Page 85 of Her Hero Daddy
“Let’s sleep for a bit longer, baby,” he whispered.
A light snore told him that she agreed.
When they woke up for the day, Kane helped his baby girl into a dress and a pair of cotton panties. She insisted she wanted to wear a dress instead of pants, and he suspected it was because she didn’t want anything rubbing on her still-tender bottom. He didn’t say anything and let her wear the frilly dress that she picked out of the closet.
He sat her down at the dining table and started making breakfast. Not anything gourmet, but he cut up some apples and boiled some oats to make cinnamon apple oatmeal for them. Simple enough, yet nutritious. Haylee offered to help, but he told her to stay put and color in her coloring book. She pouted briefly until he gave her a look and then turned her attention back to her artwork.
When he finally sat down with two bowls, he kept both of the bowls in front of him. One bowl was a smaller, pink plastic bowl with butterflies printed on it, and his was a much larger glass bowl.
Spooning up some oatmeal for Haylee, he blew on it to help it cool and then held it up to her mouth.
“Open.”
She opened her mouth and took a bite. Her face distorted, and her mouth opened, dropping the oatmeal onto the table in front of her.
“Haylee Ann!”
“Daddy! What did you put in this?”
He looked at her with confusion before trying a bite of his own, spitting it right back into his bowl.
“Shit! What the hell?”
He got up and went to the kitchen, looking at all the ingredients he’d used that still sat by the stove. He picked up the box of sugar.
Only to realize it was salt.
Haylee walked up behind him and burst out laughing. He turned toward her and burst out into a fit of his own laughter. They laughed until both of them were holding their stomachs in pain.
“Sorry, baby alligator. Daddy tried. How does cereal sound?”
“Cereal sounds great, Daddy. But we really need to talk about me helping with the cooking. Maybe we could try cooking together?”
He slowly nodded. “Okay, baby. But you aren’t allowed to use the oven or anything sharp. You can tell me what I need to do when it comes to those things. Understood?”
Haylee rolled her eyes. “Daddy, I’ve used an oven and a knife before.”
Tapping her nose, he smiled. “Yeah, but you weren’t my baby girl then. And it would be in the best interest of your bottom if you don’t roll your eyes at your Daddy.”
“Sorry, Daddy,” she said, looking innocent.
Kane dumped their oatmeal and traded it for bowls of cereal. He fed Haylee bites of hers, feeding himself in between.
“We need to talk about you being grounded and what it means for you.”
She let out a groan but nodded.
“You are grounded from phone usage, unless you need to call your mom, and then you will ask me first. You and Ally will have no playdates during the time that you are both grounded. Bedtime is eight thirty, and you will have a nap each day for at least an hour. You’re grounded for two weeks.”
“Eight thirty, Daddy? Really?” she whined.
He lifted an eyebrow toward her. “I can make it seven thirty if you’d like to challenge me, little girl.”
“No, no. Eight thirty sounds great. Perfect. I love that bedtime.”
“Laying it on a little thick, huh, baby girl?” he asked, giving her his best stern look.
“No, Daddy. I would never do that.”