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 Girls what s going on? Lisa demanded.
She wasn t sure what she was seeing on their faces but she was shocked when Miki ripped her
arm away from her sister and crawled under the tree. Miki rarely defied Carly. She looked to Grim
questioningly but she can tell he was just as confused as she was.
Miki s little butt backed out from under the tree and in her hands was a package Lisa had never
seen before. Slowly Miki walked to Grim, Carly trailing close behind.
 Daddy died. Her words, spoken with such an innocent heartfelt voice had Lisa s heart stopping.
 He was a good daddy. Sad little eyes looked at Grim.
 He was Miki. Grim said gruffly. He had never met the male, but Mark had to have been a very
good male for these three to still love him so much.
 We don t want another daddy. She went on to say.  Daddy was daddy. You aren t daddy, you
are Grim. Grim s throat tightened with emotion, finding he couldn t speak at the thought of this little
one finding him lacking and nodded jerkily.
 We don t want to call you Grim anymore. Grim s eyes widened with surprise.
 Daddy was daddy. Miki said again.  That s what we called him. We want to call you manno.
Two sets of hopeful eyes looked at Grim waiting for his response.  Can we? She asked tentatively,
her little eyes full of hope.
Grim didn t even try to stop the tears that filled his eyes. These two precious creatures wanted to
call him manno& .
 Yes little ones, his voice broke as he scooped them up into his arms, holding them close.  I
would be honored for you to call me manno.
 Then this is for you manno. Miki told him her little face beaming up at him.  From me and
Carly.
 It is? Setting one on each leg, he wrapped a protective arm around each before he took the
package from Miki.
 We made it for you. She told him proudly.
 We did not Miki! Carly huffed out.  Padma helped, so did Dagan and Gahan.
 Well yeah but& 
 Girls, that s enough, let Grim open it. Lisa said gently stopping the argument before it escalated.
Grim carefully unwrapped the gift, not knowing what to expect. It was obvious they had wrapped
it themselves from the amount of tape used. Looking to Lisa, he could see she too had no idea what it
was.
Lying inside the paper was something that stilled Grim s heart.
 Do you like it manno? Miki asked, lifting it up.  It s our thumb prints. See. She put her thumb
on one.  Padma had us put our thumbs in clay then she took it to Gahan and Dagan and they put them
in glass. See, Carly s is green and mine& 
 Is blue. Grim finished for her and she beamed that he remembered her favorite color.
 Yeah, then Padma wove the necklace and put them on it. She explained.  So we re always with
you no matter where you go. Padma said once our sister was bigger we can add her to it too.
Grim looked from the gift in his hand to his daughters, seeing the necklaces they always wore. Lisa
had told him before that the strangely shaped metal that hung from them was Mark's thumbprint, done
before he died, so he would always be with them. Now they want to give a piece of themselves to
him, something beyond calling him Manno, so they would always be together. A male had never been
so blessed.
"Here, let me help you." Lisa said softly. Standing she took the necklace and stepped behind the
couch. Slipping it over his head, she adjusted the length to where he indicated he wanted it. It hung
perfectly in the opening of his shirt, easily seen by all.
Wrapping his arms around the girls he pulled them close. "Thank you Miki. Thank you Carly."
Grim said kissing each one's forehead. "I will cherish it always."
"You're welcome manno!" They chorused happily, proudly looking at their gift as it lay against his
massive chest, each thumbprint sparkling in the early morning light.
"Sire, first meal is here." Montfort announced standing just outside the open door.
"Yea!" The girls quickly kissed Grim then jumped from his lap eager to tell Montfort about all
their gifts.
Rising Grim nodded to Montfort to enter and turned to find Lisa at his side. Leaning down he gave
her a heartfelt kiss. "Thank you my Lisa," He murmured against her lip. "For your Holiday. For
everything you have blessed me with but mostly for loving me."
"I always will Grim." And after one more kiss they turn and join their girls.
About the Author
Michelle has always loved to read and writing is just a natural extension of this for her. Growing
up she always loved to extend the stories of books she'd read just to see where the characters went.
Happily married and the mother of two, who are nearly out of the house, she's found she has time to
write again. You can reach her at m.k.eidem@live.com or her website at http://www.mkeidem.com
she'd love to hear your comments.
Additional Books
Cassandra's Challenge: The Imperial Series, Book 1
Grim
Victoria's Challenge: The Imperial Series, Book 2 [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]