Flashbacks [Phan]

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Dan was forty six.

In his hand was a stuffed purple dog, which he moved back and forth awkwardly across the floor, wondering what he was supposed to be doing with it. Beside him sat Harmony, a stuffed blue unicorn in one hand and a toy tiger with a missing leg in the other.

"Hello Mister Dog," she made the tiger say as it walked up to Dan's toy.

"Uh... hi," Dan made the dog reply, wondering where this could possibly be going.

"I'm a tiger," it said through Harmony's giggles. "Do you know what tigers do, Mister Dog?"

"No. What do tigers do to dogs, Mister Tiger?"

"Daaaaaaddy," she whined, stopping the game and picking the toys up to look at him in annoyance. "How many times have I told you, Miss Tiger is a girl!"

"Oh right, sorry," Dan quickly apologized as she continued to glare at him. "And sorry to Miss Tiger too," he added after a moment.

"Good. Miss Tiger accepts your apology."

"That's a relief," Dan said, struggling not to roll his eyes as his daughter.

They continued to play for a little while, until suddenly Phil came in and sat down next to Dan. "This looks fun," he said, smiling. "Sorry to interrupt it, but it's time for lunch. If you'd like, you can bring your friends here down to eat with us." He gestured to the toys the two were holding, including Dan's, and got up to head back to the kitchen.

"Yay!" Harmony squealed, grabbing the tiger and unicorn off their places on the floor and running out of her room. By the time Dan arrived in the kitchen, she was already seated at the table, a bowl of pasta in front of her. When he entered, she looked at him for a moment before asking, "did you bring Mister Dog?"

"Uh... Mister Dog said he was very comfortable where he was, and didn't want to come down to eat with us," he told her, earning a glare from both her and Phil.

"Go get Mister Dog," she told him firmly. "Now."

"Alright, I'm going," he assured her while turning and running back upstairs. Once there, he quickly grabbed the toy and brought it back down to the kitchen, where he placed it at the end of the table in front of an empty bowl and cup, evidently set up specifically for it.

"Here you go Mister Dog. Eat up!" Harmony said while leaning over and dipping her fork into the empty bowl, then lifting it to the dog's mouth and pretending it was eating whatever invisible food was on the utensil.

Dan took his seat and watched her, laughing a bit at her antics and smiling to himself as she played. Everything was perfect.