Blake frowned when he sat up and saw that his bed was empty. He had fallen asleep with his wife's head on his chest and at some point in the night, their Daughter had invaded their bed and made herself comfortable between them, taking up more room than he thought possible for a three year old.
Blake pushed himself out of bed and headed in to the bathroom. He took a quick shower, brushed his teeth and threw on some shorts and a t-shirt, figuring it was too humid for jeans. When he walked out in to the kitchen, Blake smiled when he saw Miranda in tiny pyjama shorts and a simple white sleep shirt, sitting at the table. Across from her, his Daughter was sitting on a cushion so she was tall enough, still in her light pink nightie.
Blake snuck up behind Miranda and kissed her bare neck gently. When she smiled and leaned her head against his, Blake was so glad to see her happy.
"There's eggs and bacon on the counter." She told him as he kissed her shoulder and Blake headed over to fill his plate.
When Blake sat down next to Sadie, he leaned over and kissed her face, earning a big smile in return.
"Morning, Baby." Blake said as he planted her little hands on both his cheeks and kissed his face.
"Hi Daddy." She said with another grin and Blake let her go back to eating her breakfast with her doll planted on her lap. He smiled to himself every few minutes when Sadie held the fork up to the dolls plastic mouth and pretended to let her eat the eggs.
"What are we doing today?" Sadie asked as she finished up and Blake looked at Miranda, who shrugged while she chewed.
"Well, it's our last day, so you get to pick." Blake told Sadie and she suddenly frowned.
"We have to go home?" She asked in a small voice, clearly disappointed and Blake nodded.
"But we still have one more day! Whatever you want to do Kiddo!" He tried to cheer her up and Sadie sighed, shifting the doll on her lap.
"I want to go to the beach." She declared, still sounding disappointed and Blake nodded.
When they were all done, Blake cleaned up the dishes while Miranda went to shower and get ready. When he had the plates drying on the dish rack, he looked down at Sadie, who was playing with her baby on the kitchen floor.
"Let's get you in a bathing suit!" Blake declared as he wiped his hands dry and Sadie looked up at him and raised her arms.
She was getting too old to be carried around, but Blake picked her up non the less and carried her in to her make-shift bedroom at the end of the short hallway. Once she was deposited on the bed, Sadie pulled her pyjamas off and stood up so Blake could shrug her in to her bathing suit. It was a red one piece with little white polka dots and ruffles around her butt. She hadn't needed it, but after arguing with her Mother at the mall, Miranda had bought it to keep her quiet.
Blake brushed the tangles out of her hair and slid sandals on her feet, but noticed that she wasn't her energetic self.
"You okay, Honey?" He asked when she was done brushing her teeth and Sadie looked up at him and nodded, but Blake saw through it.
"You go play while I go and find some swim shorts." Blake instructed and Sadie eyes got bigger and she held her arms up once again.
Blake sighed at her clinginess and lifted her up once more. He carried her in to their bedroom, where Miranda was out of the shower and dressed. She had a bathing suit on, but had covered herself up with a delicate white sun dress, not feeling comfortable enough to reveal herself.
Blake normally gave her a speech and encouraged her to wear just her bathing suit, but she's had a rough couple of days and he knew it was better to let it go and let her be. She smiled when her Husband came in to the room and dropped their Daughter on their bed.
Sadie bounced on to her butt and watched as Miranda threw things in to an oversized beach bag and Blake changed in to swim shorts and a grey t-shirt. When everyone was ready, Miranda held her hand out to grab Sadie's, but Sadie shook her head and wouldn't be lifted.
"I want Daddy." She insisted and Miranda raised her eyebrows. Blake didn't understand this sudden clinginess, but he didn't want a meltdown with Miranda feeling so down, so he lifted Sadie up and followed Miranda out towards the back door.
Blake was about to walk outside when Sadie suddenly grabbed his shoulder and got his attention.
"Wait! I want my baby!" She whined and Blake sighed as he headed back in to the house and grabbed Sadie's doll from her bedroom. He didn't understand why she was suddenly so attached to that doll.
Blake handed it to her and Sadie held on to her with one arm and Blake with the other as Blake headed back outside, where Miranda was waiting with all their things.
As they headed on to the beach, Blake moved to plant Sadie on her feet, but she whined as they touched the warm sand.
"No!" She argued and Miranda and Blake looked at each other with raised eyebrows. Sadie had been so well behaved all week, so they were surprised at the sudden attitude.
Blake kept on carrying her until Miranda found a spot that looked nice. The beach already had big umbrella's set up, so Miranda laid out the three towels and all three of them planted themselves on the ground, Sadie with her butt planted firmly on her Father's leg.
Miranda went in to her bag and pulled out the tube of sunscreen.
"Come here Babe, I don't want you to get burnt." She said to Sadie as she flicked open the lid and Sadie groaned in frustration.
She stood up and toddled over reluctantly. Miranda was just about to squirt some of the white liquid in to the palm of her hand, when Sadie snatched the tube and huffed back over to Blake. Miranda was surprised by Sadie's forcefulness and wasn't going to put up with it.
"Hey! Come back here!" She said quickly and Sadie scrunched her face up angrily, but turned back to look down at her Mother, her expression indicating that she clearly wasn't sorry.
"You do not snatch things off people. You need to quit this attitude." Miranda scolded and Sadie scowled.
"But I want Daddy to do it!" Sadie argued and Miranda sighed, confused and disappointed.
"Then there is a nicer way to go about it. Hand it back." She said firmly and Sadie sighed, but handed the tube back to her Mother.
Sadie stood and huffed while Miranda held her still with one hand and rubbed sunscreen over every part of her exposed skin with the other. When she was done, Miranda pulled the pale pink sunhat from her bag and Sadie shook her head.
"No, Mommy. I don't want it." She insisted with a whine in her voice and Miranda just ignored her, not in the mood to put up with her. She planted the hat on her head and tied it in a double knot below her chin so she would have a hard time taking it off.
When it was tied, Sadie tried to go back over to Blake, when Miranda grabbed both her little arms to hold her in place.
"Look at me. You need to cut it out. You've been such a good girl all week. Don't ruin it today, you understand?"
Sadie sighed, but nodded her head and muttered a small 'sorry'.
Miranda finally let her go and Sadie ran back over to Blake, so she could climb in to his lap. Blake let her cuddle in to him, but looked over at Miranda, unsure if he should lecture her or comfort her. Miranda just shrugged her shoulders and applied sunscreen to her own skin. Blake sighed. He could tell she wasn't in the mood to deal with Sadie right now, so he lifted Sadie up to her feet and grabbed the bucket and spade so they could play.
For most of the day, Blake played with Sadie in the sand, making castles and moats, occasionally taking a dip in the ocean to cool down, but Sadie seemed to get whiney each time they went in the waves.
At dinner time, Miranda looked at her phone and gasped when she saw the time. She had been napping in the slowly setting sun and hadn't realised how late it was getting. She could see that Blake had Sadie in the shade of another umbrella and Blake was building sandcastle while Sadie was playing with her doll next to him. Miranda was tired and didn't feel like cooking anything, so she took her purse out of her bag and made a short walk over to the busier part of the beach, where there were a few vendors at the beginning of the sand. She bought three hot dogs and three bottles of water, figuring everyone needed to re-hydrate.
Blake spotted her on the sand as she carried everything back over and stood up to brush the sand off his shorts.
"Come on Babe, let's have some dinner." He said as Sadie looked up at him and pouted.
She glanced over at her hot-dog-carrying Mother and stood up reluctantly. She took a few steps after Blake, before she sighed loudly and Blake tried not to lose his patience. He knew what Sadie wanted him to do, so he hooked the handle of the bucket over his forearm and lifted her up to sit on his hip.
Blake sat on the towel and Sadie made herself comfortable on top of him. When Miranda arrived back at the umbrella, she sat on the other towel and handed out everyone's dinner. When she handed Sadie her hot dog, Miranda kept a tight grip on the napkin and pointed to her lips. Sadie sighed, but leaned up to kiss her as a thank you. Blake repeated the gesture and the three of them sat in quiet solitude as they ate, Sadie's damp butt never once leaving the comfort of Blake's lap.
......
"No, Momma!" Sadie argued again, pushing Miranda away for the third time and Miranda groaned in frustration. She had read Sadie a story, but she was refusing to lie down to go to sleep.
"Stop it right now!" Miranda scolded, her voice louder in her annoyance.
Sadie scowled and when Miranda went to pull the covers up, Sadie once again protested, this time throwing her leg out and kicking Miranda in the stomach.
It didn't hurt with Sadie's small bare feet, but Miranda was shocked by her Daughter's sudden aggression. She stood there and stared with wide eyes as Sadie sulked on the bed. Miranda was just about to open her mouth when Blake intervened. He had walked over to the door just in time to see the kick and he knew he needed to step in. Miranda and Sadie both in a mood wouldn't get anyone anywhere.
"Hey!" Blake said loudly from the doorway and Sadie's scowl turned from her Mother to her Father.
"You okay?" Blake asked his wife and when she nodded, Blake quickly touched her hip and Miranda left to calm down.
Blake walked over to where Sadie was sitting up on the bed, her face scrunched up in anger. He stood over her for a second, but didn't like how small it made her look. He wanted to get his point across, but he didn't want to belittle or scare her. Instead, he sat on the bed, about two feet away.
"You need to quit this attitude." Blake said in a strong voice and Sadie looked at him. "I'm very disappointed in how you behaved today."
Blake noticed the slight change in Sadie's expression. She looked a little less angry and her eyes looked bigger, so he knew this was the right tactic.
"I'm very disappointed that you kicked Momma. You could have hurt her!"
Sadie frowned slightly and Blake kept on the way he was going, knowing Sadie was calming down and starting to think about what she had done.
"You need to apologise to Mom."
Sadie just nodded.
"Do you want to tell me what's wrong?" Blake offered, his voice a little more gentle, but not his usual care-free tone. He wanted Sadie to open up, but he was still annoyed with her.
"I don't wanna go home!" She whined and Blake sighed, pretty frustrated that she had been such a brat over something so trivial.
"Every vacation ends Sadie. That's no excuse to kick Mommy." He asserted and Sadie sighed, wanting him to know what she meant.
"I kicked Mommy because I wanted you." She told him frankly and Blake gave her his best stern look.
"That is no excuse. If you wanted me, you should have opened your mouth. You're a big girl now Sadie, you know better than to kick."
Blake waited for her to respond, but she just frowned and looked down at her lap. Blake wasn't sure what he was supposed to do. He noticed after a moment that Sadie's little shoulders were starting to shake and he sighed.
"Don't cry." He said, his voice calmer now. "You just need to tell Mommy you're sorry and start behaving."
Sadie sniffled and wiped her eyes with her hand, before she looked up at Blake. Blake wanted so much to scoop her up, but this was a teaching moment and he couldn't always be the good cop. Sometimes he needed to be a disciplinarian, even if he hated doing it.
"What will happen when we go home?" Sadie asked in a small voice, starting to play with her hands and Blake didn't understand.
"Well, we will unpack and see the dogs and the chickens. Don't you want to see all the animals?" Blake tried to question, but Sadie shook her head. He wasn't getting her point.
"But will you come home too or just Mommy and me?" She asked, he voice shaky and Blake's heart stopped.
"Oh, Honey." He whispered.
He knew how hard this had been on his Wife and he hated himself for putting her through it, but it hadn't really occurred to him that Sadie would be this deeply effected by it.
"Come here, Baby." He said gently. Discipline could wait, this was more important. Blake reached out and lifted Sadie on to his lap, so that she was facing him with her legs on either side of his hips.
"Of course I'm coming home with you and Mommy."
Sadie sniffled and looked up at him with big blue teary eyes.
"You won't go to work?" Sadie questioned and Blake closed his eyes while his hands squeezed her sides.
He was going to do everything in his power to be home with them. He knew he needed to be there and he knew Miranda was at her wits end. However, as their source of income, at some point he would have to go somewhere, if only for a night or two.
"Daddy will make sure he is home for you. I miss you too much when I can't tuck you in." Blake said softly and Sadie nodded, happy with that answer.
"You promise? I don't like when you go away." She told him and Blake frowned and kissed her forehead.
"I promise. I don't like it either Sweetie."
Sadie leaned up and wrapped her little arms around Blake's strong neck, her face burying itself in her shoulder while she stopped crying.
Blake squeezed her so tight he was worried he might hurt her. His face nuzzled her soft neck and he forced himself to take deep breaths to avoid the tears he could feel forming in the corners of his eyes.
"I'm sorry, Baby." He whispered, his voice hoarse. Sadie kissed his stubbly neck, making him smile.
When she hugged him like this, it reminded him how little she still was. Somebody so tiny needed their Daddy to take care of them and kiss them before they went to bed. He had some making up to do, but there was no way he could miss out on any more of these little moments.