Ruby ~Joshler~

0.1

Joshua brought his closed fists close to his eyes, rubbing at the dark circles under his doe eyes that were fixated on the small toddler that sat in the middle of the room. Her little hands held a wrapper. Why a wrapper? Josh didn't care, as long as she wasn't crying.

Ruby wasn't handling the divorce well. She was missing her mama and no matter how many times Josh tried to tell his daughter she wasn't coming back, she wouldn't listen. She didn't understand that her mama had run away to another mans arms. 

Josh was left devastated. He thought that he was in love, but now he didn't believe in true love. 

This was getting harder and harder everyday. Josh did love his daughter very much, but she was a handful. 

Now, the toddler was getting bored of the wrapper and Josh knew what was coming. She put down the wrapper and looked over at her dad, eyes glossed over and bottom lip sticking out. Josh sighed and got up when she started screaming again. 

For the millionth time that day, Josh picked her up and bounced her lightly in an attempt to calm her. Josh felt like crying too. This was miserable. 

"I know, I know. It's okay." None of which he said had any effect on the girl. "Hey," Josh whispered. He finally got her attention, pushing her golden brown locks out of her pretty green eyes. She sniffled a few times as she looked sadly at her dad. "Are you hungry?" 

The sad little girl was now nodding her head slowly, telling her dad she was indeed hungry. Josh smiled for the first time in hours, taking Ruby into the small kitchen, placing her down in her highchair. 

Josh gave her a sippy cup of juice to keep her occupied so he could find her a snack. When he opened the snack cupboard, he frowned. The only thing left were raisins and pretzels. She was still a bit young for the pretzels, so he grabbed a handful of dried grapes. 

Once the girl had her snack, Josh sat down on one of the chairs a few feet away, watching her eat. She wasn't really smiling, just...eating in peace. That's how it was in that house. Neither Josh or Ruby a lot. Most days, she would cry for mama and Josh would have to deal with her until she cried herself out.

At night, he or the girl hardly got any sleep. Ruby would always wake up in the middle of the night, just as Josh was drifting into sleep and scream. It was very rare when Josh got a full night of sleep.

Ruby was finished with her snack and looked over at her dad. She didn't cry or make any noise at all. She just...looked at him with sad eyes. She probably would have cried if her eyes weren't so dehydrated. 

"Ruby." Josh whispered so quietly. She continued to stare at her father. She was waiting for him to do something, but what he did next, surprised her a little bit. Josh frowned deeply and started to cry. His fists came to his head and pulled on the dark curls. He was so frustrated and so tired. It was all to much. 

"Dada. No cry." Ruby frowned. She couldn't do anything because she was stuck in her chair. She didn't know why her dad was upset, but she wanted to hug him to make it better. 

No. Josh had to be strong. For his daughter. He wiped his cheeks on his arm and stood up, picking Ruby up from her chair. 

"Okay dada?" Ruby questioned, looking up at Josh with her glazed eyes. 

"Yes little one. Dad is okay." 

Ruby smiled. Her eyes crinkled just like Josh's and her dimples were very visible, just like her mothers. "Okay." 

"Come here." Josh opened his big arms and Ruby's smile grew. She got to her feet as best as she could and waddled into her dada's arms. He hugged her tight like it was the last time he was going to see her. "I love you so much." 

Ruby giggled. "I luh you too dada." 

xoxo

"Ruby, please come here." 

The little girl came crawling out of her bedroom with a smile. The rest of the day from that point had been great. No more tears and no more screaming. Ruby and Josh watched a movie and took a nap since snack time. 

Josh mentally sighed at the girl. She was a little behind on walking, since Josh never had time to teach her. Sometimes she would get up on her own and walk though which made Josh happy. 

"Do you wanna go bye-bye?"  

Ruby's big eyes grew even bigger. She loved getting out of the house, even if it was just a quick trip to the grocery store. She was nodding her head fast and making grabby hands at Josh to pick her up. 

"Okay then, let's get your shoes on." 

Once they were both ready, they headed out. Ruby was kicking her feet out of her stroller in excitement. They were heading to the park before the sun started setting. Ruby was so happy to be out and about and if she was happy, so was Josh. 

For now at least. 

a/n
I couldn't help myself. I loved this idea so much, I had to write it. Enjoy.