I thought that you'd be here by now.....

[Dani]

Madison laughed and shook her head. "Morgan just turned eighteen, so she's a little too old for Brooklyn, but I'm sure she'd love to play with her some time." It was hard for her to not refer to her siblings as being little, even though they were mostly grown up by now. She was so used to taking care of them that it was too depressing to think that they were old enough to fend for themselves. "So Brooklyn's an only child, then?" she found herself asking curiously.

[Tori]

"O-oh." David's eyes grew slightly bigger by surprise. "Sorry...it's just, when you said little sister, for some reason, I automatically thought you meant, I don't know...younger than that." he shrugged, though managing to laugh at his own mistakes, continuing to take licks of his own ice cream. He nodded at her question given to him. "Yep. One and only. Don't think she minds too much though. Just means she gets me all to herself." he laughed once more, glancing over to Brooklyn who seemed to be minding her own business with her ice cream.

[Dani]

"That's alright," Madison said, taking a bite out of the cone part. "It's my fault. It's hard to forget that Morgan's not a little girl anymore." And that she no longer needs me.... She watched Brooklyn eating her ice cream and flashed back to when Morgan was her age. It was ages ago, but it felt like it was only yesterday. Her ears perked up at David's response to her other question, causing her to snap out of her trance. "Wow, Daddy's little girl, huh? That's nice...." She trailed off, her mind now flashing back to memories of her father.

[Tori]

David nodded, understanding where she was coming from. "Ah, I see." His eyes glanced back to Brooklyn again then, chuckling at Madison's next comment. "Yeah, that's a good way to describe her. Daddy's little girl." he smiled, looking back to Madison. "But yeah. Basically it's just me and Brooklyn living here."

[Dani]

Madison nearly spit out her ice cream. "J-just the two of you?" she asked, her eyes getting a little wider. "I had no idea...." She felt so terrible for her earlier assumptions about David. It hadn't even occurred to her that Brooklyn's mother had passed away. Poor kid.... Even though Madison and her mother were never that close, she couldn't imagine not having her around when she was little. Given the way her father was, she and her siblings probably would have wound up in foster care by the time they were in elementary school. "I'm really sorry to hear that." She went back to eating her ice cream, knowing that discussing Brooklyn's mother would probably be a bad idea.

[Tori]

David simply nodded. Although, from the reaction Madison was suddenly getting, he was starting to feel a bit worried. Is she thinking something different than he is? He wanted more than ever to just stop Madison right there from her repeated apologies and explain right there. But he didn't want to seem like he was angry with her or anything. He shook his head subtly. "No need to apologize." he finally said once he thought she was finished. "It's not like its anyone's fault. I mean," he lowered his tone to a whisper so Brooklyn couldn't hear. "Brooklyn's mother was the one who decided to run off." he blinked, and his voice went back up to normal tone again. "Brooklyn and I...we have fun together. Even if she can be a little diva. Isn't that right, Brooky?" he teased, patting the little girl's head who shook his hand off just as playfully. "Nuh-uh! Not a diva!" she stuck her strawberry pink tongue out to her daddy before licking at the rest of her ice cream. David simply just laughed again, rolling his eyes playfully, continuing to watch his daughter scarf down the rest of her frozen treat while he took his sweet time with his own.

[Dani]

Madison couldn't believe what she was hearing. Brooklyn's mother ran off? Why didn't she take Brooklyn with her? She could understand women leaving their husbands and boyfriends, but they usually took the kids, especially ones as young as Brooklyn. She wanted to apologize to David yet again, apologize for jumping to the wrong conclusion about him. However, for the sake of Brooklyn, she dropped the subject and simply gave him a silent nod. She burst out laughing at Brooklyn's declaration that she wasn't a diva. "That's right, Brooklyn, stand up for yourself." She turned back to David and smiled. "I know what you mean. I have a godsister about her age. She's the baby of thirteen kids. She's got pretty much all of them eating right out of the palm of her hand."

[Tori]

Brooklyn's smiled beamed wider at Madison's comment to her. "Alway' do!" she piped up, puffing out her chest in confidence before continuing with her messy ice cream which was now just the cone with small drips of ice cream trailing down the outside.
David just laughed, shaking his head lightly. His attention went back to Madison again when she mentioned having a godsister around Brooklyn's age. "Oh really?" David really has been looking for someone other than Brooklyn's cousins to befriend her. So he was definitely ecstatic as well as excited to hear that his daughter could possibly have a good friend real soon. David chuckled. "Yeah, that's pretty much Brooklyn here. She's not the baby of all her cousins, but that doesn't mean she has everyone eating out of the palm of her hand." he laughed a bit more, licking the rest of his ice cream clean off his cone before taking a big bite out of it. "She really is a little diva. Even if she won't admit it."

[Dani]

Madison nodded her head and smiled. "Yeah, Molly's a bit of a drama queen. Then again she lives with a bunch of overly emotional teenage girls and has a bunch of older brothers that spoil her to death, so it's not surprising that she is." She took another bite out of her ice cream and looked over at Brooklyn yet again. She couldn't help it; the girl was just too adorable. "Molly attends the daycare too," she continued. "I'm not sure if they really know each other, but maybe I could try and introduce them during playtime or something. Hopefully it won't turn into a mini diva showdown."

[Tori]

"I see." David nodded with a small grin across his face, glancing back over to Brooklyn and her messy face again. What caught his attention back to Madison though was the mention of Molly being in the same daycare as Brooklyn. "Oh, really? Well, I'm sure Brooklyn's at least said a few words to her. It wouldn't be like her to not say a single word to any of the other kids." he chuckled to himself. "She is quite the social butterfly." he smiled a bit wider, getting more comfortable around Madison now that she was starting to open up little by little to him. He looked back over to Brooklyn once more before looking back up to Madison again. "I just hope she doesn't cause too much trouble there. She can be a bit bossy at certain times."

[Dani]

"Oh yeah, Brooklyn's definitely popular with the other kids," Madison said with another nod. "She's always running around and talking to everybody. There's so many kids and it's still a little early in the school year, so we haven't been really good with names yet. We haven't had that many problems with her, just a few minor fights over toys, but that's pretty normal." She chuckled at Brooklyn's messy face. How adorable..... "She has so much energy. It must be a lot of fun trying to keep up with her at home."

[Tori]

David listened intently and nodded a few times before turning his eyes back to his messy daughter again. "Popular, huh?" he chuckled, shaking his head lightly at the fighting over toys part. "Well, I kind of figured the fighting part. Always has to have things her way." he turned back to Madison, "But, hey, she's only three. I'd say its natural for kids that age." He glanced back down to Brooklyn again watching her licking her fingers off from the sticky ice cream still on her. "Energy? Oh, you have no idea." he laughed, leaning back in his chair taking another bite of his cone. "I'm lucky I have something to calm her down when she gets the most hyper. Like most little kids, music always helps. It has to be my music though...unless its High School Musical or me on my guitar, she won't listen to it. Ain't that right, munchkin?" he looked over to Brooklyn now, scuffing up her hair and laughing when she shook his hand off.
"I not a munchkin!" she argued back, sticking her tongue out. "But I do wuv you music daddy. It the best! Beside High Schoo' Mus'cal..." she giggled.

[Dani]

"Yeah, it's definitely natural for kids that age, especially ones that don't have any siblings. They're not really used to sharing at home, so it's difficult for them to understand the concept." Madison laughed and let out a deep sigh as he explained how he got Brooklyn to calm down. She was very familiar with Brooklyn's energy. Nap time was challenging enough for most kids, but Brooklyn usually made it quite the adventure. "Maybe you can send in a CD of some of your music with Brooklyn some time," she suggested. She lowered her voice so that only David could hear her. "We've been having a bit of trouble getting her to go down for her N-A-P. Now I know why she doesn't respond so well to the music that we use. We might have to go pick up some High School Musical stuff too. I guess lullabies aren't so cool anymore." She laughed again at Brooklyn's expression. "No you're not a munchkin, Brooklyn. You're a big girl."

[Tori]

David nodded, agreeing with Madison's conception, smiling wider at her sudden idea she gave him. "Oh, really? Yeah, that would be great. I'd love to." he gave a small laugh looking over at Brooklyn once more as she smiled widely at him too. "Yeah! Put lots o' songs on thewe daddy!" she giggled, looking up at Madison next. "I can brin' my high schoo' mus'cal stuff to cwass too!" Brooklyn excitedly insisted. She was bouncing in her seat now, and David simply just laughed softly watching his daughter's energy just flow out of her like water. "We'll see about that Brooklyn, but for now, we'll work on what music you want me to put on the CD." David compromised.

[Dani]

Madison giggled at Brooklyn's persistence. "Yeah, we'll see how your daddy's music goes over first, okay?" She knew that High School Musical was a really popular film with the kids and that they'd enjoy the music, but she wasn't sure if it would be a good to use during naptime. Considering how upbeat it was, it would probably make the kids more energized rather than sleepy. "So what are you, like a musician or something?" she asked, taking a long look at David. He hardly looked like the type of person that would spend hours playing kiddie music.