06-05-2017, 02:59 PM
“Daddy?” I’m never gonna get tired of hearing that sweet little voice call me Daddy. Not in a million years, not if all my iron turns to rust and I’m a great big brick red heap of crusty old metal garbage. She’d still win me over with that shy smile of hers and those big brown eyes and the softness of her voice.
“Yeah, angel eyes?”
“Daddy, Khari told me a story about a pretty lake, that’s all clear like crystal and you can see all the way down to the bottom, even in the deepest parts in the middle! I wanna see it, Daddy, with my eyes, not just in pretty pictures in my head. Can we go? Can we, please?”
God, I’m a sucker for those eyes. “Okay, baby girl. But somebody else is living there now, so we’re gonna have to ask. They might not want strangers just wandering on in and running around on their pretty lake, huh?” She nods and kisses me on the chin and races off to fetch her brother, of course, because if he told her about the lake, naturally he has to come with to see it again, right?
“Khari, Khari, we’re going on a field trip, Daddy said! C’mon, let’s go see the pretty lake!”
‘Course, her brother’s just as much a sucker for that smile as I am, and the three of us make our way on across the water to go visit what we’d once thought would be our home. I would stop and invite her big sister too, but it’d be good for the twins to spend some time apart. I’ll hunt her down and invite her out, just the two of us (or three if Kali tags along) next. Another trip to the lake, or maybe a visit to the river. That’d be fun too.
“Right then, off we go, you two.” Kali dances back and forth between me and Kharon, wide eyed and full of youthful enthusiasm. God, she’s adorable. And of course she wants to show off to her big brother all the tricks she learned the other day when I took her out on the water. Hopping and jumping and surfing along the waves, my little girl picked up on it all damn fast. So she scampers about on the water, laughing and frolicking and of course we join in, because how the hell could we not? Still, sooner or later we make it back to land, a hell of a lot closer to the Lake now that the plains have been swallowed back up by the sea.
“Aww, but I like the water part,” Kali pouts, her lower lip sticking out a little bit as she reluctantly steps back onto dry land.
“I know, baby, but there’ll be lots more later. A whole big lake to play on if whoever lives there now doesn’t mind, and then we get to play on the water again on the way home.” Which, thank fuck, is enough to cheer her right on up, put a little prance back into her step, and get her moving again. I grin at Kharon, and the three of us make our way back to what could have been home in a different life. What was, instead, just a happy little family vacation we took to avoid the fallout of my dad’s invasion of our home.
“Hello?” Kali calls out softly, because my angel eyes is a quick learner and remembers the things I say. Like wait at the border, and ask for permission to enter like a good guest. “Is anybody home? I heard you have a real nice lake, and if you don’t mind, I’d really like to see it.”
I smile just as soft as her voice, and nuzzle her shoulder gently. “Gotta be louder, baby girl, or nobody’s gonna hear you. It’s okay, you can use your voice as big as you wanna. It’s a pretty voice, and you’ve got every right to be heard.” Fuck, that’s a squishy happy mushy look on her face, and it melts my damn heart. She rubs her face against my hard iron chest, and I melt a little bit more. Hell. Stole the heart right out of my chest, this one did. They all do, but damn. “Go on, angel eyes, try again.” I’ve got you.
“Hello? Is anybody there?” she calls, nice and loud.
“Atta girl,” I say, with a kiss to her forehead. “Loud and proud. Now we wait, all patient-like, for somebody to come and say hi back.” I give her a little nudge, and she hops on over to Kharon to cuddle up with him while we wait for the welcoming committee.
“Yeah, angel eyes?”
“Daddy, Khari told me a story about a pretty lake, that’s all clear like crystal and you can see all the way down to the bottom, even in the deepest parts in the middle! I wanna see it, Daddy, with my eyes, not just in pretty pictures in my head. Can we go? Can we, please?”
God, I’m a sucker for those eyes. “Okay, baby girl. But somebody else is living there now, so we’re gonna have to ask. They might not want strangers just wandering on in and running around on their pretty lake, huh?” She nods and kisses me on the chin and races off to fetch her brother, of course, because if he told her about the lake, naturally he has to come with to see it again, right?
“Khari, Khari, we’re going on a field trip, Daddy said! C’mon, let’s go see the pretty lake!”
‘Course, her brother’s just as much a sucker for that smile as I am, and the three of us make our way on across the water to go visit what we’d once thought would be our home. I would stop and invite her big sister too, but it’d be good for the twins to spend some time apart. I’ll hunt her down and invite her out, just the two of us (or three if Kali tags along) next. Another trip to the lake, or maybe a visit to the river. That’d be fun too.
“Right then, off we go, you two.” Kali dances back and forth between me and Kharon, wide eyed and full of youthful enthusiasm. God, she’s adorable. And of course she wants to show off to her big brother all the tricks she learned the other day when I took her out on the water. Hopping and jumping and surfing along the waves, my little girl picked up on it all damn fast. So she scampers about on the water, laughing and frolicking and of course we join in, because how the hell could we not? Still, sooner or later we make it back to land, a hell of a lot closer to the Lake now that the plains have been swallowed back up by the sea.
“Aww, but I like the water part,” Kali pouts, her lower lip sticking out a little bit as she reluctantly steps back onto dry land.
“I know, baby, but there’ll be lots more later. A whole big lake to play on if whoever lives there now doesn’t mind, and then we get to play on the water again on the way home.” Which, thank fuck, is enough to cheer her right on up, put a little prance back into her step, and get her moving again. I grin at Kharon, and the three of us make our way back to what could have been home in a different life. What was, instead, just a happy little family vacation we took to avoid the fallout of my dad’s invasion of our home.
“Hello?” Kali calls out softly, because my angel eyes is a quick learner and remembers the things I say. Like wait at the border, and ask for permission to enter like a good guest. “Is anybody home? I heard you have a real nice lake, and if you don’t mind, I’d really like to see it.”
I smile just as soft as her voice, and nuzzle her shoulder gently. “Gotta be louder, baby girl, or nobody’s gonna hear you. It’s okay, you can use your voice as big as you wanna. It’s a pretty voice, and you’ve got every right to be heard.” Fuck, that’s a squishy happy mushy look on her face, and it melts my damn heart. She rubs her face against my hard iron chest, and I melt a little bit more. Hell. Stole the heart right out of my chest, this one did. They all do, but damn. “Go on, angel eyes, try again.” I’ve got you.
“Hello? Is anybody there?” she calls, nice and loud.
“Atta girl,” I say, with a kiss to her forehead. “Loud and proud. Now we wait, all patient-like, for somebody to come and say hi back.” I give her a little nudge, and she hops on over to Kharon to cuddle up with him while we wait for the welcoming committee.