Bound to Forever - Book ll

Evie's Humor

Simon's Point of View:

"Rise and shine, love," I smiled down at Evie, gently pulling her hair out of her face.

"Dada, she won't wake up." Jacob snickered next to me.

"Sure she will. She just has your mum's sleeping habits," I chuckled, now pulling the blanket away from her face. "Sunshine, you and your brother have some baby chicks to check on before you go for the day."

"No!" She groaned, turning her face away from me, but it was the cutest temper tantrum in the world.

"Need I remind you that you were the one who begged your dear old dad to buy you baby chickens because you decided you didn't want to live without them."

This child had Kiera's sleeping habits down to a T, and I knew that Evie was ecstatic to tend to her little baby chickens as I knew the gleam in her eye was genuine. She just wasn't too genuine about getting up early in the morning.

And I guess my toxic trait was waking them up at six-thirty a.m. just so they could get their morning chores done.

"Sissa, daddy said that if you don't get up, he's going to let me have your favorite chicken as my own—"

"—No, he didn't!" She shouted, suddenly shooting up in the bed, her hair ajar with a single strand sticking straight up like an alfalfa leaf.

"Teach me your strategy, lad," I chuckled, gladly returning his fist bump while he smiled at me. God, this boy was a spitting image of me, except the only difference was that he was completely innocent and would never experience what I did when I was his age. He was never going to have a father that traumatized him with exotic animals, never have a father who laid a hand of him, never have a father that ruined his self-image and confidence, never have a father who would make him watch a drug deal, never have a father who will make him watch a prostitute overdose and die right in front of him. Instead, he will have a father that will teach him the rules of life, how to love with his heart, to protect the women in the family, and to be the opposite of me.

And I was grateful that I was the one to teach him that.

"Go brush your teeth and put on clothes you don't mind getting dirty, yeah?"

"Okay, dada."

"And make sure you brush for longer than two minutes. Putting paste on your brush and sliding it over your teeth for two seconds doesn't count."

"I-I don't do that. Sissa does, though."

"You're not telling me anything that I don't already know," I chuckled. "Looks like I have to keep doing everything for her, yeah?"

"At least you do, because I'm not." He scoffed playfully, rolling those hazel eyes of his and making his way to the bathroom.

"Daddy? Can you brush my hair?" Evie hummed at me, her dry breath fanning across my face as I helped her out of the bed, letting her little hand grasp mine as her feet slowly made their way to the floor, one sock missing off of her left foot, per usual.

"After you get yourself ready and make your bed."

"But my bed looks fine!"

"You may think so, but that bed is not made, lass."

"Who decided that getting up in the morning is a good idea?" She grumbled.

"I don't know, love. I guess it's just in our nature. We all like being productive."

"What time do you get up in the morning, daddy?"

"I used to get up at three." I shrugged.

"Why?!"