Modern Family

Sickly Sweet

Placing the plate on the table top, he used his now free arm to lift Savannah from beneath the elbows and set her down in the chair next to Ryan. He grabbed a few napkins from the pile Ryan had already set on the table, knowing Savannah had a penchant for making a mess while she ate, and began arranging them precisely: one in her lap, one on the table beside her plate, and one tucked into the neckline of the floral sundress she was wearing over her red polka dotted swimsuit.

His eyes scanned the table to see if he was missing anything as Liam and Austin came to join them, the drummer placing Jace's plate at the head of the table beside Savannah, knowing the food would get cold because the lead vocalist would be too busy making sure his daughter ate to do the same for himself.

"Drink," Jace snapped his fingers, speaking more to himself than to anyone in particular. Settling his gaze on his three year old, he smiled softly. "Honey, you want something to drink? Milk or water or juice?"

Pursing her lips outward, she thought very carefully for a moment before responding. "Apple juice!"

"Alright," Jace grinned, "Coming right up."

Turning on his heel, he wove his way through the tables in the hotel's dining room towards the beverage bar behind the buffet, humming to himself as he filled a small glass with apple juice for Savannah and a cup with coffee for himself. His fingers turned tightly around the receptacles as he carefully made his way back to the table, only to have his eyes widen in horror at the sight of his daughter crawling on her hands and knees from one end to the other.

"Savannah!" he gasped, setting the cups down on the table as quickly as he could without causing them to spill over and reaching out to grip her waist, pulling her into the air and against his chest, giggling as she looked up at him, her blue eyes wide and innocent. His lips parted to reprimand her, but the combination of her adorable smile and the fact that all of the boys were snickering over their breakfast plates caused him to close his mouth and sigh. Scrunching his nose, he rubbed it against hers before walking around the table to set her back into the chair next to Ryan and pushing the glass half filled with apple juice next to her plate.

Ignoring his own food despite the fact that his stomach was growling at the bacon and eggs on his plate and watching his band mates shovel forkfuls of potatoes into their mouths wasn't helping, he picked up the fork next to Savannah's plate and stabbed a piece of cantaloupe, holding it out as an offering in front of her lips.

"Wanna try?" he asked as she tilted her head to the side and inspected the light orange fruit.

Parting her lips, she sat up on her knees and braced her small hands against the edge of the table as she leaned forward and closed her mouth around the piece of fruit, chewing thoughtfully before scrunching her nose in disgust and shaking her head. "Yuck!"

"Not a fan?" he laughed. "Alright, why don't you pick what you wanna eat next."

She surveyed her plate carefully, eyes drifting over the eggs and bacon and muffins before taking another look at the fruit pile and pointing at a cut up strawberry. "That one."

She'd had the sweet red fruit before, but she probably didn't remember and was just choosing it because she liked the pretty color. Poking the slice with the fork, Jace held it to her lips and watched as she nibbled on an edge, her lips stretching into a smile as she decided she liked it before gobbling down the rest.

Jace fed her the rest of the fruit and was about to move onto the eggs, which probably needed to be reheated, when Savannah spoke in a weak voice.

"Daddy, I no feel so good."

The statement caused all of them to freeze and Jace hurriedly set down the coffee cup that he'd been sipping out of as he held forkfuls of food in front of Savannah's lips to reach out a hand and feel her forehead and cheeks, frowning in the process. "You're not warm. Does something hurt?"