Young Love

2

Justin rushes around in the morning with about a million things in his arms.

He mumbles meaningless words to himself under his breath and tries his best to be as organised as possible.

He and his daughter are visiting Pattie today and he wants to reach his mom's house for a reasonable time. Every time he goes, he promises to be there before it's time to drive back again, even though most of the time that doesn't happen.

There's a very special thing stopping him from getting his things together this morning.

His small girl appears from the doorway, her mid-length brown hair framing her face in messy knots. She continuously rubs her eyes sleepily.

Justin knows its past the time he would have liked, but the fact that the toddler has already woken up makes him realise how late he really is.

"Good morning sleepy head! Want some breakfast?" The young father drops what he is carrying and scoops her tiny body up, nuzzling his face into her coconut smelling hair.

Bella nods tiredly and mumbles,
"Cocoa Puffs."

Justin nods, his tufty hair bobbing, and jogs into the cramped kitchen to find the cereal box.

Placing his young daughter on a breakfast stool, the hazel-eyed man searches high and low for the Cocoa Puffs, and can't remember for the life of him where he put them.

On eventually finding them on top of the microwave in plain sight, Justin pours a small bowl and adds skimmed milk after checking it hasn't gone sour.

He doesn't want to risk giving his daughter milk that is past it's sell-by-date after a mistake last year when she had gotten seriously ill.

"Baby I'm just gonna get dressed, are you okay to eat that by yourself?" The stressed father asks and stubborn Bella shakes her head.

Justin sighs heavily, taking a seat on the breakfast stool next to the child and scooping some of the brown cereal onto a spoon quickly.

He continues to feed the 4-year-old until she has eaten most of the bowl and he can finally focus on their clothes for the day.

Justin rushes off to the bedroom, deciding to leave his daughter to herself for a while so he can get dressed.

However after her cereal which obviously contained sugar, Bella is full of energy and isn't too keen on just keeping quiet and collected on the couch.

Instead, she drives Justin nuts by running around the house, thumping down the stairs on her butt and giggling loudly.

In the end, the young man decides to just ignore the strange noises and focus on getting ready. He zips up some grey jeans and throws a white hoodie over his head, finishing the stylish look off with a bandana.

When he is done and walks downstairs to the lounge to find his crazy toddler,  she is nowhere to be seen.

Eventually, there is an undeniable indicator of her whereabouts. That mischevious giggle.

On finding Bella in the hallway, the man gasps at the mess such a little human has made: The wooden box by the door is open, with its contents tipped all over the floor, low hanging objects are crooked, and sugary handprints cover the wallpaper.

"Isabella Bieber, have you been a naughty girl?" Justin asks, giving her the option to be truthful, after kneeling down and placing her onto his knee firmly.

The brunette girl just stares innocently into her father's chocolate eyes and smiles sweetly.

"No dada."

Justin huffs, standing up and taking her small hand in his large one, and dragging her into her bedroom to change. There's no time for the naughty corner now.

He picks out an adorable outfit that nearly matches his. Classy grey ripped jeans, a white Ivy Park hoodie, and a black bandana accessorised with little silver butterflies.

"There. C'mon Bells let me do your hair." The father grins, tugging the little girl closer and spinning her around.

Now, Justin's never really been good at tying hair, but seeing as today is a special day he decides to actually make an effort.

Brushing all the knots out, he gathers some touseled hair at the top of the girl's head and secures it with a fluffy hairband, pulling off a half up half down look.

About an hour and a half later than planned, Justin finally leaves the apartment with his daughter and straps her in the car.

-

The drive to Justins mom's is nearly an hour long, and of course 4-year-old Drama Queens can't keep quiet, let alone sit still for more than five minutes at a time.

"Daddy I want food!" Bella groans loudly as her father pulls into a service station by the highway for what feels like the millionth time.

The young man sighs deeply, running into the building to grab some chocolate buttons. They're not a very healthy snack but at least they'll keep her happy.

The child's glossy eyes light up when she is handed the open packet, and she thanks him over and over.

Justin climbs back into the vehicle and pulls back out onto the empty highway, feeling ashamed about his time-keeping skills yet again.

The usual rush hour traffic is long gone and the windswept roads contain no cars as far as the eye can see. Of course, being in California, the streets are lined with tall palm trees which make for a picturesque scene.

"Dada? Where we going?" Bella mumbles, her mouth full of melting chocolate and saliva.

Justin rolls his eyes and sighs when he turns to see half the chocolate not in her mouth but all round her little face and all over the leather seats.

"Princess, don't talk with your mouth full. And we're going to see nana."

"Oh." Is all she says in a dismissive tone, continuing to munch her way through the packet of chocolate.

Just as Justin finally thinks they are going to make it to his mom's twenty minutes later, his irritable toddler starts to cry in the back of the car again.

"What's wrong now Bella?" The young father rolls his eyes and pulls over into a lay-by.

The little girl looks up at him with tear-filled eyes and a quivering lip, which makes Justin's heart melt. He's always had a soft spot for his daughter.

He leans into the back of the car and unbuckles his baby, lifting her into his warm, comforting arms.

"Lala fell." She grizzles, pointing miserably to her plastic Lala Loopsie doll which lays neglected on the mat.

Justin giggles and picks it back up, handing it off to her. She acts just like a mother to the doll and cradles it carefully, which makes Justin chuckle.

"C'mon we gotta get to nana's." He clips her back into the pink toddler seat  again and adjusts his seat.

When the coast is clear, he steps on the gas, maybe going a tiny bit faster than the speed limit allows. But Bella doesn't mind; she loves it.

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