Dan The Dad (Phan)

6

"What are you making?" She asked as she sat on the floor of the kitchen just watching me cook.

"Dinner. I want to make sure you're fed before you leave." I told her.

"But what is it?" She asked.

"You'll see." I said.

"Can I see now?" She asked.

"No, it's not ready yet." I answered her.

"When will it be ready?" She now asked.

"Soon." I said.

"Will I like it?" She asked.

"I don't know." I said.

"Does it have blueberries in it? I liked the blueberries."

"It doesn't." I laughed.

"It smells awful." She scrunched up her face in disgust.

"But it might taste good." I said ready for every piece of my body to tiredly break down in my bed and have a good cry.

"I'm bored." She now said. I looked at her sitting cross legged on the floor.

"Well soon we can eat, after that maybe we can watch a movie and you won't have to be bored."

There was a repetitive squeaky sound and I looked back at her and she laughed.

"My boots can make a squeezing sound." She said and went back to rubbing her rain galoshes together. The noise lasted until I had finished the food and put it on a plate, I was very surprised at my tolerance.

I picked her up and put her at the table. She looked at the food and then peered over the table at me.

"What's wrong?" I asked her as I took a bite.

"It's vegetables." She said.

"I promise they're good." She picked up the fork in her fist exactly how I'd imagine a little kid to eat, and she stabbed a bite and looked it over.

"What's this?" She asked.

"Aubergine." I said.

"Uber what?" She said in confusion.

"It's a vegetable." I informed her "it's eggplant."

"It doesn't look like eggs, I don't like it." She whined. "Is the white stuff cheese?"

"Yeah, Parmesan." I said. She began to scrape the cheese off of the top and eat it.

"I like it." She now said.

"You have to eat it with the vegetables, it makes them taste good."

"No." Was all she said and continued to sift through the food only eating the cheese. I sighed in defeat.

There was the sudden sound of a door making me get up just in time to see Phil speeding through the hall heading straight for his room.

"I saw a man!"She shouted.

"It's just my flat mate, I'll be right back. Eat the vegetables." I told her and got up and chased after him.

He was gathering up his things in his room when I walked in.

"We need to talk." I said.

"No, we don't." He said as he quickly gathered his laptop and charger, never facing me.

"We do." I argued.

"Dan, your daughter is here, it's not appropriate and it's not the right time." He said.