Summer Love

Chapter 14

Blake sighed as Sadie hit his hand away. He had spent the last hour trying to calm her down and get her bathed, fed and in bed, but she wasn't making it easy for him. She was over-tired after having no nap and she was really giving him a run for his money. Blake tried to distract Sadie so he could wash her down with the washcloth, but she wouldn't cooperate. Blake sighed again and lifted her out of the tub, wrapping her up in a big towel and carrying her crying little self in to the spare room.

"Sadie, stop." Blake scolded when he deposited her on the bed and she smacked his hand in frustration, but allowed him to dry her off. Blake was frustrated by his daughter's lack of her normal sweetness, but he was silently dreading the moment her put her to sleep. Sulking in their bedroom, was his incredibly pissed off wife and he hated that they were going to fight tonight. It had been building up and he had a feeling Miranda was going to blow.

When Blake had dried Sadie, she had finally stopped crying and he breathed a sigh of relief, he was getting a headache.

"Stand up, let's get you dressed." Blake said softly and Sadie pouted as she stood up. Blake frowned when he saw the rash on her thighs and underwear line, caused by her wet bathing suit.

"Does that hurt?" He asked gently and Sadie pouted her lips further and nodded. Blake frowned and grabbed the baby powder, letting Sadie rub it in before he went to get her dressed. He figured compressing the rash would make it worse, so her left the underwear in her suitcase and helped her in to her pink frilly pyjama shorts and a white pyjama shirt with little stars dotted all over the chest.

Blake did his best to brush out her hair, but decided to leave it in a ponytail to avoid another meltdown. When she was clean and dressed, Blake lifted her on to his hip and carried her out in to the kitchen. It was only 6, but he needed to make a quick dinner and get Sadie to sleep. He knew when she was over-tired like this he needed to get her to sleep while she was relatively calm, otherwise she would adamantly refuse to sleep.

Blake sat Sadie up on the bench and she wiped away the last of her tears on her arm while he grabbed a few ingredients from the fridge. He wanted to make something that would be easy, so he pulled out 6 slices of bread and added cheese, tomato and sliced ham. He added a few slices of pickle to Miranda's to try and score a few points, before he pressed them together and left them under the grill section of the oven.

Blake poured 3 glasses of water and took the cheese Sadie was eating off the bench away and lifted her over to sit at the table. When Blake could smell the sandwiches grilling, he took them out and cut them in half, making sure Sadie's was cut up in little pieces so she wouldn't burn herself. Blake put Sadie's dinner down in front of her and made sure she blew on it to cool it down. Blake put his and Miranda's down as well and sighed as he looked over at their closed bedroom door. He took a deep breath and walked over, knocking on the door softly.

"Miranda?" He asked in a soft voice and he sighed when there was no reply, but he knew she was still in there. "Dinner's ready."

Blake quickly headed back to the table when he head movement and sat down next to Sadie, who had already done a great job getting cheese all over her face. Miranda opened the bedroom door and boycotted the table so she could get herself a drink. Blake watched out of the corner of his eye as she pulled a bottle of white wine out of the fridge and poured herself a glass. When she headed over to the table, she sat down across from Blake and kept her head down as she sipped the wine and picked at her toasted sandwich.

While they ate, the table was uncomfortably quiet and Blake sighed when Miranda filled her glass up with more wine. He knew she was having a tough time, but he was hoping she wouldn't drink too much, he didn't want to argue with her if she had been drinking. He didn't dare say anything to her, and when Sadie was finished, Blake abandoned the rest of his dinner so he could clean up Sadie's plate and wipe her face off.