[WaM] 024 - An Unfamiliar Feeling
"Hal." Noah glanced to her bouncing from one bed to the other in their hotel room. "Hal?"
"Hannnnnah."
"You young lady are Hal until you're old enough for me to call you an Old Lady, and by then I won't even remember your name because I'll be senile. So you are stuck with the nickname, but I'll at least let Rian know that I'm the only one allowed to call you that. Deal?"
Her eyes narrowed at him, and in those moments he could see her mother looking right back at him. It tugged at him a bit, but really he loved his daughter too much to draw that sort of comparison, let alone let it upset him.
"Dealio Daddio."
"I don't even want to know where you heard that, and seriously? The bed hopping?"
"Stop it?"
"Yeah." Thankfully she did and Noah took up a seat on the edge of the hotel bed Hal moving to lean against his back as she stood on the bed. "Are those your knees digging into my spine?" Her nod rubbed against the back of his head as she wiggled her legs against him. "I'm gonna get you knee pads kiddo." Noah glanced to the papers that he'd printed out, making sure that he had it all set for the whole reason they had come out to Los Angeles now. To be honest he felt like it was a bit too soon to meet Rian, but he also figured the timing had to be this way for a reason, and if it was for Sumo Wrestling? Then so be it. The fact that Hal was enthused to the point that she'd been downloading highlight clips from the prior year to show him was a bit disturbing.
"So you'll be fine here? I mean you aren't allowed out of the hotel. I don't care if I let you wander around back home. There you know pretty much everyone in town, here it's different. You stick to the room, to the pool, and the game room."
"Right-o Daddy-o." She stood up behind him on the bed and flopped backwards letting her feet press to his back as her toes wiggled against him. "And you're gonna go meet Rian, and give her the thank you note I HAND WROTE for her, and then you're gonna make out."
His hand reached behind his back and grabbed onto the one ankle that hadn't slipped away quickly, turning around on the bed trying to reach for the other which was now attached to a fit of giggles and trying to escape from him, "Make out? Hal, honestly where are you getting this stuff?"
"Uh... I'm ten, not two."
"Got it, but really there will be no making out. I'm meeting her for the first time Hal."
"Huh... well in the movies? They always make out. It's like every John Cusack Film EVER Dad."
"So what are you saying? I'm John Cusack?"
"Do you have a tape player?"
"At the firehouse."
"Oh my God. Really? How old ARE you?? No one even has tapes anymore!"
His hand yanked her toward him on the bed picking her up and setting her on his lap, "I am not old, and I have the tape deck at the firehouse not in the car, not in the house. It's the guys anyway, they have all those hair bands? You know the music that you make fun of?"
"Gotcha Dada."
"Okay the rhyming thing? Gotta go."
Hal hopped off his lap turning on toe to stick her tongue out at him, "Yeah and you? Gotta go too. You can't be late for your making out with Rian!"
This time his own eyes narrowed at her as she wiggled backward through the room toward the bathroom, "DO NOT FOLLOW ME OH MY GOD! I'm putting my bathing suit on!!"
Shaking his head at her antics he grabbed his cell phone and made sure to program the hotel number into it, and ran his hand through his hair. "Better hurry up Hal, cause I'm gonna need to use the bathroom too you know.
"Brush your teeth!!!"
"Hal!"
"There is even hotel brand Mouth wash! Aww the tiny bottle is like cute!"
"HAL!"
"You'd be all minty fresh for the making out!"
There was really no point in any of his arguing at this point and he was really close to thunking his head on the bathroom door to get her out of there and down to the pool where she'd swim most the night before wandering to the arcade and then back to the room to order food. Instead he just leaned against the wall opposite the bathroom door waiting for her to emerge, and when she did he stuck his tongue out at her.
"Real mature Dad."
"Learned from the best," he replied as she moved out of the bathroom, over-sized towel wrapped around her waist. In the bathroom he did actually brush his teeth and at the suggestion of Hal he'd cracked the seal on the mouthwash and used that as well. There was a slight knot of anticipation in his stomach, and it was one he hadn't felt in a while. That sort of anxious nervousness that settled just below his sternum making him feel really odd. He could run into a blaze to save someone without even a second thought, but heading out on a date with a girl he'd met online? Looking at himself in the mirror he wondered if he looked like a dad, if he looked like he'd been chasing a ten year old around LA for most the morning trying to tire her out enough so that she wouldn't be staying up until all hours of the night without him there to tell her to go to bed. He trusted her, it wasn't even a matter of that, and he knew there were far less responsible parents out there dropping their kids off at the mall for hours on end. This was the hotel. The hotel that had security cameras and security staff paired with Hal who had quite a set of lungs on her.
Leaving her behind though, unsettled him almost as much as the fact that he was headed out on a date. The first one he actually thought he might have a chance at something in a long time, and he wasn't sure what made him feel more uneasy.
"Hannnnnah."
"You young lady are Hal until you're old enough for me to call you an Old Lady, and by then I won't even remember your name because I'll be senile. So you are stuck with the nickname, but I'll at least let Rian know that I'm the only one allowed to call you that. Deal?"
Her eyes narrowed at him, and in those moments he could see her mother looking right back at him. It tugged at him a bit, but really he loved his daughter too much to draw that sort of comparison, let alone let it upset him.
"Dealio Daddio."
"I don't even want to know where you heard that, and seriously? The bed hopping?"
"Stop it?"
"Yeah." Thankfully she did and Noah took up a seat on the edge of the hotel bed Hal moving to lean against his back as she stood on the bed. "Are those your knees digging into my spine?" Her nod rubbed against the back of his head as she wiggled her legs against him. "I'm gonna get you knee pads kiddo." Noah glanced to the papers that he'd printed out, making sure that he had it all set for the whole reason they had come out to Los Angeles now. To be honest he felt like it was a bit too soon to meet Rian, but he also figured the timing had to be this way for a reason, and if it was for Sumo Wrestling? Then so be it. The fact that Hal was enthused to the point that she'd been downloading highlight clips from the prior year to show him was a bit disturbing.
"So you'll be fine here? I mean you aren't allowed out of the hotel. I don't care if I let you wander around back home. There you know pretty much everyone in town, here it's different. You stick to the room, to the pool, and the game room."
"Right-o Daddy-o." She stood up behind him on the bed and flopped backwards letting her feet press to his back as her toes wiggled against him. "And you're gonna go meet Rian, and give her the thank you note I HAND WROTE for her, and then you're gonna make out."
His hand reached behind his back and grabbed onto the one ankle that hadn't slipped away quickly, turning around on the bed trying to reach for the other which was now attached to a fit of giggles and trying to escape from him, "Make out? Hal, honestly where are you getting this stuff?"
"Uh... I'm ten, not two."
"Got it, but really there will be no making out. I'm meeting her for the first time Hal."
"Huh... well in the movies? They always make out. It's like every John Cusack Film EVER Dad."
"So what are you saying? I'm John Cusack?"
"Do you have a tape player?"
"At the firehouse."
"Oh my God. Really? How old ARE you?? No one even has tapes anymore!"
His hand yanked her toward him on the bed picking her up and setting her on his lap, "I am not old, and I have the tape deck at the firehouse not in the car, not in the house. It's the guys anyway, they have all those hair bands? You know the music that you make fun of?"
"Gotcha Dada."
"Okay the rhyming thing? Gotta go."
Hal hopped off his lap turning on toe to stick her tongue out at him, "Yeah and you? Gotta go too. You can't be late for your making out with Rian!"
This time his own eyes narrowed at her as she wiggled backward through the room toward the bathroom, "DO NOT FOLLOW ME OH MY GOD! I'm putting my bathing suit on!!"
Shaking his head at her antics he grabbed his cell phone and made sure to program the hotel number into it, and ran his hand through his hair. "Better hurry up Hal, cause I'm gonna need to use the bathroom too you know.
"Brush your teeth!!!"
"Hal!"
"There is even hotel brand Mouth wash! Aww the tiny bottle is like cute!"
"HAL!"
"You'd be all minty fresh for the making out!"
There was really no point in any of his arguing at this point and he was really close to thunking his head on the bathroom door to get her out of there and down to the pool where she'd swim most the night before wandering to the arcade and then back to the room to order food. Instead he just leaned against the wall opposite the bathroom door waiting for her to emerge, and when she did he stuck his tongue out at her.
"Real mature Dad."
"Learned from the best," he replied as she moved out of the bathroom, over-sized towel wrapped around her waist. In the bathroom he did actually brush his teeth and at the suggestion of Hal he'd cracked the seal on the mouthwash and used that as well. There was a slight knot of anticipation in his stomach, and it was one he hadn't felt in a while. That sort of anxious nervousness that settled just below his sternum making him feel really odd. He could run into a blaze to save someone without even a second thought, but heading out on a date with a girl he'd met online? Looking at himself in the mirror he wondered if he looked like a dad, if he looked like he'd been chasing a ten year old around LA for most the morning trying to tire her out enough so that she wouldn't be staying up until all hours of the night without him there to tell her to go to bed. He trusted her, it wasn't even a matter of that, and he knew there were far less responsible parents out there dropping their kids off at the mall for hours on end. This was the hotel. The hotel that had security cameras and security staff paired with Hal who had quite a set of lungs on her.
Leaving her behind though, unsettled him almost as much as the fact that he was headed out on a date. The first one he actually thought he might have a chance at something in a long time, and he wasn't sure what made him feel more uneasy.