Page 138 of Daddies' Little Spitfire

"Your skin is pale from not being out in the sun but also not eating and drinking enough," Daddy said.

"I know," she whispered.

Any time she walked into the bathroom,she briefly looked at herself. She couldn't bear it anymore because she knew they wouldn't be proud of it. She hadn't been taking care of herself and it was showing.

"For the next couple of weeks you'll be taking a nap each day," Daddy said.

"I don't need a nap!" she said.

She looked at both of them. There was no way she needed a nap. Sleeping at night would be enough for her.

"It's not up for discussion," Papa said. "You'll be having a nap every day."

"You need it," Daddy said. "You've got those bags under your eyes. The best way to get rid of them is a nap and a full eight hours of sleep at night."

Hedda whined.

"I'm not a Little! I'm a Middle!"

"Middle or Little. Doesn't matter. you'll be having a nap," Daddy said.

Hedda crossed her arms over her chest. It wasn't fair that they were doing this to her. She didn't need a nap.

"Why haven't you been sleeping?" Papa asked.

"Bad nightmares," she mumbled.

A shudder went through her body. They were so bad and they had gotten a glimpse of it last night.

"Are they worse or better than before?" Daddy asked.

"Worse," she whispered. "More vivid. Sometimes you guys would appear in my nightmares. You two would get shot and I couldn't do anything about it."

"Oh, Sweets," Papa said. "I'm so sorry you had to go through that without us."

Hedda blinked several times, trying to get rid of the tears. She didn't need them right now.

She slowly got up from her laying position to sit. Her back was still towards them.

"We're here now," Daddy said. "We're not going to leave you."

"We'll help you through all of the nightmares," Papa said.

"I don't want to wake you up all the time," Hedda whispered.

She didn't want to. She felt guilty every time she woke up. Hedda wanted to be able to control her nightmares but she couldn't.

"We can try some medicine if you want," Papa said.

"No!" she said. "I c-can't."

"It's okay. We won't force you."

Hedda relaxed a little. She believed Papa when he said that. They had never forced her to do anything like that before.

"You waking us up in the middle of the night doesn't bother us," Daddy said. "We want you to wake us up so we can help you."

She wasn't used to people wanting to help her so much. It was a weird concept.

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