Braids

"Come here girl, let's finish getting ready," Bam called out.

A 5 year old little girl bounces over to her dad and stood in front of him.

"Brush," he asked for and her little hand gives him the brush.

He then precedes to brush through the mess of curled and tangles. Parts her hair in the middle and gives her two braided pig tails.

"What are your plans for today sweetheart?"

"Grammy is taking me to pick some berries."

"When you are out there, what do you need to be on the lookout for?"

"Always be on the lookout for bears." She said as though she had said it hundreds of times.

"Good girl," he said as he finished the second pigtail. "All done."

"Ok, daddy your turn."

He sat down in a chair and she crawled up onto his lap. Her tiny hands took a fistful of his curls and divided it into three pieces. With a very determined face, she took to braiding her father's long curls. Every once in a while you saw his face distort in a bit of pain from his hair being pulled on a bit too hard. She was just about to the end when his hand popped up with a hair band.

"Thanks daddy." She took it and placed it to hold the braid in place. "All done." She leaned in and kissed his cheek.

"Perfect. Thanks," he kissed her forehead. "Have fun with Grammy."

She opened the door, "BEAR!" she shouts.

Bam jumps out of the chair and runs to the door.

"Girl," he growled.

"You said be on the lookout for bears, look it's Uncle Bear," she smiles.

"That's not funny." This wasn't the first time that she had pulled this little trick on him.

"Then why is mommy laughing," she turned and ran out the door to her grandparents cabin. "More mommy, more daddy," she yelled over her shoulder.

He turned to you, who had been watching the two of them interact all morning.

"It's not funny," he growled. "She has to learn to respect the danger. And you can't encourage her to do little things like that."

"I know. She's just too darn cute and she likes to tease you."

"Yeah she gets that from you," he smiles and you walk over to him still standing in the doorway of your cabin. "But, seriously one of these days it might actually be a bear."

"And she'll yell bear, and you'll come running. You'll never let anything happen to her." You grab him around the neck and pull him into a deep kiss. "She knows that, I know that, you know that."

"I would never let anything happen to either of my girls." He leans down and kisses you.

Just then he sees his mom and daughter head out of the main cabin and towards the berry patch.

"I have to get going. I have stuff to do." He leaned down and kissed you again.

"I know you are going to go watch her. You can just say it," you know that's where he is going and you want him to admit it to you, that he does watch her all the time. You do too.

"Yeah, I am going to go watch and make sure nothing happens to her," he looks at you.

"Do you know that seeing how much you love that little girl makes me love you even more? Don't let anything happen to you while you are making sure nothing happens to her." You pull him in tightly and kiss him passionately.

He gives you a smile before turning to follow in the direction that the little girl and her grandmother had just walked.