My Little Scootsy

I finally get back to my house. It only took five minutes, but it felt like an hour. After entering and closing the door, I place Scootaloo on the couch. She starts to shiver violently.

"You okay?", I ask her.

"I'm c-c-c-cold. Can I have a blanket?"

"Sure" I go upstairs and get the softest blanket I could find. I go back downstairs and wrap it around Scootaloo. She sighs in relief at the warmth of the blanket. However, her stomach rumbles loudly and she groans in pain.

"I'm hungry. Can I have something to eat?"

"Umm... what do you want?"

"Hay"

"OK." I go into the backyard and go to my shed. I pull out some spare hay that was left over from the horses we were feeding at my job. I grab a few handfuls and go back into the house and give the hay to Scootaloo.

"Thanks". She starts to ravenously scarf the hay. After getting her a glass of water, I sit next to her and watch her eat. Once she finishes, she gives a loud burp.

"Excuse me"

"It's OK. So, do you like video games?"

"Yeah!" I turn on my Xbox and go to my "Games Library". I select Ms. Pac-Man.

"This is called Ms. Pac-Man. All you have to do is eat all the dots. OK, see that yellow thing?" She nodded. "That's you. You go through the maze and eat all the dots. Avoid, or stay away from the ghosts. If they touch you, you will lose a life. Now if you eat one of the big dots, the ghosts will turn blue and then you can eat them. You get more points for eating the ghosts."

"OK"

"Here". I hand the controller to Scootaloo, who grabs it with her teeth and places it down on the floor. Once the game started, she started to play. I sit back on the couch and watch her play. She does pretty good. She actually makes it to the final level with four lives. However, I see she starts to squirm with her hind legs crossed. She pauses the game.

"What's wrong?"

"I have to go potty, really bad!" She starts tip-hoofing in place, which I guess is her version of the "potty dance". Her bladder must have been really small, since she only had a glass of water.

"Oh, well the bathroom is over there. Do you need any help?"

"No thanks. I can go by myself" She runs to the bathroom, opens the door and closes it. I hear her sigh in relief. I sit back again.

"Maybe taking care of Scootaloo won't be so hard.", I whisper to myself, "She's potty trained, so that helps me a lot." After about 5 minutes, I hear the toilet flush and Scootaloo comes out. "Did you go?" She nods. "Did you wash you hooves?" She nods. "OK. You can finish if you want."

"OK" She unpauses the game and starts her last level. Down to one more life and still a lot of dots left, Scootaloo pauses the game.

"Can you please finish this for me?", she says, using puppy-dog eyes again.

"Sure, Scoots" I pick up the controller and finish the level for her.

"Yay!", she said, hugging me. "Thanks, Mr. Cooley!!"

"No problem, Scoots", I said, returning the hug, "and, just call me Elijah".

"OK, Elijah"

"So, wanna watch some cartoons?"

"Yeah!" I turn the TV to cable mode and turn on one of my favorite cartoons: Spongebob Squarepants. I sit on the couch and Scootaloo sits in my lap as we watch the cartoon. She laughs almost every five minutes. I smile.

"So this is what it feels like to have a child?", I think to myself, "Well, if it is, I love it"

After about three episodes, she yawns loudly and snuggles into my chest.

"I love you, Daddy", she says before falling asleep. I feel stunned. She said she loved me, and she called me "Daddy". I smile and lay down next to her on the couch. Before I fall asleep, I pet her mane and say one more thing.

"I love you too, Scootsy.