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Ethan stirs as sunlight peaks in through the curtains. The soft hum of the AC mixing with the sound of barefoot on hard wood. The quick stomping gets closer as Ethan rolls onto his side, closing his eyes.
The creak of the door does little to disturb Ethan, neither does the attempt at stealth from his intruder. Ethan hears the intruder breathing, tiny hands gripping his comforter, leaning down he scoops the other person into his arms before rolling over.
“Too early.” Ethan mumbles as he keeps his arms wrapped around the toddler. “Go back to sleep, Gremlin.”
“I’m not a gremlin!” The intruder squeals causing Ethan to open his eyes and look down at his daughter.
“Really? I don’t knoooow.” Ethan eyes Rose intently, leaning over he sniffs her hair before leaning back. “You smell like a gremlin,” a finger comes up to poke Rose on the cheek. “You feel like a gremlin.” Ethan tickles Rose on her sides, earning him his favorite sound - her squeal of a laugh. “You sure do sound like a gremlin. So, I think you might be a gremlin.”
“No!” Rose squirms trying to get out of her dad’s grasp, even as he stops tickling her she can’t stop giggling. “Gremlin’s are hairy!”
Ethan ruffles her hair, “you got hair right there.” He grins as he sees Rose huff.
“More hairy! And they’re small!”
“Hate to break it to you. You’re small.” Ethan rolls so he’s laying on his back. “Okay, so if you’re not a gremlin. Then what are you?”
“A princess!” Rose beams at Ethan. Her dimples and scrunch of her nose reminding Ethan that everything is worth it.
“A gremlin princess?” Ethan teases only to laugh when Rose pouts, “okay okay I’ll stop.” Ethan tucks his one arm under his head as he raises a brow at his daughter. “So, you sure you don’t wanna go back to sleep? For a little bit? For my sake?”
Rose scrunches her face as she shakes her head, causing Ethan to sigh.
“Well, worth a shot. Come on kiddo - let’s get you some breakfast.” Ethan rolls himself out of bed. His sweatpants are rolled up to his knees as he stretches his arms over his head. “Come on little lady.”
Ethan smiles to himself as Rose stands on the bed and walks to him with her arms up. “Carry? Please?”
“Really?” Ethan crosses his arms before letting a second or two pass. “Alright, fine.” Ethan picks up Rose. Her tiny arms wrapping around his neck and her head coming to rest on his shoulder.
Ethan knows he should’ve probably told Rose no. Probably should’ve told her she can walk by herself like a big girl. But how long will Rose be this small? How long will she still want to be carried by Ethan?
It seems like yesterday she was born, and now? Now the years won’t slow down. They won’t stop, they won’t let Ethan enjoy the little time he has with her still being his baby.
Ethan presses a kiss to Rose’s head before putting her on the kitchen tile.
“Thank you!” Rose pretends to dust off her pajamas.
“You’re welcome, Rosebud.” Ethan grabs a chair for Rose and puts it as close as he can against the counter. “You helping?”
“Yeah!” Rose scurries over as she begins to climb on the chair she bats away Ethan’s hand, “No, I got it.”
Ethan steps back only an inch and puts his hands at his sides, “alright, you got it.” He has to fight the urge to help, holding his breath as he watches Rose hoist herself up onto the chair. Only when she’s securely standing does he let himself breathe. “Good job kiddo.”
The rest of the routine is pretty simple. Eat, brush teeth, get dressed, then hair. Ethan’s never been more thankful for the existence of YouTube since the birth of Rose.
Ethan’s brows furrow as he takes in what’s happening on screen. “So braid the hair up..” Ethan mutters as he mimics the movements in the video.
He knows Mia probably would’ve known how to do this. Ethan shakes his head, trying to ignore the faint tan line on his left hand.
“There!” Ethan claps his hands as he takes a step back to admire his work. A headband braid goes across the top of Rose’s head. “You like it?” Ethan prays she likes it because if she doesn’t he’ll probably cry in the bathroom.
“Yeah!” Rose turns to Ethan and raises her hand which Ethan quickly high-fives her. Her big smile is infectious which makes him smile.
Ethan sits on the floor while Rose draws. His free hand scrolling on his phone to check his work emails.
“Daddy, look!” Rose taps Ethan’s arm which pulls his attention to his arm.
“It looks good.” Ethan looks down at the scribbles of washable markers on his arm. It looks like…something - a mix of orange, red, and black. “You’ll make a good tattoo artist one day.”
Rose goes back to drawing while Ethan turns his attention back to his email and sighs, “hey Rose? I’m gonna need you to play the quiet game really quick while I do this.” Ethan sees Rose pretend to zip her lips out of the corner of his eye, hitting the text to speech option he tries to speak as clearly as possible. “As per my last email. This isn’t my department, if you look at the aforementioned email then you’ll see the contact information for billing.” Ethan hits send before leaning back against the couch. “Kid? Don’t work in IT. It’s not worth it.”
The moonlight filters in from the open window as Ethan sits with Rose curled up next to him on her bed. “The princess pressed a small kiss to the dove’s head and he turned into a prince. Together they lived happily ever after.” Ethan closes the book, reaching over and placing it on the nightstand. “You ready for bed Rose?” Ethan furrows his brows when he gets no response. “Ro-” Ethan stops himself as he sees her fast asleep.
Quietly Ethan gets up and repositions Rose so she’s more comfortable before pulling the blankets up to cover her. He leans down, pressing a kiss to her forehead before walking over to turn off the main light. As Ethan stops at the bedroom door he can’t help but smile and know one thing for certain.
Everything was worth it for this moment.