The Beach House • JB

CHAPTER ONE

˚˚˚
DECISIONS DECISIONS
( CHAPTER ONE )
❝HOW MANY EPISODES OF GOSSIP GIRL DID YOU WATCH TO GATHER THAT INFORMATION?❞

˚˚˚

"Papa! One more story?"

Winnie's father, Julian, laughed and looked at her stand on her tippy toes to display to him the next book she wanted him to read to her — even though he'd just finished Sleeping Beauty.

"¿Quieres escuchar a otro, mi luz del sol?"
(You want to hear another one, my sunshine?)

Winnie nodded her head so quickly that her beautiful dark brown curls bounced, along with her bangs as she heard her father laugh again and take the book from her grasp.

"Okay."

Winnie squealed excitedly as her father bent to her level and picked her up to place her small body under the sheets of her pink princess bed while he pulled up the wooden rocking chair he always sat in for story time.

"Escondido, mi luz del sol?"
(Tucked in, my sunshine?)

Winnie gasped and quickly scattered her sheets so that she was tucked in as her father watched with a warm smile on his lips.

"Done."

"Okay, let's begin. . ."

And so he did.

He read the story to Winnie just like he always did, making sure to use the same voices and the same facial expressions to intrigue Winnie into a book she's heard a thousand times before.

"And they all lived. . .Feliz para siempre."
(Happily ever after)

"Again! Again, Papa!"

"No más, mi luz del sol, necesitas dormir."
(No more, my sunshine, you need to sleep)

Winnie whimpered as she saw her father rise up from his wooden rocking chair and placed it back into the corner it came from as Winnie hopped up onto her knees on her mattress.

"Papa, I want to be like those people."

"What people?"

"The ones that make my books, Papa."

Julian smiled and nodded as he turned back around to Winnie's somewhat tall pink shelf full of books that she liked to read or she had yet to read.

"You mean an author, my sunshine. . .," Julian murmured softly when he placed the book onto the shelf neatly and turned to Winnie seeing her wide smile. "You want to make books?"

Winnie nods. "Everyone deserves a happy ending, Papa."

Julian let a small smile come to his lips as he just stood there and looked at Winnie for a moment — mostly processing her words she had just uttered. For being just six years old, Winnie was very intelligent.

"If you want to be an author, my sunshine. . .Ten valor y se valiente."
(Have courage and be brave)

Winnie smiled up at her father seeing his big brown eyes look down into her beautiful doughy one's momentarily before reaching down to kiss her smooth forehead.

"Get some sleep, my sunshine."

"Night, Papa. . ." Winnie murmured softly with a yawn following behind it as her father opened the door to her room and turned around to face her.

He gave her one last smile and placed his palm to his lips and kissed it before moving his hand outward to Winnie as her eyelids slowly began to droop.