Author's Note: Sorry for the stupid title and generic summary. It is subject to change if I ever think of anything better, lol. I just really wanted to write a cute, future kinda Sasil story (kinda because Sally-Ann doesn't really appear). It's a little based on my dad's struggles to do my little sister's and my hair when we were little, lol.
It's probably not all that great (unbeta'd and written in about thirty minutes), but I've had writer's block for a long time, and this idea popped into my head and I'm hoping it will help with that. Hopefully you enjoy it anyway. :)
Hasil was confident, and comfortable, with taking care of his four year old daughter Lila and his infant son Keir in Sally-Ann's absence. While he was better cooking on a grill, he was competent in the kitchen as well, though the foods they ate were generally fast, quick things. Which he did balance with fruit and vegetables. Keir was on formula and whipping that up was even easier.
Keir wore onsies or footed pajamas most of the time, but Sally-Ann usually bought their children clothes in sets that made the guesswork on matching outfits together pretty easy. His own fashion sense was pretty basic, but even he could make sure to match pink shoes to a pink outfit when needed.
Keir's little dark curls responded well to a little coconut oil and a gentle brushing with one of those ultra soft baby brushes. Lila's hair was a different story. Her reddish brown hair sprung from her head in a riotous halo of springy kinky curly coils. Which Hasil loved because, outside of the color, they were exactly like her mother's. Only thing was, Hasil wished, now, that he'd paid more attention when his wife did their daughter's hair. In his defense, he really hadn't had to do so in the past because Sally-Ann usually did Lila's hair in a way that didn't require him to do much to it while she had one of her weekends away with her friends.
Sally-Ann and Lila usually took a day to do their wash and styling thing, which he'd casually observed. This would culminate in some kind of intricate braided or twisted hairstyle on his wife and something cute and decorated with colorful barrettes on his daughter.
He'd thought that a walk with his kids through the wooded area behind their house would be a good idea. It was something that would get them out of the house and be a break from all of the episodes of Spongebob that he'd have been watching with Lila instead.
At first it had been a good time. The weather was nice and there had been a breeze that brought the scent of growing things and rich earth with it. He'd pointed out a few bird nests to Lila, picking her up to see them closer and cautioning her against touching them. Keir had agreeably went right to sleep in his stroller as they made their way down the short, wooded trail.
Lila had skipped a bit further ahead, which Hasil hadn't minded since she was still well within sight, and had been singing a song when the tune stopped abruptly and she screamed.
Hasil rushed forward, the faster motion causing Keir to wake up and begin crying also, and came to a stop beside his crying daughter.
There was a huge dollop of bird shit in Lila's hair and she was sobbing as if her heart was breaking, a smear of the crap on her hand where she'd reached up to touch it when she'd felt it hit her.
The walk back to their house was filled with the sound of his unhappy children, and once he'd settled Keir down into his crib, Hasil had the job of getting Lila's hair back into order.
He removed the little plastic barrettes and unraveled the braids in her hair before hustling her to the kitchen. He laid her on the countertop next to the sink just like Sally-Ann did when she started wash day, and gently washed, conditioned, detangled Lila's hair. He then smoothed coconut oil in her damp strands and that was where he was stumped. He knew better than to just let Lila's hair dry as it was.
Hasil frowned. There was no way he was going to be able to replicate the style Sally-Ann had made. Well, when in doubt, check online. He scrolled through the video offerings, finally settling on a style that seemed simple. He figured that even he could handle four braids.
He sprayed Lila's hair with a helluva lot of detangler, thanking God that his daughter didn't seem to be "tenderheaded" like the woman in the video said her daughter was, and parted her hair into four thick parts.
He picked through the curls carefully, then began braiding the first part. It looked terrible and he figured out pretty quickly that it was important to divide each piece of hair into equal parts before braiding.
After that it went relatively smoothly. Maybe the braids were a little crooked (okay, a lot crooked), and really not all that accomplished, but it was styled and Lila was happy.