Milo and Minimart

“You cannot do that!”

“Yes you can.”

“No, you cannot. It is against the rules, daddy.”

“We’re making up the game. We make the rules.”

The standoff was a daily occurrence between the two of them. Most mornings, I awoke to find Milo and one of the twins, sitting in the living room and glaring at each other. This morning, was no different. Our daughter, who we affectionately called Min, sat with her arms crossed, hair wild around her shoulders, glaring at her father with the utmost contempt. They had a set of blocks between them, the likes of which were stacked ten high. Milo looked like he was currently trying to build with blocks and some of the cardboard boxes that I had set out last night. The very ones Milo kept claiming he would take care of. Now they were a part of whatever game the two of them had gotten up to this morning, and Min was not having it.

“Those are supposed to be recycled,” she told him.

“We’ll recycle them later,” he dismissed.

“No, you are supposed to recycle them now.” She was staring at him with all the force of a young child that didn’t know that her strength equated to barely anything compared to her parents. “That was the first thing you were said to do when you got up ‘cause you didn’t want to do it last night.”

Milo was staring at her, obviously hearing my voice come out of her mouth. “And I’ll do it. But we’re playing blocks right now.”

“We can play blocks after your chores, daddy.”

I tried to hide my laughter, but even with my hand over my mouth, I let out a snort of laughter. Min had his number. We all knew that if Milo had an excuse not to clean up, he was going to take it.

“Fine, you come with me to take out the boxes,” he told her.

She shook her head. “Nope. Not my job.” and there was that stubborn part of Milo shining through.

Milo flopped back on the rug, like she had mortally wounded him. She laughed, climbing up on top of his chest and stretching across him. I marveled at how similar the two of them looked. The same unruly hair, the same smattering of freckles, and the same wide smile that charmed an entire room. We all agreed that Min was never allowed to grow up because she was bound to be a terror on the world. Especially with her own Market powers that were developing.

Milo wrapped his arms around her, cuddling her close. “I don’t suppose if I gave you ice cream for breakfast, you would just make those boxes disappear, would ya?”

She looked at him with wide eyes. “Do you think I could?”

“Make them disappear? Hell yes, I think you could. Baby girl, you got one of the most powerful entities in this world as your other parent. They are the kind of scary awesome that can do amazing things. You got that blood running through you.”

“And the blood of the fae.”

He shook his head. “I don’t think you inherited my fae blood,” he laughed. “Your rejection of chaos is in fact anti fae. But you do have Night Market in you. You have one of the most special powers in all this realm.”

A pout came across Min’s face as she laid her head on his chest. “It doesn’t feel very special.”

I straightened, ready to intervene. Min had been having problems with other children within the market. Most not wanting to play with her once they found out who she really was. Either they were scared of her, or, they didn’t want to anger her due to rumors of what she could do. Possibly even, to them. It had left her with a lonelier existence that most parents ached to see their child go through.

“Min,” Milo said, causing me to pause. When his voice got soft like that, it was hard not to listen. “Do you know what I was doin’ at your age? I was tryin’ to survive. I was on my own. No ma. No da. I didn’t even have Grandfather Feebus yet. I was wandering the market, sleeping in boxes, and trying my hardest to fit in with the kids that I saw.”

“That’s how you met Aunty Hazel.”

“It was. And that was the best day of my life. It really was. But, what I am trying to tell you, is that I was alone a lot as a kid. I was the weird wanderer with no home. I probably looked like some sort of dirt monster. I most likely smelled. It was not great.”

“What is the point of this daddy?” she sighed.

“The point, my little impatient one, is that there are a lot of reasons why kids will act the way they do. It has nothing to do with your powers, hon. And everything to do with their own preconceived notions. Their own insecurities. Their own attempts to fit in. You’ll find children to play with one day, though. You’ll find your Hazel. But, in the mean time, do not diminish who you are. Not for anyone. Embrace your powers. Embrace yourself. Because at the end of the day, when you meet that perfect friend, you don’t want to lie to them about who you are or what you can do. You want them to like you because of you. Don’t ever douse your own light, little one. Not for anyone.”

I felt tears well in my eyes as I looked at the two of them. Father and daughter, lying on the rug with the soft glow of the world around them. She was so small on his chest. Lying there and cuddling up close. I remembered the day we had brought her home. The way Milo’s entire hand could splay across her body. He had been holding her close since the day she was born and I dreaded the day she no longer would need him to. Leaning against the wall, I soaked it all in. Content to watch the two of them together in the soft hours of the morning.

“I love you, daddy,” Min said quietly.

“Love you, too, baby. Forever and ever.”

“You’d sacrifice all the cereal in the world for me, right?”

“Everything but the really good chocolate puffs that are hidden on the top shelf. Not that you heard it from me.”

She giggled a little, sitting up and wiping suspiciously at her eyes. Milo smiled, reaching out to brush the hair from her face. “Feel better?”

“Yes,” she said with a nod.

“Think you could make those boxes disappear for me now?”

“Absolutely not.” She hopped up then, no doubt going for the chocolate cereal that was supposed to be for treats only. Milo watched her bound off, smiling a little as she did so. Then, standing, he gathered the boxes to place them outside.

Min was good for him. She was maybe the only one who was ever going to get Milo to do chores. And in return, he was going to teach her that breaking the rules and having the occasional sugary cereal in the morning, was well worth it.