Page 9 of Her Gentle Daddy

“Hey, sweetheart,” he said as gently as he could.

He hated how easily she got startled.

Gabby looked up, and he saw a flicker of fear in her eyes, and then she seemed to relax when she saw that it was him.

“What book are you reading?”

She held it up to show him.

“Ah, The Very Hungry Caterpillar. That’s a good one. If you’d like, I can read you a story before bed. But for now, is there a very hungry Gabby that wants to come down to eat dinner?”

She nodded and carefully closed the book and put it back on the shelf. Was she just a tidy person? Her car hadn’t seemed overly clean when he’d looked inside.

Gabby stood and followed him downstairs. When they were in the kitchen, Sean pulled out two plates and held them up for her.

“Would you like a regular plate, or would you like a pink plastic plate?”

She looked back and forth from each plate, nibbling on her bottom lip. He had a feeling she wanted the pink plate but was worried about saying the wrong thing.

“How about the pink plate? It’s much prettier,” he offered.

She smiled and nodded, “Okay. I like that one.”

Warmth spread through him. Even though she had said only a few short words, he was glad she was talking. He wanted her to feel comfortable with him.

“Are you allergic to anything, Gabby girl?”

She shook her head but didn’t say anything.

He nodded as he put a piece of chicken on her plate and began cutting it into bite-size pieces. Then he added some steamed carrots and cheesy mashed potatoes to her dish.

“Sit down at the table, sweetheart.”

Gabby went to the table and sat. He brought her plate over and set it in front of her along with some plastic cutlery sized for kids. He went back to the kitchen, grabbed a sippy cup, a bottle, and a plastic cup, and took them to the table.

“Which one would you prefer?”

He wanted to give her choices, so she felt safe to be whatever age Little that she was. She eyed the cups.

“There is no wrong answer, sweetheart. You are safe here, and you are safe to be who you are.”

She looked up and studied him before lowering her eyes to the cups again.

“Can I have the sippy cup?”

He smiled and nodded.

“Of course.”

Sean filled the sippy cup with milk. He would give her a nutritional shake each day to help with her weight and overall health, but he would give her water or milk with dinner.

When he sat down next to her with his plate of food, she smiled at him.

“Thank you for dinner.”

“You’re welcome. Thank you for joining me for dinner. You’ll have to tell me what your favorite foods are so I can make you things that you like.”

She ate slowly, but he was pleased when she ate everything that he’d dished up for her. He asked if she wanted seconds, but she shook her head.