Chapter Text
“Pssstttt…. Daddy…” A soft voice hissed in the darkness and one of the two figures bundled in bed, shifted and mumbled in their sleep. The tiny, golden-headed girl frowned in the darkness and gave a frustrated huff as she shuffled her stocking covered feet across the floor to the side of the bed where she knew her father was sleeping. Hugging the tattered teddy bear that she held in the crook of one arm, she stood, tip-toed, at the edge of the bed.
“Daddy.” She whispered a little louder this time.
One of the bundled figures on the bed gave the other a sharp poke and a muffled feminine voice said. “It’s your turn.”
All she received was a low grumble in reply and the father rolled over, unfortunately facing where his daughter was waiting with a sharp frown. The little girl leaned in close to his face and gave him her fiercest stare. Her thumb wavered over her lips for a mere moment, before the sticky fingers moved on to a new goal.
“Daddy… Daddy… Daddy!” Small fingers pried one of his sharp blue eyes open. “Are you awake?”
“I am now.” He replied, rather drolly, and yawned at the tiny child before him. “Why are you awake?”
“I can’t sleep… Sing me a song, please.” She gave him her sweetest smile.
“A song?” He groaned and moved to pull the covers over his head. “It’s in the middle of the night, sweetheart, and daddy had a really long day-“
“Please!” She begged.
His awakened wife peeked over his shoulder with a sleepy smile and kissed his shoulder blade. “One song won’t kill you.”
“Yeah!” The girl nodded, enthusiastically.
“I suppose not…” He sighed and the little girl squealed with joy, climbing over her father to snuggle under the blankets between the pair. He wrapped one arm around her and mumbled, sleepily. ”What song do you want to hear, love?”
“One that tells a story…” The little girl giggled, happily, and wiggled her toes as her mother pressed a kiss against her head. “The one that sings the Lost Years fairytale! Sing me that one!”
The father groaned. “That’ll take all bloo-“
“Honey...” His wife gave him a gentle smile. “Just sing it for her. We’ll never hear the end of it if you don’t.”
He gave her a foul look and she shrugged.
“Besides, she’ll probably fall asleep before the end, anyways.” The wife smiled again and snuggled down next to her daughter to hear the tale. “Do you need me to fetch the pitch whistle?”
He grumbled something about ungrateful harpies and sighed. “All right then… Here we go…”
He took a deep breath and began to sing a fairytale…