Be Gentle.

“Mmh?” she mumbled in question and pointed at the strange animal.

“That’s a unicorn, baby.” you tilted your head down and pointed at it, too “Looks like Sprinkles, doesn’t it?”

Sophia nodded and turned her face to the right, looking for Sprinkles, the plush unicorn Dave had gifted her when she turned one.

When her eyes landed on the toy container by the armchair and noticed the glitter horn sticking out, she giggled and planted her tiny hands on the mat, then slowly rose to her feet.

“Ohmygod…” your eyes widened as she started wobbling towards it “Dave! Dave, she’s walking!”

Dave, who was in the kitchen, immediately rushed to the living room and stopped a few feet away from Sophia, who glanced briefly at him with an amused expression.

“Oh baby,” he stepped closer to her and crouched down on the floor “can you get Sprinkles and bring it to daddy?”

She stopped and nodded at him, swaying a bit, then took a couple more uncertain steps and finally reached the container. Her tiny hands dived among her other plushies and pulled Sprinkles out, letting it dangle to her side and drag on the floor as she turned around and made her way to Dave.

“Come here, baby.” he spread his arms wide and beckoned her closer “Give it to daddy.”

You looked at that picture perfect scene with tears in your eyes, it was beautiful, sweet and joyful, a moment you’ll never forget. Your teary eyes met Dave’s for a moment, and he tilted his head to the side and smiled at you.

“There you go, baby.” Dave encouraged her, a couple more steps and she would have reached him.

Sophia giggled again and walked faster towards her dad, her chubby feet stomping on the tiled floor, but she suddenly tripped, only to fall forward into Dave’s arms.

“Thank you for bringing Sprinkles to your daddy,” he picked her up and kissed one of her rosy cheeks “you did great, baby.”

“This is the best day of my life.” you sniffled and wiped away your happy tears with the back of your hands.

Dave looked at you and nodded, then his eyes flicked back to his daughter.

“Wanna go give a hug to your mommy?” he asked her and she nodded firmly.

As soon as he put her down, Sophia started walking towards you: her steps seemed to have already become more sure, and in a little less than a minute she was between your arms, looping hers around your middle and resting her head on your chest.

You closed your eyes and melted at that gesture, then pulled her closer to your body: you never wanted to let her go for anything in the world.

The rest of the day passed quickly, you and Dave were over the moon and had started taking pictures and videos to send to her grandparents, your relatives and your closest friends to share your joy with them.

When bedtime came, Sophia had fallen asleep almost immediately, probably because of all the walking she had done.

“Still looking at those videos?” Dave asked as he joined you in bed.

“Yeah… she’s so cute.” you smiled at your phone and he snuggled into your side as you both watched the video for the umpteenth time.

“You and Sophia are the best thing that has ever happened to me.”

You locked your phone and turned to him, looking into his beautiful brown eyes, the same shade of your daughter's.

He pulled you closer and kissed your forehead, his soft lips lingered there for a long moment, and you closed your eyes, relishing in the warmth radiating from his body.

Dave's right hand reached out to the nightstand and turned the lights off, making the room fall into complete darkness.

You turned to the side and he wrapped his arms around your body, pressing his chest to your back, spooning you.

"I love you." he whispered, his hands resting on your tummy.

"I love you too, Dave."

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When he picks her up from school, her ponytail is still hanging in there. They drive home and, surprise, you're back from your little trip.

They walk into the house and you immediately go to them for a hug, picking up your daughter.

"I missed you so much," you say, kissing her cheek before turning to kiss Frankie. "Look at your hair!"

"Daddy did it," your daughter says happily and Frankie’s smile falls. He tries to sneakily shake his head and put a finger to his lip.

"Did he?" You look at Frankie and he quickly smiles again.

"He put my hair in the vacuum," she says.

"He what?" You look at Frankie in a panic.

"It's not as bad as it sounds. I used the hose..." he starts.

"Oh, that makes it better." You shake your head.

"It didn't hurt, mommy. Daddy did a good job," she says as she opens her arms towards Frankie. You pass her to him and glare.

"See, I did a good job." He presses his cheek to hers and they both smile, showing off those dimples they were blessed with. You fall for that and their big brown eyes every time.

"I will show you how to do her hair tonight...without a vacuum hose." You poke his chest and he shrugs apologetically. "Now...who wants ice cream?!"

You tiptoed down the hall to the nursery as quietly as you could, not wanting to disturb the two older girls that were fast asleep in their rooms. Once you got to the doorway, the sight before you almost brought you to tears. There was your husband Dave, in the rocking chair with your 6 week old baby girl cradled against his bare chest, her head resting over his heart. Little Clara had her impossibly tiny hand wrapped around her daddy’s index finger, and he was rocking her and softly talking to her. He stopped every now and then to press a kiss into her downy soft dark hair. The look on his face was nothing but pure adoration, and you quietly choked back the tears watching your husband with his newest daughter.

You weren’t as quiet as you thought you were, because Dave looked up and saw you in the doorway, and he motioned for you to come into the nursery. “Hi, honey” he whispered as you knelt down in front of the two of them in the rocking chair. “Hi, my babies” you said as you stroked Clara’s head and softly kissed your husband. “I didn’t even hear her crying. I guess I was just dead asleep” you laughed as you felt a pang of guilt for not hearing your baby crying. Dave noticed the guilt on your face. “She wasn’t really crying, I heard her starting to fuss, so I came and got her so you could get some sleep” That brought tears to your eyes again, because for a man with his profession, he was so considerate, and he loved you and his daughters so much. He noticed the tears threatening to spill from your eyes, and he brought a hand to your cheek. “Sweetheart, what’s wrong?” he asked with concern written all over his face. “Oh, nothing is wrong. Just seeing how good you are with her and you still wanting to take care of me makes me so happy.”

He was still cradling Clara, but he bent down to pull you in for a soft kiss. “Well, this little one is fast asleep, so I’ll put her down and we can go back to bed.” He slowly stood up from the rocking chair and made his way towards Clara’s crib. You ran a hand over her soft, fuzzy head and gave her a kiss before Dave put her down. Once she was down in her crib, he put his hand on the small of your back and guided you back to the bedroom.

You crawled back into bed, and Dave started rifling through the dresser to find another shirt to put on. “You know, Clara might not be the only one that could benefit from some skin to skin contact” you said playfully as you patted his side of the bed. He laughed and got himself settled in the bed in just his pajama pants. Once he was settled, you laid across his chest, with your head in the same spot over his heart that he was holding Clara. You sighed in contentment, and said “You know, I was sure you would have wanted a boy since you already have two daughters.” Dave let out a soft chuckle before kissing your forehead. “I guess I was just destined to be a girl dad, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. Let’s get some rest, sweetheart. She’ll probably be hungry in an hour or two.”