<div class="floatleft">(https://www.theplace2.ru/archive/elizabeth_turner/img/elizabeth-turner-wil(8).jpg)</div><strong>Name:</strong>Mar Sinclair<br/><strong>Date/Time:</strong>Saturday October 10th<br/><strong>Location:</strong>Home<br/><strong>Content/Mood:</strong>Coming home | Anxiously excited<br/><strong>Tagging:</strong>Mar and Erin<br/><br/><hr/><hr/>Celeste smiled at Mar, for the wink as much as what she said. Like Daddy was letting her in on a little secret shared just between the two of them. Oh, sure. Mommy<em>knew</em>about it--how could she not? She was sitting right there and clearly within earshot. Erin probably even saw the wink. But she wasn't<em>in</em>on it. At least not in the same way that Celeste and Mar were in on it.<br/><br/>Not Celeste wanted to exclude Erin--or Mar, for that matter--from anything. That wasn't the point. The point was, she was suddenly starting to feel a whole lot less like an intruder in a happy marriage and more like the third, and equally important, member of their family. Just like Erin and Mar had<em>their</em>relationship, Celeste was building one with Mar, and she was building one with Erin. She was finding her niche.<br/><br/>Besides, Erin was<em>sitting right there!</em>Of course she wasn't excluded.<br/><br/>She made that known by adding a little comment of her own that drew Celeste's eyes and pulled the conspiratorial grin right off the girl's face. Sometimes food sounded a lot less common than 'almost every night.'<br/><br/>Celeste chewed her lip, big blue eyes locked on the redhead's, then finally nodded. Strict Mommy. Lenient Daddy. At least when it came to food. Now she knew who to come to whenever she wanted a snack.<br/><br/>After that, Celeste went mostly silent, letting the "grown ups" talk, while she sampled more of her food. Most of what the other two women talked about went over her head, but when her name was mentioned, Celeste perked up. She had her cup at her mouth and was currently mid-gulp, eyes peering over the rim at Erin. A few seconds later, she put it down, wiped any residual damp from her mouth with the back of her hand, then shrugged. "Only a little bit. I think it's neat--I've just never never gotten around to reading much of it, I guess."<br/><br/>Then her eyes went back to Mar, who was tucking some of Celeste's hair back behind her ear. She smiled; she liked being touched. Growing up, affection had been in short supply in her home. Not in her new home, though. Here, there'd be plenty of affection to go around. This bit of touching didn't last long, though, and soon Mommy and Daddy were back to talking about Mommy and Daddy things.<br/><br/>Celeste returned to her meal, nodding when Mar tried to explain what was going on but not really understanding--mostly because she hadn't been listening. Daddy was a<em>very</em>good cook. Her food was distracting.<br/><br/>Talk of dessert got her attention, though. She perked up, eyeing Erin first, then Mar.<br/><br/>"Anything?" She queried, a little cautious. As if it were too good to be true! It almost was. She bit her lip, eyes darting back-and-forth between the two women, Mommy and Daddy, Daddy and Mommy. "Cheesecake?" She asked, finally. "I like cherry cheesecake." Loved would have been a more appropriate term. But Celeste didn't want to seem<em>too</em>eager. "Can we have that, Daddy?" Her tummy tightened when she said the word.<em>Daddy.</em><br/><br/>Mommy.<br/><br/>How long until she could say them without that little jolt in the pit of her stomach? That thrill?<br/><br/>"Can we, Mommy?" She asked, just because she wanted to say that word, too. She took another bite of her food, looked at Erin. Then Mar. Then Erin. Idly chewing, while she waited for her answer.<br/><br/>