Watching Sheffield holding Gwyn in his arms, Nastas looked at his big brother sadly. He wasn't holding him. So he requested,
"Brother, hug."
Sheffield squatted down and held him too. One kid in each arm. Feeling loved, Nastas clapped his hands happily and exclaimed,
"Awesome!"
The two kids played in the office for at least half an hour more before Lea came to pick Nastas up.
At the sight of a stranger, Gwyn instantly hid herself in Sheffield's arms.
Staring at the little girl in pink, Lea asked, astonished, "Sheffield, whose child is this?"
"She's the daughter of a friend," he replied indifferently.
"Oh." Not bothering to think about it too much, Lea looked at her son and said happily, "Nastas, baby, it's time to go home."
After Lea and Nastas left, Sheffield cleaned up the office and left too, Gwyn in his arms.
There was a park beside the offices of Theo Group, which had a stunning variety of plants. Flowers and other plants were in pots, and also growing around the area—trimmed to provide access to trails and such. There was a football field and basketball court, as well.
The air was fresh, and it was a beautiful day. Sheffield put Gwyn on the lawn and pointed at the sun as he said to her, "Gwyn, do you want to play here awhile? The sun feels nice."
Gwyn just looked at him without saying anything.
Sheffield was patient and added gently, "I'll take that as a yes."
Unexpectedly, this time, Gwyn responded, "Okay."
Her short response sent a tingle of happiness through him. He felt that the little girl liked him, just like he liked her.
After walking around hand in hand with the girl, he called Tobias. "I'm in the park next to our offices. Can you get someone to bring a basketball here?"
"Yes, Mr. Tang."
Soon, an assistant arrived, a brand-new basketball in his hands. He looked at Gwyn curiously and handed the basketball to Sheffield without questioning it. "Here's the basketball you requested, Mr. Tang."
"Thanks!"
"You're welcome, sir. If that's all, I'll be getting back to work, now."
"Bye!"
After the assistant had left, Sheffield squatted down and handed the basketball to Gwyn. "Let's go play basketball!"
Gwyn took the basketball and ran after Sheffield to the basketball court.
There were two basketball stands on the court. Two others were already using one of them. Sheffield took Gwyn to the other one.
He took the basketball from Gwyn and bounced it a couple times. "Get back a little bit," he said, gesturing. The little girl was silent for a moment, then turned and walked obediently a little farther away.
"I'll show you how to play."
Sheffield bounced the ball a couple more times and then raised his arms, throwing the ball up and into the metal hoop at the top. It made a swooshing sound as the net caught it for a second. Sheffield ran to retrieve the ball.
She just stood there and watched him throw the ball and run after it. It was interesting.
He sank three baskets and motioned Gwyn to come over. "Come here, sweetie! Let me teach you how to shoot!"
She walked towards him slowly. Sheffield handed the basketball to her and said, "Hold it."
The little cutie held the basketball tightly. Then Sheffield lifted her up and let her sit on his shoulders.
Suddenly she started giggling. Sheffield looked up to see if it was her.
Before he could do much else, Gwyn said, "Go."
He was sure that Gwyn was laughing. If she was happy, he was delighted as well. He felt alive. "Okay, sit tight. Aaand shoot!"
He walked up to the basket. Although Gwyn sat on his shoulders, the basket was still too tall for her.
"Remember what I did, Gwyn? Lift the ball over your head, and throw it at the basket!" he instructed her patiently.
Then, he heard Gwyn make some odd noises He wasn't sure what she was doing, but he could feel her throw the ball, and then, the basketball fell to the ground.
Even so, he praised, ""That's right. Atta girl! Let's go get the ball."
He ran over to get the ball, carrying Gwyn on his shoulders. She held onto his head for support, which ended up with her sometimes covering his eyes. Soon, he heard her laughing.
The little girl was a little afraid of the height. She wrapped her arms around Sheffield's head tightly, and her little body swayed back and forth with his footsteps.
They finally caught up with the ball. Sheffield put her down and let her pick it up, and then put the little girl on his shoulders again.
Just like that, they played on the court for half an hour, running after the basketball. Gwyn had a lot of fun, but Sheffield was exhausted.
After they finished playing, Sheffield walked towards the drink stand, one arm holding the basketball and the other holding Gwyn. "Thirsty? Let's have a glass of juice and take a breather. We'll play something else afterward."
Gwyn said nothing, but nodded.
They took a ten-minute break at the juice stand. Stroking her hair, Sheffield asked her opinion. "There's lots of things we can do later. We can grab toys at a claw machine, I can read to you in a bookshop, we can go to the aquarium, play in the ocean ball pit, or maybe go to a toddler play class, play with blocks and try the instruments in the music classroom. Pick one, and we'll do it."
Before Terilynn dropped Gwyn off, Sheffield had considered all the things he could do with the girl. These places he had mentioned were nearby, so it was a small matter to take her there.
However, Gwyn simply pointed at the basketball.
"You want to play more basketball?" Sheffield asked in surprise.
Gwyn looked at him without saying a word.
He understood her silence meant yes.
But he didn't understand why Gwyn enjoyed basketball so much. Although he carried her around on his shoulders, she couldn't make a basket. She didn't have the satisfaction of being good at the game. Why did she still want to play basketball?
Even though he was confused, he returned to the basketball court with her in his arms.
But by now, both of the two baskets were occupied.
"Little princess, do you think we should wait a while or play something else?" asked Sheffield.
Gwyn didn't say a word as she looked at the basketball court. Sheffield tried to pull her away. "Let's do something else."
The little one didn't move.
Now he understood. He let go of her hand and said, "Okay, let's watch for a bit."
He took out a pack of tissues from his pocket and spread several tissues on the grass. He sat down first.
He had intended to have Gwyn climb onto his lap. When he tucked the pack of tissues back in his pocket, Gwyn, basketball in her arms, was struggling to do just that.
She was so cute! What she was doing amused Sheffield. He reached out and pulled her into his arms.