Total pages in book: 25
Estimated words: 25071 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 125(@200wpm)___ 100(@250wpm)___ 84(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 25071 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 125(@200wpm)___ 100(@250wpm)___ 84(@300wpm)
7
Two days until the wedding . . .
“Sparkle Pony, don’t eat too much cake,” Sunny fussed. “You’ll vomit it all back up. Unicorns shouldn’t eat that much sweet stuff. Wait, unless cake is a staple of a unicorn diet? Now, that is something to think about. What do you think, Moody? Oh, you think that Sparkle Pony should leave some cake for everyone else. Good point.”
A throat clearing in the doorway had her leaning out of her fort and glancing up at Duke with a smile. “Daddy!”
He studied the fort that she’d built, then crouched down, looking in at where she was having a tea party with Moody and Sparkle Pony. “I only put the trash out. I didn’t think I was gone long enough for you to build a fort.”
“I started building the fort this morning while you were in the shower.”
He raised his eyebrows. “Is that so? And is this a private tea party, or is there room for one more?”
“There’s always room for you in our threesome, Daddy! Oh, wait, that sounded wrong.”
He chuckled. “Well, as long as Sparkle Pony and Moody are the only ones in this threesome, it’s all right with me. But no one else.”
“Course not, Daddy. Then it wouldn’t be a threesome. Or foursome, now, I guess with you.”
Duke climbed into the fort. It was a bit of a tight squeeze, but they made it work. She’d built the fort in her playroom, which is why he hadn’t noticed it. She loved this space so much. This is where she came when she needed to escape from the world for a while.
Like right now.
“Tea, Daddy?”
“Of course, can’t come to a tea party and then not drink tea.”
“See, Sparkle Pony,” she said to the huge unicorn to her right. “Daddy knows tea party etiquette.”
Duke sighed, shaking his head. “Some unicorns are just rude.”
“I know, Daddy. Cake? I have red velvet, chocolate, banana, and rainbow cake.”
“You mean Sparkle Pony hasn’t eaten all the rainbow cake?”
“Not yet, but he sure is trying. Unfortunately, Moody buried his face in the banana cake, so it’s a bit smushed.”
“Yeah, banana cake isn’t my thing, anyway. Moody can have it. I’ll take the chocolate.” She handed him a piece, and he pretended to nibble at it. “Yum, delicious. Did you make it yourself?”
“Aww, kind of you to think so, Daddy, but no. I bought it from the bakery.” Also, it was made of plastic.
But it seemed he had a good imagination.
Sparkle Pony slowly slid forward, his face landing in his teacup.
“Oh no, Sparkle Pony! Just look at the mess you’ve made. I’ll have to go get a cloth to clean you up.” She crawled out of the fort to go grab a cloth to clean up the imaginary tea from his face while Duke righted him. She climbed back into the fort. “Thanks, Daddy.”
“You’re welcome, baby girl. Perhaps Sparkle Pony needs a nap,” he suggested.
She sighed. “I think you’re right, Daddy. He’s been very busy lately.”
“I’ve noticed. He’s been helping you with the wedding?”
“Helping. Hindering. It’s all the same thing to a unicorn.”
After she’d cleaned Sparkle Pony up, Duke helped her pull him from the fort and put him to bed. They’d bought him a giant dog bed. He even had a blanket with unicorns on it. He was a very spoiled unicorn.
Taking her hand, Duke drew her over to a stool where he sat, pulling her down onto his lap.
“Hey, Daddy,” she said, wrapping her arms around his neck.
“Hey, Little Rebel.” He brushed her hair off her face. “You doing okay?”
“Better now that I’m getting hugs from you.”
He kissed the tip of her nose. “Feeling a bit overwhelmed?”
“What makes you say that?”
“Because you built a fort and snuck off into it as soon as we got home.”
“Oh, sorry, Daddy.”
“You know you can always come to me if you need something, right?”
“I know, Daddy. I just needed a bit of a break, you know? I just can’t believe how quickly time is going. It’s two days until our wedding.” Today had been her last day of work, so she had time to clean the house and tidy up the backyard.
“I know. I can’t wait to marry you, Little Rebel.”
“I can’t wait to marry you either, Daddy.”
“But there are a few things we need to deal with first,” he told her in a stern voice.
Uh-oh. She didn’t like the sound of that. “Like what, Daddy?”
“Well, you’re taking tonight off from wedding stuff.”
“I don’t think I can, Daddy.”
“Before you tell me everything you have to do, I should tell you that I hired a cleaning company. They’re going to be here in the morning to clean the house and they’ll do another clean after the wedding.”
“What? Oh, Duke, you didn’t have to do that.”
“I can’t be here to help with the cleaning and I’m not going to have you running yourself ragged. But I’m going to get home early tomorrow to help with the yard. I don’t want you doing too much on your own, understand?”