The Hardest Part Is Letting Go Of Your Dreams

The next day when Frank goes to work Ruby and I spend the morning drawing. I work on the latest comic strip for work, since I quit at the coffee shop I picked up a job at a small newspaper, and she sits beside me at the table, drawing shapes and swirls of colour on her paper, her little forehead creased in concentration. I find myself more and more distracted by watching her cute little facial expressions when she concentrates and decide to give up working for the day, maybe trying again later after she's in bed. "Want some juice Rubes?" I ask her and she looks over at me and says "Yes please." I smile and lean down to kiss the top of her head then stand up as I say "Good girl for using your manners." She smiles and turns back to her masterpiece while I pour her a small sippy cup of juice. Once I come back to the table I sit the cup beside her drawing and she finishes what she's doing and sits the crayons down, picking up the paper and holding it out to me. "That's you Geegee and Fwankie and me" she tells me, pointing to the slightly blob shaped people on the paper and I smile down at her and say "This is so good Rubes. I think Frankie would really like this" before getting up and sticking it to the fridge. When I turn back Ruby is beaming up at me before she picks up her juice and takes a drink. After she puts the cup down she says "Where's Fwankie Geegee?" "He's at work sweety. He'll come home later." She nods her little head "Are you my daddy?" She asks and I smile at her and say "Yeah baby I'm your daddy now. But you don't have to call me daddy if you don't want to, you can still call me Geegee." She nods her little head but I'm not sure how much she actually understands. "Is Fwankie my daddy?" I nod and say "Yeah he's your daddy too now." She smiles and says "I like Fwankie. He's funny." I smile wider and say "Yeah he's very funny. Frankie likes you a lot too." "I like you too Geegee." I reach out and pick her up, sitting her in my lap as I wrap my arms around her gently, her little arms wrapping around my neck as she cuddles back. When she pulls back I ask "What would you like to do now Rubes?" Her little forehead creases in concentration again before she smiles and shrugs her shoulders. I chuckle before planting a soft kiss to her forehead and saying "How would you like to go shopping?" She nods her little head and we get up, I put her down and she holds my hand, toddling off towards her room
to dress her in something warm.

After we walk through a few stores and buy what we want we pass an ice cream parlour and I say "Would you like some ice cream baby?" She starts bouncing up and down on the spot as she begs for ice cream and I smile wide before leading her inside. I get her a small scoop of ice cream with multicoloured sprinkles on it and a chocolate milkshake for myself. We sit in a small booth and she stares at the ice cream in amazement and says "Thank you Geegee." "You're welcome sweety" I tell her before handing her a spoon and she starts eating. Halfway through she's covered in ice cream and sprinkles and she grins up at me and I can't help but chuckle. I offer her a sip of my milkshake and she sucks on the straw, drinking a little before pulling away and saying "Chocowate." I smile at her and nod my head before she turns back to her ice cream. When she's done I grab some napkins and clean up her face and hands and then say "Frankie finishes work soon. Do you want to go visit him?" She nods frantically as she bounces around in her seat. We stand up and leave the store hand in hand and she says "Geegee I'm tired." I chuckle and shake my head as I sit the shopping bags down and scoop her up, sitting her on my shoulders and bending to pick up the shopping again. "Hold on tight Rubes" I tell her and she giggles as we start walking. When we reach the guitar store I sit her down and hold her hand as we walk in. I spot Frank helping a customer with Matt, his back to us and Ruby spots him too as she yanks her hand out of mine and takes off, running across the store and tackling the back of his legs, her little arms wrapping around them. He stumbles forward a few steps before correcting himself and looking down, Ruby giggling as he looks at her. "Hey cheeky" he grins as he bends down and scoops her up, resting her on his hip. Matt beams at them as he continues to help the customer with limited assistance from Frank now, him preoccupied with Ruby. Ruby throws her arms around his neck and snuggles her head into his shoulder, yawning and then going silent, just cuddling into Franks side as he finishes the sale. When the customer is finished and is walking out of the store Frank and Matt come over to me and Frank leans in and pecks my lips. "Hey gorgeous" he greets me when we pull apart and I blush. "So who's this little bundle of happiness?" Matt asks, gently poking Ruby in the tummy. "This is Ruby" Frank says before looking down at her and saying "Wanna say hi? This is my friend Matt." "Hi" Ruby says quietly before burying her face in Franks neck. Frank shoots me a concerned look and I just shrug, figuring she's just shy around a new person. "Ruby do you have sprinkles in your hair?" Frank asks, looking down at her again and she giggles and says "Geegee buyed ice cream." Frank smiles wide and says "Wow, you're very lucky." She nods her little head and Matt laughs, causing her to bury her face in Franks neck again. After Frank locks up the store we start walking home, Ruby still on Franks hip, babbling all about our day to him as he holds my hand with his other arm. The sun is just setting and I look over and see the two most important people in my life giggling at each other about something Ruby said and I can't help the smile that spreads
across my face at the perfect sight of them.

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