Torn [SHAWN MENDES]

~85~

Shawn opened his eyes and saw Piper staring at him as she stood next to his bed.

"I hungy," she said with an adorable scowl.

He groaned and picked up his phone to check the time. It was a little after nine, so she hadn't woken up early; it was him who'd slept late. Thankfully Yasmin had Daffy, or he'd be cleaning up an accident.

"Daddy has jet lag," he explained as he sat up and raised his arms over his head to stretch. They'd arrived home late the night before following eighteen hours of traveling, so his internal clock was out of whack. Piper seemed to be handling it much better than he was. "Let's go get some breakfast."

He pulled a pair of sweats over his boxers and wondered to himself if there was a point when he shouldn't wear just his undies in front of Piper. It's not like they were revealing, but maybe it was something to discuss with Yasmin.

He unlatched the top gate, and they went downstairs to the kitchen. Opening the fridge, he was relieved to find it fully stocked. Rosie had returned to California several days earlier and he'd asked her to place a small grocery order, which meant she also had to be at his house to meet the delivery person and then put everything away. She'd bought more than he expected, so now he wouldn't have to shop for a few days. He made a mental note to give her a bonus for that and everything she'd done in Europe.

Shawn let out a huge yawn. "How do scrambled eggs sound?"

"And toats?"

"Of course. You can't have eggs without a nice piece of buttered toast," he replied, accentuating the correct pronunciation.

He popped three slices of whole wheat bread in the toaster and got out the pan for the eggs. Five minutes later, Piper was sitting in her booster seat munching away while he brewed a cup of bold coffee.

"Yum yum yum yummy yum yum," the little girl sang to herself.

Shawn joined her and started to eat. "Since it's going to be warm, we can go in the pool today." While he was gone, his contractor had finished putting in a swimming pool with a retractable fence for safety reasons.

"Yes! I swim!"

"You are my little fishy, that's for sure," he said proudly.

They'd enrolled Piper in a toddler swim class and she proved to be a natural. She was just two and a half and could already jump in and make it back to the side to climb out. Shawn couldn't wait to bring her to Pickering over the summer to show his folks how skilled she was.

"Color?" she asked.

"You want to color before swimming?"

"No! Fishy color."

His sleep-deprived brain tried to figure out what she was getting at. Finally it clicked. "You wanna know what color fish you are?"

Piper nodded.

"What color do you want to be?"

"Blue. I blue fishy."

"Solid choice. What color fish am I?" he asked her.

"Daddy pink."

"One of my favorite colors, so that's cool."

They finished breakfast and then he consumed several coffees while she did puzzles. After that, they went upstairs to make their beds and brush their teeth. Shawn checked the temperature and saw it was over seventy degrees, which was perfect since the pool was heated. They changed into their suits and went to the backyard after he entered a code to lower the fence. He picked Piper up and walked around inspecting the elegant tile work. The contractor had sent photos, but it was much better in person.