Total pages in book: 32
Estimated words: 31777 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 159(@200wpm)___ 127(@250wpm)___ 106(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 31777 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 159(@200wpm)___ 127(@250wpm)___ 106(@300wpm)
Well, for her anyway.
Finally, the blanket freed her from its evil clutches and she ran to him. He picked her up, swinging her around before settling her against his chest.
“Hello there,” he murmured, kissing her. “I missed you.”
She snuggled into him with a sigh. “Missed you too, Daddy.”
“What were you up to? Watching a Christmas movie?”
“Yep. And drinking some tea. Do you want something? Did you eat dinner?”
“I’m good, my girl,” he told her as he sat with her on his lap. As she stared up at him, he brushed the hair back off her face. “You look tired. You should have gone to bed.”
She pouted. “But I wanted to see you. Besides, I’m too excited to sleep!”
He grinned. “Yeah? And why are you excited? Was it because I was coming home?”
“No!”
His eyes widened with mock-surprise as he placed his hand on his chest. “What? No? It wasn’t because you wanted to see me?”
“Silly Daddy! I always want to see you,” she told him, realizing her mistake. “But I’m just excited about going to Southampton tomorrow. For Christmas!” She threw her hands up into the air as he chuckled.
“I know, my girl. I was just teasing. But that doesn’t mean that you won’t be getting some sleep tonight.” He gave her a stern look. “I want you nice and rested for traveling tomorrow.”
She sighed. “I’ll try, Daddy. It’s going to be tough, though. It’s only three sleeps until Santa arrives.”
“Yes, that’s three sleeps that you still have to behave yourself, otherwise Santa might not bring you any gifts.”
“But that’s so unfair! I’ve been so good the rest of the year, I must have banked up lots of good girl points. Surely I can be a little bit naughty and still get my gifts from Santa.”
Like not telling Daddy about her upset tummy this morning.
It wasn’t really that big of a deal, right?
Well. She didn’t think so. And, hopefully, Santa didn’t think so either.
Because she really wanted these gold sparkly shoes that she’d seen. And when she’d written her letter to Santa, she’d asked him for them.
Surely, Santa would understand.
Her bladder gave an urgent signal.
Shoot. She hated having a nervous bladder. She scratched at her cheek nervously.
Gray grasped hold of her hand and drew it away from her cheek. “Is everything all right, my girl?”
Shoot. Now he was going to sense something was wrong!
“I’m just hoping that everyone likes their gifts.”
Urgh.
Idiot.
She was making things worse by lying to him.
“Of course they will.” Gray tapped her nose. “And you’ve got to keep being good. Is there anything you need to tell Daddy?”
She shook her head. Nope. She wasn’t telling him anything. And Santa would never know.
Right?
Well, she hoped not.
Because those gold, sparkly shoes were extra super-duper cute. And she really, really needed them.
“Come on, then,” Gray said. “Let’s get you to bed.”
“But the movie isn’t over yet!” she protested.
He shot her a stern look.
“However, I suppose I should be getting to bed,” she said reluctantly as he stood with her in his arms.
“Did you get all your work done today, my precious girl?” he asked.
Maeve sighed and snuggled into him. Her eyes were drifting shut. Seemed she was more tired than she’d thought.
“Uh-huh,” she said sleepily. “I got it all done. Dahlia came and helped me. Oh, she gave us a Christmas gift each.”
Gray groaned as he set her down on the bed. He placed his hands on his hips as he stared down at her. “Do I want to know what it is?”
Maeve bit her lip to stop herself from laughing. “Probably not.”
“Great,” he grumbled. “It’s a sweater, isn’t it? She knitted me another sweater.”
“Um, maybe.”
He rolled his eyes heavenward. “This is obviously punishment for all of the bad things I’ve done in my life.”
“It’s not that bad.” She couldn’t hold in her giggle.
Oops. She really needed to pee now.
“The way you just let out an evil laugh tells me otherwise,” he said to her with a frown.
“That was not an evil laugh!” she protested. “That was my normal laugh.”
“Nope, that was an evil laugh. Do you need to pee?” he asked.
“Umm,” she replied.
Shoot. He knew all too well that she had a nervous bladder. And it didn’t help that she’d been holding on for a while. “Yep! Gotta go!” She attempted to run to the toilet, but he simply picked her up and cradled her against his chest as he carried her to the toilet.
After she’d used the bathroom – and boy was that a relief – he helped her clean up before turning her to him with a stern look on his face.
Uh-oh.
“Did you lie to me before when I asked you if you needed to go to the bathroom?” he asked.
Double uh-oh.
“I just needed to pee a little bit back then,” she told him.
It wasn’t a full lie, right?