Page 35 of Protecting Little Phoebe

“Nope. I want to stay with you. If that’s okay,” she added hastily.

“Better than okay. I was going to make you write your lines before breakfast, but with the way your tummy is rumbling I think we better get some food into it.”

“Lines?” she cried.

“Yes, lines,” he repeated firmly. “As your punishment.”

“But maybe we should just forget about doing those lines altogether. I’m certain I’ve learned my lesson, Daddy. But urgh, did the glitter come out of your clothes, okay? I can pay for dry cleaning.”

“The glitter will come out just fine,” he reassured her. “Let’s go. Where are your shoes?”

She glanced down at her bare feet. “Do I have to wear shoes?”

“Yes, you can’t walk around in bare feet. What if you stand on something? And your feet could get cold.”

“It’s just that my feet don’t feel like being caged today. They want to be free!”

He walked over to her closet and drew out a pair of slippers. “How about these?”

“Perfect!”

Damn. He’d forgotten how nice it was to hold a woman’s hand. To hold a Little’s hand. She skipped alongside him toward the cafe in her cute white slippers with red hearts all over them.

They went with the rest of her outfit perfectly. Today she wore a red pleated skirt with thick white tights underneath thatended at her ankles. Her sweater was white and fluffy with red heart patches on the elbows.

“You look cute today, as usual. You like hearts and the color red?”

“Red and white are my favorite colors and I love hearts. I think that there should be more love in the world, you know? And fluffy sweaters. There should definitely be more fluffy sweaters. Everyone would feel happier and smile more if they wore a fluffy sweater. It’s impossible to frown while you have one on.”

“Good to know.”

They sat at their table, and she took the menu, looking over it. “Are there pancakes?”

“There sure are.”

“Yay! I’ll have them.”

“Haven’t you had breakfast here before?” he asked curiously.

“No. I wake up too late and I barely have time to get ready before someone arrives to take me to the Butterflies room.”

“Are they coming to get you this morning?” he asked.

“Oh no, Erika called me this morning to check if I was going and I told her that you were picking me up.”

“Good.” A server walked up with a smile, and he ordered her pancakes as well as a side of fruit salad.

“Is the fruit salad for you, Daddy?” she asked as she wiggled in her chair.

“No, it’s for you, little girl.”

“But I have pancakes! That’s enough!”

“You need something healthy to eat as well. So you haven’t been eating breakfast?” he asked.

“Nope. That’s okay, though. I don’t usually.”

“That’s going to have to change. Breakfast is very important.”

---