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Brent
“Dad!Wakeupsleepyhead.”I hear the screeching before my eyes are even open for the day. “Daaaadddd it’s not Christmas break yet, you need to take me to school, silly goose.”
I put my pillow over my head to block out the sound, but my little spitfire decides to jump up and down on my bed.
“Okay okay, I’m awake.” I groan. “Go get some cereal and I’ll be there in a minute.”
“Okay, Dad, see you out there.” I hear her feet pad out of the room.
As soon as I open my eyes, I’m assaulted by bright, white light. Sunlight bounces off the fresh layer of snow, and it’s practically blinding. I spent most of the night tossing, turning, and dreaming about what today will bring.
“Daaaaddddd, there’s snow on the ground!” Nora screams from the kitchen.
“That’s awesome baby,” I yell back.
Maybe that means that the paparazzi aren’t still outside, and I’ll be able to take Nora to school in peace.
I climb out of bed and stride to the window. Sure enough, there’s at least four or five inches of snow on the ground.
Closing the curtain, I make my bed and throw on a pair of jeans and a hoodie to take Nora to school. As soon as I’m back, I’m going to the inn and see if Penelope is awake.
Making my way out of my bedroom, I move to kiss Nora on the forehead. She sits at the island, eating a bowl of cereal and swinging her legs. I can’t wait for Christmas break when I don’t need to be up at a certain time, and I don’t need to pack her lunch.
Looking at the time, I notice we only have a few minutes before we need to leave.
“All right little one, let’s go get you dressed and brush your teeth. We need to leave the house in five minutes, think we can do it?”
“Oh, we can do it,” she responds, giggling and climbing down from the stool. As soon as her feet hit the floor, she carefully puts her bowl in the sink and bolts down the hall into her bedroom. She gets dressed in two minutes flat and meets me in the bathroom where I’m waiting for her, so we can brush our teeth together.
“T-minus three minutes,” I say.
Putting way too much toothpaste on her toothbrush, she quickly brushes her teeth and rinses. “Let’s go, Dad, hurry up.”
She throws the toothbrush back into the holder and turns to stare at me, crossing her arms.
“Do you need me to go faster?” I ask.
“No, Dad, I need to use the toilet.” She giggles.
“Really? Well okay then, I will finish brushingmyteeth in the kitchen sink.” I rush into the kitchen to rinse and spit.
I grab Nora’s backpack, holding it out for her once she gets her shoes and coat on. I also wrap a scarf around her neck since I’m sure it’s freezing out.
“All right, let’s do this,” I say, peeking one more time to make sure there are no cameras pointed at the inn.
We’re in the clear, so we hurry to my truck, where I blast the heat and Christmas tunes.
We have to drive slower because of the snow. There are already so many people walking around town, and I can’t help but keep an eye out to see if Penelope is taking her daily walk, but so far, no sight of her.
I pull up to the curb outside of school, not late for once, and walk Nora to the entrance. Kissing her goodbye, I tell her the usual thing I say before each school day: “Have fun, be good, learn something!”
“Love you, Dad!” she yells as she runs up the steps and into the building.
As soon as she’s inside safely, I head back to the truck and try not to speed on my way home. So many thoughts swirl through my mind.
I get to the inn a few minutes later and notice one of the paparazzi is back. I carefully pull into the icy driveway and park. When I get out of the truck, the paparazzi yells at me, desperately asking where Penelope is.
Instead of responding, I duck my head and go into the inn’s back entrance. Quickly closing the door behind me, I shake off my boots. They’re covered in snow, and I don’t want to trek that into the house.
