He opened his eyes and looked down into Marisol’s concerned eyes. She was biting at her lip worriedly, shifting her weight from foot to foot. She was wearing a pair of yoga pants and her cute cat hoodie.
“Are you okay, Daddy?”
“Marisol, what did Daddy tell you about all the packages?” he asked in a low voice.
She looked down at her feet. “That I wasn’t to open them until you got home.”
“And so why have all the packages been opened? Why are you playing with your crafting stuff?”
“I’m sorry, Daddy. I finished Caley’s story and then I got bored. And the packages were just sitting there, going, ‘Open me, Marisol. Open me.’ I swear, they spoke to me.”
“The packages spoke to you?”
“Uh-huh.”
“That’s the excuse you’re going with?”
“It’s not an excuse. It’s the honest truth.”
“Honest. Truth.” He placed his palm over her forehead. “You don’t have a temperature. But if you’re hearing voices, I think I best check properly.”
“Properly?” she asked.
“Uh-huh. The only proper way to take a Little’s temperature is to use a rectal thermometer. Take your pants off and bend over the couch, I’ll be back in a moment.”
“No! I don’t have a temperature, the packages didn’t talk to me. I made it up.”
He crossed his arms over his chest. “You’re in trouble, little girl.”
Uh-oh.
“I’m sorry, Daddy. Once I got started, I just couldn’t stop.”
“You shouldn’t have even started, should you?” he said sternly.
“No, Daddy. You’re not going to punish me, are you?” she asked in a small voice.
“Do you think you deserve to be punished?”
Damn him. She couldn’t lie. But answering honestly was going to land her in trouble.
What was a girl supposed to do?
She didn’t want to be punished.
Don’t you?
Crap. She was all messed up.
“You boxed me in neatly,” she muttered.
He gave a huff of laughter. “Why, teeny, whatever do you mean?”
She gave him a dirty look and his eyebrows rose. “Uh-uh, watch out or the wind might change and your face will end up like that.”
Marisol rolled her eyes, crossing her arms across her chest. “That’s not true, Daddy.”
“It is. Happened to a baby girl I knew. She was grouchy because her Daddy wouldn’t buy her an ice cream. The wind changed and that poor girl now has a permanent frown.”