Page 2 of Daddy's Little Fighter
“It’s only butter. I know where it is in the store, and I won’t do anything else. No matter how much the stuffies call to me to go and rescue them.” She smiled. “Though we need to go soon and buy some. I bet they are awfully lonely in there and need some friends.”
Daddy looked at her, amusement shining in his eyes. “I bet you think they do.”
She gasped. “They do! How dare you think otherwise? They are all alone in there in their cages, and they can’t get out.”
“Next time we go to the store together, we can grab one,” Daddy promised. “But only one.”
She pouted. “I wish I had a thing for even numbers. Maybe I should start now.”
Daddy gripped her chin. “Don’t even think about it. You are not going to create something that doesn’t bother you. Think about the people who actually need things to be in even or odd numbers.”
Frankie closed her eyes. “Sorry,” she whispered.
“You’re okay, but we are not going to create something to get more stuffies,” Daddy told her.
“Okay, promise.”
Now she felt bad. It didn’t make her skin crawl or make her want to be sick if she didn’t have it in even or odd numbers.
“Now, go to the store and come right back.” Daddy stood to his full height.
He handed Frankie the keys, and she walked outside, taking a deep breath as she stood in front of the car. She was really going to do this. She was going to go to the store on her own.
The past week hadn’t been Frankie’s best. Her sleep was horrible, she was nervous about everything, and it was causing her unnecessary stress, which made her tremors even worse. Then Frankie started to worry about her ET, which made it worse than before.
It was a never-ending cycle. Daddy and she were trying to get it under control, but it wasn’t working very well.
“Frankie?” Daddy called out.
“Sorry!” She turned to him. “I’m okay! I was just thinking, but I’m leaving now. I won’t be long.”
Before Daddy could say anything, Frankie climbed into the car and shut the door. She didn’t need him stopping her before she even left.
She was going to do this.
Frankie waved at Daddy as she pulled out of the driveway. After a short journey, she got to the store and parked.
Taking a deep breath, she got out of the car and slowly started to walk toward the entrance.
“I can do this,” she whispered to herself.
Butter.
That was all she needed to get, and then she could go home again.
Frankie held her hands together, trying to stop them from shaking even more. Her tremors had started earlier when she woke up from her nap and realized she needed to go to the store to get butter. It had taken her almost two hours to get up the courage to tell Daddy where she was going.
Two hours to think.
Two hours of working herself up.
Two painstakingly long hours.
She walked to the far side of the store and down the aisle where the butter was stored. As she got closer, there were five children standing around the dairy refrigerator. Her steps faltered as I got closer.
What am I going to do?
Frankie knew she shouldn’t have gone without Daddy. He would have known what to do. He would have taken care of this.
