Lily

Lily turned around in the passenger seat, bringing her attention toward the back of the SUV. Maggie was there in her car seat, her eyes as wide as her smile. Well, the one eye that Lily could see anyway. The other one was covered up by her pirate's eye patch.

“We're almost there, Maggie. Just a few more minutes,” Lily said. “Are you excited to see the fair?”

“ARRRR!” Maggie's response made both Wyatt and Lily chuckle.

“I'm ready, too.” Lily turned back around in the seat, admiring the scenery out of the front window.

The festival was held about fifty miles from town. It was in a rural area, a place where most people would probably never go if it wasn't for the fair. Now, though, there was endless traffic as guests practically clamored over each other to get in.

Wyatt drove the SUV down the dirt road until they got to the very end, where it ran into two giant parking lots that were overflowing with cars.

“Looks like we weren't the only ones with this idea,” he said.

After driving around for a few minutes, though, they finally found a place to park. It was toward the back of the lot, but Lily didn't mind. The weather was perfect for a little stroll anyway.

Lily got out of the car and took a quick glance in the reflection of the glass to make sure that everything was in order. After turning her closet upside down to try to figure out what to wear, she'd decided on a simple pink blouse and jeans. It was casual enough to walk around outside in, but also nice enough so that they could go get dinner somewhere afterward and she wouldn't have to feel out of place.

“Come on, little pirate,” Lily said, lifting Maggie from her car seat.

The three of them walked across the dusty parking lot and toward the front entrance of the fair. Lily couldn't believe what she was looking at. In front of them was what appeared to be a giant castle, with two huge wooden doors in the center. They were open and people were lined up outside of them to buy tickets.

They got their tickets and Maggie was so excited to get inside that she was jumping up and down.

“Come on, guys,” she said.

With one hand on Lily's wrist and another on Wyatt's, she began pulling them forward. She couldn't get inside fast enough.

Lily looked around as soon as they'd walked through the entrance doors. She expected to walk into the interior of a castle, but was surprised to find that they were still outside. It turned out that what had looked like a castle from the parking lot, was really only one wall. It was only an illusion that there was actually a giant building there.

However, what laid before them was not an illusion. On both sides, as far as she could see, were little shops. It looked like a town from the middle ages. To their right, was a blacksmith's shop. A man with a gray beard and a black apron was busy clanging away on what appeared to be a sword. He'd just pulled the piece of metal out of the fire and had it laid against a giant anvil. It was red hot and sparked with each strike of his hammer.

When she looked a little further ahead, she noticed a dress shop. Beyond that, there was a guy selling fancy knives with bone handles. In addition to that, there was also a psychic doing palm readings, a juggler who was tossing flaming sticks into the air and even a man riding around on a live elephant.

“Wow, this is already not quite what I expected,” she said.

“How do you mean?” Wyatt asked.

She shrugged. “I thought there would be some tents set up with a few vendors. This looks like an actual town.”

Wyatt nodded. “Yeah, from what I read, they keep all of these buildings up all year long. They only have the fair in the summer, though.”

“That's crazy,” Lily said. “So it's like a ghost town for half of the year?”

“Yeah, I think so,” Wyatt said.

Maggie had released Wyatt and Lily's wrists and was now skipping ahead of them.

“Don't go too far,” Wyatt said. “Stay within sight. We don't want to lose you.”

Lily couldn't stop smiling. Everywhere she looked, she saw something else that amazed her. All of the vendors that occupied the shops were dressed up. Every single one of them looked like they were from a different time and a different place. It was as though they'd taken a time machine and traveled to the future to be here. They were so authentic, it almost made her feel like it wasn't all just pretend.

“This is actually pretty cool,” Lily said. “You know what we should do while we're here?”

Wyatt glanced over. “What's that?”

“I read online that they're doing a jousting competition.” Lily's face lit up as she spoke.

“Really?” Wyatt seemed excited by it, too. “Let's check it out.”

“It starts every hour, on the hour,” Lily said. “Looks like another one will begin in twenty minutes.”

“Perfect, let's do it.” Wyatt took a step forward and his hand brushed Lily's.

She paused for a moment and wondered if he'd done it on purpose. She almost reached for his hand again, but stopped herself.

“Daddy! Aunt Wiwee!” Maggie's voice called out over the crowd of people. Lily looked straight ahead, to see Maggie jumping up and down in excitement in the distance. She was standing in front of a giant fenced in area, which had two camels in it. There were people riding the camels and Maggie was pointing at them, while trying to get Lily and Wyatt's attention.

“Look what Maggie found,” Wyatt said, with a laugh. “Didn't take her too long to find the animals.”

They approached Maggie and when they did, she was still jumping up and down.

“Camels!” she squealed.

Her high-pitched voice caused one of the camels to look over toward her.

“I think that one likes you,” Lily said, patting Maggie on top of the head.

“Yeah, he does,” Maggie agreed. “That one's my friend.”

“Looks like you can ride them,” Wyatt said. “You want to go for a ride, Maggie?”

Maggie's eyes widened and she nodded. She had the same expression on her face that Lily would have had if she'd won the lottery.

“Yes, please,” she said, staring in awe at her father.

“Let's get in line,” Wyatt said, taking Maggie's hand.

Lily followed them up to the line, which only had a few people in it. Since there were two camels, it didn't take but a few minutes before they were at the front.

“Alright, folks. Step on up.” A young guy with long blonde hair and an overenthusiastic smile ushered them toward the gate. “How many are riding today?”

Wyatt glanced back toward Lily and then placed his hand onto her lower back. He gently ushered her forward so that she was standing next to he and Maggie.

“Three of us,” Wyatt said.

“Sounds good,” the guy said. “The little Mrs. there is just a little bit too short, so she can't ride alone. One of you will have to go with her.”

“What do you think?” Lily asked. “If you want, you guys can go ahead and I'll just find a place to sit and watch.”

“No way,” Wyatt said, with a smirk. “I want you to ride with us. Come on, how many times in your life will you get a chance to ride a real camel?”

Lily laughed. “Fair enough.” She turned to face the attendant. “How many can ride on the camel? Can both of us adults go with her?”

“Absolutely,” the guy said. “In fact, it's safer that way. We'll just put your daughter in the middle. One of you sit in front of her and the other behind.”

Lily smiled as the stranger referred to Maggie as their daughter. She didn't bother correcting him and neither did Wyatt. That was the second time that someone had assumed she and Wyatt was a couple and that Maggie was their daughter. Even though it wasn't true, she still liked the feeling of being recognized that way.

The young man led them up the staircase and whistled. One of the camels slowly turned his head and walked over. He took his merry time, his head bobbing randomly around with each step. Lily giggled as he got close. The camel's lips stuck out, making him look like he was doing a giant, exaggerated puppy dog face.

On the back of the camel was a wooden platform. It was held up by the two giant bumps in his back. On the platform was padded seating. Lily crawled onto the camel's back and situated herself in the rear seat. She helped Maggie get in the middle and then watched Wyatt make his way into the front one.

“Don't spit at me,” Wyatt said, to the camel. “And please don't buck me off or anything.”

“I don't think camels buck,” Lily said, laughing.

Wyatt suddenly seemed a little nervous as he sat down. The confident man had lost a bit of his confidence, now that he was sitting on a two thousand pound animal.

“Alright, my man,” the attendant said to Wyatt. “This guy that you're sitting on is named Wilfred. He's four years old and has a ton of energy. Lucky for you, though, he's been trained by the best. All you need to do is hold the reins and click your tongue. He'll walk around the edge of the fence in a loop. He's as calm as a cucumber, so you've got nothing to worry about.”

Wyatt nodded in agreement and then clicked his tongue. Lily squealed in surprise as Wilfred lunged forward and began to walk. Maggie was in complete awe. Her jaw had literally dropped. She glanced back toward Lily.

“What do you think, little pirate?” Lily asked. “Is this fun?”

“Sooo fun,” Maggie said.

The platform they rode on seemed to shift a bit from side to side as Wilfred lumbered along. His steps were slow and awkward, making for an interesting ride. Lily looked forward, noticing that Wyatt's knuckles were white as he held onto the reins.

“You alright up there?” Lily asked.

He glanced back nodded. “Yeah, I'm fine. Why?”

“You seem a little tense,” she said, with a smirk.

“No, not at all,” he replied, spinning back around and squeezing the reins a little tighter. “Just making sure old Wilfred here does what he's supposed to.”

Like the attendant had said, though, Wilfred was as calm as a cucumber. He did exactly as he was supposed to and walked around the inner circumference of the fence. It only took about five minutes before they arrived where they had started, at the top of the stairs. It was a short and pretty uneventful ride, at least in Lily's opinion. Maggie, on the other hand, thought she had just died and gone to heaven. She was still smiling as they got off of the camel's back.

“Bye, Wilfred,” she said, patting him on the neck. “I'll miss you.”

“Awe, Maggie, you're so sweet.” Lily took Maggie's hand and stepped away from the camel. Wyatt followed them down the stairs and let out a huge breath.

“That was... interesting.” He stepped up beside them and Lily noticed that the blood had returned to his knuckles.

She just laughed. “It was interesting. I didn't know you were such a natural camel rider.”

“Very funny.” Wyatt smiled and shook his head. “No, I think had better keep my day job.”

Lily glanced at her watch. “Hey, if we hurry, we can catch the next jousting competition.”

“Let's do it.” Wyatt grabbed Maggie's other hand and the three of them picked up their pace.

The trail was long and meandered up a steep hill. They walked quickly through the crowd. Lily had to maneuver a few times just to avoid running into someone dressed as a knight or an elf.

Finally, after a stressful couple of minutes, they arrived at the jousting arena. The bleachers were packed, but there was a small opening on the top row at the very end. The trio made their way to the seats. Wyatt and Lily sat down, while Maggie stood up on the bleachers between them. She lifting herself up onto her tip toes, trying to see over the people in front of them.

“Here, get on my shoulders, Maggie.” Wyatt reached over and lifted his daughter up, sitting her up onto his shoulders. “Is that better?”

“Yep,” Maggie said.

Lily scooted closer to Wyatt. Their legs touched and she looked over at him. “Sorry. I just couldn't see from where I was.”

“It's no problem,” Wyatt said.

After he spoke, he reached over and wrapped his hand around the outside of her hip. Then he pulled her a little closer.

“Does that help any?” he asked.

Their bodies were now pressed against each others. Her thigh was against his thigh. Same with her hips and her shoulders. She tingled all over and shifted a bit in her seat. She'd never been that close to him before, minus a casual hug here and there. It made her a bit self-conscious.

I hope my hair smells good, she thought. And I hope I sprayed on enough perfume this morning.

“Oh look, they're starting,” Wyatt said, pointing forward.

Sure enough, two men on horses rode out into the center of the arena. They greeted the crowd and then rode to separate ends. One of them was dressed in all green and the other one was in red. They both had a giant metal joust in their right hands.

Lily should have been excited for what was about to happen out there on the field, but the only thing she could think about was how close she was to Wyatt and how good it felt. She wished she could take it a step further and lean her head onto his shoulder. It just seemed like the natural thing to do.

“Aunt Wiwee, are they going to fight?” Maggie asked.

Lily glanced up to where Maggie was perched on top of Wyatt's shoulders.

“They're going to ride toward each other and poke each other with that big metal stick,” Lily said.

Maggie's lower lip began to tremble. “Will they get hurt?”

“No, no,” Lily said, rubbing Maggie's back. “This is just pretend. It's like going to a play. It might look like one of them gets hurt, but I promise you that they'll be just fine.”

Maggie's face relaxed again. “Okay, good.”

Lily rubbed Maggie's back for just a moment, then dropped her hand down. Half on accident and half on purpose, she let her fingers slide down to Wyatt's shoulder. She paused there for just a moment and then pulled her hand away.

Why am I so drawn to him? She thought. I'm starting to wonder if I should make a move, just to see if I'm the only one feeling this attraction.

The sound of horse's feet stomping the dirt caused her to look forward. The jousters ran full speed toward each other. The red one knocked the green one right off of his horse with his joust. The crowd cheered. Luckily, the green guy got up immediately and waved to the crowd.

The three of them watched a few more bouts. The red knight one every single time except for the last one. Then the green guy made a comeback. Lily figured the entire thing was set up, but it was still entertaining nonetheless. When the jousting was over, the crowd on the bleachers dispersed.

“I'm hun-gee,” Maggie said, playfully kicking her feet against Wyatt's chest.

Wyatt laughed. “Oh, hi, Hungry. I'm Dad. Nice to meet you.”

Lily smiled. “Nice Dad joke.”

He glanced over and flashed a wink. “I do my best.”

“Daddy, I'm starving,” Maggie continued.

“Let's go walk around for a bit,” Wyatt said. “I'm sure we'll find something.”

* * *

Lily took a seat on the opposite side of the picnic table from Wyatt. Maggie crawled up next to her, her blue eyes widening as she looked at the array of fair food that was spread in front of them. As always, Wyatt had gone all out. He'd ordered one of just about everything. They had turkey legs, funnel cakes, some sausages, a few giant pickles and of course, cotton candy. It looked like a Disney World food court had exploded onto the table.

“Quite a feast,” Lily said. “Not even sure where to start.”

“I think I'll try the cotton candy,” Wyatt said. “Maggie, what would you like?”

“Funnel cake! Funnel cake!” she chanted, jumping up and down on the seat next to Lily.

“She takes after me,” he said, chuckling. “She always wants dessert first.”

Lily pulled the funnel cake toward Maggie and then helped her to break off some manageable pieces.

“Thanks for taking us out here,” Lily said. “This has been a lot of fun.”

“You're very welcome.” Wyatt swallowed a mouthful of cotton candy and then reached for a turkey leg. “This place is crazy, right? Where else can you ride a camel and then see two men jousting, all within a ten minute walk?”

Lily nodded. “I know, it's pretty surreal. I like it, though. Next year, we should dress up.”

“You'd want to go again next year?” Wyatt asked.

She shrugged. “I mean, if you wanted to, I'd be up for it.”

“Yeah, that could be fun,” he said. “It'll be our thing.”

Lily couldn't help but to smile when he said that. She realized he probably didn't mean anything by it, but the thought of them have a special “thing” that they did, definitely made her happy.

“How how difficult would it be to get you to dress up for it?” Lily asked.

Wyatt started laughing. “It depends on what you'd want me to dress up as. A pirate? I'm up for it. A jester? Maybe not.”

Lily chuckled. “We'll have to see. I'm sure I'll come up with something.”

He took another bite of his turkey leg. When he set it back down onto the plate, it made a big thud. The thing was huge.

“This week is going by pretty quick, huh?” he said, after taking a swig of water. “Hard to believe it's already Thursday. You've only got a few days left with us.”

Lily's heart sank. He was right. Time had gone by so fast. Soon, she'd be packing her things up from his guest bedroom and heading back to her apartment. The following week, things would be back to normal. She'd be waking up super early and checking into her job, where she'd make coffee for people eight hours a day. Needless to say, she wasn't super excited about it.

I feel like I'm just getting used to this, she thought. I'm finally getting into the routine of taking care of Maggie. I'm loving every second of it, too. I wish that it didn't have to end.

“I'm kind of bummed that it's almost over,” Lily said. “I still haven't been able to make you a decent dinner.”

“There's still a few days left,” he said. “And besides, I've enjoyed your dinners.”

Lily raised an eyebrow. “Wyatt, they were toxic. We couldn't even eat them.”

He smiled. “Well, I enjoyed the fact that you put so much effort into them for us. How's that?”

Lily's face relaxed. “That's a little more truthful. You're right, though. There are still a few days left and I won't go home until I make a meal that is at least halfway edible. I promise you that I will cook something that we all can enjoy before I head back home.”

Maggie had finished the funnel cake in a matter of minutes. Her face was covered in a white, dusty layer of powdered sugar. Lily laughed when she said her like that.

“Maybe I should try making funnel cake,” Lily said. “I don't think I could mess that up.”

“Or how about cotton candy?” Wyatt suggested, with a playful smirk. “I'll take a strawberry cotton candy when we get home... hold the salt.”

“Very funny,” Lily said, unable to contain her smile.

“I'm just giving you a hard time,” Wyatt said. “Although, my blood pressure is still a few points up from that eggplant Parmesan.”

Lily laughed. “Yeah, mine too. I'm pretty sure I'm still thirsty from that one bite I took.”

“Aunt Wiwee, can I have a turkey leg?” Maggie asked, reaching across the table.

“Of course, sweetie,” Lily said, handing her one of the massive legs.

It was so heavy that Maggie couldn't even hold it with one arm. She had to use both of her hands to lift it off of the table, where she managed to take one tiny bite out of it. Lily watched her and wished she had remembered to bring a camera. It would have been the cutest picture in the entire world.

“Hey, when we're done eating, what do you say we go on the zip lines?” Wyatt asked.

“They have that here?” Lily asked.

“I saw a sign for it when we were walking around.”

“I'm up for it,” Lily said.

Maggie set the turkey leg down and was nodding excitedly. It looked like she wanted to shout in excitement, but couldn't with a mouthful of food.

“I'll take that as a 'yes' from Maggie.” Wyatt laughed and continued eating.

This is turning out to be the best day ever, Lily thought. I can't remember a time in my life where I've been able to do so many interesting things in one day.

Lily was having so much fun. She couldn't seem to stop smiling and the tinging of excitement just wouldn't leave her belly. It took her a moment to realize that this happiness wasn't coming from all of the things at the fair. It had nothing to do with the camel ride, or the jousting event or even the funnel cakes. The real reason that her cheeks were tired from smiling was solely because she was spending the day with her two favorite people.

The crush that she had on Wyatt was beginning to grow, though. She knew that it was only a matter of time before she'd succumb to it.