Summer Beauty hardly ever got any time alone with either of her parents. Her Momma was apparently too busy with her other four siblings to take any time for her, and Dad was always too busy with Tea.
 
How was it possible for a foal to be so needy? Just because she had problems didn’t mean she had to take all of Dad’s attention like that! At this point she was just being greedy!
 
Summer missed the days before her dad got married to another mare and she had him all to herself. But today, she got to relive that time just for awhile. With Tea off at preschool and her own school giving her a day off, Summer and her dad made plans to spend the whole day together. And she was going to relish it.
 
Soarin’ patted a spot on the couch next to him.
 
“The weather isn’t good enough for flying but we’ve got the whole day to do anything else you want! How about you pick out a movie and I’ll get us some popcorn?”
 
“Alright, Daddy!”
 
Summer eagerly took the remote and started flipping through the channels while her dad was in the kitchen popping corn, eventually settling on a cheesy rom-com.
 
“This what we’re watching?”
 
He asked, settling down next to her.
 
“It was the only thing on.”
 
Summer brushed it off nonchalantly. She was embarrassed to say she secretly liked this stuff, but she did. But she was with her Dad so she could do whatever she wanted without shame.
 
He wrapped a wing around her and she cuddled in, not minding that she was nearly in high school and a bit too old for this kind of cuddling. She didn’t get much time like this with him otherwise.
 
And so for about an hour they talked, laughed, and ate popcorn. It was everything Summer had wanted, getting her dad all to herself. But about halfway through the movie, the phone rang.
 
“I gotta get this.”
 
Soarin’ paused the movie and reached for the phone, trying not to disturb Summer as he did so.
 
“Hello? … Oh Gaia, is she okay? What happened? … Can the nurse help her? No? … Oh my—I’ll be right there. Bye.”
 
Summer’s heart sank as she already knew what was happening.
 
“Tea’s having an emergency at school. Asthma attack. Coco has really important stuff going on at work so I gotta deal with this. Sorry Sum.”
 
He slid out from beside her and instantly started heading towards the door.
 
“I think you’re old enough to be home alone for a little bit, right? You can finish the popcorn and movie for me. I’ll be right back with Tea in about an hour, okay?”
 
And there went her day with Dad, right down the drain. Summer shouldn’t have been surprised, this always happened. But she was so sure today would work out. Then Tea had to go and ruin it like always. Coco had so-called “important” stuff at work, but wasn’t her dad spending time with her just as important? Why did he have to go?
 
Of course, she was ignoring the fact that he had no other choice.
 
Before she could protest, her dad was gone, so she went back to moping like she always did.