Page 38 of Accidentally Perfect

"You like printhetheth, Nafan?"

Once the door clicks closed, it feels as though the room shrinks in size. I take a deep breath, taking in the view before me. These two little girls with hair as red as their mother's stare back at me, blinking their green eyes.

"Oh, I love princesses, Amanda."

"You can call me Bear, mommy and daddy do, tho you can, too." She gives me a big smile.

I pride myself on being a man’s man. I’ve fought for our country. I’ve made a multi-million dollar company with my hard work, not using the power of my mother’s name to make sure it happened. The success of my company was all me. But looking at these two little girls, I’m not sure if I’ve ever been so nervous. "How do you know about printhetheth? You got girlth too?"

"No, no girls, no boys either. My sister loved princesses when she was younger, so I watched lots of princess movies with her."

"Come sit,” Addie calls from her bed, patting the spot next to her.

"I want Nafan to thit on mine bed, Bug. No fair, no fair."

"Here." I pick up Amanda and carry her over to her sister’s bed. "Do you mind if I sit next to you, Addie?" She shakes her head.

"You can call me Bug, everyone does. I don't mind it now, but when I'm a big girl, you can't be calling me that name because then the boys will make fun of me. I don't want them to because once they get to be big boys then they won't have cooties anymore and that means I can get them to be my boyfriend, and they won’t like a girl who people call Bug, so you can call me that now, Nathan, but not for much longer. Okay?"

"All right, Bug for now, but not for much longer. I got it." Sitting here next to Addie with Amanda on my lap feels right, it feels as though I've done this a million times before.

"You got a thither like me, Nafan?"

"Yes, I do. Her name is Natalie, but I call her Nat. When she was younger I used to say to her, shoo Nat the Bat, go fly to your cave,” I laughed at that the memory. "It used to make her so mad."

"Is she a twin to you like Bear is to me?"

"No, she's my little sister. She’s the best sister anyone could ever ask for. I can't wait for you to meet her."

"We wanna meet her, huh, Bug?"

"Yes, we do."

"Well, you girls will as soon as you’re all better. I’ll see if she can come over and play. I bet she knows how to play the best princess games. She was a pro at it when she was little. She may still have some of her princess dresses in the house somewhere. Do you guys have dress up dresses?"

"Mommy bought uth thome, but we have to share. We can't ever be the same printhetheth because we don't ever have the same dretheth. Mommy is big on tharing."

"Well, sharing is a good thing to be great at. Sharing with your sister is the best, because you only have one sister. No one else will ever have her, just you, so that’s something special."

“Do you like hortheth, Nafan?”

“Yes, I do. The house where my sister lives is the house I lived in when I was a little boy. We have lots of horses that go all over the place.”

“We love horses. They're our most favorite animals, next to kitties and puppies.”

“Maybe one day I can take you out to the stables where the horses live and show you how to ride them.”

“Do you love our mommy?” Addie asked.

“I believe I do, sweetie.”

“How come we never theen you before?”

“Because I just met your mommy a few days ago.”

“How can grown-ups be married if they never seen each other before?”

“There’s just something special about your mama, Bug. The first moment I saw her and your Auntie Stella I knew that I had to meet her. She’s the prettiest lady that I’ve ever seen. She has the biggest heart, and I love how strong she is. She was so upset when she heard that you girls and your daddy were hurt. You girls are so important to her. She loves you so much.”

"You aren't like meanie Michael, Nafan. You're nithe. And you're comfy. My mommy and daddy aren’t comfy like you." I laugh at her comments as she wiggles her bottom in my lap making herself comfortable while Addie snuggles into my side.

"Are you feeling okay, Addie? Does your leg hurt? Do you need me to get a nurse to help you?"

"I'm okay, Nathan, but can you please tell us a story?"

"What kind of story?"

"Your favorite princess story. Do you have a favorite story, Nathan?"

"Yes, I do." I pull Addie into my side, and I smooth Amanda's hair. It's been years since I have had to pay attention to anything princess, but lucky for me, I remember everything. "My favorite princess of all time is Belle."

"Oh, I like her, Nafan, I like her a lot."

I rest my head back and close my eyes while I recount the story of the Beauty and the Beast. "Once upon a time there was a beautiful girl named Belle. She lived in a small village..."