Misprinted Lies (Alice in Chains/Bruno Mars)

Scared

I got Lily a puzzle for her visit. She loved them; she was so smart and loved putting things together in her head. She came up to me a bit later with the box in her hand.

"Can we do it now? Can you do it with me?"

"Oh really?" I asked, raising my brow. "I thought maybe you'd want to try it yourself.

"I know I can do it by myself...I just wanted to do it...with you."

I promised Lily that I would do it with her later, after I took a nap. As usual, I broke my promise. When I woke up, with a needle mark in my arm, and a needle beside my chair on the floor, it was the middle of the night already. Ironically, I woke up shocked, every single time. Drowsy and disoriented, I wandered into the kitchen. Lily had done the whole puzzle already. There were a plate and many pans in the sink as well. I felt nauseas but felt I should eat anyway. My heart broke a bit when I opened the fridge and saw a plate with foil over it. I pulled the plate off the shelf and read the note on top that said, "Dad :)."

I sighed, placing the plate on the edge of the table so I could continue to amazed by the many pieces that Lily had put together. When I took the foil off, I saw what Lily made for dinner, chicken nuggets and green beans. After I finished dinner, I stopped in Lily's room on the way to mine. It was more than just a stop. Lily rolled over and over in bed before staying still for a second. She was in such a deep sleep that she didn't wake up immediately when I sunk the bed down and leaned close to her. Her breath far from steady, her fingers fidgeted on top of her chest. I rubbed her hand with a few of my fingers, which woke her up.

I took the note out of my pocket. She smiled when she saw it, and when I kept myself close to her with my arm over her. Her eyes started to close again, so I spoke one more time before she fell asleep.

"Thank you," I whispered.

After one more moan and yawn, Lily was asleep without a response, which was just fine, as long as she wouldn't have any nightmares. I kissed her wet hair and eventually fell asleep too.

For the first time in a while, I woke up before Lily. She looked so tired, even asleep. I waited for her, until she woke up. We didn't speak for a while. It was nice and relaxing.

"Morning," I smiled.

"Morning."

"Ahhh," I said, kissing her neck. "I missed you."

"I missed you too."

"My dinner was delicious. Thank you."

"You're welcome," she smirked. "I'm...I'm a little hungry."

"You are?" I asked. "That's great. I think we have some eggs. How's that sound?"

Lily just smiled as we walked together, hand in hand, to the kitchen. It was a rare occurrence when I cooked for her. She sat at the kitchen table, in front of the puzzle.

"Did it take you a long time?" I asked.

"Nope," she grinned.

"Cuz you're so smart," I winked, placing the plate in front of her. I kissed her cheek. "I'm sorry 'bout last night."

"It's okay, Dad. I...I'm happy that I did the puzzle myself."

"Honey it's not about the puzzle...it's about dinner...and just," I said, beginning to cry.

"Don't cry. It's okay."

"No," I sobbed, before pulling myself together stronger. "It's not okay, Lily. I should be the one cooking dinner...and spending time with you. I should be saying goodnight to you the right way...not the way I've been doin' it."