Page 24 of Daddy's Little Chaos Gremlin

For a moment, it shocked me that he wasn’t still taking pictures, it had been getting harder and harder for Daddy to keep his phone out of his hands the longer the day stretched on. Then it dawned on me that maybe he needed me to be more than just a muse. Maybe he needed me to remind him to take breaks and have fun.

I grabbed his hands and together we danced and twirled. We played ring around the rosy and fell into the water at the end of the song, laughing as we kicked our feet and made absolute messes of ourselves.

Behind us the sun was turning a stunning shade of crimson and cream, and we held hands waist deep in the water, staring at it until I started getting cold. One good wind was all it took to send me scurrying for dry land and the humongous beach towels and overstuffed hoodies Daddy bundled us in. Daddy and Tristan held towels up so I could change out of my board shorts and back into my jeans, then I held a towel so Tristan could change, too.

“I’m starving, Daddy,” Tristan declared.

“I’ll bet, since the only thing you’ve eaten since lunch is cotton candy.”

“It was so yummy, but now my tummy is empty and sad.”

“Mine’s empty and sad, too,” I chimed in. “Can we get fish and chips?”’

“Yes, please, Daddy, please?” Tristan added.

“Of course we can, that sounds like a wonderful idea. Would you like your mushy peas again?”

“Yes, please,” Tristan said.

“What are mushy peas?” I asked.

“Just mushy peas, kinda like a mashed potato, but with peas. Or you could have roasted carrots.”

“I’d love roasted carrots, but could I taste your mushy peas?”

“Uh-huh,” Tristan replied. “Of course you can. How else will you know if you like them?”

A week ago I’d been alone and scared, now I had a big brother who looked out for me the way no one ever had. I hugged him and Daddy hugged us both, reminding me that he was there, too. I had a protector, one who was already opening my eyes to just how big the world truly was. With all the traveling I’d done, I’d maybe become a little jaded. Waking up in one spot, going to sleep in another, napping as we rolled down the road. It had all become a blur. I’d seen tons of amazing things in between which had made it harder for me to be surprised, until they’d brought me here.

Everything about this country was different.

On the train ride I’d seen sheep grazing in fields that were greener than any I’d ever seen, even in Kentucky, where the blue grass waved with every breeze that blew. The hills rolled and the grass swished and curled, like it had never seen a pesticide or chemical. Maybe it hadn’t.

“How about we get our food at the little pub inside the arcade,” Daddy suggested. “That way we can play some games before we go back to the hotel.”

“Yes, please,” I said, taking one of his hands while Tristan took the other one.

Even on the walk to the pub there was so much to see. One place had rows and rows and rows of the brightest colored rock candy I’d ever seen, like, in every color. Holy crap, the colors. I felt a light tug on my hand, but I couldn’t take my eyes off the sparkly towers of candy on a stick.

“Would you like some?” Daddy asked, voice suddenly right by my ear.

Nodding, I licked my lips, tasting plenty of salt but none of the sugar I longed to. It was rare that I craved sweets, but they looked so inviting and rock candy sticks had been my favorite treat when I was growing up. Anytime I could scrape up a quarter, or got lucky enough to find one in the street, I went running straight for the drugstore’s candy aisle to select a flavor.

“You may pick ten but you can’t eat one until after you’d had your supper.”

“T-ten,” I stammered, eyes widening, because I was used to having to narrow it down to one, or on rare occasions two, if I’d skipped getting a milk at lunchtime. Ten, ten meant I could get my favorites and try ones I’d always been curious about.

Sour apple, lime, and watermelon, those were the first three to go in the brown paper sack Daddy handed me. I heard him tell Tristan that he could only pick three boxes of fudge, then I turned all my focus to selecting my last seven flavors. Holy crap, they had root beer. I snagged one of those and a honeydew melon flavored, along with a tangerine, so excited to still have four flavors left that I was practically dancing in front of the rack as I read the labels.

Berry blue swirled with cosmic grape looked like it was gonna turn the inside of my mouth colors, and I looked forward tohaving a purple and blue tongue to go along with the tingling of the intense sour they promised. They had black cherry but they also had pickle flavored and I couldn’t turn down the opportunity to try that. The black cherry I left alone, since cherry sometimes just tasted like cough syrup. I still wasn’t willing to waste a spot on banana. I’d yet to try a banana flavored candy that actually tasted good. I’d try mango lemonade, though, and cherry limeade. There, that was ten.

I proudly carried my bag over to where Daddy was helping Tristan narrow his choices down from four to three, the amount clearly set in stone. Tristan’s eyes darted between the two he still held, before he finally put the cookies and cream back on the shelf and hugged the sea salt caramel.

“Okay, let’s go pay for these things before I’m tempted to break my own rule and buy more than four packs of gummies,” Daddy said as he wrapped an arm around of each of us and escorted us to the register.

I was really hungry now and everything got a little swirly for a moment, so I pressed against his side and closed my eyes.

“Getting tired, little one?” he murmured as our treats were being run up.

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