Brooke Ali Styles

The front door clicked shut, echoing throughout the Styles mansion letting Brooke know her mom and sister had left for the afternoon for Ella’s ballet practice. The schedule was embedded into the small brunette’s brain and although she wasn’t quite old enough to memorize the days of the week, she knew it was her father’s turn to stay home with her. Because it was a Saturday, there was no school for her today and unlike a lot of celebrity families, Harry and Hanna only hired their nanny on the rare occasion that neither of them could be home to take care of their two daughters.

Brooke finished messily rearranging the furniture in her dollhouse before throwing the multiple Kens, Barbies, Kellys, and Midges on beds she made from her dad’s shoe boxes and covered them with blankets made from napkins she’d casually steal off the table every morning at breakfast. She kissed them one by one then whispered goodnight.

Down the hall, Harry was in the study putting away a stack of children’s books and picking up stray toys that always managed to start in Brooke’s room and end up in odd places of the house. He thought it was strange that she never played with half of her stuff, yet all of her dolls and stuffed animals were usually misplaced. That was one of many reasons why he liked to call her “B Ninja”.

The house phone began ringing throughout the house making Brooke immediately drop whatever it was she was doing and scoot down the stairs. Her short legs carried her into the kitchen so fast Harry didn’t stand a chance. She lifted the cordless phone off of it’s receiver and held it to her ear, “Hi...” Her raspy tone trailed off, knowing fairly well she was not allowed to operate the phone on her own. “Bye!”

Harry was at the bottom of the stairs, entering the kitchen in time to hear his daughter’s phone call, giving him a light chuckle. The now three-year-old looked up at her father, giving him her best dimpled smile she could muster up. He started prying the phone from her skinny fingers and she was reluctant to let go until finally he made a trade using his cell phone. Brooke squealed in delight, scurrying for the living room.

Harry answered the telephone, introducing himself and apologizing for his daughter’s lack of etiquette. A woman’s voice emerged from the other end of the line, the voice Harry recognized as Brooke’s preschool teacher.

“--I needed to contact you immediately because it has come to my attention that Brooke has become the center focus in the classroom.” Her strict voice sounded intimidating. Harry furrowed his dark eyebrows in confusion.

“I know she’s loud and easily distracted, but you’re making it sound like she’s a bad kid. Is she not getting along with the others?” His usual slow tone was quickened by the racing of his heart. Anything revolving one of his girls was his first priority, he would literally do anything and everything to make them happy.

“Oh no that’s not the issue at all. Brooke has several friends, being shy is definitely not one of her downfalls.” The woman laughed but Harry wasn’t humoring her whatsoever.

“Then what is it?” He asked, getting angry from the delay in subject.

“As a teacher who wants nothing but the best for her young students, it is rather difficult to have to tell a parent this sort of news. There is no easy way, but she’s getting bullied.”

Just like that, Harry’s heart fell from his chest and into his stomach. He literally felt like hurling. He pulled out one of the bar stools and effortlessly took a seat, flabbergasted. No parent ever wants to know their child is getting bullied, it’s not like he could beat the shit out of a little kid.

“Okay, wow. I wasn’t expecting that.” He sighed loudly, running a hand through his mop of curls.

“I know, I’m sorry. It hurts me too, she is one of my favorites out of the bunch. It pains me even more to know that the kids are making fun of her for her hearing aid. They call her names like robot, sometimes they poke at it, and yesterday one of the more aggressive lads hit her in the tummy to see if she was made of metal.”

“Why is this the first time I’m hearing of this?” His eyes found their way to his youngest daughter who was now standing in the entryway of the dining room, clearly tired of playing countless rounds of Angry Birds.

She could tell he was angry and tense, but she could also see the sadness in his eyes, and when her dad was upset, so was she. Out of everyone in the world, Harry was her favorite. She had him wrapped around her finger, but what he didn’t know was that he had her wrapped around his as well. She had such a strong, profound sense of love and respect for him, and the sparkle never left her chocolate eyes whenever she was in his presence. If she had the vocabulary to express herself, there would be nothing but words of praise and gratitude.

“I would’ve called sooner if I didn’t think it would get better, but at this point I’m worried for her self-esteem because she has nothing to be ashamed of. We can enroll her in private classes if that’s what you prefer.”

“No, no I think my wife and I can both agree that she needs to stay and have that interaction with kids her age. I don’t want her feeling like an outcast, she’s only three.” Harry motioned for his daughter by spinning in his seat and patting his lap.

Of course she accepted the offer and over excitedly threw his phone on the table and darted for his leg. She crashed into his legs hard, throwing her arms up and not caring about the harsh impact. Harry listened carefully to Brooke’s teacher as he scooped his daughter into his lap with one arm, making sure not to lift her dress too high in the process.

“Okay then, thank you for your concern. Have a good day.” He departed ways, letting Brooke hit the end button.

Harry sighed, combing his fingers through his daughters matching curls. Looking down at her, he realized for the first time how much she looked like him. If it weren’t for her large brown eyes, she would be the female replica of himself. She took his dark, curly hair, his nose, his long eyelashes, his plump lips, and his personality. While Ella resembled more of her mother’s traits and characteristics, never fully having the same connection with him like she did her mom. But Brooke and Harry had a bond that was all it’s own, and it made him feel like he had a stronger purpose, or like he was trying to lead a younger version of himself.

“Daddy, who was it?” Brooke asked, staring at his necklaces she was holding in her hands while kicking her legs back and forth.

“Mrs. K.” He grabbed a banana off the counter, peeling it open so the two of them could split it. “She told me all about what happened at school yesterday.”

“Oh.” She stated with a mouth full of banana.

Harry tucked a chunk of her hair that had fallen out of her ponytail behind her ear, allowing himself to examine her right ear. The ear containing the object that helped make her life easier, but recently has only made it tougher. Harry was always a strong believer in everything happening for a reason, but he will never understand why him and Hanna had to suffer the thought of losing Brooke.

Ella was a smooth pregnancy, the birth was fast and she was healthy. Unfortunately, his second daughter didn’t enter this world peacefully and he will always remember the purple hue of her face when the umbilical cord threatened to take the life away from his own child, like satan himself was dangling what could have been in their faces, but Brooke was a fighter.

Due to this difficulty, she was born prematurely and the subtle fact that she was such a light weight caused her to develop severe hearing loss in her right ear. Harry will forever be thankful that she emerged from that battle with little to show for it, because not everyone is that lucky.

He ran his pointer finger over the arch of the ear hook and Brooke pulled away sharply, if it wasn’t for Harry’s paternal reflex she would have launched herself right off his lap.

“Stop! No!” The piece of banana she was holding crashed to the counter, her hand cupping her ear. She tried to slide off Harry’s lap, but he wouldn’t let her. He didn’t like to be the one causing her to have so much pain in her voice.

“Sorry, baby, sorry. Here, just keep eating your banana.” He situated her fragile body comfortably on his lap again. He hated himself for not knowing how much trouble her medical condition was causing her. He was sure that his wife didn’t have a clue either.

Brooke grabbed the remote, knowing which button to press to turn on the small flat screen located in the corner next to the refrigerator. “Scooby! Daddy watch scooby with me.”

“Okay, yeah.” He smiled tenderly, turning up the volume. If even he was struggling to hear it, he knew for a fact she was having an even harder time.

Brooke was the kind of girl with a short attention span, sometimes hard to handle, messy, very loud and outgoing, thinks her dolls came to life when she left the room, needless to say she had a big imagination, and to Harry she was perfect. She was an angel, a gift, a miracle. All she had to do was smile, that was all it took, for everyone to fall completely in love with her.

Listening to her laugh at the screen in front of her, watching her appreciate life was helping Harry come to realize that she wasn’t normal. She was unique and she was beautiful, her hearing aid was a sign of strength. Brooke never came home from school and cried, just with a new set of memories she was never timid to share with her family.

The day she loses the light in her eyes and the smile on her face will be the day he worries, but for today she was a happy go lucky toddler wishing for the world, and her daddy was her biggest fan.