He never thought he would ever be this happy as he walks along with her small hand in his and she's skipping her face lit up like a Christmas tree and there are a thousand colours in her liquid brown eyes, so like her mothers. He had never thought this bliss could exist for him as he enters the store with her and she beams up at the lady who works there and the woman smiles down on her kindly telling her what a beauty she is. She is beautiful. Beautiful just like her mother is. He smiles down at her fondly as she chatters away happily with the woman as she leads them to the back of the store. He sits down on the leather seats at the back as the woman goes to get something and he watches her as she twirls and dances in front of him. She always loved to dance and she didn't care who would see her. He smiles at her as she tries to hoist herself up onto the seat next to him and when she finally wiggles her bum into the chair she swings her legs excitedly. Merlin he loves her and he never thought that this could ever be real for him but it is. He is sitting there with her as she swings her legs and beams up at him chattering happily away about things that make no sense to him.
The woman returns with a smile on her face and begins to measure her feet for shoes and she is so excited that she can barely keep still. He has to whisper in her ear that she needs to sit still. Then the measuring is finished and the woman tells her that she can pick some shoes that she likes and she slips down from the seat and dances over to the shoes lined up on the wall. She looks at lots of shoes but can't seem to decide and he gets out of his chair to help her pick. When they sit back down with three different pairs, one matt black, one patent black and one blue she giggles as the woman tries them on her. He can't repress the smile on his face when at one point she pulls her feet back with a giggle saying that it's ticklish. With each pair she tries on she gets back down from her chair and walks the length of the shop to see how they fit except she doesn't ever just walk. She dances and twirls and skips and then runs back to him to ask him what he thinks. He smiles down at her and tells her that it's all up to her and whatever she likes he likes. She looks confused for a moment but then nods her little face serious. She slips back into the chair for the next pair.
Then another store clerk comes up and asks the woman if she'd like the new shoes on display and she spots the patent black shoe in his hand decorated with a little red balloon. She squeals in delight and slips out of her chair to grab the shoe from the clerk. He has to tell her not to snatch and she looks solemn for a moment as she stares down at the little shoe in her hands but he can't stay angry at her as she peeps up at him from under her long eyelashes and he has to smile. She rewards him with a wide grin and then slips back into her chair asking the woman politely to try the shoe in her hand on. The woman obliges and goes to get the shoes from her other foot. He looks down at her sitting beside him and she is even more excited now bouncing around in her seat. The woman returns and puts the shoes on her feet and it's all she can do to keep from leaping out of her chair. The woman checks where her big toe is in the shoe and then lets her skip down the length of the shop watching carefully to make sure the shoes fit and he watches her with a smile on his face. She skips back to him.
'These ones, daddy, please,' she says with a smile rocking back and forward on her heels.
He smiles at her and nods and gets up to pay for the shoes. She wants to wear them home and he lets her because he just can't resist his baby girl and when they arrive home her mother exclaims over how delightful the little shoes are. She refused to take them off and wants to wear them everywhere, even when she is playing with her brothers in the back garden. They manage to get them off her so that she can go in the bath and later that night as he goes into her room to say goodnight he crouches down by her bed and spots the little black shoes with the little red balloon peeking out from under her pillow. He doesn't say anything and just smiles at her and she smiles back sleepily, tired from her excitement that day. He kisses her on the forehead and ruffles her fiery red hair.
'Goodnight, Lilypad,' he whispers into her ear making her giggle.
'Goodnight daddy,' she says her little mouth opening into a yawn. 'Thank you for my shoes.'
He smiles fondly at the memory because she is now sixteen and she still loves shoes but no longer sleeps with them under her pillow. Now she wears high heels to make herself seem taller but she still loves to dance and he will never forget her first pair of shoes, little patent black shoes with a little red balloon.
Dedicated to my wonderful father and my first pair of shoes, Patent black with a little red balloon. I really hoped you enjoyed this.
Kerr X.