A Life With You - BTY VERSE

Super Dad

Imagine. You left work pretty late. Way too late in your opinion. You spent the day there. You didn't even see your husband or kids this morning and you were almost scared that they would be in bed by now. Fortunately, you heard them talking as soon as you opened the door. "Kyle, you eat the broccoli and then you can have the candy" you heard. You walked into the dining room to see Darren holding a piece of broccoli in his hand and a sucker in the other. Kyle was standing in front of him, eyeing the candy in his father's hand. Sami was on the floor and playing with her toys. Darren looked exhausted. Kyle reached out for the sucker and his father pulled it back so he couldn't grab it. "Only if you eat your broccoli" he repeated. The little boy shook his head "Candy! Candy!", he jumped around.

"Good evening everyone! What's going on?" you smile and interrupted the scene. "Hi" they all said in unison. You eyed Darren who was clearly gesturing for help. "Sam, are you done eating?" you ask your 6 year old. "No" she said and kept playing. "Ok, then you get back on the table and finish eating please" you ask her. She put away her toys and went back to her place. "Kyle" you say in a firmer voice. "What did Daddy ask you?". "To eat broccoli" he said and looked down. "Then you go sit in your chair and do what he said" you order. "Yes Mommy" the little boy said in a little voice. He sat back in the chair and seemed to consider the idea of eating his vegetables. Darren sighed and put his head in his hands. You walked to him and kissed his head. "You're doing great" you whispered in his ear. He turned to you with a sad look and pecked your lips. "You're back" he smiled vaguely and tried to change the subject. "I made you a plate. It's on the counter" he pointed at it. "Thanks" you say and looked at him in the eyes. You sent him your 'you're sure you're okay?' glare and he looked at the children. You thought it might be better to talk about this later.

You went to grab your plate and settle in front of your husband and right next to your son. "Are you gonna eat broccoli too Mommy?" he asked you. "Yeah I am! And look, Daddy's eating all of his too. Sami too" you pointed out. Kyle finally started to eat his and soon enough both of your kids were done eating their dinner. "Can we go play now?" Sami asked as she looked back and forth to Darren and you; apparently very excited. "Sure" you agree and let her go. They both left the table and headed to their rooms. "Kyle" you call out to him slowly before he could get too far. He stopped right away and slowly turned to you, which made Darren chuckle. "I think you forgot to say something to Daddy" you say. The little boy came backed up and stood right next to his father. "I'm sorry I didn't listen to you Daddy" he finally said to the ground. "I forgive you buddy" your husband petted his hair. "Can I have my sucker now?" Kyle asked right after. You both giggled. "Never forget about candy" you notice. "Here. Give the other one to your sister" Darren said as he handed him two suckers. "And that doesn't mean you'll get candy everytime you eat your vegetables. Okay?" you reminded him. "Okay" he said and walked back to his original destination. "Sam, we got candy!" you both heard his screams on the stairs.

'Those kids' you thought as you giggled along with your partner. You pushed away your plate and took his hand over the table. "Sooo" you said slowly. "What's going on?" you ask. He sighed and avoided your glance. That was never good. "I'm a bad father" he answered. "What? Of course you're not!" you mlve next to him. "I am. I mean, look at what just happened! Dinner was a disaster. I had to blackmail Kyle to make him eat. Sami wasn't even at the table with us. And then you came back and they listened to you right away. I asked them like 10 times!" he explained. His eyes got watery and it broke your heart. "Honey you spent the whole day with a 3 and a 6 year old. You did everything by yourself. The reason why they didn't listen to you is because you're tired. That's all! You're not a bad father! I mean, if dinner was the only thing that went bad in the whole day, that's pretty great! They're kids, they always are going to test authority, and sometimes we're just too tired to be firm anymore. If I had been in your place, the dinner thing would have happened the same way. And the reason why it stopped when I came back is because there was 2 of us" you say as you rub his back."I feel like you're way farther than me in the authority race" he admitted. "Good thing we're not competitors then. I'd kick your ass" you joke. At least that made him giggle. "We're a team, Darren. All I did tonight was help you. Because I felt like you needed it, not because I don't think you're capable of doing it by yourself. You did it all day!" you explain. "You're a superdad". He chuckled and shook his head. "They listen to you as much as they listen to me, but for that to work, you have to know that you're capable of making them listen" you said. He turned his face to you and tilted it a little bit. "I missed my team partner today" he said. "Aw babe I missed you too" you hugged him. His strong arms around you always had the power to make everything better. You hope your arms had the same power to him. You kissed him and smiled at him.

"Daaaaaaddyyyyyyy! Can you read a story?" Sami and Kyle called out from upstairs. "I think I'll let Mommy do it. She hadn't seen you all day long" he said back. "But you do the voices better!" Kyle cried out. "See? Superdad" you wink. He grinned. He put a kiss on your forehead and took your hand. "Come on, let's put those kids to bed".