Page 44 of Daddy's Little Cupcake

Heaven. Absolute heaven.

Charlotte wanted to go and do everything, but she didn’t know where to start. If she started with the bouncy house, then the coloring station would be left all alone, and she didn’t want that.

She wished she could do all of them at once, but she knew it wasn’t possible.

“Charlie,” Finn said. “You can go play. I’ll be right here.”

Charlotte stared at him with wide eyes before she looked all around her. She didn’t know what she wanted to do at first. There were too many options, and she knew she was starting to feel overwhelmed with it all.

“Charlie?” Finn asked.

She looked back at Finn and blinked several times. What did he want?

“Are you okay?” He grabbed her hand and brought her close to him. “Remember you can tell me anything. No secrets between Daddy and his baby girl.”

Charlotte took a deep breath in. If she wanted this to work between them, she needed to be honest.

“There’s so many options,” she whispered. “I-I don’t know what to do first.”

Her eyes welled up with tears again, and Finn brought her into his arms.

“It’s okay. How about I pick for you so you don’t have to,” Finn suggested. “If you go and do it and it isn’t fun, then come back to me, and we’ll find something.”

She nodded her head and waited for him to tell her which one to do. Charlotte looked all around the room, but her eyes kept going back to the coloring section. She had always loved coloring, and that was how Finn and her had met.

“How about you go and color with that girl. I bet she needs a friend.” Finn pointed over at the coloring section.

There were a few littles coloring there, but they were all together while this one girl was by herself. Charlotte looked up at her Daddy before she looked at the girl again.

She didn’t want to leave him, but she also wanted to go color.

Finn patted her bottom and gave her an encouraging smile. “I’ll be right here the whole time if you need me.”

That was all Charlotte needed to skip over toward the girl. She grabbed a coloring book and some markers and plopped herself down next to the girl. Charlotte didn’t know what came over her, but it was like she was a new person. Before, she would have never gone up to the girl and sat down next to her.

“Hi! I’m Charlie, well, Charlotte is my full name,” she said as she started to color.

“I’m Jane, but people call me Janie,” she introduced herself.

Charlotte didn’t know what to do next. Did they sit in silence and color together? Did they talk to each other and get to know each other and become friends? Did Janie even want to become friends with her?

“What are you coloring?” Janie asked her.

Charlotte pointed at the cupcake she was coloring. “Cupcakes! They are the best thing ever! As well as any baked goods.”

Janie’s face lit up. “I loooove baked goods! Especially the sweet ones. The sugar high you get and the deliciousness you get with each bite you take.”

Both of the girls sighed in content at the thought of eating baked goods. Charlotte realized that was something that they had in common.

“You should come over to Heavenly Baked bakery soon! I work there,” Charlotte suggested.

“I’ve wanted to go there for a while but have been too nervous to go in,” Janie said. “I’ll have to come in soon!”

Janie and Charlotte colored their pictures in silence for a couple of minutes. Charlotte didn’t feel like they needed to talk all the time, and she liked that.

“What’s your favorite color to color with?” Charlotte asked Janie.

She had seen her color with the blue primarily but didn’t want to make any assumptions.

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