Dad Calum and Marama is acting unusually bratty, being a terrible two-year-old and is throwing a full blown tantrum, and Calum has to lay down the law. But really makes her cry. I love your writing.
In her two years of life so far, Mara had become the most well behaved toddler that you or Calum could’ve asked for. Apart from the occasional little tantrum, she was always kind to others and listened to everything you and Calum asked her to do.
Until this particular day.
“No!” Calum heard her voice moving further away, where she was heading towards the back doors to try and go in the garden, to hide from Calum. He could move quicker than her little legs; he soon found her, mischief in her eyes and no intention of taking a nap.
“Yes.” He replied, shaking the warm bottle of milk in his hand, that he had prepared for nap time. It was part of their usual routine; he would sit in the rocking chair with her settled in her arms, giving her a bottle whilst reading a book to her. “Come on, my little moon. You know it’s nap time, we can play later.”
“No dada.” She refused again, wriggling in his arms as he expertly scooped her up in one swoop, to hold her to his chest. “Down! No!”
He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion as she hit her little hands against his chest, which was so out of character for her. It didn’t hurt, of course, but he knew he had to tell her it was wrong.
“Mara! We don’t hit people. Stop hitting dada.” He said firmly, which started a round of tears as she tried to get out of his grasp again. She was never usually like this; it was so unusual for her, and he didn’t know what had gotten into her. “You know that’s not nice. Say sorry, please.”
She looked away from him guiltily, knowing she’d done something wrong and not wanting Calum to be upset with her. But she also really, really didn’t want to nap.
“Sorry.” She mumbled against his chest, still avoiding looking at him and not settling in his arms. “Down, please.”
“Thank you. But no, it’s nap time Mara. But we’re not having cuddles or a story today, okay? Just sleep.” Calum told her, entering her nursery and closing the pastel yellow curtains, to block the light a little so she could sleep. Mara cried harder at his words, suddenly clinging to him and not wanting to be put down in the crib.
“Cuddles, please? Please cuddles, dada.” She sobbed incoherently, reaching out to him as he stood at the edge of her crib. His heart was aching seeing her so upset and wanting him, but he knew she needed to learn not to misbehave. All he wanted to do was scoop her up and rock her to sleep like usual, but he needed to teach her a lesson.
“Not today, Mara. You know we don’t hit people. Dada will come back after your nap, okay?” He spoke to her in a calm voice, not being able to resist wiping the tears from her soft cheeks in an attempt to soothe her a little. He hated seeing her this upset, and hoped she’d feel better after she slept.
He set her down in the crib, gently draping her blanket over her as she kept crying and trying to reach up to him. He tried to ignore her cries as much as he could, as much as it was hurting his heart. But he knew it needed to be done, so she would learn.
“Go to sleep, Mara. I’ll come back after your nap, okay?” He cooed to her, continuing to stroke her cheek in an attempt to calm her down without giving into her too much. “Love you, baby girl.”
It was so hard for him to walk away from her crib and leave her crying, but he felt proud of his abilities to be strong. Her nap time felt like the longest two hours of his life; he knew she’d eventually cried herself out because he checked on her half an hour in, and she was fast asleep.
He managed to last for the two hours she’d usually nap for, before he made his way back to her room. He found her slowly waking up, rubbing her eyes and finding her lost pacifier, placing it back in her mouth.
“Hi, sleepy girl.” Calum melted at her sleepy eyes and soft demeanour, all the annoyance he had felt melting away as she reached up to him. “Did you have a good sleep? Are you in a better mood now?”
“Sorry, dada.” She cuddled into him as he picked her up, settling her head on his shoulder as he rubbed her back. “Love you.”
Calum wanted to cry as he held her close, his heart melting at her words. “I love you too, my little moon. Thank you for the sorry.”
“Duke?” She called out, wondering where her little best friend was.
“Yeah, shall we go find him?” Calum replied, kissing her forehead as she woke up a little more, heading downstairs to locate Duke. As he held her in his arms, he was glad that she’d woken up in a much better mood, and that his telling off had been effective. As much as he hated doing it, he knew he’d always get his sweet baby girl back.
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