"Daddy?"
"Yes, princess?"
"Will you pull another frog out of my ear?"
He laughed gently. "Sorry dear. Not right now. Maybe later."
Seeing the look on his daughter's face, he lifted her into his lap. "Now, Alexandra, don't pout. It makes you look just like your mother."
He heard his wife, April, say from the kitchen in indignation, "I don't pout, Taylor."
Taylor laughed when he looked downward and saw Alexandra nodding her head vigorously. He hugged her and asked, "Do you want to come out and help me mow the lawn?"
"Yeah, Daddy!"
"April, we're going out to mow the lawn."
"Okay, dear. Try to be back in by 5:30. I need you to carve the chicken."
"I'll try."
Taylor stood up, taking Alexandra and throwing her over his shoulder. He laughed along with her for the entire trip out to get the lawnmower from the shed it was housed in. Once there, he set her down and let her roam free for a moment while he checked to see if the mower had enough gas. "Okay, sweetie. We're ready."
"Yay!"
His daughter bounded over and settled into his lap after he took a seat on the riding mower. He carefully turned on the mower and backed out of the little storage building that the family kept their lawn and gardening tools in. He began cutting the grass when he got close to the house and began going around, gradually headed toward mowing the outer parts of the lawn, his 5 year-old daughter in his lap all the while "helping" by trying to find a comfortable position to take a nap.
At around 5:20, Taylor pulled back into the storage building and turned off the mower, trying now to wake his now sleeping daughter. He was unsuccessful in his attempts.
When his daughter stalked out of the utility building, apparantly unhappy about actually fallign asleep during quality time with "Daddy".
Taylor walked quickly over to the small pond on their property and searched for a very small frog. He quickly palmed one that measured two inches long at most and rushed back to the house.
Instead of heading straight in, he called for Alexandra to come back outside. When she arrived, he motioned for her to come closer. "I thought I saw something in your ear when we were mowing. Let me see."
Squatting down, he held the hand with the frog in it near Alexandra's ear. Then, he pulled his hand away and revealed the frog to his daughter. The happiness in her eyes made him even happier to be a father than he had the day she was born.
Taylor smiled and stood to go inside to carve the chicken, but was stopped by his daughter saying, "Daddy?"
He squatted down again. "Yes?"
Alexandra threw her small arms around her father's neck and hugged him close. Taylor held her tight, knowing that these would be come of his favorite memories.
"I love you, Daddy."
"I love you, Alexandra."
"And, Daddy, next time, could you pull the frog out of my other ear?"
He kissed her forehead. "You know it. Now, let's go inside. Mommy made chicken."
They walked inside, never realizing that they had just made a memory of each other that would outlast the both of them.
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