Captain daddy
"Merrill what is it you have there?" Adam asks him when he saw an important cablegram in his hands right now
"It's a letter and it's from child services" Merrill says as he opens the letter up to see what was in it
Merrill sees that he has a daughter, and she is only three years old, and her mother died, and they could not get ahold of anyone else, and they saw that he was her father, and they would like to have him have custody of his daughter who is named Vicki
"Well Adam they are going to give me custody of Georgina's and mine daughter" Merrill says as he read the letter over and over again to make sure his eyes were not playing games
"Congrats Merrill when do we get to meet the little girl?" Adam asks him
"In two days so I guess I have to get busy getting her room together at my apartment and here on the ship mainly on the ship" Merrill says cause they wanted to meet him at the terminal to give him Vicki
"Let me get Isaac and Gopher and the four of us can whip this out in no time" Adam tells him
"Get Julie too cause I am going to need help in the clothes department" Merrill says cause he was in fact clueless on what to buy for a little year more to less a three-year-old
Adam was going to see if Julie was around and if she was, he was going to grab her the group was going to go shopping for everything they were going to need for Vicki, and Merrill was going to see if they could delay sailing for a day or two until he could get Vicki settled in and get a routine with her
"Julie, are you dressed?" Adam asks as he knocked on the door to her cabin
"Yes, why do you ask?" she asks him
"The captain needs our help cause he is going to be an instant daddy to a three-year-old girl, and he wants you to help him shop for clothes for her and anything else" Adam tells her
Julie was always ready to go shopping and this was perfect as well
(Later)
The group had Vicki's bedroom bought as well as some toys she could play with after she comes on board, and they got her a stroller as well so when they were not on the princess, she could stay close to the group. Julie got her two dolls to hug and take care of as well to help her adjust. Gopher got puppets for bedtime; Isaac got drinking cups for the bar so she could have something when she came in with her dad. Adam got her a dress-up box that had everything in it. Merrill got her a dollhouse that could be in his office, and they could play together
"I think that is everything now to divide this up between my apartment and the ship" Merrill says cause he had to make her a room at his apartment as well
"We can help you there Captain and we need to get her own uniform too" Gopher tells him
"Yeah, we do cause she is going to be a part of the crew" Merrill says cause he was still feeling the butterflies in his stomach
(Merrill's apartment)
Merrill was able to find a bedroom that could work as Vicki's room, and he started to transform it into a room for a little girl
"All I have to do is paint it a color that Vicki likes" he says as he was thinking of Vicki and what color is her favorite color
"Wait till she is here, and she gets settled to ask her what color she would want her room we will do her room on the princess, so it is a perfect fit for her" Adam tells him
"I know the first night she will sleep with me cause she is going to be scared to sleep alone without something that she could hug or her comfort item" Merrill says to the group
"Maybe the first cruise she takes we can help her pick out something" Julie tells him
"That would be perfect unless she brings something with her if they allow her to have it" he says as he thinks of the elephant, he got for her for her birthday that he sent to her
Merrill got his room ready as well just in case Vicki wanted to sleep with him at any point in time, and child services call him and asked him when will be a good time to bring Vicki by the day after tomorrow and Merrill went with afternoon cause the next day he was going to work on her room on the princess and get that ready for her cause she will have to adjust to sea life, and he will have to learn how to balance being a Captain and a dad at the same time too
"All I have to do is wait for her" he says as he closes the door to her bedroom
Merrill could not sleep that night cause he was too excited for Vicki and being able to be in her life finally after all this time as well
"I think I'm the morning I am going to get her storybooks for her room so I can read her bedtime and when she can't sleep cause there might be times where she won't be able to sleep without a story or something" he says as he lays awake
Merrill was thinking of who Vicki looks like him or Georgina and if she has his blue eyes as well, and he kind of picture what it might have been like if he got her earlier as well like when she was a baby or something cause that would have been a special time cause he would of got to carry her in his arms and hold her close, and he would have got to rock her to sleep when she couldn't sleep well