"Daddy?" Stephanie asked knocking on the door.
Howie and I jumped up and rushed around the room. I threw on a pair of Howie's boxers and a tee shirt of his and he put on a pair of boxers.
"Yes, sweetie?" he asked opening the door.
"I want to sleep with you," she said looking up at him, her big brown eyes sparkling.
I looked over at the clock and saw it was 4:30 in the morning.
"Ok, come on hon," he said leading her into the room.
"Im so glad it's Saturday," he mumbled lifting Stephanie into the bed.
"Did you have a bad dream?" I asked looking down at her.
She nodded and frowned.
"Do you want to talk about it?" I asked smiling.
"Mommy didnt come back," she whispered. I looked down at her tiny little face and the look in her eyes broke my heart. I looked up at Howie and he frowned.
"Well, honey, let's get back to sleep and if you have another nightmare, you can wake me or Marissa up, ok?" he asked.
"Ok," she nodded.
Howie got back into bed, Stephanie in between us. It didnt take Stephanie long to fall asleep, but I just couldnt go back to sleep. I looked over at Howie and he was staring with his eyes wide open.
"What are you thinking about?" I asked him.
"Im just wondering how Stephanie's mother could do this to her? She doesnt let me have anything to do with her for 3 years, and now all of the sudden, she cant handle Stephanie. I just dont understand it. Stephanie doesnt know me. I mean, I am happy she's finally with me and I finally get to see my little girl in person, but her mother..." he trailed off.
"I know," I sighed.
Howie and I remained in silence, eventually I fell back asleep. Around 10:30, Samantha walked into the room, all smiles, and woke up all three of us.
"How come she slept in here?" Samantha asked offended.
"She had a nightmare," I explained to her.
"Oh," she mumbled.
"You ready for some breakfast?" I asked jumping out of bed, Stephanie and Howie right after me.
"Yeah!" she exclaimed.
"Let's go get some," I said taking Samantha's hand and leading her to the kitchen.
"What should we have?" I asked looking down at her.
"Chocolate ice cream," she giggled.
"Chocolate ice cream?" I questioned.
"Yeah," she said.
"Chocolate ice cream it is. What do you think Stephanie?" I asked looking at the little girl.
"Yeah!" she laughed.
"Ok, go sit at the table and I'll get everyone's ice cream," I said opening the freezer and taking out a container of ice cream.
"Ice cream?" Howie asked.
That's what they wanted," I said nodding over to the girls.
"Dont you think that's not very nutricious for the morning?" he asked.
"It's once Howie, they'll be fine. Dont worry they wont suffer from malnutrition," I said smiling.
He kissed my lips softly and sat at the table with the girls. After our ice cream breakfast, I looked at Stephanie and Samantha.
"Ok, let's brush our teeth now!" I said jumping up. All three of us jumped up and raced to the bathroom, where we all brushed our teeth, Howie trudged in after us, laughing at our energy.
"What?" I asked, a mouth full of toothpaste.
"I wish I could have that kind of energy first thing in the morning," he smiled.
"So what do you girls want to do today?" I asked.
"Can we watch you record?" Samantha asked looking up at me.
"Well, it's fine with me, if your Uncle Howie says its ok," I answered.
"He's ok with it," she told me matter-of-factly.
"Oh really? How about you ask," I said smiling.
"Uncle Howie?" Samantha asked turning around.
"Yeah, that's fine," he nodded.
"Yea!" she shouted running off, Im assuming to change out of her pajamas.
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Nineteen
Heaven Index
Howie Fanfiction Index
BSB Fanfiction Index
Backstreet Island