Before Elodie was born, I would be up at this time, if not earlier, but I was finding it difficult to wake up so early these days.
I wasn’t the single man I had been three years ago, with the world at my fingertips.
I was a father, with the weight of the world on my shoulders—a weight I’d gladly carried for her.
“Are you ready to go back to school?” I asked her, school being her daycare. We had just gotten back from a small vacation with my mom, and I knew Elodie loved seeing everyone, especially because we didn’t have another toddler in the family and all the attention shone on her.
She frowned, and my heart pinched. Elodie might be my spitting image, but her expressions were all her mother’s, something I didn’t discover until about two months ago when she first started to grow more into her features.
“No. Lodie with Daddy.”
“Daddy has to work.”
She shook her head. “No.”
No was her favorite word.
“Elodie. Be good for Daddy, okay?”
She pouted, and I knew before I saw the tears forming in her eyes that I was in for it.
“Lodie don’t wanna!” She let out a wail that just about shook the Earth. Or something like that.
I let out a small sigh, hushing her and cradling her close to my chest. “Hush now, princess. If you’re good, I’ll bring back a treat tonight, okay?”
She perked up instantly. “Treat?”
I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. Those tears sure dried up real quick. “Yes. How about some ice cream after dinner while we watch Despicable Me?”
Her eyes lit and she practically jumped on my lap. “Promise, Daddy?”
“Promise,” I said, holding out my pinkie. She hooked it with her tiny one and shot another smile my way.
Pinkie promises were sacred. She knew I would never break a pinky promise.
I knew I really shouldn’t reward bad behaviors, but I was hoping she’d outgrow her terrible twos soon, and right now it was all about picking which battles I wanted to win, and this wasn’t it.
I pulled her close to my body, taking in her baby scent as I kissed her head. She sighed and wrapped her tiny arms around me.
“I love you, Daddy.”
“I love you, too, baby girl.”
This right here made all those sleepless nights, those tantrums and crankiness, all those worries that I was fucking it up, all worth it.
I would do anything for her, even cut off my own fucking arm, and that was all there was to it.
* * *
I tooka sip of my coffee as I watched the city I loved wake up before my eyes.
A little past eight, and things in the company were already busy.
Busy was good.
Busy meant the company was thriving, something I didn’t think would happen three years ago.
A company was only as good as its reputation, and three years ago, Alan screwed us over and our reputation was in tatters. I didn’t think I would be able to save it.