Feel the rain on your skin

Morgan Hearst watched the raindrops trail down the window, anticipation filling every bit of his being. He pulled his eyes from the rain to look at the clock, impatience etched in his face. It was fifteen minutes until four, and Madeline was supposed bring Isobel to stay with him for the weekend, and he knew that he was nearly as excited as his little girl would be. Tetsu had gone for the weekend, Jojo having stolen him to go to some concert or another. Instead of an empty place, silent with just himself and Shakespeare, the apartment would be full with the laughter of his younger child.

Ten minutes until four, Maddie's car pulled into the parking lot. Madeline was always early, and for once, Morgan was grateful. He yanked open his door, taking the steps down two at a time. He never got to spend enough time with his children, and envied Jonathan the time he got with them. He reached the parking lot just as the back door of the car opened. A little dark-haired bounded out of the back seat, sprinting towards Morgan. His face split in a large grin, and he caught her in a bear hug as she threw herself at him.
"Daddy!"

Morgan held her close, lifting her off her feet, taking in the smell of her shampoo and the smell of little girl that seemed to cling to Izzy. He was heedless of the rain, as was Isobel. He knew that his daughter loved to play in the rain, and he had the sneaking suspicion that before the night was over, they would be back out in this mess. He looked up from his child, and smiled at Madeline, walking over to her. The woman, still as beautiful as she always had been, held an umbrella in one hand, and a vivid purple suitcase in the other. Morgan approached her, leaning over to kiss her cheek.
"Good afternoon, Maddie."

Her smile was infectious as she held out the suitcase to him.
"You're both drenched." It was said in good humor, and she quickly shut the back car door, to keep her younger daughter from getting chilled. "I packed extra clothes and cold medicine, because I know she'll want to play in it again." Morgan nodded, a smirk on his lips.

"Give Ainsley a kiss for me, and tell Jon that if he has any more kids, he'll need a second job." In a moment of immaturity, Madeline stuck her tongue out at him, before kissing Isobel's head.
"Be good for your Daddy. I'll pick you up on monday morning to take you to school."

Isobel beamed at her mother, waving goodbye, before hugging her father once more.
"I love you sooooo much, Daddy!" Morgan chuckled softly, carrying Izzy and the suitcase up the stairs to his apartment. Once there, he set Izzy on the couch, and took her suitcase to her room. With Chris not with them, he knew that his nine year-old daughter would want to sleep with him. He'd already changed the sheets in anticipation of that (what sort of man let his daughter sleep in a bed with soiled sheets? And his sheets were oh-so very soiled). Returning to her, he ran his blue eyes over the girl who had turned on music and was dancing in his living room.

Izzy pounced towards Shakespeare, who hopped quick as a flash to Morgan's room. Morgan smiled, and picked her up from behind, spinning her around in a circle, before setting her on her feet once more. Isobel grinned, laughing and giggling at the maneuver. Morgan peered over her head at you.
"What do you want to do, Is?"

The girl grinned at him.
"Play in the rain!" Morgan laughed, and nodded, ruffling her hair. Isobel stripped her shoes and socks off, and the two went downstairs to play in the rain. First they spun in circles to catch the drops in their mouths; then they splashed in puddles soaking each other to the bone. Finally they ran in circles until Izzy's lips started turning blue. Then they went inside.

Once both were in dry clothes, they headed to the kitchen to make cookies. Morgan set Isobel on the counter so that she could reach anything and off they were. Before long, Morgan scooped a bit of the dough on his finger and smeared it down Isobel's face. Squealing with delight, Izzy retaliated, and in the end there was more dough on them than on the cookie sheet. After changing clothes yet again (Morgan realized with some amusement that Madeline had packed Izzy about eight outfits), they settled down to watch movies, and eat the few cookies that they'd managed to bake.

The next two hours were spent watching Disney movies, and singing along with the songs. Morgan knew every word by heart. Isobel didn't, but she pretened, opening her mouth and belting out the melody line in a surprisingly sweet and talented alto voice. When they were too tired to continue watching movies anymore, Morgan announced that it was bedtime. Isobel protested, as tradition demanded, and Morgan would growl and 'harrass' her as she went about brushing her teeth. While she changed in the bathroom, Morgan also got ready for bed.

He was laying on his bed, reading a magazine and stroking Shakespeare when Isobel clambored onto the big bed. Morgan tucked her in, turned out the light, and slid under the covers. Izzy nearly immediatly snuggled against her father's back, and it wasn't long before Morgan heard her soft snores. Then he, too, drifted off to sleep.

The next morning, Izzy woke first, bored but unwilling to move from her Daddy's warm side. In the night he'd rolled over, pulling her into his arms as they slept. Izzy looked up, at her father, and smiled. She poked his chest, finally reduced to tickling him into wakefulness. Morgan opened one blue eye, looking down into it's miniature mirror-image.
"I love you, Daddy."

Morgan smiled, kissing her forehead.
"I love you too, Princess." He pulled her close in a bear hug, and closed his eyes once more. The best part was that he still had two full days of this.