Broken Descent (Bruno Mars)

Amazed

"Whoa," Charlotte gasped, looking at a wall at the store. All summer he spent time getting Charlotte used to being out in public, being among strangers again. Dozens of colorful little backpacks scattered the wall with Disney characters and superheroes.

"Whatever one you want, you can have."

"I want all of them."

"Well you only need one backpack, Char. Pick out your favorite. Do you want a princess one? Or maybe Batman?"

"Umm..." she said, having a hard time deciding. Bruno looked up and down across the rows and columns, picking up one with Cinderella.

"What about Cinderella?" he asked, allowing her to grab it.

"Na," she said, releasing her hands from it and shaking her head.

"Na?" Bruno asked.

"I don't really like her anymore."

"Oh....no?" Bruno asked, taken aback. "I thought you liked her because she has hair like yours?"

Charlotte grabbed another bag from Beauty and the Beast. "I like Belle now."

"Yeah?" Bruno smiled. "Why?"

"Because she likes to read...and she's smart...and I wanna learn how to read."

Bruno knelt beside her in the store, placing his arm around her back. "I am so proud of you, sweetheart. You're gonna learn how to read in no time. Don't worry."

Bruno ran his hand through her hair, his fingers resting behind her head. He kissed her forehead softly. "You're so smart...and beautiful too."

Charlotte smiled back at him. "Thank you, Daddy."

"You're welcome, peanut. Let's go get a couple of other things and then we'll go home."

Charlotte nodded her head, grabbing his other hand.

There were just two days at that point, one weekend that separated them from the current moment and the first day of school. Bruno got a phone call two days before from Ryan.

"Hey Bruno."

"Hey Ryan what's up?"

"I got a call from the school telling me that Charlotte's teacher's name is Miss Hunter."

Bruno was so thrilled to have already met her and felt really good about her. Later that weekend, Phil and Bruno let the kids play together.

"Phil," Bruno said. "You know anything about Miss Hunter?"

"Yeah," Phil smiled. "Zadeh had her. She's really great. Does Charlotte have her?"

"Yeah and we actually met her on the tour."

"You struck gold. She's a great teacher. Zadeh really liked her and he also learned a lot. She's fun."

"Oh good," Bruno sighed in relief.

Phil let a few seconds pass before speaking. "She's kinda cute too. Don't tell Urbana I said that."

"She is kinda cute," Bruno agreed, his voice getting quieter.

"Bruno you should think about getting into the dating pool again."

"Really?"

"Charlotte's already five years old. You're 30..."

Bruno glared at him and Phil returned a glare back.

"I'm not dating Charlotte's teacher."

"I'm not saying you should, because you definitely shouldn't, but you should be looking...you know? You should at least consider looking."

"Yeah...I...I know."

One day remained before school would start, and Bruno made it all about Charlotte, doing whatever she wanted, even more-so than usual. It was Sunday afternoon, and the hours were winding down.

"Daddy can we play hide and seek?" Charlotte pleaded.

"Of course. Do you want to hide or seek?"

"Seek!" She squealed. "I want to find you!"

"Okay," Bruno laughed. "What do you want to count to?"

"20!" She exclaimed.

"Soon you'll learn to count very very high and Daddy will have more time to hide."

Charlotte smiled. "I'll count very slow Daddy."

"Okay," Bruno smiled, giving her a light kiss. "Close your eyes and no peeking."

Bruno started to walk away carefully when she started to count. He looked behind at her; she looked so cute with her fingers over her eyes. She parted them a little bit.

"Hey no peeking!" Bruno said.

"I'm not," she giggled hard, quickly covering her eyes again.

"18!" She called out.

Bruno hid beside a large desk with pictures on top, squished near the wall in the corner of the room.

"20!" She yelled. "Ready or not...here I come!"

Charlotte giggled as she looked behind doors and in closets. She giggled after every spot she checked.

"You can't hide from me Daddy!"

She grinned widely, looking under the couch. Bruno laughed without making a sound, looking out a little from his hiding spot. She had her back turned from his direction. There was no way he'd fit under the couch; he found it cute that she thought he would.

"Daaaaaaaddy," she called, standing in the middle of the room. "There are cupcakes in the kitchen."

Bruno let out a quick, short laugh and accidentally kicked out a foot that had been tucked tightly into his body. He quickly slid it back up but she already figured out where he was. She slowly walked over. Bruno had his hands covering his eyes. Charlotte grabbed them and moved them away from his face.

"I found you!" Charlotte yelled.

"You did," Bruno smiled.

Charlotte fell into his chest and he grabbed her. She brought her mouth close to his ears.

"There aren't cupcakes in the kitchen. Gotcha," she whispered.

"Yes you did," Bruno said, holding her tightly. "I'm going to start dinner now. You need to go to bed early tonight. Okay?"

Charlotte smiled. "Okay."

"Are you excited?"

She nodded. Bruno knew her answer would be different the next morning, and that she'd be very nervous even though she knew her teacher already.

After eating spaghetti for dinner, Charlotte was bathed and into her pajamas. She stood with Bruno in front of her closet. He'd gotten her a few new dresses.

"Which one do you want to wear tomorrow?"

"Hmmm," she said, furrowing her eyebrows in serious thought. She tugged on a light green one and Bruno pulled it off the bar, hanging it on the doorknob by its hanger.

"Great choice," Bruno said, looking down at his watch. "Guess what? It's time for bed already."

Charlotte immediately hopped under her covers.

"You're still gonna read to me, right?" She asked with hopeful eyes.

"Of course," Bruno said, pouting with a smile. "Nothing will ever change that."

Charlotte smiled back.

"Except when you..." Bruno said, gently poking her stomach with his finger, making her laugh. "...start reading to me."

Bruno read to her and surprisingly she fell asleep quickly, after one book. He tucked her in and kissed her good night.

"I have such an amazing daughter," Bruno said quietly, rubbing her back. "I can't wait for you to amaze me even more."

A/N: Love Comments and feedback! Hope you guys enjoy this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it!