Chapter 223: Family (2)
"You need to hold her better so she doesn’t fall. Maybe I should go first to show her how to climb up and then she will follow me. Don’t look at me like that. I’ve been doing this more times than I can count. Bring her down and let me go up. I will show you how it’s done easily," Annalise said, sitting down on the ground to take off her shoes.
"You might have been able to climb trees when you were young because you were small-"
"I am not fat. The branches won’t break when I grab hold of them and if you are so worried, stand below me and try to catch me if I fall. I am going to get up in that tree to show you," Annalise said, refusing to listen to Rafael trying to persuade her to not climb.
She still climbed trees at this age and though she wasn’t able to make it to the top now, she still made it pretty far. Annalise was only going to a certain height so she could show the little one how to do it. Once you started to climb, it was pretty fun.
"You’re just jealous that you are too big to fit in a tree. The first branch you grab onto will break. Don’t be sad, Rafael. We will have fun in your place," Annalise said, standing up to begin her climb. "Now stand back and let me show you how it is done."
Rafael folded his arms and stood back, awaiting the accident that was about to happen. He didn’t know what trees Annalise liked to climb when she was younger, but this tree wasn’t the one for her to climb. It was more suited for the child who was supposed to be having fun, but Annalise had taken over with her competitive nature to show that she could climb a tree.
Rafael looked down at the little girl to see if she had lost interest in all of this and to his surprise, she was looking in awe at Annalise. He needed to get her far away from Annalise before a mini version of Annalise was created.
Rafael turned his attention back to Annalise and when he did, he wanted to yank her back down to the ground so that he wouldn’t be filled with worry. "That dress is not suited for climbing," he said.
"And your mouth isn’t suited for talking," Annalise replied.