The Daddy Project

Christmas Shopping...Extra.

    Leon flipped the pancakes before setting it on the table for the kids to eat. Mariam immediately rushed for it before Faun could even stand. Faun frowned at her and said as he sat back in his seat, "Hey! The extra was for the both of us. Cut it in half."

"I'm your little sister. Let me have it." She replied with a mouth full of the pancake making Leon chuckle and Faun glared at him in response.

He quickly fell silent then tried to be annoyed by Mariam. "Now Mary, don't do that next time. You have to share, okay?"

"You hear that, Mary?" Faun smiled smugly.

Mariam swallowed then gave the both of them a sad look. "But Sophia said it's okay to not share. That if I did, I would never be satisfied with what I have."

Leon narrowed his eyes suspiciously at that. As days went, Leon had been learning about this Sophia girl and from what Mariam kept saying about her, she must be a very terrible person. However, Leon didn't know if it was time to tell Mariam to stop hanging with her.

"Now who's selfish? I'm going to school." Faun frowned at his sister before glancing at Leon and giving him a smile. "See you after school, dad."

Leon smiled at him, ruffling his hair before giving a rough push towards the door. "Be back early."

When he was already out the door, Leon turned to Mariam who was still drinking from her orange juice. "Now Mary, what you did there wasn't nice?"

"I was very hungry." She whined, placing her empty cup on the table gently.

"You were not hungry, Mariam. You ate three before that fourth one. You could've shared it."

She pouted, her dark brown eyes growing bigger which only surprised Leon. "I'm sorry. I'll share next time."

Leon sighed then smiled at her, "It's fine. Sharing is good, okay?"

She nodded and Leon came around the counter to help her down. "Okay kid, let's take you to Mrs. Lynn's place before she leaves." He let her pick up her bag from the table before he held her hand and led her out of the house.

"Daddy, can we go to the park today? Please?" Mariam asked they left the house.

Leon wanted to roll his eyes at her but he knew she wasn't the cause of his frustration. So he said instead with a wary smile, "If your other dad is free, he'll take you. You know I have work."

"But daddy never comes home early either." She whined but Leon wasn't annoyed at her. He was annoyed at himself and that man The Gay Project stuck him with.

Why hadn't they given him Andres? Or Vlad? Vlad's accent might be too deep for him to understand but at least he looked ready to do anything to get out of here. And Andres? He looked reasonable. They could work shit out.

Leon knocked on Mrs. Lynn's door when they finally got to their house. Checking his watch, he gave a relieved sigh when he saw there was still thirty minutes before Mariam's classes started. He knocked again and immediately brightened up when the chubby woman who had been helping him drop his kid at school opened the door.

"Leon." Mrs. Lynn grinned, pushing her glasses up the bridge her nose. She stepped out on the porch just as her own kid, peter came out.

Peter smiled at Mariam before running to the car. "Mum, open the door."

"You didn't greet Mr. Holmes, Peter. What do you say to people you haven't seen since the day started?" His mum frowned at him.

Peter turned to Leon immediately and said, "Good morning Mary's dad. How is your day going?"