Page 56 of Summer with the Single Dad

“Why did she hit you?”

“Because I told her to stop throwing rocks at a baby squirrel on the ground and she wouldn’t listen. She told me to mind my own business, and I told her animals are my business. Then I tried to pull the rocks out of her hand and she punched me in the cheek with the other hand.”

Bennett nodded. “Ah, so you touched her first?”

“Yeah, but I didn’t hit her. I was trying to get the rocks out of her hands. There’s a difference.”

Bennett pressed his lips together and pulled a deep, fortifying breath in through his nose. “There is, but you still put your hands on her first.”

Aya shook herself free of his hand and crossed her arms over her chest. She was in full-on pout-mode. He half expected a thundercloud to roll in and hover over her curly little head.

“I think I need to have a chat with Carnation’s parents,” he said, not wanting to break their connection, since that was how he kept her grounded, and placing his hand on her shoulder.

Her sigh wracked her entire body, and she shuddered at the end. “I know.”

“Do you think this requires a consequence?”

She glanced up at him, her glare no longer deep enough to make her blonde brows kiss. Her expression relaxed. “Maybe.”

“What do you think that should be?”

Her bottom lip wobbled. “I dunno. What do you think it should be?”

“I’m asking you.”

Her brows knitted again. “And I’m asking you.”

They reached the junction for the two lanes and Wyatt flagged him down. “Boys want a snack, so I’m going to take them into the kitchen. You guys want in?”

Bennett glanced at the girls. “You guys want snack at home or in the kitchen?”

“Can we have spring rolls?” Talia asked.

Wyatt nodded. “Just made some fresh ones today.”

Talia skipped over to Wyatt and the boys.

“I’m tired and just want some cereal,” Emme said.

Aya was on the verge of tears now and barely keeping it together, so Bennett made the decision for her. “I think we’re going to head home, but thanks. Enjoy the spring rolls.” Then he took his daughters up to the house where, by the time they got there, he was carrying a bawling Aya, her big tears soaking the shoulder of his shirt.

He plunked her down on the couch in the living room and she shot her big sister a deathly stare as Emme hung up her backpack and got out her lunch kit.

“That’s enough with the evil eyes,” Bennett said.

“But she tattled and now I’m in trouble!” Aya shouted, before bursting back into tears.

Bennett sat down on the couch with his youngest, most sensitive child and pulled her into his lap. “I don’t look at it as tattling. I look at it as your big sister looking out for you. Because either way, it was going to come out. Enough people know that this wouldn’t stay a secret forever. Either I’m calling Carnation’s parents or they’re calling me. Emme was helping you by getting the information to me in case you decided to withhold it.” He rubbed her back, but made sure his look was very fatherly. “Because we don’t keep secrets in this house, right?”

Aya trembled, then sighed. “Right.”

“So, we need to come up with a consequence because we do not hit. We do not fight. I am beyond proud of you for sticking up for the baby squirrel, and that you had enough forethought to think about not hitting Carnation in the face because she will be in pictures. But as clever and considerate as all that is, you still hit somebody. You still put your hands on someone else’s body. We need to come up with a consequence so you think longer and harder about your choices next time.”

His clever girl nodded. “Okay.”

“What do you think about bedtime half an hour early and two fewer books?”

“So … seven o’clock and two books instead of four?”

---