“I hungry too, Uncle Knox.” Ava bats her little eyelashes at him.

Knox goes to stand up and holds a hand out to me and Ava. “Well I guess we better go see what Daddy is cooking for our princesses.”

I’m in awe of this man standing in front of me right now. Knox will be such a good dad when the time comes for him. He treats little Ava as if she was his and not many men around our age would do that. Yeah, they would pay attention to her and protect her, but Knox goes above and beyond that. He plays right along with whatever she wants. She has him wrapped around her pretty little finger.

Ava takes off running in her little flip flops, kicking sand up behind her while Knox chases after her. She’s screaming and laughing, having a great time. I noticed that everyone had left and the only stuff that is here are the towels and blankets that we were lying on. I shake the sand from them; slip my flip flops on and go back up to the house to find something to eat.

The closer I get to the house I smell the yummy aromas coming from the grill. Jeremy is standing at the grill in only a pair of black basketball shorts and I notice that his hair is wet. “Knox is actually letting you cook on the grill?” I tease as I step up onto the deck.

Jeremy closes the lid and smirks, “Well someone has to feed the princesses.”

“Daddy!” Ava yells.

“Yeah?” Jeremy answers right away.

“I’m itchy.”

Jeremy shakes his head and sets off towards his daughter. “Alright let’s go get you in the bath to get all the sand off. Then I’ll get you something to eat ok?”

Ava holds her hand out to Jeremy, “Ok Daddy.”

Tanner is sitting up on the counter in the kitchen, freshly showered too. “Tan, can you watch the grill. I gotta give her a bath real quick.”

Tanner nods, “Yeah I got it man.”

I follow behind, in need of a shower myself. Jeremy picks up Ava and throws her tiny little body up in the air and she giggles. “Again Daddy.” And so he does it again until they get to the stairs.

“Princess Jasmine, where you going?” Ava asks me when she notices I’m following behind them.

“I’m going to go take a shower. The sand makes me itchy too.” I explain to her.

Jeremy carries Ava up the stairs then sets her down and they walk towards the bathroom but Ava tugs on Jeremy’s hand. He squats down next to her and she whispers in his ear. He looks back to me and then to Ava.

“You’ll have to ask her.” He whispers loud enough so that I can hear and try to figure out what’s going on.

Ava shakes her head and then wraps her little arms around her daddy’s neck and I just want to melt into a puddle. This little girl has stolen my heart and I’ve only known her for a few hours. No wonder Knox is the way he is with her. She’s such a little sweetheart.

I close the distance between us and I kneel down so I’m eye level with them. “Ava, what do you want to ask me?”

I see her arms tighten around Jeremy’s neck and he rubs his large hand up and down her back. He turns his head and whispers in her ear, “Do you want me to ask her for you?”

She nods her head.

“Ava wants to know if you’ll give her a bubble bath.” Jeremy gives me a half smile. These are the times I’m sure he is wishing that her mom was still in the picture.

I place a hand on Jeremy’s shoulder and squeeze a little. “Of course I will. Does Princess Ava have everything a princess needs in the bathroom?”

Ava lifts her head and looks to Jeremy.

“Yeah, I’ll show you where everything is and grab some clothes for her.” Jeremy stands back up and mouths, ‘Thank you.’ to me. I stand up and catch a glimpse of Knox’s swim trunks in the doorway to his bedroom. He doesn’t make himself known, so I just let him be.

Jeremy starts the bath water and Ava helps him with the bubbles and then she begs her daddy for pink water. I’m confused for a second until I see him reach back into the cabinet under the sink and he gives his daughter two little pink tablets. She throws them in the water and within seconds her water turns pink.

Jeremy kisses the top of Ava’s head and leaves the bathroom.

I play with Ava while she takes her bath; she stays in there until her little fingers are all wrinkly. We wash her hair and her body and she giggles when I wash her pretty little pink toes. I turn to reach for the towel that is sitting on the sink and I see Knox watching me from the doorway. He doesn’t say anything at all but gives me a sad smile and walks away. What was that look for? Did I do something that upset him and not realize it? Is he mad I didn’t come right up to the bedroom and steal a few minutes of alone time with him? I shake it off for now and grab the towel. I get Ava all dried off, dressed in a little red, white and blue sundress. I brush her dark hair out and decide to side braid her hair.

Ava turns in the mirror to see herself, “That’s butiful.”

“A beautiful braid for a beautiful little girl,” I pick her up from the sink and set her down; she reaches for my hand and we walk out of the bathroom together. On our way downstairs Ava tugs on my hand. “Where’s Uncle Knox?”

“I don’t know.” I answer honestly.

Rhea is heading upstairs and stops to greet Ava, “Hey Girly. I like your braid.” Rhea reaches forward and gives it a little tug.

Ava reaches up and pats her hair, “Tanks, Princess Jasmine did it.”

“Hey, can you bring her down to Jeremy? I need to jump in the shower real quick before dinner.” I ask Rhea.

“Sure.” Rhea turns, careful since she’s on the steps, and squats down, “Climb on, Girly.”

Ava giggles and throws her arms around Rhea’s neck and her legs wrap around her body, holding on.

I take the steps two at a time, hoping I can catch Knox in his room so I can find out what’s going on with him. I swing open the door and there he is lying across his bed on his stomach. He’s only wearing a pair of black cargo shorts and a grey wife beater, the muscles of his arms and shoulders on full display.

Knox either hasn’t heard me come in or he is looking intently at something on the bed. I tip toe over to him and crawl my still sandy body onto the bed. Knox jumps when my fingertips brush against his leg. He quickly leaps up from the bed and walks over to his dresser and slides whatever it is he was looking at in it. Knox scrubs his face with his hands.

“Everything okay?” I ask in a soft smooth voice when I really just want to jump up and find out what has his mind in another place.