all for her | t.h.

part one

"Daddy, I'm ready!" Her voice echoed in the hall, followed by the same feet stomping against the hardwood.

She spinned around in one of her favorite outfits, a white long-sleeve shirt with her jean overalls and white sneakers she'd grow out of by next year.

"Y/N, can you put my hair up, please?" Summer asked politely, handing you a dark orange scrunchie between her two fingers.

"Of course." You grin, walking to the couch and sitting on it before she stood with her back toward you.

Tom grabbed his keys off one of the hooks, along with a jacket as you carefully bundled her hair. He watched you pull the scrunchie tight for good measure and Summer kindly thanked you. She ran over to Tom, hugging his side tight and you grinned at the two of them.

"Are you gonna be here after school, Y/N?" Summer asked, Tom halfway through the door and holding her backpack.

"It would be weird if I wasn't here." You jeered at her and she giggled, "Yeah! So, maybe we can go see the duckies again! With daddy this time." She stretched on her tippy toes, her bright eyes shifting to Tom as well as yours. You two loved messing with him sometimes, always reminding him that he was a boy in a girl's world.

"I'd love to see the duckies, so, sounds like a plan. Alright, say see you soon to Y/N." Tom smiled at the two of you.

"See you soon!" Summer waved at you by the door.

"Have a good day." You replied, giving her a wave back before Tom flashed his warm smile at you before leaving.

Every time Summer got downstairs to the lobby, she jumped from the second step while holding Tom's hand, pretending she was a superhero jumping into action. Her mind painted her doodles into these ordinary places, making it her own world and Tom encouraged her. He didn't know where she got so much optimism from, but he was happy that she stayed happy. That's all that mattered.

Tom didn't know much about Summer's mom. It was six years ago from one drunken night and next thing he knew, there was a baby on his doorstep with a note. He thought situations like this only happened in movies, and he didn't know what to do at first, nothing could have prepared him for it. Summer was just a baby, a small being that could barely wrap her hand around his finger, but once he got attached, it wasn't the question how to give her a better life, but how he could provide for her.

"I think that jump was higher than yesterday." Tom grinned, holding her hand as they walked through the front doors.

"Yeah!" Summer boasted, scrunching her nose.

He smiled back at her, adjusting her jacket that was slung over his shoulder while his other hand held her backpack with his free hand. Even though they were trying to be quick, Tom taught her to look both ways before crossing any street. She skipped to Tom's car and he opened the back door on the right side. As Tom put her backpack on the floor, he made sure she was buckled in tight.

"Too tight?" He asked, catching his breath from the pace he was going.

She nodded and he fiddled with the buckles before cautiously closing the door. Tom paced around the front of the car and slipped in, already turning the key in the ignition and looking over his shoulder to back out of the spot.

On the way, they listened to music and talked about whatever they wanted to. No matter what it was, having mac and cheese everyday, different types of dinosaurs or what dogs would say if they could talk, they loved their car rides. It was one of the times nowadays where Tom felt true peace, sometimes thinking about if they could go on a trip together and see whatever she wanted. The desert, the ocean, the hills, anywhere. He was torn between wondering if he was spoiling her or not giving her enough, but he tried his best to detect that even though he didn't feel like he was around that much recently.