"Ryan, tell me a bedtime story."
He sighs, looking down at the sleepy-eyed four-year-old.
"You look like you're about ready for bed, little girl."
"Nuh-uh."
"Yuh-huh. You look exhausted," he nods as she yawns and quickly covers her mouth with her hand, "I saw that."
"No you didn't."
"Sophie…"
"Please, Ryan?" she pushes out her lower lip and tucks a strand of blonde hair behind her ear.
He rolls his eyes and sits at the foot of her tiny pink bed, patting the little girl's leg,
"Sophie Rose, that is so unfair."
"I got you to tell me a story, didn't I?"
He sighs and wonders how Seth and Sophie, though so different in looks, could be so similar in personality.
"Ok, so there was…"
"Once upon a time," Sophie corrects, grinning at the 23-year-old's bedtime story naiveté.
"Once upon a time," Ryan drawls, tickling the little girl's sides, "there was a boy…"
"Was he a handsome boy?" Sophie asks, a glint of mischief in her big blue eyes.
Ryan shrugs,
"He was alright, I guess… The boy had a very hard life. His mommy and daddy were very mean to him and he had to work all day and all night…"
"Like Cinderella?"
He nods,
"Sure, only more manly… So the boy, one day, his brother got him to do a bad thing and he got in trouble. He was sent to a dungeon and had to wait there until a magical king came to save him. The king was very nice, even though he sang a lot of showtunes, and he took him home with him. There he met a beautiful queen who couldn't cook but was very strong and smart and a silly prince who knew all there was to know about music and books and video games…"
"Was the prince handsome?"
"Not as handsome as the boy, but sure… And together they formed…"
"A family," Sophie interrupts; she knows this story by heart by now.
"That's right, a family. And they fought mean water polo players and evil high school deans. But they realized that their family wasn't complete, so one day…"
"They had a princess."
He winks,
"That's right. And her name was…"
"The Little Mermaid!"
Ryan sighs and furrows his brow at the tiny blonde,
"I was gonna say Sophie Rose, but whatever."
He moves to tuck her in and tell her goodnight when his phone rings.
"Hello?... Hey Sandy… Yeah, she's fine… Just finished telling her her bedtime story… Yeah, well, she did the lip… You're a sucker for it too… Ok, well, have fun… Tell Kirsten I love her too… Ok, bye."
He flips his phone closed and turns around to find two very blue eyes staring at him.
"Can I help you, Miss Cohen?"
"Ryan, why do you call mommy and daddy 'Kirsten' and 'Sandy'?"
"Well," he sighs, sitting next to her and running a hand over her hair, "Because they adopted me. And I was very old and very set in my ways and I just couldn't bring myself to call them 'mom' and 'dad.'"
She's visibly confused by this,
"But you love them, right?"
He nods,
"Of course."
"And they are your mommy and daddy, right?"
He nods again,
"Yeah, Soph."
"Ok, good," she yawns again, this time not attempting to hide it, "Cuz the king and queen should have two princes and a princess. It just makes a better family."
He grins and wonders from where the four-year-old reams this logic and wisdom,
"Right… Ok, Sophie Rose, it's time for bed," he tucks her in and kisses her forehead, "Goodnight, little girl. I love you."
She grins back at him,
"Goodnight, big brother. I love you too."