Marina had a permanent pout of her face for most of the day and it didn't leave when her father came home. Jay raised an eyebrow as he lifted his little girl up and hugged her close. She let out a soft whine.
"What's wrong with my little girl, hmm? Why is she so grumpy?" he asked.
"Cause," she said softly.
"Cause why?" he pressed gently. She just shrugged her little shoulders before resting her little head on his shoulder.
"Ok then," he said and rubbed comforting circles on her small back. She probably had a bad day and wasn't ready to talk about it yet. He ventured into the living room where his questions were answered. Manny was looking just as grumpy as their daughter as she furiously scrubbed the walls in order to the get the crayon markings off.
"Marina Janelle, did you color on the walls?" Jay asked sternly and he was answered with a soft whimper.
"I'm going to tear my hair out," Manny growled.
"I'm going to take Marina upstairs," he said.
"Fine."
It was all too clear that Manny needed a break from her daughter. She spent day in day out with her and while Jay knew that she loved her to death, a five year old could start to wear on anyone's nerves after awhile.
"I told Mommy I was sorry," Marina whispered.
"Are you sorry?" he asked curiously. Jay had plenty of experience with apologizing and not really meaning it.
She squirmed in his arms and looked up at him.
"You can tell me the truth, I won't get made, promise," he said.
"Not really," she replied softly before bursting into tears.
"Hey, hey, I said I wasn't going to be mad at you," he cooed while sliding one hand down her silky ponytail.
"I'm bad," she sobbed into her chest.
Jay carried her into her bedroom and sat down on her bed, keeping her close in his lap. Her little body trembled with her tears which were soaking through his shirt.
"You aren't bad, baby girl," he said softly and kissed the top of her head.
"Yes I am!" she squealed with disagreement, her soft voice going shrill and so high that it would make a dog whine.
"Why do you think that?" Jay asked.
"Cause."
"Cause why."
"Cause I do bad things and Mommy gets mad."
"Everyone does bad things every now and then, but that doesn't make them bad," Jay explained.
"Yes it does," she insisted.
"I can assure you baby girl, that it doesn't. Everyone makes mistakes."
"But I colored on the wall on purpose," she said, titling her head in confusion.
"Why did you color on the wall?"
"Cause I wanted to. I was boring and lonely; it wanted me to color on it."
"But you knew that it was wrong."
Marina nodded her head.
"I'm only posed to color on paper," she replied.
"That's right, so you broke a rule on purpose."
"Yes! That's what makes me bad," she whined.
"No, you aren't bad at all. You are a very good girl who happened to do a bad thing, that's all."
"So no sending me away?" He wondered how that thought got into her head.
"You could draw over all the walls in the house and we'd still keep you around," he promised.
Her eyes lit up at the prospect of drawing on all the walls. The look of mischief didn't get past Jay though. He knew that look all too well.
"Don't even think about it, munchkin," he warned.
"I wasn't gonna do it," she sulked.
"Mhm, somehow, I'm not so sure I believe that," he laughed and kissed the tip of her nose.
He wiped away her stray tears with his thumbs.
"Now then, why don't we get you into a bath and into your nice warm pjs, then you can have a story before bed."
"And ice cream?" she asked with a grin.
"You're pushing it," he said and lifted her up.
She splashed around in the water for a bit. He enjoyed these moments with her. He had been scared shitless when Manny told him she was pregnant. He even considered running away, but then he realized he couldn't hurt Manny or his unborn child. He couldn't allow himself to turn into the man he had swore he never would become. The man he hated.
"Finished!" she announced and stood up in the tub, holding her arms up over her head.
He wrapped her up in a towel. He brushed out her hair and braided it. He had gotten pretty skilled at braiding hair. He dressed her into her favorite pair of pink pajamas with sparkly silver crowns on them. She generally went around declaring herself a princess on a daily basis. Manny had even gotten matching plastic tiaras for her and Marina to wear.
"Story time!" she declared and pulled her favorite book off the shelf. Jay had read If You Give a Mouse a Cookie so many times that he could probably recite it by heart. She settled herself in his lap and waited for him to start reading.
"Daddy?" she asked softly when he finished reading the story.
"Yes, baby girl?"
"Were you ever bad when you are little?" she asked.
"Oh yeah. Daddy was bad even when he stopped being little."
Her eyes went wide with surprise. She clearly didn't believe him.
"Nu-uh!"
He grinned and hugged her close.
"Yuh-huh, I used to be a very bad boy."
"You drew on walls?"
"More like stole cars."
Her jaw dropped.
"Daddy! That's very naughty," she scolded, resembling Manny at the moment.
"I know. Your Mommy helped me stop being bad."
"You are good, Daddy, member? You just did bad things," she reminded him.
"When did you get to be so smart, huh?" he asked as he squeezed her tight against him. He loved the way she felt in his arms.