by Lena Little
“You really need to expand that calligraphy class to writing. Your words are so beautiful.”
“You know what my favorite word in the English language is?”
“Love?”
“Okay, my favorite two words.”
“I think I can guess.”
“I love that you understand me, Daddy,” I give away the answer.
“And I love that you understand me, my little,” he gives back just as good as he gets.
And he’s got every part of me. My heart, my soul, my everything. Why? Because he’s my dear Daddy and I’m his little girl. And together, we’re perfect, meant for each other forever and always.
Extended Epilogue
James
Ten years later
“You got it, baby girl!” I call out from the bleachers. Yes, I’m that parent.
Julia gets into position under the ball and makes a catch. Julian, her twin brother, whistles as loud as he can, while her other siblings, Jill and Jason also cheer with everything they’ve got.
Coming to Julia’s softball games, Julian’s baseball games or Jill and Jason’s soccer games are some of the highlights of my week. I can’t say they are the absolute highlight of my week, because every single second I spend as a father is a highlight. Lying around on a lazy Sunday morning playing checkers with the kids is just as enjoyable as having a Tuesday afternoon snack or cheering for them at sporting events. Every moment is special in its own way because each and every one of our children means everything to us.
“I thought that name was reserved for me,” Josi teases, elbowing me in the side as she whispers into my ear.
“Oh, I’ve got something reserved for you all right,” I inform her, sitting back down to hide my ever present need for her. I swear just thinking about my woman makes me so turned on I’m not even presentable in public. Not even two pairs of underwear can I hide my throbbing desire.
Julian helps Jill and Jason to the concession stand and Josi snuggles up to me. It’s hard to believe the word snuggle is even in my lexicon, but then again everything about life has been an incredible surprise, since her.
“You still find me attractive?” Josi asks. I waste no time, grabbing her passionately and kissing her with everything I’ve got. “I’m serious, James,” she says, pulling away and waiting for a verbal response.
“I am too, baby girl,” I wink, reminding her of the title that is indeed hers and hers alone.
“Even after four children.”
“Princess please,” I protest. “You’re still my princess in addition to being my queen. You’re the matriarch of our family, everything to me, and equally as important to the kids. Not only that you still find time to help people learn calligraphy and also wrote the bestselling sequel to our original book, which you wisely decided to self-publish on Amazon so you could keep more of the money, which you then donated to charity.”
“Self-publishing was only after chatting with my favorite author, Lena Little. I have to give credit where credit is due and do I ever owe her a ton of credit. She gets our lifestyle because she lives it too.”
“I don’t know who this Lena Little is, but the only ‘lifestyle’ I care about is the one you and I share…the one you and I have created.”
“Daddy, I’m not the same little girl you first knew. I’ve put on pounds, I require naps now, and sometimes I feel like I can’t keep up with the kids.”
“You’re doing it again,” I remind her.
“Doing what?”
“Breaking rule number one…worrying about things when you know that’s Daddy’s job. Has Daddy ever let you down?”
“No, Daddy,” she smiles.
“And he never will, because you’re the foundation this family is built on. Without you we’re nothing. Heck, without you I’d still be locked up doing my little protest against the wrong that was done to me, and that no one cared about but me.”
“I care.”
“Which is exactly what it took to wake me up and prepare to do the right thing at that parole hearing, but again, like always, you led the way, springing me free with your research before I even needed to consider bending my principles to be with you. Which you know I was going to do by the way.”
“So it’s not only Daddy that looks after his little but his little that looks after Daddy?”
“That’s why I said we walk side by side. I meant it down to the core, with everything I’ve got in my heart.”
“And my heart is all for you, Daddy.” She makes a heart shape with her hands, placing them above her heart, and then moves her hands to my heart.
“Mommy and daddy sittin’ in a tree…k-i-ss-i-n-g,” Jill says as the kids are already back from the concession stand. I thank my lucky stars that Josi didn’t allow me to name our twins Jack and Jill like I suggested. They would have been teased so much at school. Thankfully she was there to steer me right and Julia and Julian work just as well, if not better. And it saves the kids a ton of annoyance in the process.
How did I get so lucky? How is it that I’m her Daddy, but when I really stop to think about it her whose low-key the one in charge here, seeing the future before it even happens. And more importantly, do I even care that she’s really the boss, just allowing me to think I’m her Daddy because it completes us, although all this time she must really know she’s the engine that makes our family run. She just allows me to feel like I’m in charge, never undercutting my masculinity and always having my back.
And it’s hard to believe it’s already been a decade of me back in civilization, standing side by side with the backbone of my life and the kids too.
“You wanna see daddy kiss mommy?” I ask the kids, encouraging them.
“Yeah!” they say in unison, and I don’t keep them waiting, my lips getting that sweetness that she always gives me.
“Isn’t there a line in that rhyme about a baby carriage?” I egg the kids on even more.
“Can we have another baby brother?” Julian asks.
“Or sister,” Jill adds.
“Can we get a puppy too?” Jason throws his two cents in, really going for the ultimate as far as a kid’s life is concerned.
“Whaddya think?” I playfully nudge my woman. “Puppy and another baby?”
“Five kids?”
“And it makes our family a lucky number…seven.”
“And a puppy?”
“You’ll never stop, will you,” she asks, shaking her head but she can’t shake the smile that reveals her true feelings.
“Not when it comes to you, just like how you never quit believing in me. Baby girl, you’re everything. You’re it for me. Only you. Always been that way and always will be.”
I lean in to kiss her and suddenly there’s a loud roar. We look up and see we’re on the ‘Kiss Cam’.
“They have those at our kids’ games? I thought those were reserved for professional sports.”
“We’ve got reservations, all right.”
“Reservations?”
“After the game, we’re all going out for pizza.”
The kids cheer as the camera stays locked on us, just as my eyes do on my woman, my little girl, my everything.
“You know how I love to write, right?”
“I know everything about you, just like you do me.”
“I think I’ve got an idea for the final book in our story.”
“Oh really?” my eyebrows raise.
“I think I’m going to call it Dear Daddy.”
“I like the sound of that.”
“Me too, and I like even more that it’s going to be written from the perspective of our unborn child.”
“And I like the sound of that even more.”
“And what about the sound of that?” she asks, pointing to the sky. It’s only then I pick up on what’s coming through the speakers on the field. The roar of the crowd chanting, “Kiss, kiss, kiss.”
“I think in a day full of good ideas, that one might just be my favorite.
” I shoot my little girl a wink and lean in and kiss her just like it’s our first time because that’s exactly how each and every time feels…just like the birth of our next baby will feel like.
Dear Daddy. I like the sound of that. And I can’t wait to see the world through another of our children’s eyes, because when it comes to my woman, my little girl, I can’t wait to put another child in her beautiful belly. Because watching our family continue to grow is my greatest achievement, and my biggest pride and joy.
And it all starts and ends with my princess, who’s my queen…for life.
“I love you, little mama.”
“I love you, Daddy.”
THE END
~~~
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Also by Lena Little
Yes, Daddy Series
Book 1: Daddy Next Door
Book 2: Bossy Daddy
Book 3: Paying Daddy’s Debt
Book 4: Daddy’s Halloween
Book 5: Daddy’s Italian Friend
Book 6: Russian Teacher
Book 7: Daddy’s Housekeeper
Book 8: Possessive Daddy
Book 9: Protective Daddy
Book 10: Daddy’s Destiny
Book 11: Dear Daddy (this book)