♡ 𝐒𝐎𝐔𝐋-𝐓𝐀𝐍𝐆𝐋𝐄𝐃 ♡

43: 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘨𝘰? ★

"Daddy! Daddy! Daddy! Daddy!"

I groan, flipping over and squishing my face into the pillow.

"Excuse me, sir," she scoffs. "Wake up!"

I groan again, taking my face out of the pillow and turning to Elvi, slowly peeling my eyes open. "What baby?"

She sits on her knees, a huge, excited smile on her face with her eyes wide and shimmery. "I want ice cream. So, p-please, please, pl-please, take me to g-get some," she begs with her hands clasped together.

"Love, it's like 9 in the morning. You need to eat breakfast first," I inform.

I sit up, pushing my hair back with my hand and running it over my face, wiping the drowsiness away.

She looks up at me, her eyes now filled with a little sadness and disappointment. 

"But w-we can go a-after right?" She softly asks, reaching for my hand.

I grab her hand, pulling her closer to me, and give her a soft kiss on her cheek and by the corner of her lips. "Of course, darling. We can invite everyone else too, yeah?"

She hums in response. Looking down at our intertwined hands, she brings them up to her lips, giving the back of mine a soft little kiss.

"So cute," I whisper to her. Her face again blushes, her nose even turning a little pink. "Go get dressed, little baby."

She nods her head, crawling to the edge of the bed and sliding off. "Hi, kitty," she whispers to Appolo who sits on the couch. She scoops her up and takes her to the closet.

~

I cut up Elvi's pancake for her, waiting for her to come downstairs. Atticus and Lennox sit on the opposite side of the table, both being oddly quiet.

"What is it?" I question, putting the fork down, crossing my arms over my chest, and looking at them.

"What?"

They both look up at me, eyebrows furrowed together in confusion. 

"You're being quiet," I elaborate. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Atticus mutters, messing with the syrup on his plate. Lennox stays silent, not making eye contact either.

"You guys suck at lying."

Atticus lets out a sigh, finally looking back up at me. "We're scared everyone's gonna get tired of us and want us to leave. And we have nowhere else to go, Alek. We can't live without you again."

My face turns into a frown.

"You know I'll never let that happen. Heck, Elvi would never let that happen. She loves you guys. So does everyone else, so you don't need to be scared or worried about that, okay?"

"Yeah, okay," Atticus replies in an unsure tone.

I wipe my slightly sweaty palms on my pants. "I, uh, I love you guys," I awkwardly say, making their heads snap up.

A smile breaks out on both their lips. "I love you too." "I, uh love you too." They say at the same time.

"Aww. Y-you guys are so c-cute!" Elvi exclaims, plopping down into the chair next to me. "I l-love all of y-you too."

She slides her plate over to her, looking over at me and taking notice of my outfit.

"W-we kinda match," she says, smiling at me.

"Mhm, you're so beautiful, darling," I reply, giving her a slow kiss on her lips.