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Frank Langdon had a rare four days in a row off work from the hospital. He was going to cherish this time at home with his wife and kids. He and Abby had already made plans to take the kids to the zoo tomorrow, and the next day her parents would be taking the kids for the night so the young parents could have a date night. When had they last had a genuine date night with no kids? Not since before Penny was born at least.
Tanner was at kindergarten until 3 and Abby was out getting her nails done with a friend, so Frank was home alone with Penny. They were eating macaroni and cheese for lunch, courtesy of Abby before she left (Frank could barely boil water, which Abby thought was hilarious considering all the amazing things he could do as a doctor) when Penny spoke up.
“I wanna play princesses!”
Frank smiled down at his daughter in her booster seat. “Okay, honey, after we finish eating. Hey, that doesn’t mean shovel all your macaroni in your mouth! Chew.”
A few minutes later, Frank was putting their bowls in the sink and following Penny to the living room where her and Tanner’s box of costumes was. Penny was already taking out a princess dress and pulling it on over her pajamas.
“So who do I get to be?” Frank asked. “Am I a knight? Or maybe the king?” He pulled out a crown and scepter.
“No, Daddy, you have to be a princess with me!”
“Okay, but I don’t think any of your princess costumes will fit me.”
“That’s okay! Me and Mommy bought one in your size!” Penny lowered her voice and leaned in close to her father. “It’s in your closet! Go put it on!”
“Alright, alright, I’ll be right back. Stay right here.”
Frank pursed his lips as, sure enough, he found a bright pink princess dress hanging in their closet. It looked exactly like the one Penny was currently wearing. Really, Abs?
Rolling his eyes, he put the dress on and returned to his daughter.
Penny clapped when she saw him, bouncing up and down. “You look beautiful, Daddy! You should wear princess dresses more!”
“I should, should I?”
“Mhmm! Here’s your tiara!”
When Frank went back to work four days later, he had two new photos to hang up in his locker: Penny and himself in their princess dresses, surrounded by stuffed animals, and a photo of him and Tanner at the zoo with identical looks of horror while feeding giraffes (those things had freaky tongues!)