Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Dani-

She set her fork down and took a sip of her drink.

‘Are you ready to see your surprise?’

She looked excited and grinned.

Brooke: ‘Yes please!'

I got up and extended my hand, which she took as she got up and followed me.

We arrived at a locked door with a keypad on the wall and I punched in the code.

‘0902, your birthday. This room is for you.'

I opened the door to the reveal various toys, a desk with dozens of crayons, pencils, markers, a giant purple bean bag chair, shelves of story books and coloring books.

She just looked at me with glossy eyes unsure of what to say as I guided her to the bean bag chair where we laid facing each other.

Brooke: ‘Dani, how did you, I mean when did you, I don't understand....’

‘I had a few special collectibles in this room that's why there's a keypad, but I thought you needed a space where you could just be you, to be free, so I moved my things to the safe room. Plus, one day shipping was a life saver, I was actually really excited to dive into this. I imagine you can't have a play room at your parents house, but every little girl should have a place to play with her dollies.’

Brooke: ‘It's really for me?’

‘Yes sweetie, all for you. You can get more toys, paint the room, even get furniture, but there's a catch.’

Brooke: ‘A catch?’

‘Yes, a catch. You can paint the room however you want because I do want you to feel like it's truly yours, however, to get more things like toys or furniture or whatever you may want I was thinking we could have a reward system.’

Brooke: ‘What do you mean?’

‘Well, I would set up a spreadsheet online, and have daily activities that you would need to abide by. For example, if you go to bed on time you would get an asterisk beside that just like getting a star sticker on a chart. Once you get enough asterisks, you would be able to pick out a reward. Does that sound fair?’

Brooke: ‘That sounds more than fair it sounds...’

She sniffled and I squeezed her tight.

Brooke: ‘It sounds incredible Dani!’

She softly began crying.

Brooke: ‘I never had a playroom just for me before. Daddy had my toys in his office, so he could keep an eye on me when he worked. The spare room was his man cave, I was only allowed in there when he would have me clean, and he had to watch.’

She nuzzled into me innocently and I scratched her back.

‘Well this is all for you, no one else. Well, I mean I'm hoping you won't mind sharing with me.’

She stopped crying and giggled.

Brooke: ‘Of course I want you close Dani!’

‘Oh, and I have some special gifts for Baby Brookey...’

I got up and went to the dresser to turn on the bubble machine sitting on top of it.

She looked up memorized as dozens of bubbles floated through the air.

I turned it off and she looked at me confused.

‘What's wrong little girl? Do you not like it?’

She spoke in a more mature tone, which I wasn't sure was a good thing.

Brooke: ‘Dani, I'm a little overwhelmed. The offer to take care of me, blew me away, but you're going above and beyond what my Daddy would, after belonging to him for years. It's not a bad thing, don't think I'm complaining, I'm just at a loss. I was so scared for you to even find out, but now I have a playroom in your house that you've filled with all of my favorite things, and in only a couple days. You realize how crazy this all seems, don't you?’

‘I do, and if we need to slow things down, just say so. I would never want to rush you, ever. To be honest though, I feel excited about this, like I'm finding out more about myself, as you allow me to help you. This is totally new to me, even if I'm the one in charge, and taking care of you, I'm also learning from you. So we need to talk like this, a lot. I need you to promise to be open, like saying you're overwhelmed. Can you do that?’

Brooke: ‘Absolutely, because as unreal as all this seems, I want to hold onto it. I don't want to mess this up Dani.’