Young Love

8

Justin however, has had to deal with his daughter's tears ever since he picked her up. He didn't realise that being only five minutes late to collect her would cause such drama.

"Daddy I don't feel good." She groans miserably as Justin unlocks their small house and pushes the wooden door open with his foot.

"I know you don't princess, just hang on one second." He sighs heavily, placing his keys on the coffee table and laying Bella on the couch gently.

The young father kicks his shoes somewhere in the hall to pick up later and goes upstairs to grab a stuffed bear and a thermometer.

When he finally comes back to the couch, his small daughter is red faced, crying, and her chestnut hair is a mess.

"Bella, baby, where do you hurt." Justin pouts, taking a seat, pulling her onto his lap and sticking the thermometer in her ear to check for a fever.

"M-my tummy and my throat." The little girl whines and Justin nods, removing the thermometer to see that she is in fact running a slight fever.

"Do you want this stuffie?" The man hands her the purple bear and the little brunette snuggles into it, instantly relaxing.

"I'm just going to get you some chicken soup okay?" The young father informs, standing up and walking into the kitchen to try to figure out how to make soup from the instructions on the tin.

After a while, Justin finally seems to make it right and brings a bowl full back to the lounge for his sick daughter.

Bella is still lying on the couch with her face buried in the cuddly bear and her thumb in her mouth.

Justin sits next to her and tickles her to make her cheer up a bit. The little girl lifts her head up, her face still a deep shade of pink.

Her father then blows on the soup to cool it and feeds her a spoonful, knowing she will get even more cranky if she has to do it herself.

"Daddy this is yucky." The four-year-old pushes the bowl away, nearly spilling it in the process. Justin sighs frustratedly, sensing that something like this would happen.

"Yes I know bub, but it will make you feel better so you gotta have it okay?" He continues scooping up spoonful after spoonful of the creamy soup until she has eaten it all and has relaxed back onto his chest.

The two young people watch a kid's cartoon on TV for a while, just to please the sick little girl until Justin gets bored of princesses and butterflies.

"Let's take a bath yeah sweetie?"

Of course, the stubborn little human shakes her head grumpily and presents her daddy with the infamous puppy eyes she has perfected.

"C'mon. Maybe daddy'll even get in with you! Won't that be fun!" Justin sighs, knowing that most definitely won't be fun for him.

His daughter grins cheekily and nods, seeming to forget about her illness. She leaps to the floor and races into the bathroom upstairs as quick as lightening.

Justin shakes his head, chuckling, and follows her inside, only to see her struggling to get her shirt off.

The young father turns the bath tap on to get the water running and squirts some bubble shampoo in to entertain the toddler while he's bathing her.

"Here." He smiles, pulling Bella's shirt off and helping her out of her other clothing. The little girl looks into the water with a mixture of excitement, fatigue and boredom evident on her face.

"Hang on baby let me just go get some trunks." The brunette man chuckles, jogging into his bedroom to put on some of his swimwear to wear in the bathtub with his daughter.

On his return, he checks the water temperature one last time and scoops Bella up, placing her into the soapy water. Instead of kicking up a fuss like Justin expects, the small girl just relaxes at the gentle lapping of the warm water against her skin.

Justin climbs in next to her, making her giggle by draping some of the bubbles onto her chin like a beard.

"So, was your first day at your new school good?" The father asks, hoping for a positive response. This pre school is both nearer and cheaper than the other one she went to.

"It was magical daddy!" Bella sighs and Justin chuckles at her choice of words.
"I played in the sand with LiLi and I ate pasta for lunch!"

She crawls through the warm water and onto her daddy's lap, bringing some of the bubbles up to smear over his face.

"That sounds nice baby girl." Justin places his hands around her waist to stop her from slipping off. "Let's get you washed then."

He somehow manages to find the sponge amidst the bubbles and lathers it over his daughter's body to wash her.

One that's done, he pulls her out, dries her off in a fluffy white towel and dresses her into her favourite onesie.

For the rest of the evening, the little family eat cold pizza from the fridge and watch programmes on the Kid's channel.