"Mommy! Daddy! Wake up!"
Zed groaned as Kenzie bounced on the bed between them. He had thought a late night if pizza and movies would help her sleep in. He was wrong.
Addison grabbed Kenzie, laying her down between them. "Let's all snuggle for a bit, then we'll get up."
Kenzie pouted. "But I want to call Uncle Bonzo now!"
Zed opened his eyes and looked at the clock. 6am. "Kenz, Uncle Bonzo is probably still asleep. We'll call later."
"I want to say happy birthday now!" Kenzie whined, beating her fists against the mattress and kicking her legs.
"Kenzie Lynn, I said no." Zed snapped, picking her up and standing her beside the bed. "Go to your room and wait for mommy or daddy to come get you. Now."
Kenzie's bottom lip quivered as tears sprung in her eyes. She ran from the room, followed by the sound of muffled sobs. Zed laid back on his pillow and ran his hands over his face.
"Are you okay?" Addison asked, placing a hand on his arm.
"I hate being the bad guy." Zed admitted. "I know she needs to learn, but I hate seeing her cry."
Addison sighed. "That's the hard part of being a parent. Sometimes you have to put your foot down, even if their feelings get hurt. Kenzie will understand eventually that we're not trying to be mean. Her actions just have consequences."
"I know." Zed nodded, sitting up. "I guess we're not going back to sleep, huh?"
Addison sat up, shaking her head. "Nope. No point in trying with Kenzie crying across the hall."
Zed pulled back the covers then transferred himself to his chair. He rolled around to the other side of the bed where Addison was standing. She tied her robe then turned to face him.
"Want me to go talk to Kenzie?" She asked.
Zed shook his head. "No, I'll go. I started this so I should finish it."
"Alright." Addison smiled softly. "I'll head downstairs and start breakfast. Pancakes and bacon sound good?"
Zed motioned for her to lean down and Addison complied. He pecked her on the lips then smiled. "Sounds great Addy. We'll meet you downstairs."
Addison nodded then left the room. Zed took a deep breath then followed suit, going across the hall to Kenzie room. At this point her sobs had reduced to sniffles which he tracked to the small lump on her bed beneath the covers.
"Kenzie?" Zed called gently. "Can you come out please?"
"No." Kenzie sniffled. "I don't want you."
Zed sighed, resting his arms on the bed. "Come on Kenz. Daddy just wants to talk. Can we do that?"
The blanket shifted on the bed. After a moment, a hole appeared and Kenzie's face emerged from the makeshift cocoon.
"There's my girl." Zed said, putting on a smile. Though his heart ached seeing her red eyes and tear-stained cheeks. "Thank you for coming out."
"You made me sad." Kenzie sniffed.
Zed nodded. "I know. But do you know why daddy sent you to your room?"
"You wanted to sleep." Kenzie replied.
"Well, yes." Zed chuckled lightly before making his face serious again. "But that wasn't the whole reason. Kenzie, when mommy and daddy say no, we mean no. You don't get to do what you want by yelling and flailing around. That gets you in trouble."
Kenzie looked down. "I just wanted to call Uncle Bonzo."
"I know." Zed replied. "But we don't get to do things by yelling at mommy and daddy. That's not nice, and it makes mommy and daddy sad. So do you know what you should say?"
"I'm sorry Daddy." Kenzie replied.
"For?" Zed asked.
"Yelling at you and mommy." Kenzie answered.
"Thank you Kenzie." Zed smiled, then held out his arms. "Can I have a hug?"
Kenzie wiggled her way out of the blanket and into his waiting arms. Zed pulled Kenzie close and held her, feeling her small arms wrap around him.
"I love you." Zed to her.
Kenzie snuggled deeper against his chest. "I love you too Daddy."
Zed smiled. "Tell you what. Mommy's making breakfast. Let's go downstairs and eat, we'll get dressed, and then daddy will text Aunt Bree to see if Uncle Bonzo is awake. If he's up we'll call and sing him happy birthday. Does that sound fair?"
Kenzie sat up and looked him in the eyes, nodding. "Yes Daddy."
"Alright then." Zed smiled, holding onto Kenzie as he made his way out of the room. The two of them made their way downstairs to the kitchen.
"Hi Mommy." Kenzie waved as they entered the kitchen.
"Hi sweetie." Addison smiled, flipping the pancake she was currently cooking. "Did daddy make things all better?"
Kenzie nodded. "Yes. All better now."
"Good." Addison replied, placing the pancake on a plate and pouring more batter into the pan. "I'm glad you two worked something out."
Zed helped Kenzie into her booster seat at the table then settled himself in his own chair. Addison brought over their plates before going back to fix her own.
"We had a good talk." Zed explained, taking a bit of his pancakes. "Didn't we Kenzie?"
Kenzie nodded. "Yes. No more yelling at mommy and daddy."
"That sounds like a good idea." Addison chuckled, sitting down with her own plate. She leaned over and kissed Zed on the cheek before whispering in his ear. "Well done Daddy."
Zed grinned, shrugging his shoulders. "I try."
Addison smiled the turned back to eating her breakfast. The room filled with the sounds of forks clicking against plates and chewing as everyone ate.
Kemzie finished first and held up her hands. "Mommy, Daddy, I sticky."
"Syrup does that." Zed chuckled.
Addison put down her fork then stood up. She walked over and picked Kenzie up from her chair. "Why don't we go get a bath and get dressed? Then daddy can clean up breakfast."
"Oh so you get the fun job, huh?" Zed teased, shaking his head. "Fine, you girls go get ready."
"Thank you." Addison replied, smiling as she carried Kenzie out of the room.
Zed gathered the dishes from the table the deposited them in the sink. He grabbed the sponge and began to scrub. Glancing out the window, he smiled at the sunrise. It looked like it was going to be a beautiful day.
POV change brought to you by Z-Corp (though I think my Z-Tech sounds better lol)
Addison poured water over Kenzie's head with a cup as she rinsed the shampoo from her hair. Kemzie laughed, splashing in the tub with her green rubber duckie in hand.
"Easy there." Addison laughed, holding up her hands to block the spray of water Kenzie had created. "The water needs to stay in the tub."
"But duckie likes to jump." Kenzie giggled, placing her duckie on the edge of the tub and making it jump off again.
Addison smiled and shook her head, reaching over to grab the towel she had sat on the counter. "Well I think duckie has had enough chances to jump. Now, it's time to get out."
Kenzie pouted. "Just a little longer?"
Addison stood up, placing a hand on her hip. "Do you want to stay in the tub or get dressed so we can call Uncle Bonzo?"
"Uncle Bonzo!" Kenzie cheered, throwing her duckie back in the bin with the rest of her bath toys.
Addison laughed, lifting her out of the tub then pulling the plug to let the water out. She wrapped Kenzie in a towel then began to gently rub her dry.
"Mommy it tickles!" Kenzie squealed as she moved the towel around.
"I'm almost done." Addison replied, ruffling her hair with the towel.
She straightened the towel around Kenzie then picked her up, carrying her to her room. She sat Kenzie down beside the bed the opened her closet.
"What do you want to where today? Remember, you're going to be playing with Brayden and Ezmae at Ms. Zinnia's."
Kenzie walked over and looked at the clothes in her closet. She studied them for a bit before pointing to one of her favorites, a green top with purple shorts.
"That one Mommy."
Addison took the outfit off the hanger and grabbed a pair of underwear from the shelf. "Okay then, let's get dressed."
Kenzie put on her underwear and shorts by herself then raised her arms over her head so Addison could put on her shirt. When they were done she lifted Kenzie onto the bed grabbed the hair brush from her night stand.
Addison hummed softly as she brushed Kenzie's hair, making gentle strokes as she worked out the tangles.
"Mommy?"
"Yes baby?" Addison asked, working out the last of the tangles from her hair.
Kenzie played with the hem of her shirt. "Why can't daddy walk like us?"
Addison froze. She had known this question would arise at some point, but she hadn't expected it now. Addison sat the brush down on the bed and pulled Kenzie into her lap.
"To answer that, I have to tell you a story. Do you want to hear it?"
Kenzie nodded. "Uh huh."
Addison took a deep breath. "One day, before you were born, Mommy and Daddy went to see Aunt Bree and Uncle Bonzo."
"Like we're going to do today?" Kenzie asked.
Addison nodded. "Yes. Like we're going to do today. But when Mommy and Daddy were going home, another car crashed into us."
Kenzie gasped. "And Daddy got hurt?"
"Yes." Addison admitted. "Daddy got hurt very bad and he had to stay in the hospital a long time."
Kenzie frowned. "The doctors couldn't fix Daddy?"
"They tried." Addison assured her. "But sometimes, people like daddy get booboos that can't be fixed. That's why daddy doesn't walk. His back got hurt so bad that his legs don't work anymore."
Kenzie turned her head to look at the family photo on her nightstand. All three of them smiling happily. "Is Daddy sad?"
"He was sad at first." Addison admitted. "But then he found out you were in my tummy and when you were born, Daddy wasn't as sad anymore."
Kenzie smiled. "I made Daddy happy?"
Addison hugged her close. "You make Daddy and I happy everyday."
Kenzie giggled and hugged her back. "I love you, Mommy."
"I love you too." Addison smiled, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. "Are you ready to call Uncle Bonzo?"
"Yes!" Kenzie nodded excitedly, wiggling her way out of Addison's arms and sliding down off the bed. "Let's go! Let's go!"
Addison laughed as she stood up from the bed then followed Kenzie downstairs. Kenzie stopped at the bottom of the stairs, looked around then darted into the living room. By the time Addison made it into the living room, Zed was sitting on the couch and Kenzie had climbed into his lap.
"Can we call Uncle Bonzo now?" Kenzie asked.
Zed nodded. "Yes, we can call Uncle Bonzo. Aunt Bree already texted back and said they're all awake."
"Yay!" Kenzie cheered, bouncing in his lap excitedly.
Addison sat down beside them as Zed dialed Bonzo's number through video chat. The phone rang twice then Bonzo's face appeared on screen.
"Grozara (Hello)?"
All three of then took a breath then began to sing.
"Happy Birthday to you
Happy Birthday to you
Happy Birthday dear (Uncle) Bonzo
Happy Birthday to you!"
Bonzo smiled. "Gazaru (Thank you)."
"You're welcome, man." Zed replied, tickling Kenzie's tummy. "Someone has been bugging us all morning to call you."
Kenzie giggled. "Happy Birthday Uncle Bonzo!"
"Gazaru Kenzska. Gar garziga. (Thank you Kenzie. I love you.)" Bonzo told her.
"Gar garziga zu, Zio Bonzo! (I love you too, Uncle Bonzo!) Kenzie replied back.
Zed smiled. "That was perfect Kenz, good job."
Kenzie giggled. "Thank you Daddy."
"Grahag zag greezu grozu? (So I will see you later?)" Bonzo asked.
Addison nodded. "Yep, we'll meet you guys at Ms. Zinnia's at 1."
"Grezerg grodge. (Sounds good)" Bonzo nodded.
"Brayden! Come back here and put your pants on!" Bree shouted from somewhere in the background.
Zed bit back a laugh. "Sounds like we should let you go."
"Za. (Yeah)" Bonzo replied, shaking his head as Brayden squealed in the background. "Grozo. (Bye.)"
"Bye Bonzo." Zed replied before the screen went dark.
"Well, what should we do to pass the time until we go to Ms. Zinnia's?" Zed asked, looking down at Kenzie expectantly.
"Candy Land!" Kenzie squealed jumping down from his lap. "I'll get it!"
Kenzie ran from the room, rushing back upstairs to her room to get the game as her parents laughed.
"We're lucky." Zed smiled, intertwining his fingers with hers.
Addison kissed him then slowly pulled away, resting her head on his shoulder with a smile. "In more ways then one."
Author's Note*please read*
Hello everyone!
I know it has been a loooong time since I updated. I have heard your pleas and I am doing my best. But I must also ask once again for your understanding. I have been sick with COVID, my mom has been in and out of the hospital for multiple issues due to her immune system being low due to cancer treatments, I have a job that takes a lot of my time, and life has just been crazy. Please know that I'm doing my best but real life comes before my writing. I promise this story will continue to recieve updates but they will only come as I am able to complete them. That could be once a week, once a month, or longer. To those of you who have continued to hang in there with me. I value your patience and understanding as well as your continued support for my stories. I appreciate all of you and I hope you enjoy this chapter and the ones to come.
Happy Belated New Year!
-Meloetta246