Total pages in book: 58
Estimated words: 54208 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 271(@200wpm)___ 217(@250wpm)___ 181(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 54208 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 271(@200wpm)___ 217(@250wpm)___ 181(@300wpm)
“I need to organize my data and get in touch with other companies and agencies around the world until I find one that will listen.”
She stood there, staring at him. In less than thirty seconds, Magnus had planted ideas in her head that she hadn’t even considered. She’d been thinking about nothing but staying alive for days. However, he was right. She needed to get back to work. There were cancer patients who needed her in their court.
Chapter Thirteen
“Hey there, Cuddle Bug.”
Celeste spun in her new swivel chair at the sound of Hawking’s voice. “What are you doing here?” she asked as she pushed off the chair and rushed to jump into his arms.
He chuckled. “It’s lunchtime. I came to get you so we can go upstairs where your surprise is.”
“Already?” She’d been so focused she hadn’t even noticed the passage of time.
Magnus came up beside them. “You have to stay on top of this one,” he told Daddy with a smirk.
“Yeah?”
“Yep. When she gets into her research, she tunes out the planet. If I hadn’t told her to stop and eat breakfast, she wouldn’t have realized she was starving. I even sent her to the potty twice.”
Embarrassed, Celeste buried her face in her Daddy’s shoulder. Magnus was correct. He’d described her perfectly.
“That doesn’t surprise me. Thanks for the warning and for keeping an eye on this Little girl this morning.” Hawking hefted her up higher around his waist.
“My pleasure. She’s a genius. It’s a joy to watch her work.” He waved over his shoulder as he returned to his station.
Celeste lifted her head as they entered the elevator. “What’s the surprise, Daddy?”
“You’ll see.”
As soon as they entered the apartment, he let her slide down his body and turned her around to face the small living room.
Celeste gasped. It was littered with so many things. Things for her playroom. Things she’d looked at yesterday online but hadn’t put in the cart to check out.
She took a step forward and touched the closest thing—a clear bag with bedding for the daybed. Exactly the one she’d lusted after. “How did you do this, Daddy? I didn’t put it in the cart.”
“Ahhh, but you did look at it. All I had to do was go through your recently searched list for each store.” He winked at her.
Her jaw fell open, her mind spinning. She hadn’t thought of that. “But when?”
“After you fell asleep last night, I opened my laptop, placed all the orders, and sent someone to pick everything up this morning.” He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her. “Good surprise?”
“The best. But I don’t like you spending this much money on me, Daddy.”
“You’re going to have to get over that, Cuddle Bug. If I want to spoil you, I will. There are also a few things in here I need to take care of you.”
“Like what?”
He reached into the pile and pulled out a smallish box. Opening it up, he pulled out a sparkly green water bottle. “I would bet that you don’t drink enough water for a lot of reasons. You don’t want to stop to go to the bathroom. You can’t have an open container to possibly spill something over your computer or your work. You probably don’t like the taste of water.”
Hawking chuckled at the look of shock on her face. “So that’s a triple confirmation. You need to stay hydrated to keep your brain operating at full speed. Check this one out.”
Handing her the gorgeous bottle, he watched as she turned it around.
“It has CB on it!”
“It does. Look at the lid,” Hawking directed.
Celeste flipped open the transparent top that had a hinge on one side so it wouldn’t get lost. A flexible straw popped up as the lid moved. She closed it and watched the drinking tube disappear.
“You can’t spill it and you can easily get a drink. The straw will help you drink more water. There’s one more feature.”
“What? It turns water into a soft drink?” she asked, sarcastically.
“No. Even better.” As he expected, her curiosity prompted her to unscrew the top as he pantomimed the gesture.
“Is this one of those fruit things?” she asked, staring into the bottle.
“Yes. Want to try it out?”
“Definitely, but it can wait. I want to see all this stuff.”
“You’ll have to wait until Daddy gets off tonight. Then you can decide if you want to go for a run before dinner or unpack some of the goodies.”
“That’s not fair. I want to do both of those things.”
He watched her expression and knew she was struggling not to rebel. “I promise we’ll eventually get all the pretties out so you can see them.”
She sighed. “Okay. Can I take my new water bottle?” She held it so tightly he could see her knuckles were turning white.
“Definitely. Let’s wash it and fill it up. Do you want to put some fruit in there?”