Hey all! It turns out that I was able to get a second chapter wrote for you guys.
Please don't be too mad or hate me too much for what I have done! It's not the chapter you guys are waiting for. That cliffhanger gets to wait a bit longer as I need a bit more time to get it the way I want it to and there's something about this chapter that needed to be told. I hope you like it regardless of not getting the answers you are waiting for.
Have a good weekend!
Enjoy!
"Daddy, daddy, I want this dress," Sofia exclaimed with a look of glee on her face, holding up the emerald green princess dress. The one thing he agreed on with Zoe is letting Sofia pick out her clothes. To let her have the freedom to wear what she wants to wear, within reason. Picking his clothes out was easy enough because he knows his style, but dressing himself is far different from dressing his daughter. The first time he looked at girls clothes when he found out he was going to be a father to a daughter, he felt overwhelmed on what he was supposed to pick out for her to wear. And now that Sofia is old enough to pick clothes out herself, it's easy to let her have the reins.
"Are you sure?" George asked. He wasn't certain why his daughter would pick a green dress out. Pink's and purples are her two favorite colors, not being able to say she likes one more than the other. When they walked into the dress shop a sea of colors, he figured she would have went to the bright pinks or the bright purples. Turns out he was wrong because here she is looking as if she's going to cry because he had to question her on her choice of dress color. And that alone made him feel like a jerk.
"Don't you like it, Daddy?" Sofia asked, the glee washing off her face, a pout turning her lips into a frown. She's looked all through the dress shop for the perfect dress. Green easily becoming her third favorite color. A close contender for Pink and Purple.
"It's a pretty dress, princess," George promised, kneeling to be eye level with her. He knows the way she lives in the princess dress he bought for her, and he wanted to give her a second dress, so she didn't just have one dress to live in. "I was shocked that you picked a pretty green colored dress, sweetie," he shared. The one vow that he can make himself in this moment is to try his hardest not to do is to make think that he doesn't like what it is she has picked out.
The dress she picked out is a deep emerald green color. The sleeves of the dress were short with a lace detail over the sleeves. A row of black sequins rest above a row of gold sequins going around the waist of the dress. The same pattern with the black and gold sequins going around the bottom of the skirt. The skirt is made of layers of tulle, giving it a puffy look.
"Let's make sure we have the right size and buy it," he told her, taking the dress to see if she managed to grab the right size or if they would need to double back to the rack where the dress is located to find the size needed. Seeing the dress was only one size bigger than her normal size, they headed to the dressing room to make sure it wasn't too big or even too small. You just never know when it comes to sizes for anything.
With the perfect dress for Sofia in the perfect size, they headed to a shoe store because what's the point of having a pretty dress without the right shoes to wear? Sofia, unlike her mother, which is something George is thankful for, as he doesn't think his little girl should be wearing heels of any sort now, headed to the section of the store he felt the most comfortable in because Converse are shoes he can stand behind and help her find the right pair. Except Sofia didn't need his help to find a black pair with gold detail to go with the sequins on her dress.
The last few days have been fun when he's not busy working. His days are nothing but dreadful when he's sitting in the office or the booth. It's nothing but stuffy in either room. No one being able to do anything right, not by him. It relieves him to know that it's only a few more days, and he won't have to return to the label to work anything else out for a few months. The atmosphere in the small studio in Bluebell is airy and full of life, laughter, and music, the truest forms of being heard when there.
George has tried to find educational things to do with Sofia. He wants his daughter to always be learning and to never stop learning something new. There is so much out there to learn, and he may very well be selfish because he wants his daughter to learn it all. Before heading home they would stop at the Adventure Science Center, he wanted to make that one a full-day affair, giving Sofia all the time she wanted to see everything they have to offer. AB had taken Sofia to the Bicentennial Mall, he's never been there, but Sofia made sure to tell him it was fun and that she loved playing in the water in the middle of the mall. Sofia had spotted the botanical gardens and wanted to see what it was about, so they went with nothing else planned for that day. Sofia loved seeing all the art there was, thrilled to see the exhibit all about trains.
Sofia even needed to take a look around the music hall of fame, not really understanding everything she was seeing, but she heard that Wade made music, and she had to know if he was famous enough to be included in the music hall of fame. George tried to tell her that it didn't work that way. He had a pouting, moody child on his hands after that. He promised his daughter they would see if they could find everything they could to make a plaque and a medal of some sort, so he can be in Sofia's music hall of fame. Because what's better than having your very own music hall of fame where you put the best of the best in it? That made Sofia smile and cheer right up. George figures that Wade will love it when Sofia gets back to town to give to him.
On the third day in Nashville, found them sitting in the children's theater to watch the play they were putting on. He didn't even see the place or thought of taking Sofia to it. They were looking for something to do after they finished a late breakfast when it started to rain, and they saw the theater and figured why not. Sofia likes watching the plays Dash puts on every year, it would be a little different as the play is more focused towards kids, instead of a whole town. Sofia had loved the play and wanted to watch it again before they left in a few more days. George made no promises on if they would make it back or not. By the time the play had ended the rain had lessened up and became more of a drizzle, good enough to get back to the hotel they are staying at, complete with a water park.
The following few days would see them go to the Zoo, Ab and Sofia hitting the water park up a few more times, and the Science Center the day before they would make their way home to Bluebell. As much fun as Sofia is having with her dad, George can see that she misses her mom and the longer they are away from Zoe, the more Sofia wants to call to check up on her mom. Missing you and I loves you being exchanged between them.
"Daddy, look," Sofia smiled, running up to her dad holding an almost matching pair of men's Converse. The most considerable difference being the men's shoe had very little gold on it like Sofia's did. "We can match," she grinned.
"Yes, we can," he chuckled, walking through the store where Sofia had come from to find the size he needs because he cannot wear a size 6, there is no way he can fit his foot in a shoe that small. Even if he didn't like the shoe, he wasn't about to disappoint his daughter. If she wants to have matching shoes, they are going to have matching shoes. He's happy to see that he actually likes the shoes because he knows it could have been worse for him.
While he's been spending time with his daughter at the mall, and not the one that had a place to play in the water in the middle of it, much to Sofia's protests. The one thing that George has come to notice is how miserable a lot of the guys seem to be when he spots them there with their family. Sure, he doesn't like shopping when it's AB or the few times he tagged along with Lemon or Zoe in the past, and hated going to the mall with his mom. But to have this special time with Sofia, he didn't want the day to end.
"Daddy wait," Sofia said, pulling George to the middle part of the hall where there were benches to sit on.
"Right," he chuckled, helping Sofia get her new shoes out of the bag and box, lacing the shoes up for her. He helped her get her shoes on and tie them for her. He had done the same to his shoes, tossing their old ones into the boxes and replacing the boxes into the bags as they made their way to another store.
They found their way to the bookstore, going straight to the kids books. Sofia browsed to see what books she wanted. George doesn't go around spoiling his daughter, so buying her a few things here and there isn't that bad of a thing to do. And it's books. He'd rather it be books than some video game he'd want his parents to buy him. With a stack of books in his hands and a smaller stack of books in his daughters, they found the reading nook, George easily curling up with his daughter to read a book or two.
He might not get to spend all of his time with Sofia; the way married parents do with their children, but he's not going to let that stop him from being present with his daughter when he can be there for her. When she gets older, he wants her to look back on her childhood and see that it doesn't matter if her parents were married or not because she has memories with both her parents. Through it all, she has parents that love her. And as far as copartening goes, they have found a way that works for them. Because when it comes down to it, it's all about Sofia, always about Sofia and what's best for her. And that means he needs to be on the same page as Zoe.
Leaving the bookstore with plenty of books, not only to read but a few coloring books as well, they made their way back through the mall to the parking lot where the car is parked. Sofia wanting chicken for a late lunch/an early dinner. He went through the drive through getting himself, Sofia and something for AB before making their way back to the hotel where they would surely find a movie or two to watch to end their very eventful day. He will take all the cuddles and snuggles he can from his daughter while he can, dreading the day she claims she's too old to snuggle with her dad.