Like Father, Like Daughter : The Story of the Prime Minister and His Daughter

Chapter 8

"Grandpa!" Carlton knelt down to scoop up his granddaughter Morgan just as she ran into his arms. "Oh, there's my princess," he said. "You know, there may be something for you sitting on the couch." Morgan gasped and bolted into the house as soon as he set her down.

"You don't have to keep buying her toys, dad," Dani gently reminded as she gave her dad a hug. He chuckled and told her, "I know, but what kind of grandfather would I be if I didn't spoil her?" Dani shook her head with a smile and followed him as he slowly went inside.

He was always slow nowadays.

They went into the living room, where Morgan was very happy with a new doll Carlton had just gotten today. "She's been looking forward to being here all week," Dani told him. He smiled and said, "Well, you know she's welcome over here anytime. I've got nothing going on these days."

She looked at him with a small smile, then asked, "Are you alright, dad?" He looked at her curiously and asked, "Why wouldn't I be?" She looked over to the dining room table where he had set up their lunch.

"You made an extra plate again," she softly pointed out. He sighed in annoyance, then picked up the extra plate. "I thought Ryan would be here, that's all," he lamely explained. "I forgot you told me he was still traveling."

He went slowly into the kitchen and stared at the plate in his hand. He was very confused on why it was there. Cassie. They're for Cassie. They're always for her. "Dad?" He jumped, then dropped the plate. "Shit," he said, "sorry."

She got him to back up and said, "It's okay, it's okay." She grabbed the broom and started sweeping it up. "Mommy," Morgan said, as she stood in the kitchen entry way, holding her doll. Dani pointed at her and said, "Don't come in here. Grandpa just had a little accident."

Carlton picked up Dani and said, "Grandpas get clumsy in their old age. Do you like your present?" She nodded with a huge smile and said, "I love it! Thank you, Grandpa." She hugged him around the neck, then placed a kiss on his cheek.

He set her down and watched as she ran off to go watch T.V.. When he turned back to the kitchen, Dani was eyeing him skeptically. "What's going on, dad?" She asked. He quirked an eyebrow and asked, "What do you mean?"

Sighing, she said, "I mean, something's up. You never leave the house, you always set out an extra plate setting, no matter if Ryan is here or not. You're forgetting the simplest things, like you're own birthday, what you were going to grab from upstairs...where you live."

Carlton sighed and sat himself down at the kitchen island. "I'm fine, Pumpkin. It's just...old age." With tears in her eyes, she went over to him and said, "No it's not. You're not even that old, dad. Let me take you to our family doctor, he can check you out."

He got himself to stand up as quickly as his body would allow and said, "No, Dani. I told you, I'm fine. Now, I suggest we all start eating before Morgan gets cranky. I raised you, so I know how she gets like her mum."

Dani didn't find that amusing because she was so focused on how he's gotten slower since the last she saw him. That was only last week.

"Dad, how is it you move like this?" She asked. "You exercised everyday, you were an olympic runner. You were the healthiest man alive in my book. Now you can barely walk." Carlton ignored her and called, "Morgan, lunch is ready!"

Morgan came running in and sat herself next to Carlton. "I made your favorite," he told her. "Ham and cheese with crusts cut off, cut into triangles." Morgan gasped in delight and dug in. Dani ate while keeping an eye on her father.

Throughout lunch, Carlton had Morgan laughing up a storm from his impressions and jokes. He showed her the water bottle trick that Dani always begged him to do when she was Morgan's age.