Always and Forever || Evan Buckley || 9-1-1 (Book 3)

T-W-E-N-T-Y N-I-N-E

    "Maia, you already had two. That is enough for tonight." Unfortunately, the girl developed a sweet tooth due to my constant stress baking. Now I had to deal with the consequences of her asking for sweets every five minutes. "Your dad put you to sleep 20 minutes ago. What are you doing up?"

    Maia crossed her arms against her chest and scrunched her little nose, something she recently started doing whenever she was mad. I bit the inside of my cheek, trying not to laugh because no matter how much she tried to look angry, she looked quite the opposite.

    "Daddy?" In a quick second, she gave her dad those little puppy eyes that she knew worked wonders on him and her grandfather.

    Evan took a quick look at me, silently asking me for permission.

    "Don't you dare," I warned. 

   "I— sorry baby, mommy said no." He said, almost in pain. Saying no to her always seemed to crush him. This little two-year-old had him wrapped around her finger, and she was aware of it. "How about you come to help me put on these?" He picked a Mickey-shaped ornament we recently got at Disneyland from the coffee table.

    "Cookie!" Maia pointed at the cookies again.

    "The answer is still no, Maia Isabelle." I stared at her, resting my hands on my hips. "If you don't go back to bed, Santa will not bring you any toys for being a naughty girl."

"NO!" She shouted before turning around and running back to her room.

With a sigh, I ran a hand down my face. "I miss the days when all she did was sleep, eat, and poop."

Evan laughed, continuing the task of putting the ornaments on the tree. "I don't want to be that person, but you can't deny that she behaves just like you."

I scoffed, resting my hands on my hips. The audacity this man had. "Are you calling me a brat?"

Evan raised his hands in defense. "You said it, not me."

"Well, I can't have all the blame. Your daughter has developed a bratty attitude because you can't say no to her. Like ever." I rolled my eyes. "All she has to do is say daddy, and there you go giving her everything and allowing her to do whatever she wants, making me look like the evil witch."

    "Okay, now you are being dramatic."

"Keep telling yourself that, sir. I'm going to make sure your kryptonite is back in bed." I said before I headed down the hallway to check on Maia.

Without making much noise, I opened the bedroom door. Little stars cast around her room from the nightlight she has been using since she was a baby.

The Santa threat seemed to work like a charm because she was peacefully sleeping surrounded by her stuffed animals. Plushes that somehow keep appearing every time she gets home from a store run with the man that she had wrapped around her finger.

Closing the door, I headed into my room and grabbed an envelope I'd been holding for a couple of weeks before joining Evan back in the living room.

"I got you an early Christmas present," I said, waving the envelope in front of me.

Evan turned to face me after placing the last ornament on the tree.