Fatherhood

1

"Again."
The man suppressed a sigh as he tucked the little girl into bed without acknowledging her demand.
"Daddy, tell it again."
"Tell you what, honey?" he asked, knowing full well what it is she wanted.
"Tell me The First Father's Day please, Daddy, just one more time." her big brown eyes pleaded at him and he felt himself succumbing to their power even as he shook his head. "Please, Dad! You know it helps me sleep."
The man sighed out loud this time. "Fine, baby. One more time. Scoot." The little girl shimmed over so that the man could arrange himself next to her on the narrow bed. "So seven years ago was the first-"
"No," she quickly cut him off. "You need to tell it the right way."
The man smiled. "If you know the story so well, munchkin, why don't you tell it?"
The little girl sat up and looked at the man very seriously. "Okay Daddy. I got this. On the second week of June, seven years ago, there was a phone call. Daddy, do the phone sound," she whispered, nudging his shoulder.
"Brrrringggg," the man chimed, imitating an old telephone. "I answered the phone, and she was on the other end of the line. 'Please, Mr. Hayden, come quick! Sophie's in labor!' the woman said, and I was off, running like the wind to my car-"
"No, Daddy, you were running like the wind to the old beat-up Volvo, remember?"
"Yes, honey. I was off, running like the wind to the old gray Volvo that Mommy and I had bought with our savings. I zoomed through the streets, stopping only at red lights, and barely stopping even then, until I reached the hospital on 73rd and Maple, the nicest hospital with the kindest doctors." He paused, looking over to see if the little girl was still awake. She was.
"Go on, Daddy. The nurse said."
"Yeah. So when the elevator doors opened onto the fifth floor, I half walked, half ran to the desk where a nurse was sitting, wearing pink and yellow scrubs with a little purple flower in the shirt pocket. 'How can help you?' the nurse asked. 'My name is Christopher Hayden, my wife Sophie is in labor,' I said. And the nurse was very nice, you know. 'Oh, babies in June, isn't that beautiful?' she said as she walked me down the hall to Mommy's room."
"Maternity ward, 526C," said the little girl, yawning a little.
"Yes baby, 526C. Mommy smiled when we walked in, the nurse and I, and she said to me, 'Hey, Chris, ready to be a Daddy?' And I said-"
"And you said, 'Sophie, how in the hell am I ready yet, I thought we had three more months!'" the little girl almost shouted, having laughed at this point in the familiar story countless times.
"Exactly," Chris chuckled, hugging the little girl closer. "Mommy laughed and said 'Oh, settle down now. She just wanted to see her wonderful daddy that much sooner.' But I knew there was something wrong. Mommy was linked to a lot of machines, and there were charts and beeping screens all around her bed. It's not normal, you see, for a baby to want to see the world so soon. At least that's what the doctor said. And Mommy had always been very careful when you were inside her but because of her sick heart, she just couldn't keep you inside for too much longer. And we talked, and we laughed, and then mommy had to go into another room because her tummy started to hurt." He stopped, as he always did, and took a deep breath. The little girl, as she always did, stroked her father's arm comfortingly, staring up at his closed eyes.
"The doctors wouldn't let me in for a long time. They were running around, carrying things and whispering to each other as they passed me in the hallway outside the Big White Room. When they finally let me in, Mommy was almost as white as the walls. She could barely talk, but she was holding on to a little blue blanket very, very tightly. I cried as soon as I looked in the blanket, and then again at your precious Mommy. That was the first time I saw you. Mommy smiled and cried, cried and sniffed and smiled and sighed but she didn't talk. She just held you tight, as if she'd never let you go."
"And then she spoke." said the little girl, eyes wide.
"And then she spoke. 'Christopher Patrick Hayden, meet our little girl.' And then I cried harder, and I sat on the bed and hugged you both. And then the nurse came, and handed me the light blue paper. Girl, said the paper. Seventeen inches. Four pounds, six ounces. Time of birth, 12:01 am. Mommy laughed. 'Happy Father's Day, Daddy' she said. 'Here's your present,' she said, and she handed you to me in your little blue blanket. 'Paige Sophia Hayden, say Happy Father's Day, Daddy!' she said, and then, Mommy went to sleep." Chris looked at the little girl. Her eyelids were beginning to droop, and her fingers had stopped tracing patterns into the side of his t-shirt. "And it was the best Father's Day present I ever got," he whispered, kissing her on the forehead. "Goodnight, Paige. Sweet dreams."
"Goodnight, Daddy." The little girl pulled the blanket down a little and pulled out the locket she wore around her neck. She placed a small kiss on the little golden heart and held it tight in her little fist. "Goodnight, Mommy."

A/N
Okay I know it's short, I'm sorry, but I hope you guys enjoy it! Please vote, and comment to let me know what you think!
Xoxo,
Meli