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"One hour, and then we bounce. I promised my little princess a bedtime story the way only daddy can do it, with all the voices and everything."
She snickered at my imitation of our daughter; my little girl was a daddy's girl through and through. Stick her in a room with all the adults in the family, and she gravitated toward her daddy each and every time; though Suzette tried cheating sometimes, bribing her with treats, my baby girl would take the sweets from mommy and run back to her daddy.
My boys are pre-convicts, no joke; it's going to be a full-time job keeping their little asses out of jail when they grow up. The oldest one, junior, he's the ringleader. He learned everything he knows from his cousin Jonathan, who learned everything he knows from Brian; need I say more? I'm thinking of putting my butterfly in an induced coma during their teen years just to save her the aggravation.
"You know I know about the stink bombs, right?"
"What-what're you talking about?" I pulled on my collar. It was getting tight all of a sudden.
"Your son ratted you out." She had the nerve to laugh at such blasphemy.
"Who, which one? And besides, I'm innocent. Don't know what you're talking about, lady."
"Uh-huh, when they start getting into trouble at school, you'll see."
"Why do you always blame me? Your kids are little terrors, you know."
"Oh yeah, did they go on the Internet and order the stuff to make them?"
"You ever seen that E*TRADE commercial? Who knows what the fuck they get up to after we're in bed. Who snitched?"
"Gabe." She laughed at my wounded look; I thought for sure it would've been Jason, the youngest boy, not Gabriel, okay he was the baby of the trips, but he was still older than Jace; damn, I'm gonna have to have a talk with him about sharing tree house secrets.
"Okay, what did you do with them?"
"You'll never know." She folded her lips and zipped.
My girl has come a long way; before these red-carpet things used to freak her out, I found that if I kept her mind occupied with talk of the kids, it went easier for her and me too. People were still calling me a sap; I'd lost some of my fan base and gained some in return, so no worries. I guess some people didn't understand love, fuck ‘em. I'd rather have their hate than lose our love. I win.
"Maddox, over here." The glare of the flashing cameras penetrated again; for a while, I'd almost forgotten they were there. James and his crew of hand-picked security detail surrounded us as we walked the line.
I’d come a long way too from those dark days; I’m glad as fuck I followed my heart and not my pride; I wouldn’t trade a minute of the last six years for anything.
“I love you, butterfly.”
She smiled up at me and squeezed my hand in hers.
“I love you more.”
THE END
