Chapter 4
Loid entered the house with a smile as he had had a good day at work. While he hadn't been much closer to finding where the target was hiding, he had uncovered some phone records and a few other important documents, which his superiors had been very pleased about. "Dear? I'm home," he called out with a smile.
Yor came out of the kitchen and smiled, but Loid could see at once that it was a tired smile and his wife was worried. "Darling, are you alright?" He asked in worry. "Bad day at work?"
"No, but...," Yor sighed before looking back at her husband. "Anya was bullied today and the bullies...said some horrible things about her."
Loid felt anger fill him and he took a deep breath to calm down. "What did they say?" He asked.
"One boy threw balls of paper at her with the words 'orphan' and 'ugly' and some other mean words and that wasn't the worst of it."
She saw her husband set down his briefcase. "What was the 'worst' of it?" He asked, his tone indicating that he felt the mean words had been very bad.
"The teacher called me and told me that three children had tagged the school wall too, even putting up pictures of Anya with many hurtful words, mostly 'orphan' and 'ugly'."
Loid was ready to go into a fight. "Were the three taken care of?" He asked.
"The security escorted them out with their parents and they've been suspended, but if it happens again, the principal says he will expel them," Yor said.
"They should have been expelled today," he said before taking a deep breath and letting it out, calming down a bit. "Where is Anya?"
"She's in her room," his wife said. "She didn't want to talk about what happened and I didn't push her, but I was hoping perhaps you could help cheer her up. I'm making macaroni and cheese for her in hopes that one of her favorite dinners will help boost her spirits, but I think what she needs before that is a lot of comfort and reassurance."
"I'll go talk to her and cheer her up," Loid promised. "And I hope this doesn't happen again, because no one hurts my little girl and gets away with it."
Yor smiled at that. Her husband's protective nature always made her feel better and it was one of his qualities that she loved. "Go ahead. Dinner will be ready in about half an hour," she said.
Smiling at her, her husband kissed her, making her smile before he headed to Anya's room, finding the door partly closed and he heard his daughter crying a little. "Anya?" He said gently, knocking lightly on the door. "It's Daddy. May I come in?"
The little girl looked up and nodded. "Come in, Daddy," she said.
Loid entered the room and he looked at his child sympathetically. "Oh, sweetie pie," he said, his voice comforting as he kneeled down and held his arms out to her an open gesture of a hug. "Come here, pumpkin. Daddy's here."
Anya's lower lip trembled and she stood up before flying into her father's arms, sobbing as she clung to him. "D-Daddy," she stammered out, her throat tight with sadness as she cried.
The man stood up, still holding his little girl and he began rocking her to help her calm down. "Shh, it's alright, my little one," he cooed to her, gently stroking her head to help her calm down. "Can you tell me what happened?"
Anya looked at him tearfully and he gently wiped away the tears that were falling down her face. Feeling comforted by that, the little girl sniffled. "The teacher had just given us our math tests and I was working on it when James threw some paper balls at me. I at first ignored it, but one hit me on the side of my head. The teacher asked me to bring the papers up to her and when she opened them up, they had mean words written all over them, words meant for me."
"What were those words?" He asked.
She sniffled again. "The bullies wrote the word 'orphan' a lot, but they also said I was ugly and unwanted," she said, fresh tears coming to her eyes. "I don't know why they were bullying me, Daddy. I never talked to them before."
Loid shook his head. "I don't know why either, but you don't need to worry about them anymore, sweetheart," he said as he sat on the bed. "And I can prove to you that those hateful words are untrue."
"How, Daddy?" She asked.
He smiled. "Well, let's see now," he said before smirking as he noticed she had her favorite pink socks on. He reached down and gently grabbed her ankles, making her cry out in surprise before he wrapped his daughter's ankles in a headlock and removed her pink socks. "I'm going to tickle away each untrue word those bullies said about you."
With that, he began tickling his little girl's small feet and she burst into giggles and laughter. "AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! DAHAHAHAHAHADDY!" She laughed out, trying to pull her feet away, but her father's grip was both strong and gentle.
"Tickle, tickle, tickle, sweetie!" Loid cooed to her.
Anya squealed as her father tickled her toes next before he let her feet go and picked her up, seeing the little girl was wearing her favorite flower shirt and her favorite jeans. Chuckling, he tickled her sides next, making her laugh again.
"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" She laughed.
"Uh-oh, I can hear my tummy growling," Loid said teasingly. "That means I'm turning into a tickle monster and I'm very hungry for my favorite snack."
Anya squeaked and tried to protect her stomach, but she was still laughing, which told her father that she knew exactly what he was about to do. "Oh, you can't hide that delicious tummy forever, little one," he said playfully, now tickling her neck and she reached up to try and stop his tickling fingers, but her father simply moved the child's shirt up just enough to expose the little girl's stomach and he blew a big raspberry right over her belly button.
"EEEEEEEE! NOHOHOHOHOHOHO, DAHAHAHAHAHAHADDY! NOHOHOHOHOHOT THE RAHAHAHAHAHAHAHASPBERRIES!" She protested through her laughter, but her father knew she actually didn't mind.
"Oh, yes, the raspberries," he said, repeating the action to make his daughter laugh again. "And now, that tummy is just right for me to eat."
Anya let out her loudest squeal as her father playfully munched on her stomach. It tickled a lot and what made it tickle even more was that her father had a five o'clock shadow, which only added to the ticklish sensations.
"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! DAHAHAHAHAHAHADDY! THAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAT TIHIHIHIHIHIHIHICKLES!" She laughed out, squirming in her father's hold, but he didn't let go.
"Mmm, yummy. This little tummy is so delicious," her father said playfully before blowing one more raspberry onto his daughter's belly button, making her let out one more squeal before he let her up. Giggling, she reached up to him and Loid picked her up, holding his daughter protectively as she rested her head on his shoulder. "Do you feel better, pumpkin?" He asked.
She nodded. "Good," he continued. "Now don't you believe those words or give them another thought, sweetie. You are not an orphan and you are not ugly at all. And the word unwanted doesn't even describe you."
She looked up at him and he smiled. "Your mother and I both love you and we chose you at the orphanage," he said. "I may not know why no one else wanted to adopt you, but I can say for certain that your mother and I do not regret adopting you."
Anya smiled at him. "You really mean that, Daddy?" She asked.
"You bet I do, sweetheart," he said. "Now, I believe your mother has dinner ready and after dinner, we'll get some ice cream. Daddy will get you a triple scoop of your favorite flavor."
The child perked up at that. "Daddy, you promise?" She asked.
"I promise, kiddo, both about the ice cream and the fact that the bullies were very wrong."
Anya smiled before resting her head on her father's shoulder as he took her out to the dining room where Yor was getting dinner on the table. She smiled as she saw them. "Anya, the teacher gave you an excused absence for tomorrow and your father and I are off work," she said. "How about we go to the fair tomorrow? I heard it is in town for the weekend."
"That's an excellent idea, my love," Loid said with a smile.
Anya giggled happily while hugging her father before reaching for her mother, who smiled and accepted her daughter from her husband. "Do you feel better, sweetie?" She asked.
"Yes, Mommy," the little girl said. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you what happened earlier."
"You were upset, honey, and I don't blame you in the slightest," Yor said. "Now come on, let's get eating because something tells me your father promised you ice cream after dinner."
"You know me too well, my love," Loid said.
"Just as you know me too well, Honey," she said with a smile.
Anya felt happy as she saw that her parents were genuinely happy and she felt genuinely happy as well, looking forward to the fair the next day.
Here is the fluff I promised. :)
I just love comfort moments with a parent comforting a child. :)
Please leave a review, but no flames!
GoldGuardian2418
