The Monster's Little Angel

Chapter 29

Archer smiled as he watched his daughter bake some cookies while sneaking a bite or two of cookie dough for herself. Major looked up at her, putting on his best puppy dog eyes that Quinn just couldn't refuse. In the end, she gave in and slipped him a piece of ham from the fridge since she didn't feel cookie dough was too good for him.

While rolling up the dough and placing it on a baking sheet, Archer came up behind her and stole a piece of cookie dough himself. Quinn gasped and playfully smacked his arm, making them both giggle.

"How dare you steal some of my cookie dough?" Quinn asked, feigning hurt as she pulled the bowl a little more out of his reach.

"I could ask you the same thing, you hypocrite."

They both chuckled at this before Quinn placed the cookies in the oven then started on the next batch. Quinn rarely baked as the texture of raw egg actually made her quite uncomfortable. Just something about it didn't sit right with her, like how some people don't like the texture of chalk.

However, when she did decide to bake, she made sure to make enough for everyone in the house. It was somewhat of a tradition as she had done it when she was young with Geneva and it just became a thing she did to be nice.

"So, what's so special that you decided to brave the dreaded raw egg today?" Archer questioned, chuckling slightly as his daughter frowned at the thought of the raw eggs.

"I just wanted to do something relaxing. Plus, I was in the mood for freshly baked chocolate chip cookies," she replied as she added her flour to the mixing bowl.

Archer only hummed in response as he watched her work. She carefully added in every ingredient, stopping only for a moment to eye the eggs in disgust, before tentatively cracking them into the bowl.

"Ashton told me that you had a break down in PE today," he softly added, making her tense up slightly. He didn't want to push too hard, afterall it was a sensitive topic but he was worried about her, "What happened, sweetie?"

Quinn seemed to stop breathing for a second but she closed her eyes and took a deep breath before going on. She didn't turn around to face her dad because she honestly didn't feel strong enough to look him in the eye. It wasn't that she was embarrassed or ashamed as she had no reason to feel that way. It was just something that felt hard to do in that moment.

"They were skipping rope today in PE. The sound just brought back a few things. It wasn't that serious though. . ." her words seemed to drift away from her as she turned on the mixer.

Suddenly, she felt her dad's arms wrap her up and bring her face into his chest. If she listened close enough, she could hear his heartbeat. That coupled with his fingers gently running through her hair was enough to calm her and she wrapped her arms loosely around him.

Archer pecked her forehead softly as he continued to absently play with her dark locks. He remembered how hard it used to be to calm her down. How she'd scream and cry for hours on end, fearing that those men would come back and do it all over again. How he had to sit with her in her therapy sessions and hold her tightly on his lap while she had a panic attack and started scratching at her arms. It was something that she did unconsciously while trying to stay grounded. All those deep, red lines that littered her poor arms.

He was so happy with her progress. He hated seeing her in so much pain and it made little moments like these feel more stable. He was grateful that she had gotten so much better.

"Quinn, no matter what, you don't have to feel ashamed or hide your fear away. What happened to you was traumatizing and I regret not getting to you sooner every day. But, you have come so far my angel," he pulled her away, holding her face in his hands as he gave her forehead another kiss, "Never hide your pain, my darling. But also never forget how far you have come."

"Thanks, dad," she mumbled, enjoying this moment between them.

It was somewhat ruined by the slight burning smell in the air and Quinn gasped as she rushed to take her cookies out. Luckily, they didn't appear to have been toasted too far.

"Phew, that was close," Quinn mumbled as she also turned off the mixer.

She yelped as something landed on her cheek and pressed her hand to it before pulling it back. Flour? She looked up to see her father with a measuring cup in his hands that was filled with flour while his eyes were wide in surprise.

"I didn't mean to do that."

Quinn playfully glared at him as she took a pinch of flour from the cup and flicked it at his face. He gasped as he grabbed some more and flicked it at her. This went on until the measuring cup fell from his hands and he grabbed the closest thing to him. An egg.

He smashed it on top of her head making her squeal as she threw an egg at him in retaliation. Soon the whole kitchen was covered in eggs, flour, oil, chocolate chips and sugar. That included them and poor Major, who had been in the middle of their ingredient battle.

They both laughed, the fight seeming to end, as they stared at one another. They both looked ridiculous, flour and sugar covering Archer's pressed suit while egg and flour covered Quinn's jeans and hair, but they didn't seem to care. They were having fun and in that moment that's all they cared about.

Footsteps were heard coming their way and Archer grabbed her hand, rushing them out of the kitchen with Major not too far behind them. They hid behind the corner as moans of pleasure filled their ears. Quinn silently gagged as she recognised them as her Aunt Geneva and Uncle Slade.

"Oh baby, I want you right now on this counter."

"Come and get it, big bo- WHAT THE FUCK! WHO MESSED UP THE KITCHEN!"

Both Quinn and Archer giggled, trying hard to stifle their laughs and not get caught as they retreated. Looks like Quinn would have to wait for her cookies.