*Requested by BenoightLangson*
Jordan- 6 and a half
It was a month to Jordan's seventh birthday. Hank couldn't believe his little girl was almost seven it seemed like she was just brought home from the hospital just yesterday. His baby was growing up right before his eyes. He had her gifts wrapped and put away, Erin had the decoration at her apartment. Justin hid the gifts her had gotten her in his room.
One Saturday afternoon Hank had went to Walmart to get some stuff he had brought Jordan with him, she was strapped in her booster seat singing along with her music. He smiled when he saw her in the rear view mirror. At the shopping center Hank parked the SUV and got out he then went over and unstrapped his little girl from the booster seat and set her down on the ground.
"Jo, I want you to stay by me and don't wander off by yourself alright" Hank told his daughter.
"Ok daddy". Jordan replied.
Hank got a basket and pushed it with one hand while using his free hand to hold Jordan's as they walked into the store. Once inside they began shopping. The older father put in juice, foods, and other things. They were close to the toy aisle when Jordan seen a brand new bike. Her eyes widened and her jaw dropped, she glanced to see that her father was still shopping as he looked down the aisle for other stuff they needed for the house. She was slowly entering the sneaking stage, the six and a half year old would pinpoint how long it would take her to go see the bike and get back without her father noticing Jordan quickly sped walked over to the bike and was admiring it.
The color was a sky blue with silver outlines, the tires were black as coal and pumped full of air. It had a silver basket on the front of it. The bike was also in her size she glanced back to see her father still shopping which gave her a couple more minutes to look at the bike. It was perfect for her the only problem was she already had a bike. Jordan had to really convince her father to get it for her for her birthday. She glanced at the price and saw that it was $400 dollars. Hank was still shopping and just as he was about to move Jordan ran back to his side.
Once Hank had finished up the shopping that needed to be done, Jordan realized this was her only chance to get her father to look at the bike and really convince him of getting it.
"Daddy come here I want you to see something". Jordan tells him excitedly.
"What sweetheart?" Hank asked.
She pulled him over to the bike and presented it to him as if it was a prize of some sort. The whole time a huge smile was on her face. A small smile appeared on the older father's face.
"Sorry Jo you already have a bike at home, maybe once you outgrow your old one then we can get you a new one".
Jordan's smile faded and a frown appeared on her face. "But daddy, I like this bike. Please?!" Her voice began to rise a little.
A few people in the store began to stare as they passed by the father and daughter. Hank then looked down at his daughter with a stern warning glare.
"Jordan that's enough". Hank warned her.
"But I want the bike! Please!"
"Jordan Lynn, I said that's enough".
"I want the bike!"
Jordan began crying and fighting as Hank tried to get a hold of her hand and once he finally had a hold of her hand she started to put his hand off but he was a lot stronger than her and had a firm grip on her hand.
Hank took a hold of his daughter's hand and walked away from it, Jordan would struggle of of her father's grip but couldn't. As she was struggling and without thinking she said something.
"I hate you!"
Those word stabbed Hank in the heart, they cut him like a knife. To hear his little girl, his baby hated him and it was all over a bike. Without any more words they went to check out, after that they headed home. The father and daughter were still angry at each other, during the drive home Jordan gave her father the cold shoulder. Hank didn't say anything because he didn't want to say something then regret it later. But the whole time his heart ached with pain, he still couldn't believe that his little girl said that she hated him over a material object.
As soon as they arrived home Hank and Jordan carried the stuff in, Justin wasn't there but Erin was. As soon as the door opened she noticed the expressions on their faces and knew something was wrong. The air was so tense you could practically cut through it with a knife. Jordan sat the stuff down on the floor as she kept her head down. The stern glare never left Hank's face as he looked down at his daughter.
"Jordan Lynn go to your room now, I'll deal with your punishment later". Hank told her firmly.
The six and a half year old ran up to her room leaving Erin completely stunned. She'd never once heard Hank use Jordan's first and middle name ever, to hear something like this it must have really been bad.
"Hank what's going on?" Erin asked.
"I don't wanna talk about it". Hank replied sourly.
He began putting up all the stuff from the shopping bags and the entire time Erin watched him like a hawk. She noticed the saddened and painful look on his face, something was seriously wrong and she was determined to find out.
"Hank whatever it is I'm sure it can't be that bad".
"Jo said she hated me".
"W-what?"
Now Erin was completely stunned and speechless, there was no way in hell Hank could have been talking about Jordan. She'd always known the young girl to be very sweet, kind, polite, she never got into trouble until now. She knew that she had Hank's temper for sure but she would never go as far as telling her father that she hates him.
"We can't still be talking about the same Jordan, she wouldn't say something like that".
"She said it Erin. Loud and clear".
"What happened that she said it".
"She was looking at this bike and she wanted it I told her no, she began to act out I took her away and she said it".
"Jo didn't mean it Hank, she was just angry and upset. Something that was said out of anger, we all say and do things out of anger".
"It was all over a bike. A bike, Erin. I never thought Jordan would ever say those words".
"She didn't mean it though".
"I just wanna forget it".
Erin knew for a fact that this would bother the older man for days until he and Jordan made up, after Hank finished putting up the groceries he started dinner while Erin went up to talk to her sister.
Jordan laid on her bed and cuddled her pillow, the six and a half year old was no longer angry at her father but she felt really guilty. She didn't intend to say that she hated her father it just slipped out, clutching her pillow tighter to her chest while tears were sliding down her cheeks. Erin was at Jordan's door and softly knocked.
"Jo can I come in". Erin called through the door.
"Come in". Jordan replied back, her voice was soft and cracking.
Opening the door Erin saw the six and a half year old on her bed and went over to her sitting down.
"You're dad told me what happened at the store". Erin started.
"I didn't mean it Erin, honest. It slipped out". Jordan replied softly.
"Jo what I'm about to tell you, I want you to pay attention".
Sitting up and wiping her wet cheeks, Jordan looked up at her sister with a curious look.
"I know getting a new bike is the coolest thing right now and you can always get a new bike but there's always something you can never get again. A parent. Once you lose your mom or dad, you can't get a new one. When you said that to your dad you really hurt his feelings".
"I didn't mean too".
"What you need to do Jordan is go talk to him and apologize, he's really hurt right now".
"He won't talk to me Erin, he probably hates me now after I said that".
"Jo he doesn't hate you he's hurt right now".
"But I don't know what to say".
"You could start with I'm sorry and explain why you're sorry".
"Does it have to be now?"
"It would be nice if you did it now".
"Do you think I could wait? I don't wanna get him mad anymore and I don't want him to hate me".
"Sweetheart he's not gonna get mad at you and he could never ever hate you".
"I wanna wait so I know the right words to say other than I'm sorry".
A couple of days had went by and Jordan was still trying to figure out what to say to her father other than she was sorry. Hank was still hurt deeply by his daughter's words.
One afternoon Hank was out in the field, he had his vest strapped on. He was hiding behind a wall when bullets were flying when it was quiet for a second the older man came out and once he was out fully the bullets started again. A bullet had hit his arm sending him down, Alvin had then shot the guy who shot his friend. He then headed over to check on his friend.
"Hank, hey you alright?" Alvin asked.
"I'm fine Al". Hank said.
Alvin called Erin to tell him, Hank headed off to Med to get his arm checked out.
Erin was out on patrol when her phone rang.
-Lindsay. Erin answered, putting her phone on speaker.
-Erin, it's Alvin. Hank was shot today he's fine he caught it in the arm though. Alvin replied.
-Is he awake now? Is he alright?
-Yeah he's awake and he's alright.
-I'll go pick up Jo and meet you at the hospital.
-Right.
Turning on her sirens Erin sped down the streets heading to Jordan's school. She didn't want to tell her that her father was injured in the line of duty but someone had to.
Meanwhile
Jordan sat at her desk bored out of her mind, she had finished her work and stared out the window. Her ear perked when she heard sirens and they were close she wondered if it was a chase or something she then saw flashing lights. The young girl began to panic. Was something wrong? Was her father ok? Was Erin ok? Her godfather? Her heart pounded in her chest so fast it could have popped out. Tears began burning in her eyes, she didn't want anything to happen to her father especially after the fight she had with him just a couple days ago. She was so lost in her thoughts she didn't hear her teacher calling her.
"Jordan, you're being called for dismissal". Her teacher informed her.
The young girl got her backpack and walked to the office and when she got close, she'd seen Erin which made her heart drop and she instantly got terrified.
"Erin, what's wrong? Is everything ok?" Jordan asked, fear dripping in her voice.
"Sweetheart we have to go, it's your dad". Erin replied quickly.
"Is he ok? Please tell me he's ok".
"He's alright jordy let's go".
The two girls left the school and as soon as Jordan was in the back seat, her bottom lip quivered and the tears began leaking from her eyes. She completely forgotten about why she was mad at her father all she wanted to do was hold her father and he would tell her everything would be alright. All she wanted was to see her father now. Erin looked in the rear view mirror and saw her sister softly crying.
"Jo he's alright honey".
"I wanna see him".
"We will".
They continued the drive to the hospital. Hank was at Chicago Med getting his arm checked out they had taken the bullet out so by this point they were cleaning the wound and wrapped it up. It was nothing more than a flesh wound, the bullet didn't hit nothing important. He was just afraid to show it around Jordan because he knew sht got scared by seeing stuff like that.
A few minutes went by Erin and Jordan finally arrived to Med, they saw where Hank was and the young girl bolted and crashed into her father's legs holding them tightly for dear life. Hank carefully picked her up while she was crying hysterically.
"I'm sorry daddy! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Jordan cried
"Shh it's alright sweetheart, it's alright. I'm alright". Hank soothed her.
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"
Jordan kept apologizing through her tears but it was getting hard to understand her, Erin drove them home. The young girl stayed in her father's arms the whole time, her arms wrapped securely around his neck as she buried her face into his shirt. Hank gently stroked her hair back to calm her. After 10 more minutes they were home and headed inside.
Hank had tried to put Jordan down but she clung to him like a koala bear. "Sweetheart it's only for a minute alright".
She loosened her grip and he sat her down on the chair in the dining room, the entire time nothing but guilt and sadness filled her body she could ignore the issue anymore. It was time to come clean to her father.
"Daddy, I'm really really sorry for the way I acted and what I said the other day. I didn't mean any of it I honestly didn't. I don't know where it came from it just slipped. Please don't hate me".
Taking a deep breath and sighing sadly he took a seat next to his little girl. "Baby, I could never ever hate you. Ever. But Jo what you said really did hurt me, I want you to always remember one thing Jo. Material objects can always be replaced but I can never be replaced, I'm the only dad you'll ever have".
"I know and I'm really really sorry. Can you forgive me?"
"I forgive you sweetheart".
Jordan leaped into her father's arms and hugged him tightly, the older father hugged his little girl tightly in his arms. That day Jordan learned a very valuable lesson, that no matter what she gets nothing or nobody can ever replace her father.