Twenty-One

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"FUCK!" Skye startles at Calum's outburst from the other room, hugging Nika closer as she jumps too.

"Skye, is daddy okay?" Nika sniffles, her big brown eyes swimming with tears of concern.

"Daddy is feeling a lot of big scary emotions right now. He's sad, and he's scared, and he's angry. We just have to give him time to work through them." Skye sighs, "Should we play with your princesses?"

"Ya!" Nika grins, crawling out of Skye's arms and over to the bucket filled with princess barbies.

"You be Elsa. I want Moana." She passes the blonde Barbie to Skye.

"Are we playing on the ocean, or in the snow today?" Skye nods, taking the toy.

"Forest! Air, fire, water, earth!" Nika giggles.

"Mixing it up I see. I approve." She laughs, rolling onto her stomach to play with Nika.

Skye does her best to keep Nika preoccupied, playing princesses, coloring, a movie, and a couple hours of circling up and down the slide in the yard. Distant sounds of Calum on calls, angry attempts at whispering, and at one point while Nika and she were having lunch, what sounded like Calum punching the wall. 

"Cal?" Skye knocks on his closed door softly.

"Ya?" His voice sounds off, a little broken or pained still.

"Nika is ready for bed. Do you want to tuck her in or should I?"

"I will." She can hear him shuffle across the wood floor before the door opens. His eyes are red rimmed and face slightly splotchy.

"Hey, you okay?" She frowns, cupping his cheeks softly.

"Not really." He sighs, wrapping his hand over hers. "I know you have been taking care of Nika all day, keeping her distracted from my break down, but if you would, I'd like you to spend tonight with me."

"Of course. I'll get us some tea and meet you back here." Skye smiles, toeing up to press a kiss to his cheek, "The punk princess is in her room."

Calum steps through the doorway into Nika's room. The small girl cuddled on her bed with Hei Hei.

"Hi, daddy." She smiles softly at him.

"Hi, baby girl." He sighs, sitting down by her side and pulling her blankets up.

"Daddy still sad?"

"A little bit, ya. But I'll be okay. Don't worry about me okay, baby girl. Did you have a fun day with Skye?" Calum smiles softly, brushing a hand over her forehead.

"Ya! We played lots." Nika grins, diving into a story about their princess game from this morning.

"I'm glad Skye got to play with you today." Calum chuckles as Nika finishes, "Get some good sleep, punk princess. Daddy loves you this much!" He throws his arms wide.

"Nika loves daddy this much too!" She throws her arms as wide as she can.

"I'm so glad." He smiles, pulling her into a tight hug as she giggles.

"Love you, daddy. Don't be sad please." Nika leans against his shoulder.

"I won't be sad with my Nika Joy giving me big loves like this."

"Yay!" She pops up, giving him a big kiss on the cheek.

"Alright, under the blankets, baby girl. Daddy loves you."

"Nigh-night, daddy." Nika yawns, curling back up as Calum tucks her blankets around her.

"Good night, baby girl." Leaving one more kiss on her head he flips on her nightlight and turns off the overhead light, leaving her room.

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