You Sang To Me - I'm Not Broken Hearted Trilogy, Book 3

Chapter 5 - Patrick

Eight Years Ago

"Daddy! Daddy!" My five-year-old daughter bounded into the room, her ponytail bouncing behind her head. She attached herself to my leg, giggling as she smiled up at me excitedly. I chuckled and leaned down to lift her up, planting a noisy, sloppy kiss on her cheek that made her squirm and squeal with laughter.

"Good morning, princess," I said, carrying her with me as I went back to the mug of tea I was in the middle of making.

"Where's mommy?" Rose asked, wrapping her tiny arms around my neck.

"Mommy's still sleeping," I told her, lowering my voice, "We have to be quiet so we don't wake her up, okay?"

"Okay," Rose whispered, holding one tiny little finger up to her pursed lips. I chuckled and kissed her forehead, picking up my tea and carrying it to the living room with me.

"Are you hungry, baby?" I asked as I set Rose down on the couch.

"Not yet," she replied, scooting to sit right up against my leg as I sat down. She ducked her head under my arm and leaned against me.

I relaxed against the couch and sipped my coffee silently for a moment. Rose sat complacently beside me, watching me curiously with big blue eyes. When I finally looked down at her, she smiled cheekily at me and giggled. I set down my mug and looked back at her again, quickly digging my fingers into her sides and tickling her. She screeched with laughter and fell over on her back, kicking frantically at me until I finally stopped. She looked up at me, still bubbling with laughter, and tried to catch her breath.

Looking down at her, I took note of the way she scrunched up her little nose. I'd noticed it countless times before, of course, but she looked exactly like her mother. She scrunched her nose up like that whenever I tickled her or teased her about something. She also had Allie's eyes, and Allie's curly hair. I smirked and pulled her onto my lap, kissing her cheek again. "I love you, Ro," I muttered, smiling wider as she wrapped her tiny arms around my neck and kissed my cheek like I had kissed hers.

"Love you too, daddy," she giggled, snuggling into my chest.

Present Day

That memory was eight years ago, back before I was the biggest embarrassment of my daughter's life. I was lying in bed as I thought about how much of a daddy's girl she used to be, while the walls reverberated with her music from down the hall. Today, her band of choice was Paramore. I sighed and rolled over, burying my face in a pillow. It was the weekend, and I had nothing to do besides sit in bed and sulk over the fact that I had no idea what was going on with my daughter.

After a long moment of silence, I felt the bed shift and a hand touched my shoulder. I didn't have to lift my head to recognize that touch. "Trick?"

"Hmm?" I hummed, still not moving.

I felt Allie move beside me, placing both hands over my shoulders and straddling my legs. She sat on my backside and began kneading her hands into my shoulders and the back of my neck. I groaned softly, stretching my arms out under my pillow. Allie didn't say anything for a long time, simply massaging my back, until I finally moaned softly and turned my head to the side to look at her. I could just see her long hair falling over her shoulder, shielding her face from me. I hummed softly as her hands moved to my lower back, lifting my shirt as she dug the heels of her hands into my skin. "You're tense," she muttered, following up her rough kneading with a gentle brush of her fingers down my spine.