Daddy's Home - Sophie Mayron

21

Sophie POV:

We are now out hunting in the woods for a "proper tree" as Grandpa Kurt said. 

Before we came out, Grandpa Kurt bandaged up my hand. Obviously everyone asked me how I did it and I just said that I slipped. I think none of them believed me but they didn't question it. Dad and I haven't had the chance to talk yet but I'm hoping to get the chance to now. 

He and Grandpa are walking right in front of me when Megan and Dylan drag Grandpa away. I speed forward a bit so i'm walking beside dad.

"Hey dad." I say awkwardly.

"Hey honey." He says just as awkward. Well this is gonna be a great conversation.

"I'm sorry for yelling." I say loud enough for him to hear. I hate apologising but this isn't for me. I don't want to ruin Christmas for everyone so I have to swallow my pride.

"Yeah. Me too baby." He says putting his arm over my shoulder and bringing me in for a side hug. After a minute of walking, Dad speaks up. "So, you like this boy? Our neighbour?"

"Yeah. He seems nice." I say smiling a little. Dad nods his head with a look I can't quite understand.

"Hmm. Well, if he does anything, you know I can make him disappear extremely quickly. Like, within the hour." He says seriously causing me to laugh.

"Yeah. Yeah I know. So, is it alright if I hang out at his place tonight? Just watching a movie? Rocko will be there with us so it's not as if we are going to be alone." I say slightly scared of his reaction. He looks at me and I can tell he is thinking about it all. He sighs before replying.

"90 minutes. Your not back within that time. I come and get you and embarrass the hell out of you. Got it?" He says in a warning tone. I nod and we continue walking. We are eventually walking with Grandpa Kurt.

"Can I yell Timber?" Megan asks from beside Dylan. The two has been running around trying to find a perfect tree.

"Sure can, sweetheart." Dad tells her. Her and Dylan continue their mad scatter to find the right tree.

"Can I have a go with the chainsaw?" I ask hopeful but fully knowing the answer already.

"Maybe to cut off some of the branches later." Dad says shocking me. Ok I really was not expecting that answer..

"Is this okay?" Don asks us pointing at a tree that looked exactly like all the others. "Are any of these trees even gonna fit in the cabin?" He asks looking at the height of them. They were pretty tal to be fair to him.

"We're gonna cut off the top 25 feet and chop the rest up for firewood, Don." Dad explains earning and 'oh' out of Don.

"Now, this is the Duster Buster I remember. A certified badass that makes his own rules!" Grandpa Kurt says clearly excited to cut down a tree.

"Go find a good tree, would you?" Dad shuts him up. He is only doing this to shut Grandpa Kurt up which did not work. Dad and I speed up a little and Brad joins us after an extremely short talk with Grandpa Kurt.

"Dusty, look, I know you're upset about Dylan, but I just..." Brad explains to dad. Wait, what about Dylan?

"I told you, Brad, I'm not upset, all right? We're co-dads! If he prefers your terrible advice, fine, I'm cool with that. I just want to find the perfect Together Christmas tree." Dad says defensively. Ok, I have a feeling that they are not talking about the same things here or are on very different pages.

"Well, I just don't know if it's the best choice, you know?" Brad says.

"Well, maybe we're not always gonna do everything your way every time." Dad says defensively again.

"Trouble in paradise, fellas?" Grandpa Kurt says walking with us again.

"No, we're picking a tree." Dad tells him at the same time as Brad says "Just having a conversation." I hate when they do the talking at the same time thing. Thankfully, Megan and Dylan come running up to us.

"El Padre! Phi! Lookit!" They say excitedly, grabbing our hands.

"Hey, what, kids? What, you find a dead squirrel?" Grandpa asks as they pull us away. They show us a tree they found which is a good choice. We walk back to get the chainsaw but Brad is already trying to cut one down. "Hold it, hold it!" Grandpa Kurt holds is arms out to stop Dylan and Megan getting closer to the idiot with a chainsaw. I walk around a little and see that this is not actually a tree - it is a cell phone tower. Brad is cutting down the damn cellphone tower.

"Brad! You're cutting down the--" I stop shouting as Brad gets electrocuted. Now, unfortunately, I was standing behind Brad. I thought I was safe because I was quite far behind him but no. The electrocution sent him flying right into me. I land on the floor with Brad on top of me and a loud cracking sound. "Aah! Not again!" I shout as I realise the cracking sound was from Brads big body landing on my wrist.

"Soph! Phi! Baby!" The yells of my family followed by their footsteps are heard as I push Brad off me. He isn't moving. Like at all.

"Are you ok?" Dad says as he pushed Brad of me and Grandpa Kurt helps me stand up.

"No! He's broken my damn wrist again." I say holding it gently. It's the hand that is already bruised and hurting.

"Wait, again?" Grandpa Kurt asks examining my wrist with Dad who had somehow caught the damn chainsaw. Before I could start the story as to how Brad broke my wrist the first time, Meg approaches Brad who still hasn't moved.

"I think Brad died." She says in a shaky voice. Oh shit. That would explain why he isn't moving. Dad puts the chainsaw down and neals beside him.

"Get up, Brad. Get up." Dad says shaking him a little. Oh....I HAD A DEAD GUY ON ME?!

"Man, you killed the poor bastard!" Grandpa laughs. If I wasn't so disgusted by the fact I had a dead Brad on me then I would probably start to get pretty upset. Grandpa goes over to Dad and I stand by Megan and Dylan who both look terrified.

"Ok, guys. Let's look at those trees over there. Pretty...pretty sure I saw a deer or something." I turn them both around so they don't see whatever Dad and Grandpa are doing. Whatever it is, they better hurry up; my wrist is killing me.

"Are you sure Brad's gonna be ok?" Dylan asks me.

"Uuuugh...yeah, yeah sure buddy. Brad is gonna be fine." I say in a hopefully comforting voice. I mean, I don't know if Brad is gonna be fine but I also don't wanna be all doom and gloom. A loud gasp comes from behind us and we spin around to see Brad now sitting up again. Hey, look at that, he's fine.

"Oh, my God. What happened?" Brad gasps looking around him.

"You cut down the cell phone tower Brad and landed on me and broke my damn wrist again." I semi-yell at him. It really hurts.

"What? Soph, i'm so sorry honey. What are the chances--" Brad is cut off from his long winded apology by Grandpad Kurt.

"You know, you're right. I did invite myself to Christmas. But that's because you never do." Grandpa Kurt storms off through the trees. What the heck was that about? Dad looks around before finally landing on me and my wrist which I am still holding very gingerly.

"Come on Soph. Let's get that checked out. Your Mom is gonna kill me." He says. He wraps his arm around my shoulder and we slowly walk out of the forest.