The New Ginger Princess

It seems to be common knowledge that little kids wake up early, considering they go to sleep earlier, but the first time experiencing a morning with a child who wakes up early is something that even a typical morning person is going to need coffee for. 

Austin, who despite waking up around seven on weekends always chooses to stay in bed until at least nine, reading or quietly watching tv until he finally decides to get up. Alan, on the other hand, is often asleep until noon if he doesn't have somewhere to be; if it's still morning he's probably still asleep. 

In the morning the newcomer to the household is awake and out of bed by 6:30, having had a full night's sleep. Knowing that she shouldn't bother her parents Marissa heads down the hall to the room that is going to be hers so that she can find something to bide her time. She looks through her bags, searching for one thing in particular, her plushy puppy she brought with her when she was brought home. With the puppy nowhere in sight she becomes more frantic, the contents of her bags scattered around her on the floor. 

Still unable to find her favorite plushy Marissa runs out of her room directly into the room where her dads are sleeping, standing at the foot of the bed crying out, "Where's Candy!" 

The frantic cry jolts both of her parents awake, of course Alan doesn't realize anything except for the fact that he was just woken up unpleasantly, resulting in the first thing out of his mouth being, "What the fuck is going on?" He received a scolding look from his husband for the cursing before they both turned their attention to the child stood by the foot of their bed.

"Where's Candy?" Marissa repeats as she stands there frantic and close to tears. 

"What candy?" Austin inquires gently.

"Candy, she is my puppy, and I can't find her!"

"Marissa, come here," Alan calls calmly as he finally sits up. She walks over to his side of the bed, having to stand on her tip toes to see over it when she stands directly next to it. Seeing this, Alan reaches down and picks her up to sit her on the bed. "Now tell us what's wrong, sweetie."

"I can't find my puppy, Candy," the distraught child says quietly.

"Is that the plushy you had when we brought you home yesterday?" The taller dad asks, remembering a puppy in her arms the previous day.

"Yes, that's Candy," she replies. 

Suddenly Alan realizes exactly where the plushy is as he recalls the events that occurred the day before. "Candy is in the car still, I saw her when I was putting in the booster seat."

"We have to go get her," the little girl commands as she moves to get off of the huge bed but stops when she reaches the edge, feeling stuck. She pulls on Alan's hand, causing him to get out of bed and go to his clothes, pulling on a shirt and some pajama pants. 

Not realizing the child's predicament Alan walks to the door, expecting his daughter to follow along, only stopping when his husband calls out, "Alan, I think you're forgetting something." 

Alan glances down at his appearance and looks back at his husband in confusion, "I'm wearing pants," he says with a chuckle. "What am I forgetting?"

Austin shakes his head and gestures his hand to the little girl perched on the edge of the bed staring down at the ground, clearly frustrated that she is too high up to get down on her own.

"I am so sorry sweetie, I forgot that you would need help getting down," the shorter parent apologizes as he moves back over to her. He pulls her into his arms and sets her feet back on the ground. "There you go."

As soon as her feet reach the floor she is out of his arms and running to the door, not even looking back as she yells, "Come on we have to rescue Candy!"

Alan follows after her, having her wait by the front door while he grabs the car keys, and meeting with her at the door for a second before she is on the move once more. He has to unlock the car as she runs towards it just to avoid making her wait any longer than necessary. The car door is pulled open but instead of instantly grabbing her plushy she stops and stares into the car, head tilted to the side in curiosity.

"Why is she buckled into the car seat?" The small girl asks in slight wonderment.

He thinks back to the day before and laughs slightly, explaining, "When I finished putting in the booster seat I saw her sitting there on the seat. I guess I just thought it would be cute, and I didn't think about the fact that I probably should have brought her inside with me."

"Alright," the child replies before unbuckling the puppy and holding it to her chest as she runs back into the house, leaving Alan to shut the door and lock the car before returning to the house.

Inside, Austin has already gotten dressed and ventured into the kitchen, making the smart choice of starting the coffee that the parents are definitely going to need. Alan walks into the kitchen to see his husband pouring a bowl of cereal for the girl sitting at the kitchen table with her plushy puppy that resulted in that morning's chaos.

The pair share a quick kiss as the taller hands his husband the much needed cup of coffee. They both decide to just accept the early hour by enjoying cereal with their daughter as they try to figure out a plan for the afternoon.

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Shopping with a five year old is nothing short of an adventure, and the new parents are quick to embrace that fact. The trip through the furniture store to pick out a bed kept both parents on their toes as Marissa made a point to test out basically every piece of furniture in the store. They did finally pick a bed, just a simple twin sized frame which was to be delivered to the house in two days. The mattress was being dropped off at the house later by one of the guys' friends who actually has a more reasonable car for carrying a mattress.

With that arranged the family decides to head to the nearby Target to pick out a comforter set and some curtains. Plus Austin needs to find some detangling spray for Marissa's hair in hopes of making the task a little less difficult in the future. 

The detangling spray is put in the cart and the three of them stand in front of the bedspreads while the littlest one searches for the one she wants.

"What about this one?" Austin suggests, pointing to a set of sky blue ones with clouds all over it.

"They have to be pink or purple," the child says rejecting her father's suggestion. A second later she spots the perfect ones, "Those ones," she declares, pointing to a light purple bedspread set with white stars scattered about.

"That is a great choice," Austin agrees as he pulls it from the shelf and sets it in the cart.

"Will these curtains work?" Alan asks as he returns to the aisle with his family.

"Oh my goodness, yes!" The girl exclaims when she sees the curtains with stripes in different shades of pink.

As the curtains are set in the cart the family heads to checkout, stopping in the book aisle to pick up a few bedtime stories to complete their shopping trip.

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When their friend had dropped off the mattress Marissa insisted on having the blankets set up on it so she could sleep in her own room, not at all bothered that the bed frame wouldn't be there for another two days. She even put her things away in the dresser and closet, cleaning up the mess she created that morning.

At the end of their night the couple curls up on the couch exhausted from their long day, having just put Marissa to bed in her room, the mattress just resting on the floor. The parents are tired, but with the next day being Monday they have to figure out what their plan will be about work and Marissa.

"We can bring her to work with us tomorrow and then basically go with the plan we worked out when we first started looking into adopting," the brunette suggests.

"Is that such a good idea Austin? Bringing a five year old to work?"

"It's our shop Al, so it's not like we are going to get fired."

"Fine, but you better not just hide in your office all day, leaving me to watch both her and the store," the ginger says as he yawns and snuggles his face into his husband's shoulder.

"I promise I won't do that, now let's get to bed so we can get some sleep," Austin speaks softly before guiding them both to bed. 

With the alarm set the couple finally snuggles into bed, Alan muttering a sleepy "Goodnight, I love you," before drifting into a much needed sleep.

"I love you too, sleep tight," Austin says to the ginger already fast asleep in his arms before he closes his eyes and falls asleep as well.