One Shots

Chris Motionless

My apologies for the long wait @mmgjura This one's for you

Forty three days since my world fell apart. I ran a hand down my bare face, desperately trying not to cry again. I'd been given plenty of time to cry. I didn't need to sit here in a bubble of my own self pity for the next six months and have everything slip away from me. That's not who I am, and I refuse to let that be who I become.

So, once again, I forced myself out of bed and into the kitchen to make breakfast. I was never a good cook, that was always Nora's area of expertise, but the position was forced on me when there was no one else to feed our daughter.

"Mel, baby girl, it's time for school!" I listened for a moment for her response, sighing when I couldn't hear her moving around in her bedroom. "Melanie, get up!" I shouted, my voice a tad more aggressive than the first time, but she still didn't answer me.

With a groan, I set her oatmeal in the microwave to keep warm and jogged up the stairs to drag my daughter's lazy ass out of bed. I wasn't surprised to find Melanie buried under her Corpse Bride blanket, sound asleep. I flicked on the light, and pulled her covers off, earning a drawn out whine from the kindergartener.

"C'mon, kiddo, you've got school." I picked her up and sat down so she was on my lap, bouncing my knees to wake her up more. "Daddy, I miss Mommy." I froze, staring down at the perfect replica of my dead wife with sorrowful eyes. "I know, baby girl, but you still have to go to school." I kissed her forehead and set her down on her feet, taking her hand to lead her downstairs for breakfast.

I set the bowl in front of her and went to make my coffee. "Eat, Melanie." She glared up at me through her tangled brown hair. "I don't like oatmeal." I scoffed in disbelief. "You had oatmeal two days ago for breakfast." She didn't budge. "I don't like it anymore." I rolled my eyes, slamming my coffee mug down on the counter with enough force to cause some of the precious substance to slosh out over the edge. "Eat it."

"Mommy never made me eat it if I didn't like it." I flinched. "Mommy isn't here anymore, Melanie, get over it." I took my mug with me as I left the room, going to get dressed and do my makeup before I needed to take the little shit to school.

I'd gone into my walk in closet to change, but when I came back into my bedroom, I wasn't alone.

"Melanie, you need to go get dressed." I crossed my arms, staring at the small lump in my covers. She poked her head out with a pout. "No!" I raised an eyebrow, gritting my teeth together as I tried to remain patient. "Melanie, I wasn't asking. Go get dressed." My defiant young daughter shook her head and reburied herself in my blankets. "Mommy wouldn't make me."

My fists clenched, and I felt the muscles in my jaw tense at her second mention of Nora this morning. I ripped the covers off of her and picked her up to carry her back to her bedroom, sick of her disobedience. "Mommy isn't fucking here, anymore, Melanie. Get over it." I dropped my daughter down onto her plush pink floor mat with a scowl. "Get dressed."

When the little shit refused to budge, I ripped an outfit off of one of her plastic pink hangers and grabbed my daughter by the wrist.

"I'm fucking sick of this." I growled, stripping her pajamas off of her pale body roughly. "If you don't start listening to me you are going to start getting punished. I'm not going to tolerate you deliberately disrespecting me. I'm your father, and you're going to listen to me whether you like it or not."

I got her dressed in some black leggings and a black and white striped dress Nora had sewn for her a few months ago, tied her long dark hair back into a tight pony tail, and marched her downstairs to collect her things for school.