Little Wonder (Phan)

Sixty-Three.

"Don't you think you have enough clothes?" Laughing a little bit, I held onto her hand even tighter than before, there were a few shady looking people eyeing her up. I was about ready to punch their lights out, but without actually being provoked, it would just be seen as my fault. I looked down at her to see her light eyes bright and happy, for one of the few times in the last year. Yes, it'd been a two years since Phil had passed, and though it took awhile, we'd eventually gotten past it all, we'd managed to move ahead with our lives and make the best of them. The way we knew Phil would've wanted us to. He wouldn't have wanted us to be sad, not because of him. That would've been the last thing he would've ever wanted. "Fine, but I swear, this is the last dress I'm getting you." She didn't really wear dresses that often, but she did lately.

Hugging my leg, well actually my hip, she giggled as I gave in so easily. One glance from those puppy dog eyes that I'd helped her perfect, and I was weak. Those were really meant for others and relatives, not me, but she'd turned it around on me. Handing her the bag, she swung it back and forth happily, humming and skipping by my side. "Do you think we could see Auntie Louise today? I heard she set up something for Darcy and Tabby, and I want to be apart of it as well." Tugging on my hand, I didn't even have to look to know that she had the eyes out, I had already given in, so I decided to tease her and not even give her an answer. "Papa! Don't you know how important this is to me?" Jutting out her bottom lip for extra effect, she gave a small whimper. She was really playing the little girl card now. Before too long though we went home, but not before a few odd things started happening. I had sworn that Winnie kept calling out for me, yelling 'Papa!', but when I turned around she was facing the other way, looking interested in something else completely. Shaking my head, I smiled down at her as to not worry her, the last thing I ever wanted to do again was worry her. "What do you want for some breakfast, sweetie?" Holding her hand, I swung them back and forth, waiting patiently for her.

Scrunching up her face I knew it would be awhile before she answered. "Can we have waffles?" Again? She'd been wanting waffles an awful lot lately, but as a parent, and a being who liked waffles myself, I didn't object. Walking her up the multiple stairs, despite her being 8 and her being able to walk herself, I opened the door for her. "I'll get the stuff!" She grinned at me as she ran around the kitchen, beaming as she jumped up onto the counters and grabbed all the things we would need. She'd gotten pretty used to everything over the last couple of months, I was proud of her for remembering something. No matter how simple it was to remember. She looked back at me with a large grin, larger than before, holding the stuff before pushing me to the kitchen. "Come on, Papa! You've always been so slow!" She was teasing me, wonderful.

'Papa! Please don't leave me!' "I won't, little cub." But when I answered her, she gave me a very confused expression, saying she hadn't said anything, and went back to working on her waffles. We usually made them from scratch. Had something triggered an old memory and I was just reliving the past? Whatever it was, it didn't exactly sound like a happy memory, so I tried to stuff it back into the back of my mind and forget about it. But it seemed to stubborn to actually go away. 'What are Daddy and I going to do without you?' It was almost like an echo, and I excused myself from the kitchen telling her not to turn on anything hot while I was gone, and went searching for the voice. Was there a recorder somewhere? Was Winnie just playing another prank on me? 'Papa! You're the first family I've ever had, please, I don't want to lose you!' "You won't lose me, little cub." I tried to reach out towards her voice, despite her being in the kitchen. 'Daddy, look! He moved!' She sounded so happy, but why was that such a surprise that I could move? Of course I could move. I was perfectly fine.

"PAPA!" Suddenly the echoes were gone, and the scream was coming from the kitchen. With a sudden realisation of what might've happened, I ran and got a few handfuls of water for the small fire that had started. "I-I'm sorry, Papa. I wanted to try and surprise you, show you how big I am! I'm 9 years old, I should be able to do this by myself." But instead of being angry, I was lost in my own thoughts. She /was/ 9 years old, but how come I couldn't remember anything from the last year? It was all a blur, like it hadn't really happened. "Papa?" She was quiet and awaiting her punishment. But instead I bundled her up in my arms, saying how lucky I was to still have her in my life, despite how much we'd lost. Wrapping her tiny arms around me she smiled, her light eyes twinkling. "I love you, Papa. I'll always be your little girl, okay?"

"Okay." Smiling down at her, I pecked the top of her head. "How about you go watch some Steven Universe and I make the waffles?" She agreed and pecked my cheek before skipping off towards the living room, letting me give a sigh of relief. At the kitchen hadn't burned down, that would've cost a fortune to rebuild. And YouTube hadn't been to generous on paying it's employees lately. It was another YouTube problem.

It was 2021, 2020 had already flown by. But something felt off about the whole thing, like 2020 was empty, just a filler episode in our lives. Something that the creators used when they were building up to something huge, but something usually nobody remembered. But this was real life, not a TV show. "Are they almost done, Papa?" I called that they were almost done, putting a few on a plate before getting another batch started. Careful not to burn myself I let out a smile, but feeling a touch on my hand, it was a familiar touch I hadn't felt in forever, it was Phil's touch. Dropping the batter, I backed up quickly, and I felt like my entire body was just twitching, this had been happening throughout the year, but it was much smaller than this, almost unnoticeable, but now they'd become so big that they were starting to cause issues.

Winnie came in upon hearing the noise, but I sent her on her way, swearing that I heard her whisper, 'I love you, Papa. We'll love you forever.' "I-I love you too, but I'm not going any -- Winnie?" I was whispering, making sure that she wasn't just outside the kitchen playing a huge prank on me. She was smart, but no mastermind, and only 9 Reaching out for the voice that called out to me, I suddenly reached for my phone, but found no contacts. Had Winnie accidentally deleted them all while playing a game while day and just been to afraid to tell me? No, she was a good girl, she wouldn't have done something like that without telling me.

Things started becoming very confusing. Was Winnie 8? Or was she actually 9? Was I already 30 years old? No way life had just zoomed by that fast. Holding my head I fell to my knees, nothing seemed to make sense anymore. "Papa?" Her voice just melded with the confusion, I looked up to see her disappearing, but everything soon became clear again when she wrapped her arms around me with a concerned expression. "Let's go lay down for a little bit, Papa. You look tired, you've been working too much." I nodded, taking a deep breath, she was right. It was July, summertime in London, it was a time to be relaxing, not worrying over stupid things. To many all nighters really could get to a person. I really just needed to lay down for a little while.

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Just wait for it.