Thirty minutes later and Wade and Emily had arrived back at his place, her little paw clutched inside his, gently.

She had asked to walk, which he had of course obliged her, and she had even cheekily asked him for an ice cream, which again he of course, was unable to say no to.

So now, as he fiddled with his keys, he gave a chuckle as he glanced down to see the tiny brown-haired toddler, her face and hands covered in sticky chocolate ice-cream.

She had definitely cheered up from earlier. Kids really were pretty resilient. But as long as Wade was here, no one was ever going to treat her like that again.

He was still slightly furious about that woman's attitude, but during their walk home, guilt had crept over him.

How the fuck was he going to explain to Missy that he had got Em kicked out of day-care?

Well, in honesty, he knew that Missy would not have wanted Emily to go back there anyway. But he knew that money was tight for her as it was, without this to worry about too.

As he pushed open the door he bent down and hurled up Emily into his arms.

"Come on, Chicken Little," he uttered flashing her a smile, as Emily licked runny chocolate ice-cream from her paw.

She was a mess, and Wade could feel that through her little pink leggings, her butt was still soaking wet.

He couldn't have her sitting around in this state until Missy got home.

"Well aren't you a hot mess?" he said raising an eyebrow, as Emily babbled happily in his arms. "What does your Mommy usually do when you're like this?"

Wade hadn't even realised that Emily had been able to hear him, which was often the case if she wasn't looking directly at you when you spoke. But to his surprise, she peered down at an ice cream drip making its way slowly down her arm and opened her little mouth…

"Baff," she muttered. "Baff, baff, baff!"

Wade chuckled, heading inside his apartment and kicking the front door shut behind him.

Wade's place was only small, and a bath was not a luxury he had, just a shower. And the toddler definitely looked too young for one of those…

Suddenly he had an idea.

Pacing quickly through into the kitchen, he plonked Emily down onto the counter before starting to fill up the kitchen sink.

It would be a tight squeeze, but it would do.

Emily looked curiously over at what he was doing.

"Noh, I noh baff in ther!" she said giving a giggle.

But Wade looked back at her, raising a scarred eyebrow towards her.

"You arguing with me, Em-bear?" he laughed, as he placed his hand into the warm water to test it, and switched off the faucet.

She gave another shy little giggle, as Wade advanced on her, making to tickle her sides.

The tiny toddler let out a shriek of laugher, attempting to wriggle away from him, but Wade grasped her tiny legs gently.

"You arguing?" he repeated, causing her to cackle.

He tugged off her little brown booties, then her red coat. That was the easy part.

Wade, didn't have much experience with kids and getting Emily to peel off her wet leggings, pink shirt and pull-up diaper was another story altogether.

She knew of course, how far she could push him, squirming and moving about as he wrestled with her, laughing cheekily as she did so.

Wade gave a sigh, finally, after what felt like an age, dropping her sodden clothes to the floor and lifting her into the sink.

Almost instantly Emily gave a cry, kicking her legs out and sending a mass of water splashing over the rim of the sink and all over Wade's jeans.

Juuuust great…

She laughed wickedly, knowing that she had done a naughty thing.

Emily then proceed to turn around on the spot, sticking her little bare butt in the air (mooning Wade in the process) and pull out the plug.

"No, no, no," said Wade, reaching back into the water and replacing it. He gave a 'tut', but couldn't help but grin.

Emily of course found this hilarious.

She turned back around to face him, bending down and splashing water all over his black t-shirt with her hands.

"Waydee…thish not baff!" she said, giving a shriek and bouncing up and down on her tiny legs.

Wade rolled his eyes, before reaching over to his drainer and picking up a jug.

He was waaaaay out of his depth here.

….

Ten minutes later and Wade was more wet than Emily. Somehow the toddler had manged to get more of the water outside the sink than in it and the kitchen floor was now a complete state.

But Wade didn't really care, he had laughed more in the last few minutes than he had in a long, long time.

Emily was quickly catching onto the fact that she could get away with murder where Wade was concerned.

Even now, the merc had barely turned his back for second, heading across his room to reach for a fresh towel, when he looked back over, to find Emily with one leg over the sink, trying her best to clamber out.

"Fucking Christ!" he yelled before he could stop himself, leaping back over and plucking Emily's little naked form up, before she could topple out.

She gave a squeal and a giggle as Wade shook his head, his heart finally beginning to beat normally again.

Jeez, he was gonna have a heart attack at this rate!

Wade wrapped the tiny girl swiftly in the enormous fluffy towel and carried her over to his bed, rubbing at her little arms and legs as he did so.

"Whas fukee chrish mean?" said Emily after moment or two staring up at him, as he placed her gently down.

Wade couldn't help but let out a smirk.

"Well, what it means is something very naughty that only grown-ups are allowed to say," said Wade in a goading voice. "And under no circumstances do we repeat that to your gorgeous Mommy! Alright?"

But Emily was barely listening any more, instead, squirming around inside the towel like a little worm, trying to flip onto her front and crawl away.

Wade dragged her back towards him.

"Jeez, you are a nightmare!" he said mockingly. "How does your Mommy do it?"

Emily tried again, this time breaking free of his clutches, heading up towards his pillows.

Wade gave a sigh and got to his feet, letting her be for a second or two.

He glanced back over to the kitchen where her wet clothes lay in a heap.

There was no way she could wear those again, but he couldn't have her running around naked all night. It was late January after all.

Pacing quickly over to his wardrobe he suddenly pulled out a navy t-shirt with the words 'Big Rico's Pizza' written on the front in big white letters.

He turned back to the toddler, who was currently sitting up on the bed, chewing on her hand.

She looked up at him as he approached her once more.

"Waydee kissh Mommy 'gain?" she suddenly asked. The question was out of the blue and Wade stopped in his tracks slightly as she said it.

He gave a smile.

"See…the thing is," he said slowly, taking breath as he opened out the shirt. "I don't know if your Mommy wants me to kiss her."

Emily stared up at him, barely even batting an eyelid as the enormous shirt was pulled over her head.

"Mommy wans kissh Waydee, lots an lots!" she said giggling, as Wade pulled her little arms through the sleeves.

Wade let out a chuckle. "Does she now?" he asked.

Emily gave a nod, clambering to her feet.

"Yesh, an I wan kissh Waydee too," she said grasping his stubbly cheek with her tiny paw before pressing a sloppy kiss to it.

The merc grinned, as she pulled away and waddled over to the edge of the bed, peering over onto the floor.

The t-shirt swamped her completely, and she looked to him, like the cutest thing he had ever seen his entire life.

Emily suddenly looked back at him, her eyes full of something Wade couldn't quite put his finger on…

But within a split second, he figured out what this was, as Emily let out another loud shriek, before leaping off the bed and running across the floor away from him, naughtily.

Wade ran a hand down his face, but couldn't help but smirk.

She would be the death of him one day.

He stood up straight and in an instant he had caught the toddler, sweeping her up into his arms as she let out a delighted squeal.

"Jeeeeez, you're crazier that Britney circa 2007 tonight!" he said as he grinned up at her, and carried her into the kitchen. "Come on. Let's see what we can make for dinner…..then while that's cooking, you can tell me EXACTLY why your Mommy wants to kiss me. Okay?"

Emily grasped her little fingers around the collar of his, still-damp, t-shirt, happily.

"Okway...…" she agreed, giving Wade a tiny, beaming smile….


Thanks to hotanimegirl, starrat, Welisarne, Sesflynn, pyroleigh, Momochan77, OhBeClever, Smaug The Golden, petite yoyo, dancindonna, Guest, Legolas Girl 31, Raging Raven, jonstar1034, ChibiSpyStuff and Carlypso for reviewing the last chapter. I absolutely LOVED your reactions to that chapter!

Please, please let me know what you thought of this one. Was it ok?

Please review!