Chapter
ju couldn’t help the rush of familiarity that seized her at the sound of the man’s voice.
tugged at her little heart when she heard that the man was downstairs.
Somethin
Clambering off the couch, she dashed into her room and shoved a handful of things into her pocket. She then opened the front door and left.
When Daisy saw Seth standing by the entrance to their apartment building, her dark eyes glittered like the starry night sky. She bounded up to him and raised her arms, craning her neck to look at him. It was her endearing way of asking to be picked up.
Seth had been in a foul mood until he saw Daisy’s adorable face. He couldn’t resist bending over to pick her up. Settling her atop his hip, he pinched her chubby cheek and asked gently, ” What are you doing down here? Where’s your mom?”
Daisy pointed upstairs, then at her mouth.
Seth understood her at once and asked softly, “Your mom’s cooking, huh?”
The little girl nodded and gave him a thumbs–up, praising him for figuring out what she
meant.
The storm cloud that had been hovering over Seth dissipated as he took in Daisy’s endearing demeanor. He was even jealous of Mark for having the privilege of sharing a precious daughter with Layla while he was saddled with Benjamin, the spawn of the devil.
Seth ruffled Daisy’s hair lovingly. “If only I could have a daughter as adorable as you.”
There was a time when he’d hoped Benjamin would be a girl. He was so geared up to welcome at little girl into his life that most of the baby stuff he got was for girls. He even changed his phone’s lock screen to doe–eyed little girls in hopes of manifesting his dreams.
He never expected that the baby would turn out to be a boy and a bona fide menace, at that
Seth had wanted a daughter after that, but he gave up on the thought when he saw how much trauma Layla’s body went through.
Daisy was pleased to hear Seth praising her. She reached into the front pocket of her overalls and drew out a handful of stickers. She chose a pretty princess one and stuck it on his collar. She then wrapped her arms around his neck and pecked his cheek.
She was so soft and smelled so powdery that Seth could have melted. He didn’t even make to peel off the sticker on his collar even though it was completely at odds with his usually grave visage.
And just like that, he earned a sticker for each praise he gave Daisy. It wasn’t long before his very expensive tailor–made suit became a canvas for multiple cartoon stickers, not that he minded. He was having so much fun that he forgot what he had come here to do.
Inside the apartment, Layla brought the dishes out from the kitchen and set them down on the dining table. She then walked over to the nursery to tell Daisy dinner was ready, only to
realize her daughter was missing.
She searched the entire room but could not find the little girl.
A dreadful foreboding filled her as she hollered, “Mark! Daisy’s gone missing!”
Mark immediately reassured her, “Don’t panic. She couldn’t have gone far on her own. Let’s go look for her downstairs.”
They hurriedly took off their aprons and made to leave. But when they opened the door, they found Seth standing on the doorstep with Daisy nestled comfortably in his arms.
