Isla's - HS

Chapter six

"Daddy!" I hear being called from upstairs. I quickly make my way up there and knock on her bedroom door.

"Isla, darling. Are you alright?" I wait for her to tell me I can come in.

"Come in" I hear her little voice say from behind the door. When I peek my head in, all I see are clothes everywhere, and stuff thrown all around the room.

She looks up at me panicked "I can't find my purple nail polish" she says looking extremely stressed.

"Baby?" I say softly trying to get her attention and to stop throwing stuff everywhere. "It's in my bathroom"

As I say that she drops the book in her hand and looks over at me "It is?" she questions.

"Yes, look" I say as I hold up my hands and show her my freshly painted purple nails from last night when she wanted to try out her nail salon.

"Oh." she says looking embarrassed. "Sorry, I didn't remember" and she starts picking up her mess and putting her things away slowly.

I sit on the floor with her and help her move stuff back to where she threw them from when she was violently looking for her nail polish. "Maybe you could ask for some help next time?" I suggest softly "You know, instead of trashing your room" I laugh.

I'm not mad, I understand her. Sometimes when I'm overwhelmed and I can"t find what i'm looking for I also want to trash the room. But I've learned how to navigate those feelings slightly better than she has yet. Kids have big feelings and when you get mad or punish their reactions to the big feelings, it doesn't create any positive change.

She sighs in front of me "I know, I didn't mean to make a mess. I was just trying to find it quickly because I didn't know how many minutes until my friend would come over".

As I put her blanket and pillows back on her bed, I turn to look at my watch. "She said about 10:30, so you've got about twenty minutes.

Isla follows me downstairs and she sets her nail polish in its designated spot on her nail table.

"I put your breakfast on the table. I'll start cleaning the kitchen while you eat?" I check if she's okay to sit by herself while I'm behind her cleaning up.

I put on her playlist, playing off my phone through the speakers I have surrounding the house, and she sits happily at the table eating her breakfast while humming and dancing along.

— — — —

As I'm putting the last plate into the dishwasher, I hear a knock on the door followed by a big gasp from the table. Isla's sock feet smack across the floor as she runs to the door. Once her hand is on the handle she looks back at me, to check that she can open the door. As soon as I lift my head to nod, she already rips the door open "Hi Ivy!"

"Hello, sweet girl!" I hear from where the door is blocking her. "I brought you and your daddy something!"

I walk over to the door, as Isla says "Wow! Thank you!"

As she comes into view, I see her beautiful smile looking down at Isla. "Hi, how was the drive?" I ask, reaching out to grab some of the stuff out of her hand. "Can I take something?" She hands me her purse and jacket, as I close the door.

"Good, Thank you!" she says as I put down her purse and jacket on the chair I have in the entryway. "I stopped at Sweets, and picked up my nail girl a hot chocolate. I heard those were her favourite" she says passing me the cup, as if to double check that Isla could have it.

I pass the cup to Isla, and set it down on her spot on the table. "That was very nice thank you," I say as she hands me a cup too. "I got you a coffee too, same order as you sent me before, is that okay?" she asks.