The first time had been an accident.
Stella had leaned too far over the edge of the fountain, little yellow Mary Janes squeaking on the tile, and her teddy had slipped from her hands with a dramatic plop into the water.
Cue immediate devastation.
Eddie, naturally, had reacted like the bear was a drowning Victorian child.
He’d lunged in without hesitation, one boot fully submerged, snatching the soaked teddy from the fountain while horrified shoppers stared.
Stella had burst into relieved giggles the second he handed it back.
That should have been the end of it.
Instead, ten minutes later.
The teddy landed back in the fountain.
Stella stared back with enormous innocent eyes.
Robin had to physically turn away because she was already shaking with silent laughter beside Nancy near the pretzel stand.
Eddie sighed like a man carrying the weight of the world and crouched beside the fountain again.
“You know what? Fine. I’m a retrieval service now. This is my life.”
He fished the teddy out dramatically.
Stella accepted it with both hands.
Robin made a choking noise.
Nancy grabbed her shoulder, wheezing. “She’s training him.”
“She’s conditioning him like a rescue dog”
Eddie whipped around, soaked sleeve dripping. “I CAN HEAR YOU.”
Stella looked down into the fountain again thoughtfully.
Then she very deliberately loosened her grip on the teddy.
“No. No, baby Bambi. Don’t you dare.”
Stella’s lower lip trembled instantly.
He climbed back into the fountain.
At this point several mall employees were openly watching. An old woman looked deeply concerned for him specifically.
Eddie retrieved the teddy with the exhausted energy of a medieval knight cursed by a witch.
The SECOND he handed it back, Stella hugged his neck dramatically.
And Eddie absolutely folded.
His entire expression melted.
“Oh, baby, of course I did.”
Robin nearly collapsed against Nancy laughing.
“Pathetic,” Nancy whispered.
Eddie narrowed his eyes at them while Stella sat proudly on his hip, already dangling the teddy suspiciously close to the water again.
“…If that bear falls in one more time,” Eddie warned, “I’m putting both of you on a leash.”
Eddie and a tiny baby will never fail to be heart meltingly cute I LOVE them