Nick woke up to the incessant beep of his alarm clock.  He glanced at his clock and was glad to see that it was 6:30.  He casually got out of bed and headed for his bathroom.  He relieved himself and then got into the shower. 

After his shower, he wrapped a towel around his waist and started to look for clean clothes.  He realized that tonight, when he got home from work, would be laundry night as he pulled out his last clean pair of pants.  He threw on the first shirt he grabbed and left the room carrying his laundry basket.  He peeked into Ariel’s room to see her sleeping peacefully.  He didn’t want to wake her up just yet, so he headed downstairs.  He placed the laundry basket in the laundry room and then walked into the kitchen, Missy looked up expectantly and started wagging her tail.  He bent down to pet her and she started running around in circles.  He grabbed her leash and took her out for a few minutes. 

After her walk, he started opening and closing cabinets trying to find his waffle maker.  He laughed to himself when he realized how unorganized he was, as he never put anything back in the same spot.  He opened the last cabinet and spotted his waffle maker.  As he was getting it out the cord got stuck on another pan and 3 pans fell to the floor in a loud clanging of metal.  He laughed thinking to himself that he was grateful that this didn’t happen yesterday.  He shoved the pots back in the cabinet and plugged in the waffle maker.  He prepared the batter and poured it onto half of the waffle maker to make the waffle that Ariel requested yesterday.  After it was done cooking, Nick put some butter on it then cut it into tiny pieces for Ariel.

Ariel walked into the kitchen in her little mermaid nightgown.  “Waffles.” She squealed excitedly and took her place at the kitchen table as Nick placed the waffle in front of her.  He put the syrup on the side of the plate and she started to eat it.  He smiled at her and made a waffle for himself.

Once breakfast was over, Nick put the waffle maker in the sink and scooped up Ariel and she giggled as he threw her over his shoulder.  He was halfway up the stairs when the doorbell rang.  Leaving Ariel on his shoulder he opened the door.  “Hey Roxie, come in.  I’ll be right down to show you around, I need to get rid of this sack of potatoes on my shoulder.”

Ariel giggled.  “Daddy, it’s me.”

“Oh, Ariel, I didn’t realize it was you up there?”  He joked. Roxie smiled and went to sit on the couch as Nick took Ariel upstairs to get dressed.

Roxie looked around the living room, stopping to look at the pictures Nick had placed sporadically through the room.  All the pictures were of either Nick and Ariel or of Ariel by herself.  She noticed that there wasn’t one picture of a woman who was possibly Ariel’s mother.  Roxie thought that was a little odd.  Roxie looked up the stairs and smiled in amusement as she heard Ariel giggling loudly.

Nick came downstairs and said.  “You ready for that tour now?”

Roxie jumped and turned around to him.  “You seem to be having a much better day today.”

“Hey now, don’t jinx it.” He said and laughed.

As Nick gave her the tour, Roxie asked, “So what’s expected of me?”

“Just to take care of her.”

“Can I take her on daytrips?”

“You mean like to a zoo or something?”

“Yeah, that’s exactly what I mean.”

“That’s fine.  Just if you get home after me, I may freak out if I can’t find my daughter, so just let me know so that I don’t report a missing kid.”

“You’re exaggerating.  You wouldn’t report a missing kid that quickly.”

“Yes I would.”

“Isn’t that a bit paranoid?”

“You’d be paranoid, too, if you were me…” He let the end of his sentence trail off.  Roxie looked at him wondering what he was getting at, but she knew that it wasn’t her place to ask him.  He quickly changed the topic.  “All the emergency numbers are on the fridge, including the number for Waves Records, and my cell.”  Ariel came into the room with her Little Mermaid DVD.  He knelt down and pulled her in for a hug.  “Give Daddy a kiss.”  She kissed his cheek and he stood up.  “I’ll see you later.”  He looked at Ariel.  “Be good.”  He said firmly and left.

The store wasn’t busy that day and Nick was bored.  He kept looking at the clock wondering when his assistant manager, Dustin Wallace, would get there and relieve him of his extreme boredom.

Nick looked up when the bell over the door rang.  He nearly jumped out of his skin in excitement when he realized that Dustin just walked in.  At least now he’d have someone to talk to. 

Dustin walked to the counter.  “Damn Nick, you look extremely bored.”

“That is the understatement of the year.  I’ve seen ghost towns busier than this store is today.”

Dustin laughed, “I’m going to go clock in, and then we need to talk.”  Nick nodded and then Dustin disappeared into the stock room.  Dustin returned minutes later.  He took a seat in the other chair behind the counter.  “So, um, you remember when I took this job, I said that I’d only be here temporarily?”

Nick looked at him.  “You’re quitting aren’t you?”

“Yeah, as you know, I finished my degree and well, I got a job, so I won’t be able to work here.”

He nodded in understanding.  Part of him was jealous.  Nick failed out of college his freshman year and although things are looking up for him, this wasn’t the life he envisioned for himself.   “How much longer will you be here?”

“Two weeks.”

“Ok.”  Nick grabbed a marker and made a sign that said, “Help Wanted.  Position needed: Assistant Manager.”  He taped the sign into the window.

Meanwhile, back at the house, Ariel was sitting on the floor playing with Missy while The Little Mermaid was playing for the third time that day.  Roxie sat on the couch behind her.  Ariel turned to Roxie and said, “Did you know that I’m the REAL little mermaid.”

Roxie smiled.  “Really?”

“Yep, and Daddy is King Triton.”

“What about your mommy?”

Ariel frowned.  “Mommy would have to be Ursula?”

“Ursula?  Why Ursula?  I mean, Ursula isn’t Ariel’s mother.”

“Well, Ursula is mean and scary and so is my mommy.”

“How is your mommy mean and scary?”

“Well, she was always smelling powder, or putting rolled up paper in her mouth and then set it on fire.  And sometimes she would even give herself a shot.  And then she would drink something smelly that looked like water.  She didn’t give me enough food, or give me baths and she’d hit me.  And then, she would take off all her clothes and a boy would take off all of his clothes and he’d climb on top of her and then they’d start screaming.”

“They did that in front of you?” Roxie asked in disgust. 

“Yeah.”

“And your dad didn’t do anything?”

“Daddy wasn’t there.  Daddy was only there when he had to pick me up.  I saw Mommy smack Daddy once.”

“She smacked him?”

“Yeah.  Mommy and the boy had just finishing the naked and screaming thing and then Daddy was coming to pick me up and the boy opened the door with no clothes on and Daddy got mad at Mommy and they started yelling at each other, and then Mommy smacked him.”

“Do you see your mom anymore?”

“No, Daddy made sure of it.  He got a judge to say that mommy couldn’t see me.  I don’t want to see mommy anymore.”

Roxie wanted to ask another question, but she lost Ariel’s interest.  Ariel reached for her doll and hugged it.  She looked at Roxie.  “Did you see the new doll that Daddy bought me?”  She hands the doll to Roxie.  “Isn’t she pretty?”  Roxie could sense that Ariel didn’t want to talk about her mother anymore, so she let the subject drop.

“She is pretty.”  Roxie smiled.  “You like your daddy right?”

Ariel nodded eagerly.  “I love my daddy.”

“He buys you a lot of pretty things?”

“Yep.  We went to the mall on Friday, and he bought me clothes and toys and this really pretty yellow flower dress, but daddy says I can’t wear it yet because it’s still a bit too big.  And he bought me Missy.  I always wanted a dog, but I knew mommy wouldn’t buy me a dog, so I didn’t want to ask for one, but then I moved in here with daddy and Missy was here.  And this house is really cool.  I actually have a bedroom door.  At mommy’s apartment, I just had a curtain.  And there’s a backyard and daddy said he’d put a swing set up for me.  He just moved here, so he hasn’t had time yet.  Daddy used to live with us, but I think things are better now because even though daddy went to work a lot, mommy always said that we couldn’t afford food, so that I needed to eat less.”  Ariel looked up at Roxie.  "So where do you live?"  She asked her, changing the subject quickly.

 "I have an apartment."  Roxie told her.

 "Alone?"  Ariel asked.

 Roxie nodded.  "Yeah, alone..."  She answered, a hint of saddness in her voice.  If Ariel noticed, she didn't comment.

 "Do you have a boyfriend?"  Ariel asked, a little giggle erupting from her mouth at the idea.

 "Nope..."  Roxie answered.  "How about you?"  She teased.

 "Nooo."  Ariel giggled.  "I'm only 4!"  She said.  "How old are you?"

 "23."  Roxie said.

 "Wow!  That's old."  Ariel replied, her eyes wide.  ""A year younger than daddy!""

 Roxie laughed.  "Oh you think we're old, do ya?"  She said and reached out and tickled the little girl.  Ariel wiggled around, her high-pitched giggle filling the room.  She got up and ran away.

 "Can't catch me!"  She said and ran upstairs to her bedroom.  Roxie followed her and then sat down on Ariel's bed.  She started looking around a little, not having had much of a chance to do it during the tour earlier.  Ariel smiled.  "Do you like my room?"  She asked.

 "Yeah, I do."  Roxie smiled.  "It reminds me of my room when I was a little girl...  My daddy made me a little princess room..."  She thought back to the memory.  "You know, I only lived with my daddy when I was a little girl, too."

 "Really?"  Ariel said, getting more interested suddenly.

 "Yeah."  Roxie said.  "I lost my mom when I was really little..."  She sighed and tucked back Ariel's hair.  "You have really pretty hair, you know that?"

 "Thanks."  Ariel smiled.  "My daddy just took me for a haircut."  She told her.

 "Well it's very pretty."

 Ariel grinned back at her for a moment, then turned.  "Can I have something to eat?"  She asked meekly.

 "Of course.  Let's go downstairs."  Roxie told her.  The two of them got up and went back downstairs.

Roxie was in the kitchen cooking dinner when she suddenly heard the excited squeal of a 4 year old yell.  “Daddy.”  She lowered the flame and went to the front door.  She was just in time to witness Ariel running straight into her daddy’s arms.  She smiled as Nick picked her up with ease and placed her on his shoulders. 

Nick spotted Roxie.  “Was she good?”

“Perfect.  She’s a sweet little girl.”  Nick smiled up at Ariel.  “Dinner is almost ready; you should make her wash her hands.” Nick put Ariel on the floor and patted her behind until she ran for the nearest bathroom.  “So did I jinx it?”

Nick looked at her confused, apparently not remembering the conversation from earlier.  “Huh?”  Suddenly the conversation dawned on him.  “Oh yeah.  No.  The day went pretty smoothly, well, except for my assistant manager giving his 2 weeks notice.”

“Well, that’s not horrible.”

“No, I’ll just need you to stay later for a couple weeks.  The interviewing process usually goes over my shift.”

“That’s no problem.”

“Thanks.”

“Um, Nick?”

“What?”

“Is Ariel allowed to eat whenever she wants?”

“Of course she is.  Why?”

“Well, we were talking about her mom and she said that her mom wouldn’t let her eat too much.”

“That’s not the case here.  If she’s hungry I feed her.  I take good care of her, even if you don’t seem to think so.”

“I didn’t mean it like that.  I…”

“You questioned my ability to take care of her yesterday, and now you’re asking if I feed her?  If that’s not how you meant it, then how did you mean it?” Nick asked her defensively.

“It’s just, the way she asked me, it was almost as if she was afraid I’d say no.”

Nick nodded.  “For the past two years she lived with Tracy.  Whenever she told Tracy that she was hungry, Tracy would brush her off or say they didn’t have enough food for her to eat as much as she wanted.  She hasn’t even been here for a full week yet.  It’s going to take her some time to break the pattern she followed with Tracy.”

Roxie nodded, finally understanding why Ariel was so nervous about asking for food.  “Dinner should be ready now.”

“Are you staying?”

“No.”

“Why not?  You cooked, you should stay and eat so you don’t have to cook again when you get home.”

Roxie smiled.  “Okay, I’ll stay.”

Nick walked into the kitchen and looked into the sink confused.  “I know I left my waffle maker in the sink.” He said more to himself then to Roxie.

“You did, I washed it and put it in the only cabinet that I thought it fit in.”

Nick looked at her in shock.  “You didn’t have to do my dishes.”

Roxie shrugged.  “It was no big deal.  I did your laundry too.  I put away Ariel’s clothes, but I left yours in the basket in the laundry room because I didn’t want to invade your privacy by looking for where everything would go in your room.”  Nick continued to look at her in shock.  “Did you not want me to do that?”

Nick stayed silence for a moment until his shock wore off.  “No, it’s fine.  I just wasn’t expecting it.  I mean, I hired you to take care of my daughter.  No one else I ever hired would even consider doing housework.”

“I don’t mind.  It kept me busy while Ariel was napping.  And besides, the house isn’t messy, so doing small cleaning things won’t bother me.  I’ll help you out with some of the housework.”

Nick laughed.  “I haven’t lived here long enough for the house to be messy.  Give it a month or two and you’ll regret offering to help.  You can still take that offer back if you want.”

“Well, maybe with me working here, that won’t happen.”  Roxie couldn’t believe she was flirting with him.

Ariel came bounding back into the room before Nick could respond.  “What is for dinner?”

“Chicken cutlets.”  Ariel made a face.  Roxie looked up at Nick.

“I haven’t gotten her into eating meat yet.”  Nick looked at Ariel.  “Why don’t you try them?”

“No, I want grilled cheese.” 

Nick knew that he couldn’t argue with her.  If she wanted grilled cheese, then grilled cheese is what she’ll get.  He scooped her up and walked into the kitchen with Roxie following.  Nick placed Ariel in her seat.  He put a couple of cutlets onto a plate and went to the stove to make the grilled cheese.

“Nick, sit down.  I’ll make that for her.”

“You just cooked.  You should relax a bit.”

“Me?  I was just playing with a toddler all day.  You were the one who was working.  You should relax a bit.”  Roxie said mimicking Nick’s statement and stood up and took his plate back to the table.  “Now, sit.  I’ll make the grilled cheese.”

Nick obeyed and sat at the table to eat his food while Roxie continued to make the grilled cheese.  Minutes later, Roxie placed the grilled cheese in front of Ariel and she too sat down to eat.

Once dinner was over, Roxie left.  Ariel made Nick watch The Little Mermaid.  Once the movie was over, Nick scooped her up, holding her so that she was lying across his arms while he’s holding her steady.  “Ok.  Arms out.”  Ariel put her arms out and as Nick walked up the stairs, she pretended to be swimming. 

He entered her room and dropped Ariel on the bed causing the little girl to erupt in a fit of giggles.  She crawled to her pillow and climbed under the blankets.  Nick tucked her in.  “Daddy, read me a story.”

Nick stood up and grabbed her copy of Goodnight Moon.  He sat on the edge of her bed and read the story to Ariel.  Her eyes were closed when Nick finished the story.  He stood up and kissed her on the forehead, leaving the book on her small bookcase on his way out.

He stood in the doorway and shut the light.  “Daddy.”  Nick put on the little mermaid nightlight thinking that’s what Ariel wanted.  “Goodnight Ariel.”

Nick thought she went back to sleep until he heard her little voice say.  “I like Roxie.  Did you know that she’s only a year younger than you, and she doesn’t have a boyfriend.”

Nick had an idea where this conversation was going and he chuckled.  “Goodnight Ariel.”  He said again, this time leaving the room to let Ariel sleep.