Girls Just Wanna Have Fun - Cyndi Lauper
"What color?" I asked as I held up four different nail polish bottles.
"Purple." Charlie says, pointing to the sparkly, lavender colored nail polish.
"Good choice." I say, repetitively hitting the bottle against the palm of my hand.
"Let me see your hand." She puts her left hand forward as I grab ahold of it.
I was currently laying on my stomach, propped up on my elbows as Charlie mimicked me, in front of me. The couch was behind us as Tangled played in the background.
I started to paint her nails when the door clicked and Christian came waltzing through. His light brown hair was slightly damp, making it a bit darker, and his hockey bag was slung over his shoulder.
"Daddy!"
"Hey Sis." He says, smiling down at Charlie.
"Brinley's painting my nails. Look at them. Aren't they pwetty?" She holds out one of her tiny hands.
"Ooh. Sparkly!" He says, making me chuckle.
"I know." She says, grinning.
"Hold still." I say, tapping her hand and she giggles. "Do you want your toes painted purple?"
"No. I want them pink!"
"Solid choice." Christian says, walking into one of the bedrooms of the hotel suite. Well, more like an apartment suite.
"Sparkles?"
"Yes!", she exclaims, "Are you gonna match me?"
"I can." I say and she squeals.
"Yay!"
I was currently in a pair of black silk pajamas. The shirt was short sleeved and buttoned all the way down, while the shorts sinched at the waist.
Charlie claimed that we had to get me new pajamas because the black didn't go well with her mermaid ones.
In my defense, I hardly ever wear pajamas anyways. I like to stick to my Calvin Klein matching underwear sets to bed. I get too hot for any type of clothing, but I feel like sleeping naked is weird.
"Can we do face masks?" Charlie asks as I finish putting the clear coat on.
"Sure. We'll have to go get some." I say and she smiles.
"Are we going to Target?!" She yells, standing up.
"What about Target?" Christian asks as he walks back into the living room area.
"She wants to do face masks, but I don't have any here." I say and he nods.
"And you're going in your pajamas?" He asks, leaning against the wall.
"Those are the best kinds of Target runs, thank you very much. Do you want to come?" I ask, looking over at him as I tighten the nail polish lid.
"Sure, give me a minute." He says, turning around and walking back into his room.
It only takes about thirty seconds before he walking back out, keys in his hand. "Let's roll."
The drive to Target only took half an hour, which was surprisingly fast, considering the hotel we were at is in the middle of the city.
"This one!" Charlie pointed to a charcoal mask.
"Okay, let's pick a different one." I suggest.
"Why?"
"That one's not fun." I say. But, it was really because I'm allergic to charcoal. Didn't think explaining that to a three year old would be the best idea. Christian gives me an odd look, "I'm allergic. Figured it was easier to say that, then to explain allergies." I whisper and he nods.
"Yeah, probably."
"What about this one?" Charlie says, standing on her tippy toes, pointing to a clay mask.
"You want that one?" I ask, squatting down beside her.
"Yeah!" She says, smiling at me.
"Okay." I reach out, grabbing a bottle of the face mask. "You ready?" I ask and she nods, reaching her arms out for me.
"Brinley?"
"Yeah cutie?"
"Will you braid my hair when we get home?" She asks, twirling a strand of my hair around her finger.
"Of course." I say and she smiles.
"Maybe you can teach Daddy." She says and I laugh.
"I don't know if he's talented enough for that." I tease.
"I've gotten very good at hair, thank you very much." Christian says from behind me.
"Sureee."
"Actually, Mamaw does my hair most of the time." Charlie says matter-of-factly, still playing with my hair.
"Oh, does she?" I ask, looking back at Christian, a skeptical eyebrow raised.
"Yes!"
"Thanks for throwing me under the bus there, Kid." He says, poking her side and she giggles.
"Sorry Daddy." She says, smiling guiltily.
"I'm sure you are."
*
"Daddy, hold still!" Charlie said as she applied the face mask to Christian's face. I couldn't help but laugh at the sight.
"What, you've never seen a grown man do a face mask with his toddler?" He asks, smiling at me.
"Actually, no." I giggle.
"Well, it's a weekly occurrence at our house. No thanks to Elsie." He says, rolling his eyes, before turning back towards Charlie, "I think you put enough on." He takes the bottle out of her hands.
"Okay." She says, wiping her hands across his cheeks, trying to spread the clay mask on evenly. She leans forward, placing a kiss on his lips. "All done!"
"You look pretty Daddy!" She says, grinning sweetly at him.
"Thank ya." Christian smiles at her.
You see my heart strings? They're being pulled. In. So. Many. Different. Directions.
Oh, and those cool things that woman have called ovaries? They're currently being stabbed. Over. And over. And over.
"I wash my hands." She says, holding her hands out in front of me.
"Come on." I say, standing up. She slides off of his lap and we make our way into the small kitchen area.
"Brinley, do you have a sister?" I hear Charlie ask as Brinley lifts her up to reach the sink.
"I do." She answers.
Who knew a southern accent could be such a turn on. Wait what?
I shake any thoughts of that, out of my head when Charlie speaks up again. "I want a sister."
She's been asking for a sister for a couple of months now. It kills me every time.
Brinley is quiet for a minute before she speaks up, "Sisters are annoying. They steal your clothes. You don't want someone always taking your clothes and never giving them back, do you?"
"No!" Charlie giggles as the water shuts off.
"I didn't think so." She says, making their way back towards the couch.
"Daddy! Take a picture!" Charlie says, climbing up on my lap.
"Grab my phone, then." I say pointing to the coffee table in front of us.
She leans forward, picking up my phone. "Come on Brinley!" She says as Brinley leans over the back of the couch.
I put the phone in front of us as the three of us smile and I snap a couple pics. "Take one of me and Brinley!" She says, jumping into Brinley's arms. They both smile as I take a picture, or five.
We wait for the face masks to dry before washing them off and I put Charlie to bed.
*
I sigh, knowing I wasn't going to be falling asleep anytime soon. Charlie was lightly snoring next to me, her leg thrown over my chest. I look over at her, even in the darkness she was adorable. My hand was on the back of her head, her light brown was in two french braids.
I didn't know what to do. I knew Charlie was going to be okay, but watching her go through chemo almost killed me last time.
I slowly roll out from underneath her, sliding off of the bed. I make my way out of the room, heading towards the kitchen area.
I turn the corner before my eyes are met with Brinley's backside. She was reaching up into one of the cupboards. Her tight shorts were rolled up higher as her ass slightly hung out.
Fuck me.
Word Count: 1,304