*Michael's POV*
I groaned, hitting the alarm clock, why does this feel like I'm in high school again? And why did that sound like a beginning of a fan fiction? Don't ask how I know that. I literally rolled out of bed. I got myself ready to be judged by the other parents by wearing a leather jacket, band tee, and black skinny jeans.
I walked down the hallway to Melody's room, and shook her arm to wake up. She moaned and rolled over. "Not today sleepy head. We gotta get you to school." I said and picked her up to the outfit I picked out yesterday for her. I put her in a red and black flannel with a pleather jacket and blue jeans. So other than the jeans, I basically dressed her like Luke. "What do you want for breakfast?" She rubbed her eyes, "Scrabbled eggs." My daughter said. I noticed her being more quiet than a normal day. "Okay. Now, let's do your hair. I got her in the bathroom, putting her hair in a ponytail. I could never be able to do a braid. "There you go, baby girl." I smiled as I look at her brown hair was in the center of the back of her hair with out a strain missed.
I fed her then had her use the bathroom and brushed her teeth. "Daddy, can I bring Spidey with me?" Melody looked up with pleading, sad eyes. I bent down to her height, "How about this, we'll put him your book bag and if you need him you have him? Does that sound good?" She nodded her head. "Good. Now go get them." I said and lightly pushed her towards the hallway.
"Oh damn," I whispered. This day should be years coming, not today.
I went to her room, and noticed that she was cuddling with Daniel and Spider-man under the covers. "Melody, come on, we have to go." I said, trying to be excited. "No." She muffled, I think close to tears. "It's fun, I promise. Now let's get going." I said, trying to make myself it was better for her and trying to pick her up, but for once in her life she did not want to be in my arms. She scurried around the bed, but I easily got her. I grabbed her super hero backpack then put Spider-man bear in it. "Remember Spidey's powers, don't you?" I asked. "Yes Daddy." She muttered sadly. "Why do have to go?" She asked sadly. "Because you need to learn." Melody pouted with tears threatening to escape. "Don't give me that look. You'll be fine. It'll be fun. You'll play games, read, draw, and write. Doesn't that sound fun?" She shook her head. "You're just saying that." I teased, heading to the garage. "Nothing fun without Daddy." She whimpered and hugged my neck. I sighed, knowing this isn't going anywhere with her.
I buckled her in the car seat and turned on the radio. She mumbled her version of the songs that played or she was talking to herself. We drove up to a brick building with a big playground in the back. "See, you'll probably get to play on that playground." I pointed it out, trying to make it look not so bad. I looked in the rear view mirror and noticed she was curled up in a ball, looking like someone might kill her. I got a parking space close to the school and we walked in it. I looked at what the name of the teacher was, Ms. Shepard. "Daddy, please stay." Melody whimpered. "I can't baby girl. I wish I could, but I can't." I said and continued to walk down the hallway to find the classroom. Finally, I found it. A lot of moms were dropping off their children. It felt wierd being the only father in sight.
"Daddy, I don't want to go." She whimpered, clinging to me, burying her face in my neck. Oh, why does this has to be so hard? I could feel her tears soaking up my shirt. "Hey, don't cry. I'll pick you up later today, I promise." I said and kissed her head.
"Mr. Clifford?" A woman with blonde red hair and freckles scattered across her face walked up to me. "Yes?" I said and rubbed my daughter's back, trying to calm her down. "Class will soon be starting, just so you know." She spoke. I nodded, and sat down on the carpet. "Melody, look at me." She obeyed and swiped away her tears. "You be a good girl today." She nodded. "Make friends too. Daddy has to get going soon." She nodded, tears running down her round face. I wipped them away with my thumbs. "Okay, now give me a big hug and kiss." She quickly wrapped her small arms around me tightly and gave me a quick, firm kiss on my lips. "I love you." I said. "I love you more." She said in my ear. "Good. Now go to class," I said and let go of her, trying not to cry. She gave me another kiss, "Bye Daddy." She said and walked shyly into the class. "Bye Melody." I said and walked out of the school.
I was crying by the time I got to my car. "$h*+." I whispered and hit the top of my steering wheel. I opened my wallet, like an old man would, and looked at a picture of Haylie and I way back when when we got married. "I wish you could be here. We need you." I whispered them put my wallet back in my pocket. He took out his phone and went on Twitter, 'Does anyone have an age stopper ? "Ah, f_(k." I said before driving home.
*Melody's POV*
I put my backpack where Ms. Shepard told me to. The room was a bright green and had circle tables with tiny chairs and lots of people about my age playing with each other. Other than me, no one was alone. I unzipped my backpack and grabbed Spidey, hugging him tight. "Melody, why don't you go play with the other kids?" Ms. Shepard asked. I shook my head. She bent down to my height. I bit my lip and hid behind Spidey. I heard her sigh and walk away, good! I sat down on the cold white floor.
My teacher came back with a boy with brown hair and blue eyes. "Melody, this is Danny." She introduced us. "Hi Melody." He brightly smiled. I waved shyly at him. "I'm Danny William Rab. Do you want to play LEGOS with me?" I nodded my head, not really knowing what I'm getting into with them.. He held out his hand to me, "Come on," He encouraged. I took his hand and followed him to a group of boys with a huge bucket of LEGOS. "Hey guys, this is Melody." He turned to me. "We're building a big battle ship." He told me. I nodded and sat down with them. "I'm Chris." The boy next to me with shaggy dirty blonde hair said. I waved at him. "Do you talk?" One of the boys asked. I nodded. "Prove it." He spat at me. "Don't be upset by him, he got in time out." Danny whispered to me. I grabbed a small flat lego and other normal Lego and started building a small, multi colored house.
Ms. Shepard came over by us. "Boys, Melody, time to go to the circle." She sweetly said, jerkimg her head to a circular rug. Before going to a group of girls by Barbies, ew. There was a circle rug with shapes on it and all of us sat on it, me and Danny in the back with a few if the others, I felt safer in the back with the other boys. I kept Spidey tight in my grip though. Ms. Shepard sat in a chair at the top of the circle. "Okay, students let's introduced ourselves by standing up and saying our first and last name clearly." She announced. I bit my lip and hid behind Spidey, hoping that she wouldn't see me. I heard girls say names like, Hannah Larson, Bailey Nicson, Grace Bennet, Sierra Wills etc. The boys in front of me stood up and said Chris Hanson, Ryan Wade, Vince Thompson, and Donald Torres (the one in time out). Then Danny and when he sat down, he nudged my side, "Your turn." I shaked as I stood up, "M-Mel-ody Clif-for-d." I stuttered out and quickly sat down, avoiding to be looked at. "That wasn't clear, Ms. Shepard!" The Hannah girl yelled and pointed at me. "Hannah, it was clear enough to understand that she said Melody Clifford." She stated. I felt a little better after she said that.
"Well, I have a story to read to you." She picked up a book from a side table. "It's called, Tic Tak, Moo." She smiled. I really wanted to fall back asleep, and I noticed others were already lying down, so I used Spidey as a pillow and listened to Ms. Shepard tell the story. Danny stayed sitting up, mouthing the words to himself. I tapped his arm, and he looked at me patting the ground to say lie down with me. He smiled and lied down beside me. I smiled at him, my friend. "Share?" He pointed at Spidey. "Share." I whispered and put Spidey sideways so Danny can sleep on him too. Our foreheads touched as we close our eyes to Ms. Shepard talking and our steady breathing, soon falling asleep. *Too cute!*
"Melody! Wake up!" I woke up by Danny shaking my arm. "Hmm?" I stretched. "We're going outside!" He exclaimed, pulling me up. I blinked a few times and got balanced. "Ms. Shepard said to keep toys inside." He told me. I nodded and put Spider-man under where my backpack is. "Class get in line, no talking or touching in the hallway. We should our bubbles." She puffed out her cheeks and we all copied her. We followed her down a long hallway to a pair of doors and she opened them up to a big playground. "Race you to slides!" Danny announced to me and his other friends and we ran to the ones he was after. "I win!" Ryan announced happily. "Go down the slide with me?" Ryan asked me. I looked at all of them, having all of them look right back me. I nodded and he smiled. "You get the blue side." He said and got on the red slide. I sat down on the blue one next to him. "Beat you to the bottom!" He said and we raced down the slides. "I win." I bragged. "No! I won!" He exclaimed and ran back to the slide. I just let it go and went to my friends without knowing that my hair would be pulled, causing me to fall onto the mulched ground. It was Sierra. She ran away and giggled to the other girls. I whimpered and felt the tears come to my eyes. "Melody!" I heard Danny yelled, worried. He came down from the playground and helped me up. "Hold still," He spoke and pulled out, what I'm guessing was the wood chips. "All done." He happily remarked. I smiled and hugged him, "Thank you!" He giggled. "You're welcome. Do you want to go on the swings?" I nodded eagerly. We raced to the set and swung next to each other, trying to see who would get the highest. Then, we played tag with the other boys, I'm not very good at it, but I had fun. Why do they have to be so much faster than me!? I could climb the monkey bars faster than them.
"Kids, snack time!" Ms. Shepard announced and everyone got in a line to go back inside with our bubbles. I sat next to Danny and Vince. "Hi Melody, I'm Vince." He said. I waved back. He has dirty blonde hair and freckles. "We should be friends." I smiled and nodded. "We best friends?" Danny asked. I smiled brighter and nodded. "Great!" He praised and Ms. Shepard came over and gave us a napkin with a hand ful if pretzels. "Thank you." We said in sync. "You're welcome." She smiled and continued her trip around the classroom.
When we were finished with our snack, Ms. Shepard handed out a coloring picture of a cat and a box of crayons. "Okay, I want you to take your time and be creative with this." Our teacher announced. "When you're done, put flip it over." She added.
I looked at the kitten's currently white eyes then grabbed a green crayon. "Daddy's eyes." I whispered and took my time coloring them in. I looked at the ears and picked out a red and colored the tail the same. I drew the paws black and legs orange. The face of the kitten's is blue with a purple nose. "That's very colorful Ms. Melody." Ms. Shepard praised. "Hmm-mmh." I smiled. She commented on everyone's kitten. I drew his body with a stripe of black down the middle and then brown on the rest of its body. I then looked it over and was happy with my work and flipped it over. I swung my legs under the table. "Melody, can I see your kitty?" Vince asked. *Thinks of something else, STOP THAT!* I nodded and showed them my colorful cat. They looked at it with awe. *OMG I NEED HELP!* I smiled with pride and put it back upside-down. "Melody, are you done?" Ms. Shepard asked. I nodded and smiled. "Can I see?" *I'm dead* She asked and I raised my drawing. "This is beautiful, Melody! Do you want to sign it?" She asked and I was confused. She must have noticed that on my face. "You write your name in the corner." She informed me. I nodded my head. Ms. Shepard bent down to my height. "Okay, grab the color that you want to write your name in. I picked a red. "Okay, what corner do you want to write it in?" I pointed to the lower left hand. "Do you know how to spell your name?" I thought about it, sounding it b out in my head. "M-e-l-o-d-e?" She smiled, but shook her head. "M-e-l-o-d-y." I smiled at how close I was. Then, she taught me how to hold my crayon and helped me write my name correctly. "Thank you." I spoke. "You're welcome. Do you want to bring it home with you." I nodded my head.
*A little time skip for writer's block*
Ms. Shepard looked at the clock. "Class, let's get ready to home." That statement brought a huge smile on my face. I went over to my cubby and put Spidey in my bag and put the straps on my shoulders. I felt a tap on my arm and turned around. "DADDY!" I wrapped my arms around his neck and he wrapped his arms around my back. "Ugh, my big girl! It was fun wasn't it?" He asked happily. I was too busy snuggling into him to answer. "I missed you soooooo much." He ensued. "We're going to go home and snuggled up and watch all of the movies you want and have whatever food you want." I smiled and faced him with my lips puckered and he kissed back. Then, I thought of my cat and got off the table. "Daddy, look, it's a kitty!" I cheered and showed him. "Yes it is. You know what, it's soo wonderful and beautiful, it's going on the fridge!" I gasped and hugged him tight again.
Ms. Shepard came over and tapped his shoulder. "Excuse me, but I think I played a good match maker today. I thought you would like to see this picture." She smiled and got her phone out. Daddy stood up without picking me up and gushed at the photo. "Please send that to me. That's too adorable not to have on my phone." She laughed, "Okay." His phone rang not much later. Someone tugged on my jacket lightly. I turned around. "Bye Melody!" Danny said and waved. "Bye Danny!" I waved. He smiled and walked off to his mom.
"Melody," Daddy dragged and smirked at me. "Do you have a crush on that boy?" I bit my lip and shook my head. "Ah huh, sure, whatever you say." He laughed and picked me up in his arms. "Do I have to make sure that no boys come through your window now?" I giggled and shook my head. "Good, I don't want my daughter's heart broken." He said and kissed my forehead and check. "I love you." Daddy said softly. "I love you more!" I cheered. "Not possible." He simply said. "Yes!" I declared as we exited the classroom. "Alright." He whined. I giggled in victory.
"Well, I want to hear everything that happened today." He said happily and got back to the car. I explained the whole day to him in detail, except for the part about Hannah and Sierra. "So I'll have to be worrying about boys already with you, don't I?" Daddy laughed. "No, they just friends." He made an unconvenienced hum. "What picture Ms. Shepard showed?" I asked, not knowing what it was. " You and that Danny boy sleeping by each other. I'm still your cuddle buddy, right?" I felt my cheeks turn pink. "Yes Daddy! Still cuddle buddy!" I giggled. He laughed at me, "My little girl is blushing, someone has a crush!" He teased. I covered my face with my hands.
We got home and I jumped out of the car and ran into the house. Before I could go any further in the house, something kept me back by my bookbag. "Hold on there, munchin. Let's take your shoes off and put your backpack away." Daddy said and I stood still and he untied my shoes and put them by the others. He put my backpack in the corner and brought Spidey out. "Go pick 3 movies you want to watch." He said and I scurried to the movies and grabbed the Lion King, Princess and the Frog, and Beauty and the Beast. My tummy grumbled as I tried to decide what movie to watch first. I walked over to the kitchen and tugged on Daddy's pant leg, "I'm hungry." I whined. He ruffled my hair, "I'm making pizza and popcorn, Melody. Calm down." He said and sat down on a chair.
*3rd Person*
As they watch "The Princess and the Frog" Melody starred at the movie with interest. She definitely loved Ray, the funny, happy-go-lucky, lighting bug or firefly, whatever you call them. "Daddy, is Mummy your Evangeline?" She asked before the firefly even came in the movie. Michael shyly smiled, "Yes baby girl, but she wasn't as shy." He replied and kissed her temple. Eventually the firefly came in place and began to sing his love song. "Daddy, dance with me!" Melody exclaimed as she was in the middle of the room and made grabby hands at him. He smiled and got up and walked to his daughter. Melody didn't waste any time to put her small, bare feet on his larger ones and taking a hold of his hands. Michael slowly danced with her, like any other good dad would do to their daughter. *I feel like I missed that in my life... oh well* They eventually stopped, later on Ray dies and Michael comforts her. Let's just say they were both out like a light by the time of Simba returning to the Pride Lands.
Michael later on woke up to the Lion King menu music repeating over and over and over. Enough was enough. He carefully picked his daughter up as he stood up and turned off the, now annoying, TV. He quietly walked into the little girl's room. He gently laid down the sleeping girl and tucked her in bed. Then softly kissed her forehead. "Good night, Melody. I love you." He whispered.