Ok guys…its like 12:30am here and I can't sleep…so I'm just going to write another chapter…might be short cuz I'm tired, so bare with me here! I'll try to stay focused and write! Here's chapter 8!

Last time…

"Daddy please don't embarrass me!" Maddie said as Martin opened the door. There was a boy standing there, looking to be about 12. He was just a little taller than Madison with blonde hair and bright blue eyes. He smiled. "Hi. I'm Shawn." He said, extending his hand.

Martin stood, shocked. "Come in, Shawn." He said sternly, still angry at Maddie and his wife.
"Have a seat." He said, motioning for him to sit on the couch, which he did. Martin sat on the couch across from him and Maddie went to sit down.
"Madison go get your mother." He said.
"Ok daddy." She said. This was the first time he called me 'Madison' in a long time. He must be mad. She thought, going to the kitchen to get her mom.

She returned a few minutes later, and Ruthie and Maddie sat beside Martin on the couch.

"So Shawn."

"Yes Mr. Brewer?"
"How old are you?"
"I'm 12. I'll be 13 in three months."
"Oh that helps…" Madison whispered sarcastically. Martin ignored it, turning his attention back to Shawn.

"You are aware that my daughter is only 10?"
"Yes. I know that sir." He said shyly.

"And are you also aware that she's not allowed to have a boyfriend until she's 15?"
"No. Maddie never told me that. I swear. I just asked if she'd be my girlfriend, and she said ok."
"Oh she did?" Martin said, turning to Maddie, raising his eyebrows and she smiled nervously. After a long pause, he finally spoke again.
"Shawn, maybe you can come over some other time. But right now, I just need to discuss some things with my wife and my daughter."
"Ok sir. Thank you. See you tomorrow Maddie!" he said, as Martin walked him to the door and shut it behind him. Ruthie came up to Martin, putting her hands on his chest.
"Honey, don't you think you were a little harsh?" she whispered.

"No. You were going to let our 10 year old daughter date a 12…excuse me…almost 13 year old boy! I don't think I was being too harsh!" he whispered back.

"Maddie, can I talk to your father?" Ruthie asked, trying to give her the hint that she wanted to speak to Martin alone.

"Fine. At least mom's being cool about this whole thing."
"Madison Olivia…" Ruthie began.
"No. Fine."
"You don't understand Maddie…" Martin began.
"Yes I do! And you know what? I HATE YOU!" she said, as she began to cry and ran to her room.
"What have I done?" Martin asked, sitting on the couch and putting his head in his hands.

"Honey…" Ruthie said, sitting beside him, rubbing his back. "She's just angry."
"But my baby…she said she hated me…she's never done that before…no matter how angry she's gotten…"
"Well maybe it's because this time, it involved two guys that she obviously cares about."
"I should go talk to her."
"No. Give her some time."
He sighed. "I just…I feel like I'm losing my baby."
"Well, at least we have another one on the way." She said, as he patted her slightly bulging stomach.
"Yeah…and before you know it, it will want to date, and it'll hate me too."
Allie and Lauren came in the room, and saw their parents talking. "What's wrong daddy?" they asked, sitting on the floor by their parents' feet.
"Daddy's sad." Ruthie said.
"Why mommy?" Lauren asked.
"Maddie said that she didn't like daddy anymore." She told them. Allie frowned, and sat on her dad's lap, hugging him tight.
"I love you so much daddy." Allie said.

"I love you too." He said, kissing her cheek and Lauren jumped on him as well.
"I love you THIS much." She said, extending her arms as far as she could.
"Well I love you THIS much!" he said, wrapping Ruthie and the girls in his arms, giving them a big hug.
"Honey…are you trying to kill me?" Ruthie asked jokingly.
"Nope. Just squeeze you to death."
"Well you're succeeding " Ruthie said, smiling. "I'm hungry. What about you?" She asked, getting up.
"Mommy, you're always hungry!" Allie said, rolling her eyes.
"I think it's the baby." Lauren whispered.
"Well I think you might be right." Ruthie whispered back, tickling her daughter and Martin smiled. "I'm going to go talk to Maddie. Save dinner for us. It could be a while." He said, sighing and getting up off of the couch, while Lauren and Allison went into the dining room and Ruthie went into the kitchen to get the food out of the oven. They were having a chicken and garlic pasta dish.

Martin sighed once again, and knocked on Madison's bedroom door.
"Maddie. It's daddy. Open up honey." He said, still lightly tapping on the door with his knuckles.

"Go away. You just hate me and don't want to see me happy."

Martin opened the door, and sat on her bed and watched his daughter cry into her pillow. He ran his fingers through her hair, sort of hurt by the words she just said.

"Honey. That is not true."
"Then why won't you let me have a boyfriend?" she asked, sitting up and wiping the tears from her eyes.

"You don't understand…"
"Try me."
"Ok…I met your mommy when I was 16 years old. Mommy was 14 then. We both liked each other, when finally, I asked her out."
"Why'd it take you so long?" she asked, curiously.

"Well…I went out with other girls, because I was 2 years older…until I made a big mistake when I was 17. I thought that I got a girl pregnant…and it really hurt your mommy. But, I found out that the baby wasn't mine, and it was Simon's."
"Uncle Simon?"
"Yes honey. So, I went and found your mom and told her, and asked her out that night. Ever since then, we've been together. I asked her to marry me right before college, and five years later, we got married. A month later, we found out that mommy was pregnant with you." He said, smiling at the memories. "I was so excited. When I met your mom, I knew that I wanted to marry her and have kids with her someday. And I couldn't wait until the day you were born. Maddie, you were my first baby. I just don't want you to grow up too fast."
"So you want me to be happy?"
"Of course I do. I just think you're too young to have a boyfriend. Just be friends and maybe when you're 15, you can date him."
"I'm sorry for saying that I hated you dad."
"It's ok. But that really hurt me."
"I know…and I'm sorry. I love you."

He pulled her into a hug. "You have no idea how good it feels to hear you say that…" he said, kissing her forehead.

"Am I still Daddy's Little Princess?" she asked, looking up at her dad.
"Always..." he said, kissing her cheek and pulling her into another hug.

Awww…Martin and Maddie bonding time…I liked that…did you? Please review! I should have another chapter up tomorrow but then not again until at least Sunday night…I'm going to a Christian music festival on Wednesday through Saturday night…I'll be home, but won't have much time to write…sorry guys! REVIEW PLEASE!

Renee