All through the morning, Sadie sat quietly in her car seat, digging through the activity books that had been packed for her, but Blake and Miranda both knew she was so quiet because she was still embarrassed. After being potty trained, she had wet the bed a few times, but never in the car, in front of both parents.
Miranda took her turn driving while Blake snoozed away in the passenger seat. As she drove, she kept trying to start a conversation with her daughter, but she could tell Sadie was a little humiliated, so she wracked her brain to try and work out how to help her. When noon came and went, Miranda needed a break form driving and they all needed to use the bathroom, so Miranda pulled off the highway and followed the signs to the rest stop.
When Miranda pulled up, they had a look round and saw a diner, a McDonalds, a gas station and a playground on a field behind the food outlets. Since they had eaten McDonalds for breakfast, Miranda ordered everyone to the diner. Blake climbed out of the passenger seat with a yawn, feeling awake and refreshed after a long morning nap. When Sadie was helped down, she ran around to grab Blake's hand and he smiled down at her, seeing that she was a little dejected.
"Let's get some lunch Babe." He said casually and Sadie let out a little smile and crossed the street with him, followed quickly by Miranda.
Blake led everyone over to a booth and he kept Sadie next to him while his wife sat across the table.
"Daddy?" Sadie asked quietly as they scanned the menus. She couldn't read yet, so she was truing to dictate what she ate by mouth. Blake looked at her expectantly and she pouted out her lips the way Miranda had shown her. "Can I get a milkshake? Please?"
Blake tried to contain his laughter and looked at his wife with raised eyebrows, he would recognise those pouted lips anywhere. Miranda shrugged and smiled to herself, not looking up from the menu and Blake sighed.
"Sure Baby."
Sadie smiled to herself and picked out the strawberry one from the pictures on Blake's menu. When they had ordered, they all took turns using the bathroom and smiled in relief when their food arrived, everyone hungry after eating breakfast so early.
Sadie grinned real big when she got her milkshake and Blake made her slow down and take bites of her grilled cheese in between. Miranda and Blake looked through Miranda's phone as they ate, trying to work out the map and see how far they were. They figured they would be at the beach before dinner, so they figured they should get Sadie to play for a while before they left, knowing she would have to work off her built up energy.
When they had finished, the waiter took their plates and Blake picked Sadie up to put her on his shoulders. When they had payed and wondered outside, Miranda led them over to the small playground that had been set up and laughed when sadie's eyes opened real wide.
Blake put her down and was about to help her out of her cardigan when she shrugged it off and took off running for the jungle gym.
"10 minutes!" Miranda called after her, but she figured Sadie was too enthralled by the opportunity to play that she wasn't listening.
Blake headed over to the bench and frowned when he saw Miranda hesitate a few feet away, pretending to watch Sadie to avoid the awkwardness. They weren't arguing, but they hadn't really been themselves either. Blake gave her a little smile and used his head to beckon for her to sit down. Miranda hesitated for a second, before she took one last glance at Sadie and trudged over, planting her bottom right next to his and feeling a little relief when her Husband's strong arm draped over her shoulder. They just sat in silence for a few minutes, before Blake broke the silence and spoke up, watching Sadie as she ran over the drawbridge and went down the slide.
"Poor thing, she's so embarrassed." He commented and Miranda tensed up next to him, getting Blake's attention.
"What's wrong?" He asked quickly and Miranda didn't look at him, letting him know that there was something she wasn't telling him.
"Nothing." She said a little too quickly and Blake turned a little and removed his arm from her shoulders.
"Tell me." He insisted and Miranda tried to work out how to change the topic, but she knew that this would quickly turn in to an argument and he would get it out of her eventually anyway.
"It's just, I don't want to make you feel bad." She tried to explain and Blake raised his eyebrows in confusion, keeping quiet so she could continue. "Sadie has been having lots of accidents lately."
Blake looked confused but tried to work out what she was insinuating. He didn't know Sadie had been having the accidents, but he was surprised Miranda hadn't told him. Miranda looked at him to try and encourage him to think about what she was saying. She didn't want to say it out loud and upset him. Blake thought through what she had said but the look on his face was letting her know that he didn't understand.
"But why would she be so upset if it's been happening a lot?" He eventually asked, his face perplexed and Miranda sighed. He would be hurt, but he needed to hear it.
"She's upset because you haven't seen any of the accidents. Until today."
Blake turned away from her immediately and let those words sink in. It wasn't the fact that his daughter was wetting herself that upset him, it was the fact that he had spent so little time with his family that he didn't even know it was happening. But more than that, it was the fact that his little girl was so embarrassed that he had seen it. Miranda reached out and put her hand on his back, but Blake didn't turn around.
"Hey, it's okay." She reassured gently and Blake finally turned back to face her, he was clearly hurt by the situation.
"It's not okay." He argued and Miranda scooted over and put her hands on his thighs and rubbed a little.
"Yes it is. You're here now and that's all she cares about." Miranda tried to assure him and Blake sighed and rubbed his hands over his face.
"I'm sorry." He said after a few seconds and Miranda nodded.
"I know, but it's not me that you need to apologise to." She said quietly and Blake sighed. He didn't know how to approach this topic with Sadie, but he knew he needed to do it.
Blake reached over and gave her a quick kiss on her shoulder, before Miranda squeezed his thigh and Blake stood up, heading over to the jungle gym.
"Sadie." Blake called and Sadie looked up from the drawbridge and frowned, she didn't want to stop playing. "Come here please Honey."
Sadie sighed and ran over to the edge, so that Blake could lift her up and plant her on his hip. He carried her over to the swing and sat on the spare one, letting Sadie adjust herself so that she was straddling him and facing his chest. Sadie looked up at him confused and Blake took a deep breath and looked down in to her big blue eyes.
"Do you want to talk about your accident?" Blake asked gently and Sadie immediately looked down and started to play with her hands.
"I'm not angry baby, I just want to know why you got so sad." He said as calmly as he could, reaching his hands around so they could pat her little butt rhythmically. Sadie pouted out her bottom lip and looked up reluctantly, her eyes watery.
"I didn't want you to see." She whispered and Blake kissed her forehead to stop her from letting her tears fall.
"Momma said you have been having a few accidents lately." Blake pressed on gently and Sadie looked down guiltily again and nodded her head. "Did you get embarrassed because I haven't seen you have an accident?"
Sadie kept her head down, a little embarrassed and eventually nodded.
"When I have an accident, Momma helps me clean it up because you're not at home."
Blake's heart dropped when Sadie started playing with her hands and he had to take a deep breath to try and keep himself together. Blake lifted her chin up with his index finger and Sadie looked up at his with a sad little face, melting Blake's heart.
"Sweetie, I'm sorry I haven't been home very much." He started softly and Sadie listened intently "But I promise I am going to change that. I hate being away from my girls."
Sadie gave him a little smile and surprised Blake when she scooted forward and leaned her face against his warm chest.
"I love you Baby." He whispered as he rubbed her back and swung gently and Sadie smiled in to him.
"I love you too Daddy."
Blake swung the swing with his daughter cuddled in to him for a few minutes until he saw Miranda stand up and head back towards the car. Blake suspected that Sadie was a still a little hurt, but he didn't want to push her, so he lightly brushed her hair from her face and looked down at her.
"Let's go Sweetie." He said gently and Sadie clung to him and groaned, not wanting to get back in the car any more. "I know you're sick of driving, but next time we stop, we will be at the beach!"
Blake suddenly had her attention and Blake chuckled at her enthusiasm. He stood up and shifted so that he had his forearm under Sadie's booty and she was leaning in to him, not ready to finish the cuddling.
When Blake buckled Sadie back in to her car seat, he looked at how sad she was to be strapped in again, so he gave her a little bag of pretzels and lifted her doll up so she could play with her. When they had shared a sweet little kiss to the lips, Blake patted her thigh and jumped in to the front seat.
"We all ready to go to the beach?" Blake asked with as much enthusiasm as he could muster and Miranda laughed when Sadie cheered and threw her spare arm in the air. Clearly whatever her Husband had said to their daughter had cheered her up.
Blake peeked in the rear view mirror once he was back on the highway and grinned when he saw Sadie with a pretzel in one hand and her doll in the other, fascinated by the new scenery out the window. Miranda's hand reached over and rested on his thigh and Blake smile grew bigger.
He was beyond ready to get to that beach and spend a whole week alone with his favourite girls.