It's a Girl!

"Roxanne!" I called from the kitchen.

"Yeah?" She walked out of her room, tying her hair into a ponytail.

"I'm going shopping. You need anything?"

"Um, yeah. Cranberry juice, Pecan Sandies, dinosaur fruit snacks, Hot Pockets..."

"Dude, make me a list," I handed her a piece of paper and a pen to write down all the food that she needed, or as the case may be, wanted. Once she was done, she gave it back to me with more things going to the backside. "Okay, thanks. I'll be home in an hour."

"Alright. Hey, can I turn the TV on?"

"Sure-- but don't break it."

"Why do you always think I'm going to break something?" She groaned.

"Heather said you take after me. That's a pretty good hint." With that, I walked out the door and climbed into my car.

AT THE STORE!

I wandered down the aisles and started picking things off the shelf. Snickers bars: yes. Corn dogs: yes. Strawberry ice cream: yes. Sausage pizza: yes. Cheetos: yes. Whiskey: NO. Well, maybe for me, anyway. But I'd have to hide it from her. I grabbed a bottle of JD's anyway. By now, the cart was pretty much full. I looked over the list one more time and noticed one thing I had skipped.

Tampons.

Fuck.

I sighed heavily and trudged over to the whole "female product" section. I stared at them, unsure what to get. I tapped my foot impatiently. A bunch of people were staring at me, wondering what the hell Tommy Lee would want with tampons. I smiled and nodded at them uncomfortably.

Some dudes were laughing at me from down the aisle, but hell, they were looking at makeup. But then again, eyeliner is my best friend. Dammit. I just grabbed some random package and went to the checkout stand. The cashier looked at me.

"What's up with all the junk food?" She asked, staring at the marshmallow spread. I shrugged.

"I'm going through a junk food frenzy." I sighed. "And why don't you do your fucking job and scan my shit without judging me?"

She shut the fuck up and finished with all my stuff except for one thing. Then she reached the tampons. She threw a questioning look at me.

"Just scan them." I mumbled, getting my wallet out of my pocket. I could hear her trying to keep herself from giggling. I walked out of the store hastily to make sure no one saw me carrying tampons and milkshakes. I hopped into the car and drove back home as fast as I could go-- running a few red lights on the way.

MEANWHILE WITH ROXANNE!

"No." I flipped the channel. Ugh, Hannah Montana. I flipped it again. Lady Gaga appeared on the screen and I just switched the TV off. Nothing good was on. I got up and walked into Dad's bedroom. He had never given me a tour of the house, so I decided to give myself one.

His room was huge, like the size of my house back with Mom. I gasped and looked around. I walked over to the giant windows and opened the curtains.

"Whoa," I whispered, looking down at the back yard. It had the biggest pool I had ever seen. That yard had just about everything. Hot tubs, tennis courts... you name it.

From there, I walked down some hallway then stopped myself. He might go all "Beauty and the Beast" on me and tell me that no one is allowed in the West Wing. Surely Daddy has a west wing. This place was humongous. I turned back and galloped to the living room again. Yeah, that was such a long tour. Then the phone started ringing. I danced over and picked it up.

"City morgue." I sang into the receiver.

"Hey, Roxie!"

"Hi Nikki. Whatcha doin'?"

"Just hanging out and missing you, of course."

"I'm flattered." I sat up on the kitchen counter and put the phone on speaker.

"Where's Tommy at?" He asked.

"The store." I responded.

"You need me to come over there and keep you company?"

"No, he should be home any minute. I wish you could, though." I opened a cabinet and started digging through it.

"Alright, but if you need anything, just call me, okay, baby?"

"You got it." I hung up and continued searching the cabinet.

The door creaked open and dad walked in, carrying a bunch of plastic bags filled with food. He set them on the counter next to me.

"Hey," He nodded. "I bought your tampons."

"Oh, aren't you a doll!" I pinched his cheek.

"Uh huh. Next time, you're coming with me. People thought I was fucking insane."

"Well, can't say I blame them." I shrugged.

He laughed. "Oh, shut up," He gave me a hug. "So what did you do while I was gone?"

I thought about that for a minute. "Channel surfed for a while, then I just sat there." I lied. I didn't want him to know I had invaded his bedroom. He smiled and ruffled my hair.

"So, I've been thinking..."

"Don't hurt yourself, daddy."

He chuckled. "And I know that I've been a dick for the past few days. So, how about we have some father-daughter bonding time tonight? I really want to make it up to you," He hoisted himself up onto the counter. "So what do you say?"

"Yes please!" I said almost too enthusiastically. But hell, he was making an effort to be nice.

"Great. What do you wanna do tonight?"

"Um, can we go somewhere?"

"Sure. I'll take you downtown and we can run around down there for a while." He grinned. In my head, I was screaming with happiness. He seemed to hear it, because he hugged me again and ruffled my hair. "Now go put your fucking tampons away. You have no clue how hard it was to buy them."