Daddy

Brunch

I whine and shake my head, holding the bear tighter. He sighs and tries to grab it from me and I whine more. "Fine, I won't take it, but you have to be more social." He says and I look down and nod, lowering the bear slowly. He pats my head softly and pushes me towards Maw. "You two go sit on the couch and get to know each other." He says, sending me an encouraging smile.

I nod and follow Maw to the couch where she sits down and pats the seat next to her. I climb up slowly and hold the bear in my lap, shifting nervously. She seemed so nice, so I don't know why I was scared. "Hi, Hunter." She says softly and looks in my eyes. "Hi, Maw." I say back and I watch her smile.

"How old are you?" She asks me and I hold up six fingers. While I'm not technically six, that's how old my child persona is. She continued to ask me different things like my favorite color, favorite food, things like that. "So, what's your full name, sweetie?" She asks and I tell her, "Hunter Hawthorne." Daddy told me to tell people that was my last name.

"But what's your middle name?" She asked and I tilted my head. Middle name? "Kyle!" She called Daddy and he poked his head around the corner. "Yeah?" He asked and she leaned back, looking at Daddy. "What's his middle name?" She asks him and he walks fully around the corner. "He never told me." He replied to her before looking to me.

I shrugged and tilted my head in confusion. "I don't have one of those." I say, rocking slightly. "Then you can choose one." He says before walking back into the kitchen. I thought hard to myself, trying to think of a 'middle name'. I had no luck. Daddy called our names and told us that it was ready.

I hopped off the couch and walked towards the kitchen, Maw following close behind me. She stopped me before we reached the kitchen and crouched to my level. "I'm sorry about yesterday, Hunter. He can be scary, I know that. I promise he won't do that again." I blush as I remember the events of yesterday and rub my legs together. "It's okay." I reply.

We walk into the kitchen and it smells so good. There are all kinds of foods and I smile big, my mouth watering. Daddy comes over and picks me up, carrying me to the highchair. He takes the tray off and sets me in before sliding the tray back on. He pulls the chair out for Maw and pushes her back towards the table when she sits down.

I kick my feet slightly as Daddy puts baked chicken on plate along with broccoli and cream corn. I set my bear down and wait patiently for everyone else to get their food. Daddy sets a sippy cup on the tray. I can tell chocolate milk is in it and I smile big. He cuts up my chicken and I watch as Maw makes her plate.

She's so nice, but Daddy's father was so mean to me. I wonder why. Daddy makes himself a plate and tells us both to dig in. I take my fork and take small bites of the chicken. "Can I have some ketchup, Maw?" I ask and she smiles as she hands Daddy the ketchup. He squirts a small amount on my plate next to my chicken and I slowly dip a piece of the chicken in it.

Daddy and Maw make small talk and I continue eating my food. I avoid the broccoli but eat the cream corn happily. Daddy looks toward me and swallows his bite before saying, "Eat your broccoli too, Hunter." I pout and poke at it with my fork. "If you don't, you won't get any cookies as a snack later." He says and I grunt, crossing my arms.

Maw giggles softly but covers it up with with a cough as Daddy looks at her. They continue talking and I kick my feet, tuning out their conversation. I pick at the patch on my arm slightly and Daddy scolds me. "Don't pick at it, Hunter." He says and I scratch at it slightly. "It itches." I tell him in a whiny voice and he sighs. "Rub it, don't scratch. Scratching only makes it worse." He says and I nod, rubbing my hand against it slowly.

Daddy finishes his plate and turns toward me, taking some of the broccoli on his fork. "Will you eat it of Daddy feeds it to you?" He asks and I nod slowly. I open my mouth slowly and he pushes the broccoli in my mouth gently. I chew fast and swallow it sticking my tongue out. "It's gross." I say and he takes some off my plate and eats it. "There, now you have less to finish." He says and puts more on the fork, pushing it towards me.

I pout and open my mouth slowly and he feeds me more and more broccoli until it's gone. I take big drinks of my chocolate milk and stick my tongue out again. He smiles and pats my head. "Good boy." He says and I try pushing on the tray of the highchair. He takes my plate and silverware along with Maw's and his. After he puts the dishes in the sink he comes back to me and slides the tray off slowly and picks me up. He lays the tray on the table and carries me to the living room. Maw follows behind holding my bear and smiles at me. I smile back as Daddy sits on the couch, putting me on the floor.

Maw sits next to him as he turns the t.v. on. I walk to a basket of toys Daddy has for me and pull out a building block set. I open the lid and tump it out onto the floor. I sit Indian style and begin sorting the blocks by color. Daddy and Maw are talking about work and I immediately feel bored. I turn my attention back to my blocks and start building random things and taking them to Daddy for him to hold for me.

Before long his arms are full and Maw is giggling at him. He sets them back on the floor one by one and I pout. "Don't you like them, Daddy?" I look up at him and stick my bottom lip out. He grabs them all back up and holds them again. "Of course, baby boy." He says and I giggle before standing up.

I grab a blanket and lay it out on the floor and begin grabbing pillows and the cushions from the other couch. I set them up and used the chair as leverage in a way. I put a blanket over the entryway thing and giggled. Maw gets up and walks to me and squats beside me. "I like your fort." She says and I smile. "Thank you." She pays my head and stands up, walking back to Daddy.

He hadn't even noticed, he was watching the news. I pouted and crawled in, laying down on the bed of pillows I had made. I yawned softly and rubbed my eyes. I laid in there for a while and before I knew it, I had fallen asleep.