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Chapter 4

"Leni, could you please eat your cereal? Daddy has to leave in ten minutes." Ryan sighed as he saw his daughter pout and look down. She still made no movement to bring the spoon to her mouth, just kept playing with her food.

"Don't go to work, Daddy." She mumbled.

Ryan sighed again and bent down to her level next to her chair. "I will only be gone for the day Leni. You know that. And you like Calleigh right? She brought a surprise for you yesterday!" He stood, grabbed a rubber band from the table and tried fixing his daughter's hair. "You'll have lots of fun together, I'm telling you." He finished his task and went to the counter. He grabbed his coffee, chugged it down and grimaced. It was cold. He glanced at Leni, who had started eating her breakfast slowly, and cringed. "Daddy really doesn't know how to do your hair right, does he?"

Leni looked up at him and smiled, her mouth full of cereal. She shook her head vigorously and grimaced.

Ryan chuckled and turned to the sink to wash his mug. He heard someone knocking at the door so he quickly left the kitchen and walked through the living room. He opened the door and couldn't keep a large smile from reaching his face as he moved to let Calleigh walk in. He rarely got to see Calleigh wearing casual clothes. Of course, he always thought she looked beautiful with her formal clothes but right now, with her white shorts and purple short-sleeved shirt, she looked even more stunning. 'You would find her sexy in baggy sweats and old t-shirts' he thought.

"Good morning, Cal!"

"Good morning, Ryan!" She looked him up and down and smirked, shaking her head. "You don't look like you're ready to go to work."

Ryan chuckled and looked down at himself. He had his jeans and shoes on, but his shirt was only buttoned halfway and his hair was still a little wet. "Yeah, my morning routine isn't what it used to be."

Calleigh laughed and followed him in the kitchen. Leni's face brightened as she saw the blond woman walk in and come sit next to her.

"There's my little miss!" She smiled and stroked the little girl's hair. "Did you fix your hair yourself, Leni?"

Leni shook her head, looked at her dad and smiled. "Your daddy did it! I see…" Ryan chuckled again as Calleigh pulled a face. "Tell you what, Leni. After you finish your breakfast, you and I are going to go up to your room and get you dressed for the day. I'll also fix your hair. Then, we'll have loads of fun together. Sound good?"

The little girl nodded and went back to eating her breakfast, her little whining session long forgotten. Calleigh smiled and looked up at Ryan, who still hadn't moved from the doorframe. "Ryan, stop staring and finish getting ready for work or you'll be late again."

"Yes Ma'am!" Grinning, he left the kitchen and went to the bathroom.

Leni finished her breakfast in record time. She got down from the chair and, grabbing Calleigh's hand, dragged her upstairs to her bedroom.

"Let's see what you got in here." Calleigh peaked inside her dresser. All the little clothes were neatly folded and organized by color. She rolled her eyes and looked down at the little girl waiting next to her. "What would you like to wear?"

Leni smiled, clearly excited about getting to wear whatever she wanted. She reached inside the first drawer and picked a short sleeved purple t-shirt. She gave it to Calleigh, opened another drawer and pulled out a white pair of shorts. Calleigh gave her a large smile and cocked her head to the side. "You have really good taste, little miss."

Leni giggled and Calleigh helped her get dressed. She then picked her up and carried her to the bed, where she worked on fixing the little girl's hair. "You have your daddy's hair, Leni… beautiful soft brown hair." She pulled her hair into a high ponytail and tied a white ribbon around it. "There! All done."

The small girl giggled and looked at the door as Ryan walked in. "Wow! You two look… the same!" They were both wearing white and purple and both had their hair up in a ponytail.

Calleigh laughed as Leni jumped off the bed and ran into her father's arms. "She chose her clothes herself! I can't help it if she has great fashion sense!"

Ryan smirked and looked into his daughter's happy eyes. "You did!" He gave her a big kiss on the cheek and put the giggling girl back down. "Well, you look absolutely beautiful… both of you."

Leni ran back to Calleigh and, grabbing her hand, pulled her off the bed. The blond woman looked down, trying to hide her flushed cheeks from his view. "Are you ready to start your day, little miss?"

Leni lifted her huge hazel eyes up to her and nodded eagerly.

Ryan pouted and crossed his arms over his chest. "What about me, Leni? You've already forgotten about your daddy who has to go to work!"

Calleigh laughed as Leni actually rolled her eyes the same way she had seen Ryan do it a thousand times and ran back to her father. Ryan picked her back up and hugged her.

"You're… hurting me… Daddy." He laughed and loosened his embrace. "Give Daddy a kiss, angel." Leni grabbed his face with her small hands and gave him a peck on the mouth.

Ryan set her back down on the floor and looked back at Calleigh, who was smiling at them. "You're sure you're gonna be okay, Cal?"

Calleigh furrowed her brow and looked down at Leni's face. "Are we gonna be okay, Leni?"

Leni turned her head towards her dad and nodded, a smile that looked more like a grimace plastered on her face.

Ryan chuckled and nodded. "I'll see you later then." He turned to walk out of the room and stopped halfway, glancing at Calleigh again. "Thanks again, Cal."

Calleigh rolled her eyes and picked Leni up. "Just GO already!" Ryan nodded, waved at them and left.

Finally alone, Calleigh looked at Leni, who was also looking at her. "I think I have an idea…"

XXXXX

"Hi! I'm home!" Ryan stepped inside his house and shut the door behind him. "Hello? Anybody here?"

"We're up here!" Calleigh called from upstairs.

Ryan had had a surprisingly great shift; Calleigh hadn't even called him the whole day. Not that he would have minded… Usually, he had difficulty spending the day at work without being interrupted by his cell phone.

Actually, he was the one who had called Calleigh, and every time he had, she had almost hung up on him, telling him that they were both fine and that he had to go back to work and stop worrying.

Not that he… of course he was. He knew Calleigh would be great with Leni. It was just difficult to stop worrying when it was all he'd been doing for the last three weeks.

Smiling, Ryan climbed the stairs two by two and quickly made it inside his daughter's bedroom. "WOW! What happened here?!"

Leni's bedroom was unrecognizable. There was a new purple bedspread on the bed and many colorful pillows and stuffed animals were aligned on it. A new lamp was set on the night stand, next to the framed picture of Leni's mom. Colorful flowers stickers had been put on the walls and bright yellow curtains were hanging from the window .

"You can shut your mouth, Ryan, I think you're scaring the kid."

Ryan frowned and looked at Calleigh, still not over the shock of what he was seeing. "What did you do?"

Leni giggled and ran to her father, who picked her up. "Do you like my new room, Daddy?"

"Yes! Sweetie it's beautiful!" He frowned, glanced at Calleigh again and mouthed 'What?'

She laughed and shrugged. "I just thought her bedroom needed a little lift. So Leni and I went shopping. I got her tones of things she liked and…"

"YOU got her all this?"

"I did. And NO you will not repay me. This," She waved around the room, "is my first gift to my favorite little miss."

Still in shock, Ryan put Leni down and shook his head. "Cal… I can't…"

Calleigh groaned and walked up to him. "Ryan, please. Let me offer her this." She waited for him to nod and grinned, satisfied. "Great. And I have another surprise for you." She grabbed his hand and led him back downstairs. She guided him in the living room and pushed him to sit on the couch. Turning around, she spotted her purse on a chair near the door and grabbed it. "I have found… a daycare service. For Leni."

She finally found what she was looking for and looked up to see Ryan staring intently at her. "Here's the card. I hope you don't mind… I've already made some arrangements. I visited the place with Leni, and she said she loved it. There are many other children she'll get to play with and the women who work there seem really nice. You'll just have to meet with them tomorrow and finish with the arrangements… Are you okay? Ryan?" Calleigh stopped and stared into Ryan's face, concerned. She had never seen that look on his face… he seemed almost close to tears. Her smile wavered and she sat down on the coffee table. "Ryan? Did I go too far?"

Ryan let out a long shaky breath and shook his head. Could this woman be even more wonderful? "Cal… you don't know what this means… to me or to Leni."

It was her turn to shake her head as she smiled. Leni, who had joined them in the living room, quietly went to her dad and climbed on his knees. "You have a wonderful little girl, Ryan. And you needed help. So I gave it to you." Calleigh bit down on her lip and reached to take one of his hands in hers. "I'm always gonna be there for you, Ryan. We all are."

Ryan stared at her for a few seconds and nodded quietly, stroking his daughter's hair.

"Are you okay, Daddy?"

Ryan nodded again and took Leni's small face between his hands. "Everything's perfect, sweetie." Eyes exactly like his own stared back at him. "Did you have fun today?"

Leni nodded her head vigorously. "Calleigh took me to the store. And then, I made new friends. And then, I ate ice cream. And then, I felt sick, because of the ice cream. And then, we decorated my room. And then, we…"

Ryan rolled his eyes and put his hand over the little girl's mouth, stopping her flow. He looked up at Calleigh and laughed, kissing his daughter's head. "So you had a great day!"

"Huh huh." She furrowed her brow. "I'm hungry, Daddy."

Ryan's eyebrows raised and he looked at his watch. "Yeah. Me too." They all stood up and Ryan set his little girl back on the floor. "Would you like to stay, Cal?"

"Yes! Stay with us Calleigh!"

The blond woman grinned and looked down at Leni, who had grabbed her hand and was jumping up and down in front of her. "I don't know…"

Ryan shook his head and grabbed her other arm, pulling her purse off her shoulder. "You're staying. Offering you food is the least I can do."

Calleigh smiled and finally nodded her head. "Fine! I'll stay!"

Soooo???