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'I found a frog!'

'Wh-what?' Ted removes his headphones. His desk sits behind the French doors, and Rebecca was feeling small but wanted some alone time in the garden, so they compromised. Ted had cracked on with some work for the past hour or so and Rebecca had played with her Barbies outside in the sun. Or so he thought, until he was faced with a frog two inches away from his nose.

'Ahhhh!' Ted let out a slightly delayed squeal, startling Rebecca. Thankfully though, she withdrew the frog.

'She was sat in the pool.'

He was glad she meant the doll version, not their actual pool, which was tucked around the side of their house.

'I was brushing Ariel's hair and I heard a  'plop' noise and I thought Polly slipped in because her legs are all wobbly but when I looked I found Frog!' She thrusts the slimy creature back into Ted's eye-line.

'Oh-okay honey.' He backs away.

'Do you want to hold her? You need to wet your hands first.' Rebecca starts skipping to the kitchen.

'Bec!' He stumbles out of his chair, briefly tangled, forgetting he's attached via his headphones. He catches up quickly though. 'We can't keep the frog in the house. She has to go back in the yard.'

Her face falls. 'But she's a good frog.' The frog ribbits on cue. This damn frog. 'She wants to stay inside. Please Teddy.' Rebecca gives him puppy eyes.

'No, I'm sorry. She's a wild animal, baby. She lives outside.' Rebecca starts to sniffle. Ted strokes her back. 'Oh honey, I know you'd take good care o' her, but she might have frog babies of her own she gotta look after.'

Rebecca leans into his touch. 'Tadpoles.' She mumbles. 'Can she stay for a little bit?'

Ted knows if the frog escapes and starts jumping all over the house he'll have to call Beard or Roy to come over and get rid of it. And he really doesn't fancy having to clean up all the frog-mess. On the other hand, he can't bear Rebecca's sadness. Especially when she's little. And because he's inadvertently caused it.

'What about if we take her back to the pool? You can show me how much she enjoyed it? Maybe she liked being with all her gal pals, Ariel and Polly and Belle?' Ted suggests, hopeful Rebecca will take him up on it. Luckily, after a moment, her face brightens up.

'Okay. Don't you want to hold her first though? You need to wet your hands. It's very important so you don't hurt her.'

'No.' Ted doesn't mean to interrupt her, but there's nothing he wants less than a squishy, slightly muddy amphibian in his palms. 'You're the frog expert. I trust you.'

'Do you want to pet her?'

He's not getting out of this one. 'Okay. Hold on to her and I'll meet you in the garden.'

Ted chuckles to himself as he washes his hands, listening to Rebecca chat to the frog on her way outside.

When he emerges, the frog is still in her arms, but she's sat cross-legged next to the pool, all her dolls spread out around. She's picking up one by one, introducing them to the frog. He stands and watches her for a minute, just appreciating her small nature. She's come so far and he's incredibly thankful she trusts him to express herself like this, to let him into her little world.

'Teddy!' She calls out. 'Frog!' It ribbits again.

'Comin!' He sits down beside her.

'Now.' She starts strictly instructing him how to pet it like Franny from Meet the Robinsons - by no coincidence one of her favourite films. When she's finished, Ted tentatively strokes the frog's back with two fingers.

Rebecca giggles, the frog ribbitting in her lap. As Ted recoils, she carefully plops the frog back in her Barbie pool. She picks up Belle and hands Ted Ariel. He makes a mental note to play 'Barbie Hairdressers' with her later to clean them up. He realised he'll probably have to do it alone though. It's been a long day, and by the time he gets her out the bath she'll be shattered. So he'll wash up later. Not that he minds at all. No, he rather enjoys the smell of the designated doll shampoo. Very pink, floral. Thankfully not green or mud-like.

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"Uhhhh- honey?"

Rebecca turns round absentmindedly. "Mmh?"

"What's with the planter?" He gestures to the massive terracotta pot under her arm. "You wanna do some gardening?"

"I don't know." She pops it on the kitchen side, collecting her bunny off the sofa on her way out. She's toddling around for a bit while Ted strategies for the next game. He's more than happy to stay home and care for her during the day while she's little, but he can't ignore work for too long, and Rebecca was keen to do her own thing. A trail of objects follow her around, none of them really making sense apart from the odd Barbie. They'd played work day that morning; she'd packed her handbag with toys and glitter pens, pulled a blazer on over her Minnie Mouse t-shirt and instructed Ted to help her organise her folders. Slowly it turned into colouring in, but Ted wasn't always good at staying inside the lines. She wouldn't usually get so worked up about it, but she hadn't slept well the night before. Quickly, Ted picked up on her mood and changed tactics. He let her help with some of his work, and organise his Lego version of the team. She set them into lines of tallest to smallest (it was a very realistic model), most goals scored, most time on the pitch.

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When he gets home, Rebecca's already curled up in bed asleep. She's practically buried underneath the duvet covers. He gets closer and sees she's wearing his Kansas City grey jumper, gripping Flopsie in one hand and her favourite blanket in the other. He's already prepared her a bottle of warm milk with cinnamon and nutmeg incase she is awake, but he doesn't have much faith. He turns the big light off, happy in presuming she's asleep, but he hears a slight sound of protest.

"Princess?" He whispers. She replies something, but he can't make it out. He decides it's probably a sleepy grumble over anything else, and puts his pyjamas on, about to climb beside her when she repeats her mumble.

"What do you need, baby? Bottle? Snuggle? Extra blanket?" He gently lifts the duvet away from her face.

"Paci, Teddy. Lost." She sniffles. "Gone. Bad girl." She starts to cry, and Ted quickly slides into bed and gathers her in his arms, letting her lollop in her sad sleepy state on his chest.

"You could never be bad, darling, it's okay." He hushes her, rubbing her back soothingly. There's at least five in their nightstand, but it's not the time to point that out.

"But I lost sparkly one. That you ma-made for me." Last month, he'd stuck little letter beads to spell out 'becca' on the handle, tiny gems scattered all over, and a plastic picture of Aurora in the middle, her current favourite Disney princess. It wasn't the neatest in the world, but Rebecca loved it. "All gone." She cried harder.

"Hey, hey, hey, Becca. It's okay. Tomorrow we can find it or we can make another one. I'm not upset, my sweet pea."

"Promise?" She clings tight to his top.

"I promise." Ted could bet it was clipped onto her top in the washing pile, safe and sound. "It's okay. You can relax." He grabs her second favourite pacifier out of his drawer and sets it on the bedside table before enveloping her in his arms once more. "I'm not going anywhere."

He waits a few moments for her to settle, they're still a bit too upright for either of them to sleep comfortably. He strokes her hair, waiting for her big green eyes to flutter open.

"Would you like your bottle?"

"You no go." She squeezes him.

"It's okay, I've already got it. Milk and nutmeg?"

Her ears prick up at his mention of warm milk, lifting herself off his chest slightly so he can grab her bottle from the side.

"There we go." He lets her position herself correctly, and tips the bottle so the top's in the right place for her. She latches on, the first sip visibly calming her. The more she drinks, the more her shoulders drop, her jaw unclenches. Her hands remain firmly on his chest, but instead of gripping, she pulls gently at his top like a cat making biscuits. Finishing off, Ted has her pacifier in hand ready to make a smooth transition. They'll gradually shuffle down the bed together afterwards, Ted taking his time to make sure she's satisfied and comfortable. And then they'll fall asleep.

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"Bottle or sippy, snuggle bugs?" Ted's got a feeling he knows already, but he asks anyway. She simply nods in return, rubbing her eyes sleepily. He's sat her up on the kitchen counter so he could keep an eye while he cooks, but as he screws the lid on her bottle and passes it, she makes grabby hands for his sleep shirt too. He realises she's small, very small.

"Oh, you are a cuddle bug today baby. Let's settle down, huh? Pancakes can wait a moment." Ted scoops her back into his arms, carefully picking up her milk too. He gently settles on the sofa, Rebecca still draped over him, but most of her weight's on the giant ikea bear they bought a few days ago. She rests her head against Ted's chest, pulling at Ted's shirt until he starts to feed her. She drinks slowly, her eyes gradually fluttering shut.

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That morning, Rebecca had woken up feeling anxious. She'd had a nightmare, but couldn't quite put her finger on what it was about.

Ted decided a slow morning was best, it was the weekend so neither had any work to do, and Sunday was always dedicated to biscuit making. Or rather, Ted baked and Rebecca sat on the counter eating the mixture. As they cooled down, the pair curled up and watched the Wizard of Oz. Rebecca burrowed her head into Ted's chest and his fingers almost instantly came to stroke her hair.

'You okay babygirl?'

'Need Flop.'

She had a slight habit of asking for her bunny when she was little and couldn't figure out what she needed.

'Flopsie, Teddy.' Rebecca tapped his hand. 'Bunny.'

'I think we left her in the kitchen, sweets.'

Ted didn't even get the chance to move from the sofa before she tells him again.

'Bunny.'

He stands up and holds his hand out. 'Let's find her.'

She whimpers at the loss of contact, reaching both hands out for him. He knows what she's after. Ever since she found out he's strong enough to carry her, she's been clinging to him like a koala. It's not a long walk to their kitchen by any means, but Ted loves to take care of her, so relishes in it when she's somewhat extra cuddly.

He settles her back down on the countertop, rabbit tucked firmly in her arms.

'Want some toast with me?' Ted takes the peanut butter from the shelf.  She shakes her head, face still squished against Flopsie. He scoops out a spoonful. Shortly after he moved in, he realised scooping it out with his finger makes Rebecca squirm. She told him over and over it was okay, but he didn't mind.

'What about a milkshake? I can whip us up two perfect peanuts?'

Rebecca shakes her head, smoothing her bunny's ear across her cheek.

'Just a taste?'

She's tugging at her summer dress uncomfortably.

'Hey, I know what to do.' Ted picks Rebecca up from the counter. 'How's about I wash your hair? It's been a while since you've been to the Lasso salon, huh?'

She mumbles approvingly into his shoulder. 'Bath?'

'Would you like one?'

She shakes her head.

'Shower?'

She mumbles approvingly. She'd only washed it the previous night but Ted always did it so lovingly. She'd even buy fancier shampoo for him.