Even though this is a little late, I'd started writing this on Father's day. It's a bit short, but it's something I've written for my followers and fans.
So I hope you guys enjoy this :)
Short
"She did what now?" Alex's usually calm and patient voice was laced with humor and disbelief. Kelsey was sure there was even a hint of pride in them.
"She picked the lock on the toy box." Kelsey repeated, glancing at their five-year old daughter as she played with her favorite dolls in the living room way past her bedtime. Again.
"Maybe you just forgot to shut it, honey. She must have gotten up for something and noticed." He suggested, glancing at his sweet little angel. Ever since she was born, Lana was the light of his life. Kelsey was sure that he loved Lana more than Alex loved her, but that fact only made her love Alex more.
"That's what I thought, too." Kelsey agreed. "But that was last night and I got her into bed before you got home. Alex, I'm telling you. You have to believe me. She picked the lock. I made sure it was locked tonight. Twice. And she's in the living room playing again and the box is open."
The silence haunted the room for only a few more moments. "But she's five years old." Alex said, dumbfounded before glancing at his wife, suspiciously. "You're joking with me, aren't you? I'm not going to fall for it. You're playing with me."
Kelsey sighed. "I don't joke, Alex. Not about Lana."
"Where on Earth could she possibly learn how to pick a lock. She's not supposed to know how to do that. I'm a respected government agent. My daughter can't be going around picking locks." The way he said it, calmly, made Kelsey want to giggle.
"Let's go ask her." Kelsey suggested. "Come on."
At their arrival, Lana looked up, her brown eyes landing on her father with excitement. She dropped her dolls and jumped up, eager to give her father a proper welcome by wrapping her little arms around his long legs.
"Daddy!" She exclaimed, clearly delighted. "Chloe is throwing a party." Lana happily informed her father, regarding the activities of her little doll.
"Is that so?" Alex asked, reaching down and picking her up. "Who's invited?"
"Everyone is. I tried to explain to Mom this but she insisted that I go to bed." Then, Lana graced Alex with her adorable little brown eyes, the look that made everyone melt into putty in her hands. It was a power that Lana had and had mastered it, too.
"Mom is right, angel. You should be in bed." Alex said. Lana rubbed her head against Alex's chest and surreptitiously tried to yawn into it, thinking that no one will notice. Kelsey internally grinned. Lana was an excellent learner. Ever since she was born, Kelsey tried to teach her as much as she could, despite her age being so young because she believed that children started learning as soon as their hearts started beating.
"I'm not sleepy at all, Daddy." Lana said, staring at her father with milky warm brown eyes. Alex couldn't help but chuckle.
"I believe you, button." Alex said, looking at his daughter with sincerity. Kelsey couldn't help but smile. Even though she knew how tired Alex must be, he was still cheerful and pleasant so he didn't hurt Lana's feelings. At this young age, how she felt was important and seeing Alex understand that, too, well, it only made Kelsey love him more. Truly, it was amazing how much you realize how much more you could love someone after seeing them love someone so important to you. "The thing is that Daddy had a long day at work, and Daddy is tired and Mommy had a long day, too, so she's tired."
Lana's eyes widened in understanding. "Nobody can watch me?"
"Exactly, button. But since I know how much you love to play, I'll strike you a deal." Alex said. "You know all about those, don't you?"
Lana's eyes regarded Alex with suspicion. "You said you strike deals with bad guys so they tell you what they did."
Kelsey saw Alex surreptitiously bite his cheek. "This is a different kind of deal, button. In this deal, you'll get to play for ten minutes more, because you've been a good girl. There's just one thing that's bothering me. Tell me how you opened the toy box. Didn't your mommy lock it?"
Lana nodded. "Mommy did lock it, but I have a key."
"You do?" Alex asked, surprised. Even Kelsey was surprised. Lana had a key? How did Lana get a key? There was only one key and Kelsey had it.
Lana kicked her legs around, a universal sign for telling her daddy to put her down. Alex did. Then, both parents watched as their daughter ran across the room before coming back with a...screwdriver. Kelsey's eyes widened. "Is that yours?" She asked Alex.
Alex's eyes widened, too, but not from surprise. "Lana, button, where did you find that?"
"It's my key." She responded, before running over to her toy box and sticking it into the lock for her toy box. She twisted it a couple of times before something clicked inside. Satisfied, she turned to Alex and Kelsey with content eyes. "See Daddy?"
Kelsey and Alex watched, dumbfounded. Thankfully, Alex regained his composure way before Kelsey did. She was still stunned that her little girl figured out a way to manipulate the lock in her toy box.
"That's very impressive." Alex said, trying his best to sound impressed, but Kelsey knew that he was more concerned than anything. Internally, Kelsey even giggled at how ironic it was that a respected federal agent's daughter was learning how to pick locks before she was learning her alphabets.
Lana squealed with delight.
Kelsey quickly stepped forward. "Lana, dear. You need to try to stay quiet. You don't want to wake up your little brother, do you?"
Lana shook her head, knowing thoroughly well how loud Ronny cried when he was disturbed from his sleep.
"How about we strike another deal?" Alex said.
"What deal?" Lana asked, her tone testing.
"If you go to bed right now, Mommy will let you play for twenty extra minutes tomorrow." Kelsey narrowed her eyes at Alex's offer but decided to stay quiet about it. She needed Lana in bed tonight. Tomorrow would come soon enough. Lana was an incredibly smart girl, though. Why wouldn't she be? She was the daughter of two incredibly smart people. If Kelsey was hoping that Lana would forget about this 'deal' by tomorrow, well, it was better if she forgot about it.
"Deal." Lana said, happily before marching off into her room.
Alex and Kelsey both watched her go, knowing that she would be asleep within seconds of landing on her bed.
"She's scary." Alex was the first one to speak.
At his words, Kelsey turned to her husband with a knowing smile. "She's scary? You deal with drug dealers, drug addicts, organized crime bosses, murderers, even, and you're scared of a five year old girl?"
Alex grinned, too. "Well, all those other bad guys don't have my heart in their little fists. Lana is my daughter and I love her and I don't know what I'll do if she grows up and winds up caught up in these sorts of things. I want to make her strong and smart. I want her ready to face the world, but I don't want to let her go."
"She's only five years old." Kelsey reminded her husband with a smile.
"And yesterday, she was five months old. The day before that she was five weeks old, and the day before that, Kelsey, she was five days old. Time flies. Just look at Ronny. He was just born yesterday and today he's already a year old."
"I know how you feel. We never seem to have enough time with them." Kelsey said. "But they're both in bed, now."
Alex didn't pick up on her suggestive tone right away. "Yes, they are."
"We should go to bed, too." She said, her eyes tracing up Alex's body and landing on his eyes. "Both of our kids and sleeping."
Even though there was lust in Kelsey's eyes when she looked at her husband, there was also more. There was affection, adoration, and respect. But there was also relief.
In his line of work, anything could happen at any time. He could leave to go to work in the morning and never come back. There could be people out there who want to hurt him. But whenever he was in the security of their home, Kelsey was relieved.
And she wanted to enjoy every moment she had with him.
Alex looked at Kelsey, a slow grin appearing on his face. Kelsey's heart skipped a beat. They were married for almost ten years and despite being together for such a long time, the chemistry between them had never faded.
"I love you, you know?" She said, meaning the words equally every time she said them.
"You tell me that every day, now." He said, with a smile.
"I mean it every day."
"I know."
There was a silence between them. It was a silence they often shared that reminded them that there was constantly an unknown in their future. She didn't know if she'd have the chance to tell him she loved him tomorrow and he didn't know if he'd be around to hear it.
"We make a really weird couple." Kelsey said.
"Not really."
"We do. We met in a weird way. We got to know each other. We got married. We have two children. Alex, our daughter is growing up learning how to pick locks, and our son can't stay away from technology." She smiled. "It's like destiny pulled together four really weird people and put them together into a family."
Alex just shrugged. "Weren't you just talking about going to bed?"
Kelsey looked at Alex with a smug grin on her face. "I don't remember."
"I'll remind you." Alex said, wrapping his arms around Kelsey and lifting her off the ground. She squealed as he carried her to their bedroom, and watched as the door slammed shut behind them.
Hope you enjoyed it,
Mitzi