It must be love

Nigel I glared at the four year old sitting in front of me and she grinned, looking amused whereas the feeling wasn’t mutual, in fact I was just plain pissed. Today was a bit of a rough day for me, I had woken up late which made my day all wonky. I was on edge and just plain old cranky, so I was looking forward to getting home, drinking my whiskey and just relaxing but nope, my daughter seemed to be against that. About five minutes ago, I had finished making dinner and set the table then put Kayla in her high chair and served her a plate of vegetables and chicken nuggets then rushed off to the bathroom, because well nature was calling. Imagine my surprise when I got back and found her Wonder Woman plate (which she insisted on eating out of every night) devoid of all vegetables. I immediately knew that something was up, the girl hated vegetables so there was no way she could have finished them in the short time that I had ran to the toilet. I asked her where the vegetables were and of course she pointed to her stomach while happily eating her chicken nuggets. I had sighed then looked down and saw the green peas and carrots on the floor next to her chair. “Don't be mad." She pouted, giving me the puppy dog look with her big brown eyes. I sighed shaking my head then went about cleaning up her mess and grabbed the plate from the table and went back to the kitchen to fill it with more vegetables. "Eat it'’ I said putting the plate in front of her. The tone I used brook no room for arguments, it was the in the tone of voice I used in boardrooms, the voice that made grown men whimper, the very same voice that gets s**t done and keeps the employees on their toes, but clearly the girl in front of me was unaffected by this tone, as she just stuck her tongue out at me and shook her head "no". I breathed deeply and tried my best to look intimidating, "Eat the vegetables Mikayla." by now you would think she would be scared and eat the stupid things but no, instead she jumped off the chair and ran away giggling. I shook my head, that girl was too stubborn for her age. At only four years old she had a mouth and mind of a seven year old, though she challenged me and almost never listened to me, I loved her with all my heart and would protect her with everything that I am from all the things of this world and I would do anything for her, even let her crazy self run away from me as I pleaded with her to eat the terrible vegetables. The day she was born was the best day of my life, Mikayla Hamilton was brought into this world four years ago by my ex-girlfriend, Tracy Jackson who bailed before our daughter was even a month old. She left a short note saying how she couldn’t do this and how she still had dreams to follow. Yes, she was only 22, a good 3 years younger than me but damn, I couldn’t understand how a mother could so callously abandon her child. I tried calling her and tracking her down to no avail, even her parents had no idea where she was. A few months after she had left, I saw a picture of her splashed on the cover of some magazine while I was in the grocery store. Now she was a big shot international supermodel and lived somewhere, I wouldn't be too sure since we haven't exactly kept in touch and she couldn't be too bothered to pick up the phone and call to ask about our daughter. "Daddy?" I looked at up at the little rascal as she stuck her head out from behind the wall looking at me innocently. "Yes princess?" I asked and she smiled then ran full force and jumped into my arms then buried her face in my chest like she has done a million times before. "I don't want the beggies, it not taste nice." she stated, replacing the "v" with a "b" since she couldn't say v yet. "No s**t" I scoffed, those baby peas tasted like ass but my mom convinced me that it was important for Kayla to eat them because they helped with muscle whatever or the other. I heard my girl gasp then she hit my shoulder as she lifted her head to glare at me. "Daddy say a bad word" I looked at her trying my best to seem remorseful then apologised and she nodded pointing at the swear jar on the kitchen counter. I sighed while taking out a dollar from my pocket then walked over to the jar and stuck it in there. The jar was almost full too and that was all thanks to my little brother, Nick. The i***t swore way too much which is why the swear jar was invented in the first place, slowly bankrupting me as sometimes a curse or two slipped passed my lips. I still had Kayla in my arms when she yawned but tried to hide it because she still wanted to play dolls. I smiled down at her as we walked up the stairs to her room. "Well, I guess it's time for bed." I said and she frowned, then opened her mouth about to argue but yawned again. I arched an eyebrow at her and she sighed looking at me sheepishly. We got to her DC Comics girls super heroines themed bedroom, yes my baby girl was obsessed with superheroes and that was all my fault since I read her comic books instead of those unrealistic "and they lived happily ever after" nonsense. I quickly helped her into her pyjamas then tucked her in and sat next to her as I picked up the comic on her nightstand and began reading about The Flash's face-off with Zoom. "Goodnight princess" I uttered softly after realizing that she was out like a light. I stood up then turned off the light and walked out of the room but turned to look back at her and smiled softly, even though I was a single father and struggled sometimes with Kayla since mostly I had no idea what I was doing and I was scared of screwing up, I would not trade her for anything. All of the money and material things I had would never amount to anything as the 25 pounds of little girl that lay in that bed was my world and I must say, I loved her to the moon and back.