Page 17 of The Lake House

“Daddy, I’m hungry!”

Eager little green eyes look up at me. She’d gotten her emerald green eyes from me and her curly blonde hair from her mother. She grabs onto the side of my jeans and tugs to get my attention.

I smile down at her cute little face and preciousness. I reach down and lift her up into my arms. “You are, are you?”

“Mmhmm,” she says, nodding her head. Her chin hits her chest, and she fixes her attention on the buttons on my shirt.

I chuckle. “Okay, baby girl. How about we go have dinner at Party Penguins Pizza?”

Her face shoots up to meet my gaze. Her eyes light up at the mention of her favorite pizza spot. The place is a dream for kids. They offer pizza, ice cream, candy, games, prizes, and more. We haven’t been there in a few weeks, and I figure, why not.

“Yay!” she screams in delight.

I laugh again, placing a kiss on her cheek. “Okay, baby girl. Go grab your shoes, and we’ll go.” I put her down, and as soon as her feet hit the floor, she races to the front closet to undoubtedly pull out her pink Barbie sneakers.

I head into the junk drawer in front of the doorway to grab my phone, wallet, and keys. I place the wallet in my pocket, and before I can do the same with my phone, I notice there’s a text from Roger, asking me what I’m up to. I quickly compose a text saying I have the best dinner date ever with a smiley emoji. He responds almost immediately.

Lily? ;)

You know me too damn well :D

I smile and place the phone in my pocket.

Lily comes speeding down the hallway in a purple Little Mermaid shirt and pink jeans. On her feet are her Barbie sneakers, as I expected.

Her hair up in pigtails bounces with every step she takes. Once she reaches me, she smiles up and says, “Okay, Daddy, I’m ready.”

A smile pulls on the corners of my lips. “You sure are, baby girl.”

We quickly head out the door and walk to the car. Once I have Lily adjusted in her car seat, I speed to the front and hop in behind the wheel. I put my seat belt on, adjust my mirrors, and pull out onto the main road.

“Okay, off we go, baby girl.”

“Yay, yay, yay!” she shouts from the back.

When we hit the first red light, I hit the button on my steering wheel, allowing me to talk into the speaker.

“Call Roger,” I say and wait until he picks up.

“What’s up, dude? Did I interrupt your amazing date?” I hear him laugh softly.

“No, not yet. Lily and I just got into the car. We’re going to Penguin’s. Would you like to double date?”

“Date, date, date,” Lily’s voice comes through from the back.

“Hey, pretty princess. Would you like Auntie Rachel and I to come hang out with you and daddy?” Roger speaks to Lily directly, ignoring my question. I laugh.

“Hi, Uncle Roger! Yes, I want to see Auntie Rachel! Please come!” I didn’t have a doubt in my mind that she’d want to see my friend and his fiancée. She adores them.

“Okay, then. Auntie Rachel and Uncle Roger will be right there. Daddy, you can buy us pizza and ice cream, too,” Roger jokes.

“Gee, I love it when you call me Daddy,” we both laugh. Then I add, “But don’t push your luck on the pizza and ice cream,” I answer, and inevitably, he and I laugh again. Seconds later, Lily starts laughing as well.

When Lily and I arrive at Party Penguin’s, we don’t waste a second. I head right for the register and load up some credits on the Penguin card I had purchased on our first trip here.

“Should we order the pizza now, or wait for Auntie Rachel and Uncle Rog?” I ask my little girl as she’s already speeding toward the room full of games. “Okay, I guess we’ll wait,” I say to myself as I chase after Lily, who, of course, is too distracted right now to worry about dinner.

She heads right for Skee Ball. “Daddy, I wanna play this!” She points to the game as she looks at me.

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