Series: Paige Michaels
Total pages in book: 48
Estimated words: 44664 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 223(@200wpm)___ 179(@250wpm)___ 149(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 44664 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 223(@200wpm)___ 179(@250wpm)___ 149(@300wpm)
“What did you find?” he asked.
“Look, Daddy. It’s Buzzy. He loves flowers.”
“Ooh! Are you going to do that one first?”
“Yes.” She chose colors that matched Buzzy for the bee, but was stumped by the choice for the flower. “Daddy, what color do you like best?”
“Red is my favorite. What’s yours?”
“I like yellow. It’s sunny and happy,” she answered as she plucked a red crayon from the box.
Coloring happily, Gemma peeked up at her Daddy from time to time. She kept thinking that this couldn’t be real and she would wake up to find it had just been a dream. Seeing him reassured her that this wasn’t just a fantasy. Gradually, she was able to stop double-checking and concentrate on her picture.
Gemma jumped when he pulled out his chair to sit next to her.
“That was loud, Daddy!”
“You were concentrating hard. No wonder. Look at that gorgeous portrait of Buzzy!”
“He looks good, doesn’t he?” she asked, holding it up for him to see.
“A perfect match. He looks very debonair. I have a cupcake for you.” Anton slid a cupcake closer. “Want to finish coloring tomorrow?”
She nodded before she even realized what she was doing. “I want to eat my cupcake myself, Daddy.”
“Okay, Little Bee.” Anton slid the cupcake on the plate fully in front of her. He stood and quickly served himself another before rejoining her at the table. “Thank you for waiting for me. You have lovely manners, Little girl.”
“You’re welcome.”
Gemma examined the cupcake from all directions. Brushing a finger through the frosting, she popped the dollop into her mouth. “Yum!” she hummed as she wiggled in her seat.
“Good, huh?”
“Amazing. Can I eat it the way I like to?” she asked, looking at him for permission.
“Of course. It’s your cupcake.”
She’d been so good when she’d eaten this before with his family. Keeping her Little hidden away had been hard. Now, she plucked the pretzel antler off the cupcake and used it to scoop up more of the frosting. Bit by bit, she ate every morsel of the sweet covering before lifting the cupcake to her mouth so she could lick off the last smudge that remained.
Then she held the nude cupcake out to Anton. “You can have this part, Daddy. I don’t like it as much as the frosting part.”
He accepted the cake section and looked it over before peeling the paper away and taking a big bite. “Little Cakes knows how to make these so rich and moist. I actually like these without all that sugary stuff on top.”
“What? This may be the end of our relationship. I don’t know if I can ever date a man who doesn’t eat frosting,” Gemma declared.
“Think of it this way, Gemma. We’re a perfect team. You eat the part you like, and I’ll eat the section I find the most delicious. We both get double our favorites.”
“So I get to eat the frosting off that cupcake as well?” she asked, pointing at the cupcake that stood untouched in front of him.
“Are you still hungry?”
“Not really. But frosting!”
“It will still be good tomorrow.”
“For breakfast?” she asked, sending him a cheerful smile to encourage him.
“Not on your life.” Anton stood and took the untouched cupcake back to the box before returning to unbuckle Gemma from her booster seat and to help her slide off the chair.
“Bath time?” she asked, hoping.
“I have one more thing to show you, Little girl.”
Taking her hand, Anton led her down the hallway. “That’s Daddy’s bedroom.” He pointed to a room on the right with the door open.
Since he didn’t walk in, she peeked in to see a room decorated in rich browns with splashes of red. It looked like it matched her Daddy. “Pretty.”
“Thank you, Gemma. On the left is a room that I hope you’ll love.” Anton slowly twisted the door handle before pushing it open. He reached inside to flip the lights on and waved a hand to indicate she should enter first.
Gemma took a few steps inside the door and froze. “What is this?”
Her mouth dropped open in awe as she scanned the room. It was painted a bright sunny yellow for the sky and green grass at the bottom. An outline of a large bee stood out on the wall.
“Is that Buzzy?” she asked, pointing.
“Yes. I’m afraid I ran out of time today. I’ll keep working on it. In a few days, it will be spectacular.”
“I think it’s pretty incredible now.”
Looking everywhere, she took in the furniture that would normally appear in a nursery, but it was Gemma-sized. Instantly, she wanted to snuggle into the fluffy bedding. The edging on the pillow caught her eye, and she walked forward.
“They’re bees!” she exclaimed, running her fingers over the embroidered border. “Where did you find these? I want some for my bed.”
“How about if I order more for Daddy’s bed and you can sleep on them there every night and take a nap or read in your crib?”