Oh, How Lovely~ Lams

5.

"Come on, Princess. You have to go to the doctor today." Alex smiled, helping her with her hair. Before her passing, Eliza always did Alex's hair. Once she died, he had to learn how to do hair. The first couple months, Frances's hair was always down and only partly brushed. Now, he could braid several different styles and did ponytails without them looking messy.

"Do you want to wear pig tails or braids, baby?" Alex asked, brushing her hair gently. She had thick, soft hair like Eliza's.

"Umm" Frances thought, bouncing a bit in her spot. "I want braids!" She decided.

Alex smiled, kissing her cheek. "Alright, baby girl." He laughed, brushing her hair a bit more before beginning two French braids in her hair.

Frances seemed even more hyperactive today, not being able to sit still and focus on the show that was turned on for her.

"There we go. My beautiful girl is all ready!" Alex smiled, picking her up and holding her above his head. Frances fell into a fit of giggles.

Alex laughed, bringing her down and kissing her cheek several times. Frances giggled happily, squeezing her cheek to her shoulder.

"I love you, daddy!" Frances giggled.

"I love you, Fannie Bell!" Alex smiled, kissing her nose. Alex held her closing, standing up and going to the door, making sure to have Frances's stuffed bunny.

"Do you wanna go to Starbucks before the doctor, baby?" Alex asked, grabbing his keys and wallet.

"Yes!" Frances squealed, clapping her hands.

Alex laughed a bit, smiling. "Okay, Princess." He hummed, putting her in her car seat,buckling her in. He kissed her nose gently, to which Frances kissed Alex's nose back.

Alex closed the door, getting in himself and turning on the radio, putting on a playlist that he made of Frances's favorite songs. He enjoyed listening to Frances sing the songs, even if she sometimes just mumbled because she didn't know the words.

Alec pulled into Starbucks, going through the drive through. "Do you want a pink drink or a dragon fruit refresher?" He asked, not wanting to give her any caffeine before her appointment.

"Umm... Pink Drink!" Frances decided, clapping her hands.

"Okay, baby." Alex smiled, driving up to the microphone. "Hello, can I get a tall pink drink and a venti black coffee?" He said.

"I want a cake pop!" Frances whined.

"Yeah, I said black coffee. Can I get two sugars on the side."

"Daddy!" Frances started kicking her feet. "I want a cake pop!" She whined louder.

"I hear you baby, give me a minute." Alex said to Frances.

"Yes, and can I get a birthday cake pop?" He said to the speaker. "I'm sorry sir, but we are currently out of the birthday cake pops."

"Any cake pop is fine," Alex sighed. He pulled up when instructed, paying for the drink and giving the barista a few dollars as a tip. Alex could be rude at times to minimum wage workers but he always gave tips, even for places where they weren't encouraged. He just came off as an asshole.

"Here, baby." Alex said, turning back and handing Frances her drink and cake pop. He put his drink down before rolling up his window and leaving the drive through.

"Thank you daddy." Frances said, drinking her small drink.

"You're welcome, honey." Alex said, leaning back a bit as he drove to the doctors office. Once there, he got Frances out, carrying her in. He signed them in, grabbing the paper work.

"Here, honey. Watch tv on daddy's phone." Alex said, getting his phone out and opening the Disney+ app.

"Okay, daddy." Frances said, taking the phone and turning on Doc McStuffins." She leaned on Alex's side, face covered in chocolate from her cake pop.

Alex filled out the paper work, listing his worries about Frances. He put the clipboard in his lap, wrapping his arms around Frances and waiting.

Once they were called back, Alex held her hand and walked with her to the back. They took her weight and height, then taking her to a doctors office. They took her blood pressure, checked her ears, nose, and mouth. Then, the nurse left.

"Do I have dance today, daddy?" Frances asked.

"No, baby girl. We had to skip it because of the doctors! But we can go and get some lunch after! Is that good?" Alex asked, sitting in the chair in the office. "Okay, daddy." Frances nodded before the doctor came in.

"There's Frances!" Dr. Nathaniel Pendleton smiled. He had been her doctor since she was born and lately, she had gone to the doctors a lot.

"Dr. P!" Frances squealed. "It looks like you had some chocolate today." The doctor laughed, getting a wet wipe and wiping her face.

"How're you?" The doctor asked. "How is dance?"

"I can do my front ariel!" Frances giggled.

"Oh my! You're just getting so much bigger every time I see you!" Nathaniel laughed. Frances giggled and nodded.

"Alright, Frances. Hold out this arm for me." Nathaniel said, tapping her left arm.

"How has she been on it, Mr. Hamilton?" Nathaniel asked, motioning for Frances to move her fingers.

"The arm seems like it's getting better. She complains that the arm itself hurts from time to time but she does dance on it a lot." Alex explained.

"And her fingers?" Nathaniel asked, taking not of how Frances's hand move.

"She seems to struggle with moving them sometimes. Like, she can't tie her shoes alone still. She struggles holding things with that hand sometimes. Like yesterday she spilled a milkshake all in the car because she couldn't grab it from me." Alex explained, biting his lip.

Nathaniel nodded. "Okay." He said. "Her physical therapist has been in contact with me." He explained.

"As you know, it's been almost a year since the accident. We were predicting a ninty five percent recovery by the twelfth month mark," Nathaniel explained. Alex nodded, knowing of this.

"However, she is recovering at a much slower rate. Actually, she's only about sixty percent recovered in nerve movement. This is a worry because if it doesn't start to recover any quicker, she may never get past sixty percent function in this hand." Nathaniel explained.

Alex swallowed hard, nodding. "Okay, so what can we do?" He asked.

"We have two options. We can increase therapy to three times a week for the next seven months and hope it gets better." Nathaniel stated.

"Or, there is a surgery that would repair the damaged nerves-"

"Well that's good, why don't we do that?" Alex interrupted.

"Well, there is a chance that this surgery could make the nerve functions in her hand worse." Nathaniel explained.

"How big of a chance?" Alex asked, chewing the inside of his cheek.

"A forty five percent chance."

Alex went silent for a minute, looking over at Frances.

"You don't have to decide now. We can increase therapy for the next three months and if there is no increase in nerve function, we are going to recommend the surgery. If you till feel uncomfortable with her doing so, she does not have to." Nathaniel explained.

"I'll call you to set up extra therapy days. I'm gonna set another appointment for two weeks from Thursday. I want to do a check up on her head."

Alex nodded. "Okay, we will be here. Thank you, Dr. Pendleton." He said, picking up Frances as she enjoyed the lollipop she was given.