Section 2
"Good-morning, sweetheart."
"No, Daddy, it's too eeeearly."
"Are you feeling better this morning?"
Linnie blinked twice and considered the question. "Yes, daddy. It's all better."
"Who's my precious baby girl?"
"I am."
Jethro picked her up and cradled her in the crook of his arm. "Who's my precious baby girl?" He tickled her under the chin making her squirm.
"Nooo..." Linnie squealed. "I told you I am. Didn't you hear me, Daddy?"
"I bet it's you."
"Stop tickling me, Daddy. Of course, it's me. Chris is a boy."
"How about we get our bath now?"
Linnie noticed Chris still sleeping. "No. Let Chris go first. I want to sleep some more." Daddy ignored her and he carried her towards the bathroom. "Daddy, no. Please, I want to sleep now."
"After your bath, Daddy will dress you and then how about a nice bottle? Aunt Breena dropped off some nice fresh milk."
Daddy said the magic word, Linnie paused in her protest. Milk? A bottle? Now that Daddy mentioned it, she was a bit peckish. She wondered if she could convince Daddy to skip the bath and dressing. He could sit in the rocker and feed her; then he could let her sleep a little longer. Yes, that was a good plan. Linnie explained the new sequence of events to Daddy.
"Nnnnooo. Daddy, you're not listening," Linnie whined as he started to unsnap her jammies. "It's cold..."
"Papa got you some hyacinth and peony for your bath. Doesn't it smell nice?"
Linnie paused her protest and took a hesitant sniff. Papa was good at picking good-smelling things. She liked how it stayed on her skin and made it feel soft. She liked how she could smell it during the day and how Grandpa would pick her up and tell her how good she smelled and pretended to eat her hand.
"Fine." Linnie grumpled. "You may bath me. Then I want my purple dress with the ruffles and my frilly white socks. Oh, and my white kidskin shoes with the embroidered flowers that Uncle Tim gave me."
Giving in, Linnie relaxed into her bath. "Daddy, you're tickling me." She giggled as he washed her neck with her bunny washcloth. "Oooo, yes, daddy, right there." She cooed as he shampooed her hair massaging her scalp as he did. Forgetting her earlier protest, she complained when Daddy finally lifted her from the bath and bundled her into a nice warm towel.
"Who's my special girl?"
"Are you having problems with your memory, Daddy?"
"Daddy loves his little princess."
"I love you, too, Daddy."
"Let's see, what should we wear today?" Daddy opened the small closet door. He began to move the dresses on the little hangers looking through her wardrobe. "How about this?" He paused at the yellow dress with the little lamb on the front.
"No. I told you the purple one. Don't you remember?"
"Ahhh. Here we go." Daddy pulled out a mint green dress with white lace. "This is your Papa's favorite."
"I want the purple." Linnie reminded him.
"Now all we need is shoes, socks and a fresh diaper."
"Noooo." Linnie tried to grab the purple dress but missed.
Daddy kissed the top of her head. "Papa bought you this dress the first day we went shopping. He said you looked like a fairy princess in the ruffles."
"Fairy princess?" Linnie pouted for a minute, but if it made her look like a fairy princess... "Okay, for Papa, but tomorrow I want the purple."
Jethro pulled out her frilliest white socks and the mint green shoes that matched her dress. He laid her on the changing table and began to dress her. Linnie gave in graciously allowing him to maneuver her little arms into the dress. She cooed as he brushed her hair and put in a little flower barrette.
When he was finished dressing her, Daddy picked her up. Fluffing her dress, he held her up the mirror. "There's my beautiful girl. Daddy loves you so much. Since your brother is being a lazy bug this morning, why don't we go have breakfast just the two of us and then you gave have a little nap while I bath and dress your brother?"
Linnie quickly expressed her approval.
