Raising Kiara

4

Deciding to play around like the child he secretly still is, Kian closes his eyes and pretends to be asleep since his daughter is completely oblivious.

The next time Kian feels her chubby little fingers gently tugging at a chunk of his hair, he playfully growls and snaps his eyes open, startling the toddler on his torso that lets out a suprised gasp.

Kian wiggles his fingers and imitates claws with his hands pretending to be a rabid animal hunting down their prey.

Kiara squeals in fear and begins to wiggle backwards away from her silly dad.

Kian catches her back with one hand before she can fall and attacks her little tummy with tickles with the other hand.

She screams in shock and giggles her heart out.

Kian continues his attack, smiling at his new favourite sound. His little girls giggles are the best therapy anyone could ever need.

He digs his fingers into her sides, under her chin and finally, under her armpits before allowing the flushed girl to stop and breathe.

Kiara gasps for air before finding the strength to sit up straight and face her father.

Her face is coloured red which disguises her freckles yet her wide smile is still plastered on her face.

"Hi cheeky, did you have a nice sleep?" Kian finally questions.

Kiara nods her head, yes, whilst reaching down to play with the watch and rings on her dad's hand.

Kian takes the opportunity to check the screen behind Kiara and see how much longer they have before landing.

Two hours fourty minutes, the text on the screen next to the small cartoon plane icon reads.

That means him and Kiara had slept for around seven hours.

She even gets her sleeping habits from me. Kian thought. Although Donna did warn him she was tired after having very little sleep during the past few days.

Kian still had a feeling that she could sleep for a sport like her father. This was the reason his older brother often woke him up when he'd been asleep too long for his liking.

Or who knows, maybe she'd take after her uncle Rowan and join him in prodding her father awake in the early hours.

But Kiara is an exception. She's the only person Kian would be happily woken up by.

Now what to do to entertain a toddler on a plane for three hours.

Kian sighed trying to think of ideas of things to do with a child in the enclosed space.

"I need a wee-wee."

Kiara blurts causing her father's eyes to widen as though he just met an alien.

Kian didn't know what to do or how to act.

Could she do it herself? Do three year olds still wear nappies? Would he have to...help her?

He grimaced at the thought and slowly lifted her to her feet by her waist, holding her out as if she had already done her buisness then and there.

Kiara still had a grip on one of his rings with one of her hands and looked to her dad confused.

Why was he holding her like that? Did she do something wrong?

Kian let go of the small, wide eyed child and patted her on the head awkwardly as though she was a dog.

"Um...can you do it yourselfff or do you wear nappies?" He trailed off, his brows furrowing as he braced himself for her answers.

Kian sometimes forgot just how young she was and that she wouldn't always understand him.