The Lady Of The Manor

Chapter 6~ Time's A-Wasting Pt. 1

Chase's POV

I woke the next morning smiling. Today Melody would start getting a bit of structure. I glanced at the clock. 6:45. I had fifteen minutes to shower, get dressed, brush my teeth and hair, and make my bed. No problem. I hopped out of bed and started getting ready for the day, happy as could be. Finally, I was done and it was time to get Melody up. I made my way to her room and opened her door slowly, as to not scare her awake. I sat at the edge of her bed, looking at how peaceful she looked. She made my heart melt and I sighed in content. I blinked and started the process of waking her up.

"Melody, time to get up," I said softly, shaking her gently. She groaned and rolled over, not willing to wake up.

"Come on, Lass. You have to wake up. It's time for food."

"But I don't wanna get up. Don't make me get up, Dad," She whined and my heart stopped. Tears welled in my eyes, but I blinked them away.

"I'm sorry, Pumpkin, but you have to wake up. Come on, up and at 'em," I said a bit firmer. She laid on her back and yawned and stretched before sitting up.

"Do I have to get up?" She asked.

"Yes," I answered her.

"But why?" She asked, cocking her head to the side.

"Because you have a big day ahead of you. I promise it'll be fun."

"Pinkie promise?" She asked, giving my puppy-dog eyes and extending her tiny hand.

"Pinkie promise," I agreed, locking pinkies with her.

"Ok, I'll get up," She sighed, climbing out of bed.

"Atta girl. Come on, let's get you dressed." We managed to get out of her room fairly quickly, it was only 7:15 by the time we left. I carried her down the stairs, not because she couldn't walk but because I just liked holding her. We made it to the kitchen and a huge smile burst onto her face.

"Morning Dads!" Everyone stopped what they were doing. The kitchen was silent for a few minutes before Isaac spoke.

"Did she just... call us her dads?"

"She called me dad when I tried to wake her up, didn't you Pumpkin?"

"Yup! Is that not ok?" She asked, eyes wide with fear.

"It's just fine, Peanut. I think it's safe to say we'd all love to be your dads. You just took us by surprise is all," Simon assured her.

"Sorry," She giggled.

"Chase, can I..?" Jackie started to ask, gesturing to the child in my arms.

"Sure," I answered, handing her over.

"Now, Melody if you're going to help me fight evil today, you need food. Should we question the mysterious AI what's for breakfast?" Jackie asked Melody, who seemed delighted.

"Google, what's for breakfast? Is it snails? Or slugs?" She asked, really getting into playing pretend.

"That's so gross, Melody. Where did you come up with that?" I asked, laughing.

"I dunno. I just said the grossest thing I could think of. Well, grossest food..."

"It's breakfast pizza, but if you'd prefer snails or slugs I'm sure you can find some in the yard," Google answered, pulling a pizza out of the oven.

"Can you read minds?" Melody asked, both super excited and in awe.

"No, I cannot. Marvin, Anti, and Wilford requested it," Google answered her, matter-of-fact.