Teen Dad

Four

"There is a list of foods she can't eat and emergency numbers on the fridge, and she needs to be in bed by 7:30. If you have any questions or problems call me, and thank you again for watching her," I said. I grabbed my backpack and walked up to Annabelle, giving her a hug. "Now behave Anna, and listen to Abigail. I don't want to come home to hear you were misbehaving."

"I will daddy," Anna said.

"Don't worry Michael, she's in good hands. Besides, she can't be that bad, Annabelle is a sweet girl, and I know she'll listen," Abigail said.

"Are you sure you're okay with this?" I asked her.

"Positive."

"Okay, well I better get going. I'll see you later tonight. Bye Anna," I said once more, kissing the top of her forehead before walking out the door.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

*Abigail's P.O.V.*

We watched as the door closed, hearing Michael walk down the apartment steps. I turned to his daughter and knelt down to her height, "hi Annabelle, I'm Abigail, but you can call me Abby."

"Hi Ms. Abby, everyone calls me Anna," Anna said.

"Well it's very nice to meet you Anna. So, what do you want to do first?" I asked her.

"I'm kinda hungry."

"Okay, well what do you want to eat?"

"Pancakes!" She shouted.

I laughed, "okay, okay, I'll make you some pancakes." We walked into the kitchen and I grabbed a package of pancake batter I found sitting on the counter, and began making the pancakes.

"You know, you're very pretty," Anna said.

"Aw, well thank you Anna, and you are very pretty, too," I told her.

"I think my daddy likes you," she said, surprising me. A blush spread across my face as  continued with the pancakes. 'H-he likes me? Oh what am I saying, she's like 7, what does she know about this kind of stuff? B-but, what if... wait, what am I saying? I have a boyfriend!' I set a couple pancakes on a plate, buttered and added syrup to them, then handed the plate and a fork to Anna. She took one of the slices onto the fork and ate it. "This is amazing! Thank you Abby!"

"You're welcome," I said, laughing a bit at her excitement. After she was done I washed the plate and set it in a dish rack to dry. "Okay, so now what?"

"Wanna play hide and seek?"

"Sure, I'll count, you hide."

"Okay, but beware, I'm a great hider," she said.

"Okay, I believe you. I'll count to 60, then come find you."

"Okay!"

I closed and covered my eyes, then started counting. "One, two, three, four, five..." As I counted I heard a bunch of this moving around. My guess is, if she's anything like my nephew, she's creating a distraction. Since this is her home, I bet she knows where all the good hiding places are, and knows how easy it is to get to them, so she's most likely moving things around to make me think she's hiding there. "fifty-eight, fifty-nine, sixty! Ready or not here I come!" As I revealed my eyes I found what I expected. There were dishes and food moved around in the kitchen, the lamp in the living room was in a different spot, cupboard doors were either wide open or open up a crack. Of coarse I still looked around in those places in case she was actually in one of those places, but she wasn't. I went into her room and looked around in the closet, under the bed, and then did the same in Michael's room. I looked in the bathroom, in the cupboard under the sink, in the tub/shower, but still nothing. I pretty much looked everywhere, but couldn't find her anywhere. "Okay Anna, I give up, I can't find you!" I shouted so she would here me. No response. "Anna?" I asked again, but still no answer. 'Okay, this is getting scary,' I thought to my self. I got out my phone and called Michael.

"Hello?" he answered within the first two rings.

"H-hey Michael, are you at work yet?" I asked.

"I'm just down the street, why is something wrong?" He asked, worry obviously showing in his voice.

"Oh, no, everything fine, I just...I was wondering if you know where Anna could be hiding?" I asked, a bit worried he would yell at me since I disturbed him for that.

"Oh, hide and seek? Yeah, she loves that game. Have you checked under the beds?"

"Yes."

"Kitchen cupboards?"

"Yes."

"Bathroom, living room, under the couch, in the closets?"

"Yes, yes, yes, and yes."

"What about the washer and dryer?" he asked.

My eyes widened, "The what?" I asked.

"You see that door in the kitchen? By the stove?" I looked over and responded with a yes. "In there is a small room with a washer and dryer in it, and she loves hiding in there, even though I tell her she shouldn't."

I walked to the door and opened it, and saw a washer and a dryer. The washer door was clear, so I could tell she wasn't n there, and when I opened the dryer she was in there. "She was there, thank you! Sorry for bothering you," I said.

"It's no problem, call whenever you have a question. I have to go, I'll see you later."

"See you later tonight," I said, then hung up the phone. "Anna, your father said he doesn't want you hiding in there anymore!"

"Why?" she asked me.

"Well, what if something backfires and it starts while you are in there? Or if you can't breathe and the door won't open?"

"Oh," was all she sad. Her lip quivered and she hung her head low, "I'm sorry."

"Oh Anna, it's okay, you didn't know. Just, next time don't go in there."

"Okay," she said, lifting her head up and smiling. She grabbed my hand and pulled me into her room. "Come on, let's play dress up!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After hours of playing dress up, dolls, watching movies, and just goofing around, it was already time for her to go to bed. "Okay, time for bed, go brush your teeth and get your PJ's on," I told her. She nodded and walked into the bathroom, brushed her teeth, then went into her room and get into her pajamas. Once she was done she climbed into bed and motioned for me to come over. "So, what do you usually do for your night routine?" I asked.

She reached under her pillow and pulled out a book, handing it to me, "Daddy usually reads me a chapter from here," she said. I looked at the book and saw the title read Charlotte's Web.

"Oh, this is a classic, one of my favorites," I say, opening up to where the bookmark was at and began reading.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A/N- Hey guys, sorry this came out so late, I couldn't sleep so I decided to write. Happy 4th of July (if you're from America), I hope everyone was safe and had a great day. Bye!~