on pointe | l.s au | collab with chiseledstyles

3. louis and poppy

"daddy..." louis can hear poppy's little voice. then he feels her tap his bicep, and then a little hiccup.

he opens his eyes and sees his shaking daughter, her bottom lip sticking out, and her eyes full of tears.

"hey, love." he frowns. "what's wrong, love?"

"scary... scary dream." she cries, holding out one arm for him to take (her other arm has lula the teddy bear and her favourite blankie).

"oh, no." he sighs. he sits up, and turns on the light. her little eyes squint and he takes her in. she's wearing a little nightgown and her socks are still on her feet (seriously, she's one of the only people who can sleep with socks on and not be bothered). "alright, kiddo. need some juice?"

she nods.

he gets out of bed, and picks her up, setting her on her hip. she lays her head against his shoulder, and snuggles as close to him as she can.

"wanna talk about it, pop?"

"maybe."

"okay. do you need to sleep in my room tonight?"

she tips her head up and nods. "yes, daddy."

louis sets her on the kitchen counter and turns on the lights, before checking the time. its three forty four. "good thing its saturday, eh, kiddo?"

"do you have work tomorrow, daddy?" she asks.

he shakes his head and pokes her belly. "nope, munchkin. i do sunday. but tomorrow it can be a me and you day, sound good?"

poppy grins and giggles. "yes."

louis smiles and gets in the fridge to get her juice, before he pours it into an elsa cup, and hands it to her. "good?"

"thank you."

louis nods, and grabs a packet of fruit snacks from the jar of snacks on the counter. "gummies?"

she nods enthusiastically.

he grabs another, and then sits on one of the stools so he's in front of her. he opens her pack and sets it next to her. "'kay, pop. what happened in your bad dream?"

poppy sighs. "okay."

louis leans forward and rests his chin in his hands. "i'm all ears."

"i had a dream i had a mummy." poppy says, looking down at her lap.

"oh?" louis frowns. "a mummy? what was she like?"

"um, i dunno. but..." she looks up, and her eyes are filled with tears again. "daddy, she replaced you."

"she replaced me?"

"uh huh. these big mean men put me in a room and told me you were bad." poppy bites her bottom lip. "and they told me i had to pick either you or the mummy."

"oh." louis murmurs. "do you think i'm bad?"

poppy shakes her head. "no. you're good. you're a good daddy."

louis forces a small smile. "do you wish your mum, pop?"

"no..." she trails off. "not if she would replace you." she frowns. "i wish i had a mummy... along with you, daddy. like all the other girls at ballet."

louis smiles sadly. "i know, poppy." he sighs. "i wish i could give you that."

poppy shrugs and takes a drink of her juice. "thats okay, daddy." she sets the juice down and leans forward with her arms outstretched. he hugs her, and presses a kiss to her temple.

"yeah..." he says quietly.

•••

louis wakes up with poppy on his chest. he looks over at the time, and sees its eleven twenty.

for once, she slept in.

he sighs as he carefully puts her aside on the bed (where she was supposed to be ((every time she sleeps in his bed she ends up on his chest))), and then gets up and pads out to the kitchen to make some tea and something to eat.

he ends up making grilled cheese with chicken noodle soup (they both despise tomato soup), and when its done and the crust is cut off, he goes back to the bedroom, and peeks in.

he goes in and sits down on the edge, the bed dipping down slightly. he shakes her awake gently, and her little brown eyes open slowly. "good morning, pop."

she blinks slowly, her eyes adjusting to the light.

"i made grilled cheese."

poppy's eyes light up, and she sits up. "noodle soup."

"duh." he picks her up and carries her out kitchen, and sits her on her chair. "there. what do you want to drink?"

"juice."

louis nods, and pours her a cup of juice, before he sits down to his own plate.

"daddy."

"hmm?" he looks up.

"ketchup."

"oh!" he exclaims, getting back off the stool and grabbing the ketchup out of the fridge, and squeezing some on her plate. "good?"

she nods. "thank you."

"mhm." he hums, sitting back down and beginning to eat.

they're both halfway through their sandwiches whenever poppy speaks up. "daddy."

"yeah, love?"

"what am i doing tomorrow?"

louis shrugs. "aunt lottie offered to watch you."

poppy nods. "can i come to work with you, daddy?"

louis smiles softly. "no, kiddo. i work long hours tomorrow."

"i could stay in the break room! like last time!"

louis shakes his head. "nope. my big mean boss is back, and last time he found out i brought you i got in trouble."

poppy pouts.

"don't frown." louis murmurs, reaching across his food to squeeze her cheeks together. "you'll get frown lines."

poppy huffs, and goes back to her grilled cheese and noodle soup.

louis sighs. "pop, aunt lottie said she was gonna get pizza."

"would rather go with you."

"daddy wouldn't have pizza, though."

"but i'll miss you."

"i know you will, i'll miss you too." he says, quietly. "but, hey, aunt lottie'll have pizza and you can watch movies on her big telly! and i'll call you during my breaks and before you go to bed."

"every break you have?"

"mhm."

"and when will you pick me up?"

"first thing in the morning, i'll take you to school." he assures. "i'll get you nuggets for dinner, too."

"and soda?" her eyes light up.

"sure, babe. we'll go out to mickey d's and then you can sleep with me like you did last night."

poppy ponders it for a moment before she breaks out into a grin, and holds her pinkie out. "promise?"

"super double promise." he says, latching her pinkie with his, and then using his other pinkie to latch onto her pinkie beside his other (super double promise is something she came up with when she was three and he forgot to pack her fruit snacks in her lunch bag ((she'd been furious and demanded he never do it again (((and thus was born the super double promise)))))). "and you know what they say about an sdp."

"can't break it never ever."

"right."

•••