Motel 6 // n.h

[42] Realization

  Niall Horan

  Three days later

  "Daddy, wake up!" Aimee's tiny voice interrupted my slumber. I groaned and rolled over on my stomach, and a few seconds later felt a shooting pain through my back as she jumped on me, giggling all the while.

  "Fine, I'm up." I grumbled, sitting up in bed. Aimee was wearing yellow underwear (that was how the color was supposed to be, she hadn't wet herself) and looked like the tried to comb her hair down. She gave me the biggest grin known to man as she leaps on me once more.

  "How long've you been up?" I asked, scratching my head.

  "Twelve-dy ten hours." Aimee decided. I laughed and scooped her up in my arms, tickling her and making her squirm, trying to get my mind off of the pain in my heart.

  "Well, then. Have ya seen your uncles yet?" I asked. Another thing- once Ave's parents found out she went missing, they left. They were with Sam, getting search parties going all around the country. Some may say it was extreme, but we needed to find her.

  "Uh-huh. Zaynie gave me candy but I already eated it up." Aimee frowns. "I want my candy."

  I smiled and got out of bed, hoisting my sweatpants a bit higher since they were starting to sink lower on my hips. The clock read 9:41, so it really wasn't that late. I wish I could have slept longer.

  Sleeping was the only time that I felt okay. I could slip into subconsciousness and forget about my heartache and worry. When I was asleep, I was oblivious of all the pains of this world. I wasn't aware of how much I was hurting, and it was my time of escaping from this personal hell I was in.

  But a part of sleeping is waking up. For the first few seconds, your mind is innocent. You can't really remember much, but then the memories and thoughts start to fade back in and you realize that this life your living is causing you pain. The feeling of realizing that you had to face the world makes you want to break down.

  But I couldn't. I had to keep Aimee under the impression that everything was alright, and that's what I continued to do. So far, all she knew was that she was visiting a friend for a week. Since she didn't know how long a week was, I planned on keeping the act up for at least two, maybe three. But she was little, not stupid. She'd catch on soon enough.

  So far, I was terrible at this job. Aimee had already thrown two fits in which I'd gotten kicked. I was afraid to discipline her, too, because I was afraid of hurting her feelings. Liam took care of the discipline for me, keeping it simple and giving her time outs.

  "Can we play?" Aimee asked in my arms. We were in the bathroom, and I was combing through my hair. She was tracing her little fingers on my skin, and all of a sudden I felt a sting on my chest.

  "Ow! What'd ya do that for!?" I asked, holding onto my chest. Aimee roared with laughter and held up a tiny blonde hair. It was only then that I realized she'd pulled a chest hair out. "That's not nice, missy." I said, but ended up laughing anyways.

  "Then why are you laughing?" She challenged. Dang, I really was terrible at parenting. Couldn't even keep a straight face to scold her. 

  "Just, don't do that again alright?" I warned. Aimee dropped my chest hair and it fluttered to the floor. Then, she squirmed out of my grasp and tried to find it while I brushed my teeth. She was a funny one, that Aimee.