Mine
it's been a while :/ just a short dad!fic drabble i wrote last night, enjoy~
ps - the title is totally irrelevant except for the fact that i was listening to tswift at the time, lawl
Title: Mine
Author: heroes_and_cons
Pairing: gen fic, dad!Adam
Rating: G
Word Count: 662
After the dishes had been washed and neatly stacked, brown-bag lunches tucked into the refrigerator for the next day, and the sun had dissipated into the distant horizon, Adam tossed a handful of fresh strawberries in a bowl with a pinch of sugar and carry Amelia upstairs.
She loved strawberries. They were more expensive in the off-months, and Adam could remember reading something in one of his many parenting books - no snacks an hour past dinnertime! But she loved them, she loved how the flesh stained her slight fingers pink, how the juice would dribble from the corners of her mouth.
Adam set her down on her bed, and she’d crawl underneath the plush purple covers, bending her knobby knees and balancing the strawberry bowl on top. “What are we reading tonight, Lia?” Adam would ask. And she would pick ones with the most vibrant covers.
Amelia was a girl through and through, and her favorite stories were the ones of beautiful princesses plagued by tragedy, only to be saved by gallant and noble princes; ones of unrealistic love and perpetually optimistic destinies. They had read most of these stories together thousands of times before, and yet each night at its climax, Amelia would wring her hands together, anxious over the princess’s potential downfall or her happily ever after. And each night, every story ended in the same fashion: a romantic kiss before riding on a white stallion into the setting sun.
A part of Adam knew that Amelia should be breaking from her princess phase by now; she was eleven years old, perfectly capable of reading something like A Wrinkle in Time instead of picture books. In every other aspect of their lives, he could see her growing - she made pancakes for breakfast on Sunday mornings that were better than anything Adam had ever made; she went to birthday parties that were now co-ed; she wrote with the maturity of a teenager rather than that of a fifth-grader. And yet, every night, she let her father dice up a bowl of strawberries and carry her to her bed.
Adam finished the story, closing the book and setting it on his lap; as he did so, Amelia licked the remnants of strawberry juice from her fingers. “Lia, can I ask you a question?”
Amelia nodded, sitting up and folding her legs beneath her slight body. She didn’t let anyone else call her anything but Amelia, with the exception of her father.
“Why do you like these picture books so much?”
Amelia smiled, dimples carving hollows in her freckle-splattered cheeks. “It’s nice to believe in something like that, isn’t it?” She intertwined her fingers on her lap. “A prince and a princess and a fairy-tale ending. Didn’t you ever believe in that?”
Adam couldn’t remember having ever read fairy tales, and if he had, he probably would have pined for the prince just as much as Amelia did. Come to think of it, he couldn’t remember having ever indulged in some sort of make-believe fantasy; he’d always been too much of a realist, and his guard had rarely come down.
“No, not really,” Adam admitted. Amelia’s face fell slightly, and he wondered why he hadn’t just lied. “I mean, it is nice to think about, you’re right. But…” he hesitated. “You know, Lia, you can’t just wait around for the prince to show up on his horse. Life isn’t always like that.”
Much to his surprise, Amelia laughed softly. She set the empty bowl on her nightstand and buried herself beneath her covers.
“I wasn’t expecting it to be, Daddy,” she smiled.
Adam realized that Amelia appreciated fantasy, but had a sense of awareness; that she had somehow become smarter than her own father. He leaned over and kissed her forehead before turning off the light. He walked over to her bookshelf and tucked the book back in its place, among others that would be read in the many nights to come.
ps - the title is totally irrelevant except for the fact that i was listening to tswift at the time, lawl
Title: Mine
Author: heroes_and_cons
Pairing: gen fic, dad!Adam
Rating: G
Word Count: 662
After the dishes had been washed and neatly stacked, brown-bag lunches tucked into the refrigerator for the next day, and the sun had dissipated into the distant horizon, Adam tossed a handful of fresh strawberries in a bowl with a pinch of sugar and carry Amelia upstairs.
She loved strawberries. They were more expensive in the off-months, and Adam could remember reading something in one of his many parenting books - no snacks an hour past dinnertime! But she loved them, she loved how the flesh stained her slight fingers pink, how the juice would dribble from the corners of her mouth.
Adam set her down on her bed, and she’d crawl underneath the plush purple covers, bending her knobby knees and balancing the strawberry bowl on top. “What are we reading tonight, Lia?” Adam would ask. And she would pick ones with the most vibrant covers.
Amelia was a girl through and through, and her favorite stories were the ones of beautiful princesses plagued by tragedy, only to be saved by gallant and noble princes; ones of unrealistic love and perpetually optimistic destinies. They had read most of these stories together thousands of times before, and yet each night at its climax, Amelia would wring her hands together, anxious over the princess’s potential downfall or her happily ever after. And each night, every story ended in the same fashion: a romantic kiss before riding on a white stallion into the setting sun.
A part of Adam knew that Amelia should be breaking from her princess phase by now; she was eleven years old, perfectly capable of reading something like A Wrinkle in Time instead of picture books. In every other aspect of their lives, he could see her growing - she made pancakes for breakfast on Sunday mornings that were better than anything Adam had ever made; she went to birthday parties that were now co-ed; she wrote with the maturity of a teenager rather than that of a fifth-grader. And yet, every night, she let her father dice up a bowl of strawberries and carry her to her bed.
Adam finished the story, closing the book and setting it on his lap; as he did so, Amelia licked the remnants of strawberry juice from her fingers. “Lia, can I ask you a question?”
Amelia nodded, sitting up and folding her legs beneath her slight body. She didn’t let anyone else call her anything but Amelia, with the exception of her father.
“Why do you like these picture books so much?”
Amelia smiled, dimples carving hollows in her freckle-splattered cheeks. “It’s nice to believe in something like that, isn’t it?” She intertwined her fingers on her lap. “A prince and a princess and a fairy-tale ending. Didn’t you ever believe in that?”
Adam couldn’t remember having ever read fairy tales, and if he had, he probably would have pined for the prince just as much as Amelia did. Come to think of it, he couldn’t remember having ever indulged in some sort of make-believe fantasy; he’d always been too much of a realist, and his guard had rarely come down.
“No, not really,” Adam admitted. Amelia’s face fell slightly, and he wondered why he hadn’t just lied. “I mean, it is nice to think about, you’re right. But…” he hesitated. “You know, Lia, you can’t just wait around for the prince to show up on his horse. Life isn’t always like that.”
Much to his surprise, Amelia laughed softly. She set the empty bowl on her nightstand and buried herself beneath her covers.
“I wasn’t expecting it to be, Daddy,” she smiled.
Adam realized that Amelia appreciated fantasy, but had a sense of awareness; that she had somehow become smarter than her own father. He leaned over and kissed her forehead before turning off the light. He walked over to her bookshelf and tucked the book back in its place, among others that would be read in the many nights to come.