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Seven: I Won't Say (I'm in Love)
Knock, knock.
"Penny, are you in there?"
Wait. Knock, knock.
"Little pea, it's Daddy. Can I talk to you?"
Wait.
"Alright, I'm coming in." Daddy slips inside her room and shuts the door behind him. He approaches her bed, where she's drawn her knees toward her and is looking sullenly into space, and sits on the edge. "Penny, what's the matter? You've been in such a bad mood since the party."
She turns away from him.
"Little pea, talk to me. I'll listen to whatever you have to say, no judgment, no scolding. Promise." When she continues to remain silent, Tom acts on a hunch. "Does this have anything to do with Aaron?"
"No," she blurts a little too quickly.
"Uh-huh." Daddy raises an eyebrow. "Are you sure about that?"
Penny sighs and bites her lip. "Maybe."
"Penny, I thought you liked Aaron. And I know he's very nice to you. What happened?" And then Tom remembers the very theatrical kiss that happened between his Chief of Staff and Special Advisor, and he remembers how Penny is supposed to have a crush on the latter. "Oh, little pea."
"It's not fair," Penny sobs.
"Why isn't it fair?" Daddy asks patiently.
"I—I—I like him. And he likes me back, right? He does nice things and gives me compliments. So he shouldn't kiss other girls."
Tom suppresses a sigh as he prepares for his most difficult conversation thus far with his daughter. "Penny," he begins calmly, "how old are you?"
She sniffs. "Eight."
"How old is Aaron?"
"Um…I don't know."
"He's thirty-three. That means he's twenty-five years older than you."
Penny frowns. "But I'll get older one day, then it won't matter. Right?"
"You'll get older, but so will Aaron, just like everyone else. By the time you're 'old enough,' he'll be around my age, and you know Daddy is very old."
"I don't care if he's old."
"Okay. But think about how Aaron would feel. He would have to wait an awfully long time for you, wouldn't he?"
"...Yeah. I guess."
"And that wouldn't be fair to him. Besides, you're right that Aaron does like you. I think he sees you as a great friend, maybe even as good as family. But don't you think he would want to find a princess he could love and cherish sooner than how long it would take for you to get old enough?"
Penny rubs her eyes. Daddy holds out his sleeve so she can blow her nose. "Is Emily his princess?" she asks thickly.
"I think so."
"Are they gonna live happily ever after?"
Tom smiles. "I hope so." He chucks her under the chin. "And so will you, little pea. Aaron isn't the only Prince Charming in the world, you know. When you get older, after you've lived life longer and had more experience, you'll find another Prince Charming who'll actually be your age. Isn't that much better than a Prince Charming who'd be an old man at your wedding?"
"Aaron's not old," Penny mumbles, but she's starting to smile now. "And you aren't old either, Daddy."
"Aw, thank you, little pea." They hug before Penny goes to wash her face.
When she comes back to the room, she asks, "Can we talk to Aaron and Emily?"
They go find the White House's newest power couple. They look up from their work when the President and his daughter arrive. "Penny!" Aaron exclaims. "I haven't seen you in days. Are you okay?"
Penny nods, suddenly feeling a lot shyer. "I'm okay."
"We're glad to hear that," Emily says warmly.
With everyone's attention on her, Penny starts to feel a little pressured and decides to get it over with, so she blurts out, "Aaron, it's okay if you and Emily get married, but you have to promise to live happily ever after." She runs out of the room.
They stare after her, and the President as he quickly follows his daughter. "Married?" Emily echoes. "Who said anything about getting married? Did you propose when I wasn't paying attention?"
To be concluded...
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