“You are a disgrace! An absolute disgrace! I cannot believe you let your daughter see you in this condition, Theodore. She was so worried about you! I wish I could say that I’m surprised right now, but honest to god the only thing that surprises me about this is that you’re not in here with some peroxide blonde tramp!”
Theodore rolls his eyes, wincing as his sister-in-law’s shrill screams penetrate his throbbing skull. “Is she still here?” he mumbles, glancing over at the pink haired doll lying crumpled on the floor beside him.
Arabella scowls at him. “Yes. I had planned to take her and Hazel to school early this morning, but she insisted that I come up here to check on you first.”
He nods, and pulling himself up off the ground Theodore silently breezes past Bella and strides down the hallway toward his daughter and her cousin.
“Lila Grace,” Theo forces himself to smile through the piercing pain in his temples. “Go change out of your uniform, sweetheart. You’re not going to school today.”
“What?” the child frowns. “Why not?”
“Because I’m taking the entire day off work so you and I can spend some long overdue father-daughter time together.”
“What?!” three distinct voices reverberate around the corridor.
“No school! No school!” Lila Grace sings over and over again as she dances around her dad’s legs.
"Do I have to go to school, Mom?” Hazel whines.
“Theodore, I really don’t think that’s such a good idea,” Bella hisses, ignoring her daughter’s repeated tugs on the sleeve of her shirt.
“I just have one quick errand to run this morning, Gracie, but after that I promise I am yours for the rest of day. Does that sound like a plan?”
“Yes!” she exclaims. “I love you so much, Dad!”