking about a new toy car Damon had bought him. The only one not involved at all in any conversation was Damon. He continued sitting here with his head leaned back and his eyes closed.

"Damon." Martin spoke to get his attention.

Damon's head shot back up. "What is it?"

"Are you tired or something?" Martin asked as he still held on to Scarlett. "You haven't really said anything since you came in."

"I'm fine." Damon reassured his father. "It's just been a busy day."

"I've had a few of those myself. What happened?" Martin pressed for more information.

Damon let out an irritated sigh. "The contract with the Scott's. The Murphy's tried to come in and take the business. I spent all day pretty much battling it out to get the Scott's to take the offer that had been made."

"I see." Martin seemed as if he knew exactly what Damon had just explained. "Terrance Murphy has always been that way."

"Yeah, he's a real fucking prize isn't he?" Damon rolled his eyes. "I'm done talking about work now though. This is not the time nor the place."

"Understandable." Martin nodded.

Martin turned his attention back to Sterling and Scarlett as we waited for dinner to finish. My attention was focused on Damon. After Martin pulled what little information he had out of him it seemed to make it worse. He seemed more annoyed and irritated now. I couldn't shake the feeling that something else was on his mind.