Nick woke up feeling very refreshed.  He smiled as he watched Roxie sleep.  He kissed her forehead and gently stood up.  He went to Ariel’s room to check her.  He opened the door and gasped when he saw his little girl’s unruly bed but she wasn’t in it.  He walked into the room.  He looked under her bed, in the closet.  He checked the bathroom.  He then ran downstairs.  He looked in the pantry first.  It wouldn’t be the first time he found that she climbed onto the top shelf and was eating the cookies that Nick kept up there.  She wasn’t in there. 

Nick ran into his room, throwing the door against the wall accidentally.  Roxie woke up abruptly.  “What’s going on?”

“Oh, sorry, I wasn’t intending that.”

“What did that door ever do to you?”  She joked and realized that he was sitting on the edge of the bed with his head in his hands.  She moved so she was next to him.  “What’s wrong?”  She placed a hand on his back.  She then realized that his shoulders were shaking.  “Hey, hey look at me.  What’s wrong?”

“I should’ve let her sleep with us last night.”

“Why what did she say to you?”

“I think she ran away.  I can’t find her anywhere.”

“Nicky, she’s 4 years old.  I doubt she could have gotten very far.  And besides, don’t you have an alarm that was indeed set last night?”

“Yeah.”  He said, but didn’t know what she was getting at.

“Well, she’s not tall enough to shut the alarm off, so if she opened any doors, the alarm would have gone off.  Which means, she has to be somewhere in the house.”

“Then where is she?”

“We’ll find her.  Now let’s go look for her.”  Roxie walked into the living room.  She looked around for possible places that a tiny girl like Ariel could hide.  She spotted one lone slipper by the couch.  Roxie knew that when she was little she used to hide under the couch.  “I wonder.”  She walked over to the small slipper and bent down and looked under the couch.  Sure enough, Ariel was under there.  “Nick, I found her.”

Nick came into the living expecting to see Ariel.  “Where is she?”

“Under the couch.”

“Under the couch?  How did she fit under the couch?”

“She’s little.  I used to fit under the couch when I was her age.”  Roxie said with a laugh.

Nick bent down to look under his couch.  “Honey, are you going to come out?”

“No.”  She said stubbornly.

“Why not?”

“Because you don’t love me.  And Missy does love me, so I’m staying with Missy.”

“Missy’s under there too?”  Nick looked next to Ariel and sure enough she was under there.  He stood up and went into the kitchen and got a treat for Missy. 

Missy heard the rustling and knew that it meant treat.  She scrambled until she was free to run out to retrieve her treat.  Nick gave her the treat and heard Ariel scream.  “You tricked her Daddy.”

“That was only to prove a point that she’s not going to stay under there forever, and neither should you.  Now come out please.”

“No.  You wouldn’t let me sleep with you last night.”

“Alright stay under there.  You’ll miss breakfast.  And Roxie was going to make us waffles.”  Nick said and stood up, pulling Roxie with him. 

“Bribe?”

“If it works, you’re going to have to make waffles.”  He whispered and walked into the kitchen.  He pulled Roxie closer to him.  “I don’t think I kissed you this morning.”  He leaned down and kissed her gently on the lips.

Ariel came running into the kitchen.  “Daddy said he’d cook waffles for me.”

Nick looked at her in confusion.  “Actually, I believe I said that Roxie would make you waffles.”

“I want you to make me waffles.  Roxie might poison me so she can have you all to herself.”

“What’s gotten into you Ariel?”

“I just like them more when you make them.”  Ariel whined.

“Fine whatever Ariel.”  He turned around and got his waffle maker.  He made the batter and made a waffle for Roxie and a half of waffle for Ariel.  He placed them on the table and sat down. 

Roxie looked at him in confusion.  “Aren’t you going to eat?”

“I’m not hungry.”

“You should eat.”

“I’ll eat later when I get hungry.”

“Nick.  You skip too many meals.  You need to eat.”

“Fine.”  He stood up and grabbed an orange from the bowl of fruit before sitting down.

“Nick.”

“What?  You said I had to eat so I’m eating an orange.”

Roxie knew that he was upset about how Ariel was acting so she just let it go. 

After breakfast Ariel ran from the room to play with Missy.  After they were done cleaning up the food, Nick sat at the table and pulled Roxie unto his lap.  He kissed her softly.  He pulled back and she just leaned her head on his shoulder.

Ariel walked in clutching her movie.  She walked up to them.  She handed Nick the DVD.  “Can we?”  She asked meekly, expecting Nick to say no because all he’s been doing in the past couple days was yell at her and say no.

“Sure.”  Nick took the DVD from her and was shocked to find that it wasn’t The Little Mermaid.  He looked at it slightly confused.  “Aladdin?”  You don’t want to watch The Little Mermaid?”

“Um, well, I thought you might say no if I wanted to watch The Little Mermaid again.”

Nick handed Ariel her movie back.  “We can watch this if you really want.  But I think you really want to watch The Little Mermaid.  If that’s the case, I want you to bring this upstairs and bring down The Little Mermaid.”

“Really?”

“Really.  Now go get it.”

“For someone who always tries to get her to watch a different movie, you had your chance and you just gave it up.”

“You might think so, but she wasn’t bringing Aladdin because she wanted to watch it.  Not to mention, I don’t like when she’s acting like this.  I want my sweet little girl back.  And besides, one day, hopefully sooner rather than later, she’ll grow out of her little mermaid phase.”

She smiled.  “Don’t let anyone ever tell you that you’re a bad father.  And that includes you too, okay mister?”

“Okay.  We should go into the living room.  Ariel will be down with the movie soon.”

When they got into the living room, Ariel was already there.  She was lying on the floor coloring.  The movie was lying next to her. Nick went over and picked up the movie and playfully rubbed Ariel’s hair as he went over to the DVD player.  He started the movie and went over to the couch and sat down.  Roxie sat down next to him, leaning into him while he put his arm around her.

Ariel turned around to ask Nick a question.  She immediately forgot her question and saw red when she saw Roxie cuddling with her daddy.  She stood up and walked over.  She stopped in front of them with her hands on her hips.  Nick knew what was coming.  “Okay, Ariel.  We aren’t starting this again.  Roxie’s is not going to move, so why don’t you come over here and sit on my lap.”

“But…”

“Either sit on my lap, or go back to coloring.”  Ariel gave in and climbed onto Nick’s lap.  She leaned into Nick’s chest as the movie continued.  He put his arm around her.  “I love you Ariel and I always will.”  He said to her and kissed the top of her head.

A couple days later, Nick was standing over Ariel watching her sleep.  He had been standing there for almost 4 hours as it was almost midnight.

Roxie entered the room.  “Are you coming to bed?”

“I’ll be right there.

“Nick her actions aren’t your fault.”

“Yes they are.  She never acted like this until we got together.”

“Nick she wanted us together.”

“I know.  And I’m glad we are; I wouldn’t change that.  I just wish that she could understand that us being together doesn’t change how I feel about her.”

“Well there’s nothing you can do right now.  So let’s go to bed.”

Nick nodded and followed Roxie back to his room.  He sat on the bed.  “I don’t know what to do.”

“Nick you’re doing the best you can.”

“Well that’s obviously not enough.  She’s never acted like this before.”

“It’s the first time you had a girlfriend since you left Tracy.  She’ll come around.”

“I hope you’re right.  I hope you’re right.”  He said with a sigh.

“C’mon.  Let’s get some sleep.”

It was sometime in the middle of the afternoon the next day.  Roxie was making lunch and Nick was looking for Ariel.  Something compelled him to check his room.  He opened his door and saw Ariel giving Missy one of Roxie’s shoes.  “Ariel, what are you doing?”

“I…”

Nick came over and took the shoe from Ariel.  He shooed the puppy out of the room and closed his door.  He went back to his bed and sat down on it.  “C’mere Ariel.”  He said patting the bed next to him.  She climbed onto the bed and sat next to him.  “Do you want to tell me what’s going on?”

“No.”

“Okay.” He said knowing that’s the response he was going to get.  “Then why don’t you tell me why you were giving one of Roxie’s shoes to the dog?”

“I couldn’t get in trouble if the dog ate the shoe.”

“You weren’t expecting to get caught.  But you did.  So you are in trouble.  Now you have a choice.  You can either tell me why, or you don’t tell me why.  But if you don’t, then you’ll be in more trouble.”  Ariel stayed quiet.  “Okay Ariel.”  He picked her up and carried her to her room.  He left the room and returned with a box and started putting her toys in the box.

“Daddy, what are you doing?”

“When you decide to tell me what I want to know.  You’ll get your toys back.”  Ariel started throwing a temper tantrum.  “That won’t help.”

Roxie heard Nick enter the kitchen.  “Were you killing that girl upstairs?”  She said jokingly.  Then she turned around and saw that he was sitting at the table, starring down at it.  “What happened?”

“I caught Ariel trying to feed Missy one of your shoes.  I tried to get her to talk, but she wouldn’t.  So I put her into her room and took her toys and she started screaming.”

“You did the right thing.”

“Did I?”

She sat on his lap and hugged him.  “I know this is hard on you, but you need to stop beating yourself up over this.  It won’t do you any good.”

Nick sighed.  “I know.”

“So, tomorrow, if you don’t mind, I was going to hang out with a few friends.”

“Why would I mind?  Have fun.”

“I love you.”

“I love you too.”

The next day, Roxie left to hang out with her friends leaving Nick and Ariel alone.  She had already been gone for a few hours and Nick knew that she’d be home soon.  Nick and Ariel were in the living room.  Ariel was coloring.  “Daddy.”

“Yeah?”

“Roxie is out with her boyfriend.”

Nick chuckled.  “No she’s not Ariel.  I’m her boyfriend.”

Without either of them knowing, Roxie walked into the room.  “Not you.  Her other boyfriend.”

Roxie realized what Ariel was implying.  “That’s not true.”  Nick turned to her.  “I swear Nick, you’re my only boyfriend.”

Nick turned back to Ariel.  “Go to your room.”  Ariel just looked at Nick.  She’d never gotten sent to her room.  “Ariel now.”  With tears streaming down her face she ran from the room.  He turned back to Roxie.  “I need to go out for a little while.  Will you be okay with her?”

“Oh, did me going out ruin your plans?”

“No.  I’ll probably end up going to work.”

“You need time away from her don’t you.”

“Yeah.  I’ll be back in a couple hours.”

“Okay.”  Roxie kissed him.  He stood up and grabbed his keys and drove to his store.

He entered the store and Joann looked up at him in confusion.  “I thought you needed time off.”

“Yeah I do.  I just needed to get away from my daughter before I kill her.”

“What’s going on?”

“I don’t want to bother you with this.”

“Nick, I have a couple of children.  I might be able to help you.”

“Okay, Ariel has been acting up a lot lately.”

“How so?”

“Well, it started when she wanted to cuddle with me but I was holding my girlfriend.  And instead of asking if Roxie would move, she demanded it.  So I punished her for disrespecting Roxie.  Then she accused Roxie of wanting to poison her.  She was trying to feed one of Roxie’s shoes to our dog.  And now she’s spreading lies about Roxie.”

“It sounds like she’s jealous of Roxie.”

“I think so too.  I just, I don’t know what to do about it.  I mean, she wanted me and Roxie to get together.”

“She probably didn’t realize that you two being together would mean that she had to share you.”

“So what do I do?  I don’t want to break up with Roxie.”

“Then don’t.  Talk to Ariel.”

“What do I say to her?”

“Explain to her that you having a girlfriend don’t mean that you don’t love her.  Reassure her that you still love her and that no matter what happens with Roxie, she’s you’re daughter and nothing will change that”

“I’ve been trying.  So maybe I’m saying it wrong.”  Nick sighed.  At that point the bell over the door rang and in walked the new assistant manager that he had come in just to interview.  “You hired him huh?”

“That’s okay right?”

“He probably would have been my choice too.”

He approached.  “Hey John.”

“Hey.”  He spotted Nick.  “Oh, I thought you didn’t work here anymore.  I thought I was being hired as your replacement.”

Nick chuckled.  “No I still work here.”

“So does that mean I’m being fired because you’re back?”

“Not at all.  You’re not my replacement.  I actually own this store.  I’ve needed time off recently.”

“Oh, so are you back?”

“No not quite.”

“He’s only here so he doesn’t kill his daughter.”  Nick opened his eyes wide and looked over at Joann.  “I was about to tell him that all toddlers drive their parents crazy.  Right John?  Did your kids drive you crazy when they were toddlers?”

John nodded.  “In fact.  My daughter nearly broke me and my wife, well, girlfriend then, up.  She was four.”

Nick sat up in his chair.  “What did you do?”

“Huh?”

“That’s exactly what my daughter is doing.  I don’t know what to do anymore.”

“Well talking is important.  Making her understand that even if she has to share you it doesn’t mean that you don’t love her.  But talking doesn’t work all that well.  No matter how you phrase it.  Another remedy would be to set time aside that’s just for you and her.”

“Did that work for you?”

“Yeah, it did.  Because it’ll make her see that you still love her.  And it’ll make sharing you a lot easier.”

“Thanks.  I appreciate it.”

“So does that mean you’re going to go home now?”  Joann asked.

“Not quite yet.”

Back at the house, Roxie entered Ariel’s room.  “What would you like to eat Ariel?”

“Pizza.”

“Okay, that’s easy.  We’ll just call your father and have him bring one home for us.”

“Will you be leaving when Daddy gets home?”

“No.”  Roxie said with a smile.

“Daddy told me he liked it better when you left before dinner.”

Nick walked into the room at that moment.  “Ariel you need to stop lying.”

“Nick.  I was about to call you and tell you to bring home pizza.”

“Okay.  I’ll order that in a little while.  Roxie, could you leave me alone with my daughter for a little while?”

Roxie smiled.  “Sure.  I’ll be downstairs.”

“Thanks.”  Nick sat on Ariel’s bed and leaned back against Ariel’s headboard.  He pulled Ariel onto his lap.  “I know what’s going on with you.”

“You do?”

“Yes.  You’re afraid that because I’m with Roxie that I don’t love you anymore right?”  Ariel nodded.  “Well it’s not true.  I love you so much.  Nothing will change that.  The only difference is that you’ll just have to share me a little bit.”

“I don’t want to Daddy.  I liked it when it was just me and you.”

“I know you did.  But you know what.  Even though Roxie and I love each other now, there’s absolutely no guarantee that we’ll always love each other.  But no matter what happens, I’ll always love you.”

“Okay Daddy, but do I REALLY have to share you?”

“Yes you do, most of the time anyway.  I was thinking we could set aside some time that’s just for me and you, without Roxie.”

“Really?”

“Really.  So what do you say?  Will you be a good girl now?”

“Yes Daddy.”

“Good.  Then your first task as a good girl is to go downstairs and apologize to Roxie.”

Ariel crawled off Nick’s lap and ran downstairs.  She found Roxie in the living room knitting.  She ran over to Roxie.  “I’m sorry.”

Roxie set her knitting aside and pulled Ariel onto her lap and hugged the little girl.  “I accept your apology.”

Ariel smiled.  “Daddy said that he’d set aside time that’s just for me and him.” Nick walked into the room.  He smiled when he saw his little girl sitting on Roxie’s lap while Roxie knitted.  “Roxie, can you teach me how to do that?”

“Sure.  Next chance we get, me and you will go to the craft store and buy you supplies that will be safe for you to use.”

Nick walked further into the room.  “I’m going to go get that pizza.”  He said.  He kissed Ariel on the head before kissing Roxie.  He turned to walk away, then turned back.  “Would you like to come Ariel?”

“I’ll stay here Daddy.”

“Okay, I’ll be back in a little while.”  He said and left to go get their dinner.