Tyler normally spent the evenings with Emily, working with the band during the day, but the past few weeks had been a bit trying. Having fired yet another nanny (much to the chagrin and teasing of his band mates), Tyler had been dragging Emily along to rehearsals and meetings. Needless to say, he wasn't getting as much work done as he would have liked. There was only so long she could be kept interested by buttons and shinny things ... which wasn't all that long. Oh, for the easier days where a rattle could keep her occupied for hours. It was push and pull, he supposed. Even though she was a curious little buggar, at least she slept through the night now. Small miracles.
So after another long rehearsal in which he did his best to work through some songs while answering Emily's questions of "why? what? and when?" he'd taken her to the one place that could keep her quiet for more than ten minutes. Fortescue's. He could get her some chocolate ice cream with rainbow sprinkles and for twenty glorious minutes, she'd be happily occupied with her treat, leaving him the same amount of time to reign together what remained of his sanity.
As he stood to order, he let Emily go and pick a table. She enjoyed being able to choose and Tyler wasn't worried about her leaving his side. She knew well enough that she was not to leave the store. He had not, however, been expecting her to choose a table already occupied. He winced slightly as he watched her crawling into a seat across from a woman. "Bloody hell," he sighed. For the moment, however, there was little to be done about it as the woman behind the counter was asking him if she could help him.
Ignorant of her father's exasperation, Emily beamed at the lady sitting across from her. "I'm with my daddy," she answered, her small feet kicking lazily as they hung from the chair. "He's getting me chocolate ice cream with rainbow sprinkles? Did you fall down? I cry when I fall down too. Daddy always kisses it better, though. Maybe your daddy can kiss your boo boo better too."