"Twenty-six, twenty-seven, twenty-eight, twenty-nine, THIRTY!! READY OR NOT HERE I COME! I'M GONNA FIIIIND YOU...AND...MAKE YOU LOVE ME!"
He giggled at his own little ditty.
High in the clouds as a father, Prince snickered quietly, tiptoeing around, even holding his breath at times, hoping to not give away his location.
It was fun; but he was also on a losing streak, five losses. While he didn't mind, it was making his psyche ache maybe just a little, but he would do anything to make his daughter smile.
Allie was hiding with Asher strapped to her in a sling so she was firm with Prince that she was to be given more time to hide.
Ana was beating him and he loved it. She lived in Disney princess dresses, and when she wasn't wearing one of those, she was fashioned in a gorgeous dress Prince had made for her.
"Daddy mad he's whoosing mommy?" Ana inquired softly. "Daddy don't like how the cookie cuuumbles?"
"Shhh Ana...or daddy will find us and then we'll be it." Allie giggled.
Ana was sometime too considerate for her age. "Maybe we should let him find us so he stops bevvy aching."
Allie loved how Ana had a hard time with the letter L.
"You wanna be it?" Allie questioned Ana.
"I don yike to be...but daddy doesn't either.
Prince didn't even think to look in some places, like the old telephone stations on the first floor across from his office and at the very top of the stairs. These locations permitted Ana to see Prince depart from the reception desk easily, which was homebase. But she also liked to have her mother within eyeshot.
Until she wasn't.
Once hearing her father bellow, "I'm hot on some baby tush tail!" This caused Ana to bolt one way as her mother went the other. Ana thought her daddy meant Asher when he mentioned baby tush. Ultimately, this left Ana alone and a little scared.
Separation anxiety has been an issue since Ana was adopted by the Nelsons'. But she was getting better at managing it.
Trying to keep in mind still, a saying her parents taught her, "Being scared just means you're about to do something really really brave." The more Ana thought about it, the more she realized this was an opportunity to explore the areas she had never been in before.
"Aisley Ark is in yourrrr heart." She sang with a quiver in her voice to calm her nerves and hide her uncertainty.
Surely Ana could have turned back, but she was interested in a little adventure in a controlled environment of her father's happiest place.
Tentatively, the door creaked open as a hand covered muffled yelp jumbled from her. It was spooky in the dark, zillions of peculiar obscurities all at different heights and widths.
An exhale could be heard, if there had been anyone there to hear it.
Mouth ajar, plump cheeks and the cutest baby pout, Ana's big eyes were transfixed on the shadows that bounced as her chubby no knuckle hand gently patted the wall in search of a lightswitch.
Click.
The harsh fluorescent light revealed what she considered to be a most playful room, populated with hats and her father's various personalities personified in the smallest and largest graphics. The collection of images were along the wall and propped against short and tall stacks of hat boxes.
"DADDY!" Her tiny heart raced with excitement as eyes darted from hats to pictures of her father. She never realized her dad had so many different looks, hairstyles and hats.
Slowly her chin dropped further to rest in her upper chest giving her a double chin most grownups detest but on her was the cutest. Analyzing each portrait intently, she whispered her thoughts again with no one to hear her conclusion.
"Whyyyyy you so angry daaaadddy?"
Captivated by her father's appearance she interpreted his sexy and seductive expressions as grumpy and mean. In some she even detected some sadness.
Hesitantly, Ana took a few steps in unconsciously dropping her Curious George plush to the floor and attempting to grab a hat.
It was large, downright heavy for her to tip off the mannequin display head. The rich burgundy velvet had a large brim and was smooth to the touch. Accented heavily with various colored feathers that tickled her nose when she stutter stepped backwards, losing her balance trying to support it. [Can you guess which hat this is?]
Thudding to the floor on her bottom that was no longer padded with a diaper she winced at the jarring movement. Quickly distracted with wanting to place it on her head, she did and found herself enveloped in a heap of darkness until its weight caused her to gasp and then topple over onto the enormous brim. Her laughter filled the room prior to her inspection of the hat.
Steadying herself, she crawled out from under it, dashed her hands to her face peeking through her fingers and noticing the bent brim sustained in her fall.
"Uuuuuhooooooh!"
Repetitively patting the brim it eventually rebounded to its former shape causing Ana to sigh in relief. She did not want a mad daddy.
Eyes drawn back to the attention of the full room, Ana was sucked into the maze of varying heights of pillars supporting a displayed hat. As she weaved in between the columns, she continued to view the parade of millinery.
Spotting something that struck her fancy, she toddled between the pedestals arriving at her next choice.
The form and structure is what drew her in. Beautifully and mysteriously sloped, the heavy, smooth felt's architecture was most intriguing. It reminded her of the pictures in her Alice in Wonderland book which she so loved to hear her father's mellifluous voice tender during their afternoon and bed storytimes.
Delicately, Ana's fingers brushed along the wide matte ribbon tightly tied into the perfect bow.
Squealing with delight, she flipped this more manageable hat onto her head and meandered the room dramatically reciting quotes from her favorite book.
"'Who in the world am I?' Ah, that's the great puzzzzzle!"
Perilously she recounted barely avoiding pillars as she continued.
“Curiouser and curiouser!” She howled loudly popping the hat with both hands off her head relishing in what seemed to be the most alluring hat of all.
She wanted to abandon the hat like a misfit toy of Christmas as Ana laid her eyes on her father's image wearing what she considered the ultimate head covering. It looked like you could cuddle with it.
It reminded her of one of her favorite…
A light rap on the door startled Ana as she turned to face her father in the doorway. Prince could see the image she was favoring.
After a hard swallow, her eyes met his expressionless face. A step backward and then another, Ana's nervousness caused her to release the sloped hat and Prince's eyes followed it to the floor.
"Ana...you know your mother is looking for you. You shouldn't be on your own."
Undoubtedly, she thought her father was angry. Having never seen him angry before she worried about what might happen.
Would he yell?
Should she prepare for a spanking?
Prince picked up her Curious George plush and took a step toward her.
Smart as a whip, Ana prayed that her cuteness would be her father's downfall.
Prince watched those long raven eyelashes pat the lowers and her pout quivering uncontrollably ready to cry.
"I guess this means I'm 'it' huh?" Tears flowing effortlessly down her cheeks.
Ana didn't know if his deadpan expression was regarding the game that she had forgotten or her playing with his hats and in a room she definitely shouldn't be in.
To be continued...
Is Prince mad? What else might little Ana discover in this room? Can't wait to share the rest of what my mind had conjured up in this snippet.
Good morning friends! I didn't want you to think I have forgotten you because I haven't!!! I have this chapter and one in 4EVER and When She Comes halfway drafted and I wanted to give you a little something until I got them finished. Thanks for your patience and sticking with me. I hope you enjoyed peeking in on Prince and Allie...more to come in this little story snippet. 💜💋 Isa