"No, get your little butt in bed right now before I tell your father."
Instead of causing the little girl to jump into bed for fear of punishment, her little face brightened and she said, "Is Daddy home?"
Sighing, Julie stepped further inside the room. "No, he isn't home yet. But you need to go to sleep right now, or you're going to be in big trouble."
"But mommy, I want Daddy to give me a kiss goodnight," Alyssa said, the most adorable pout on her purposely sad face.
"I will have Daddy come in and give you a kiss like he does every other night that he works late. Your antics will not work on me, Alyssa Jane."
"My 'antiques' work on Daddy," the little girl muttered, reluctantly making her way back over to her bed.
"That's because your dad's a big old softie. I, on the other hand, am not. Get in bed," Julie said, sticking her hand on her hip and raising one eyebrow in a very authoritative manner.
The little girl obediently climbed into bed, but she made sure to be very noisy about it as she sighed and complained about not getting to see her father before she went to sleep.
Julie walked over to the bed and leaned down, kissing Alyssa on the forehead. "Good night."
"Mommy," the little girl said imploringly, just as Julie straightened to walk away.
"Yes?" Julie said.
"Will you tell me our story first?" Alyssa requested, offering an innocent little smile, her front tooth endearingly absent.
Sighing, Julie knew she was going to give in, but she still managed to say, "You should be sleeping right now, young lady."
"Just real quick?" Alyssa begged.
Julie shook her head as she took a seat on the edge of Alyssa's bed, smiling reluctantly at her impish daughter. "It's a good thing you're adorable."
"And smart," Alyssa added. "Daddy says my brain is important."
"Of course it is, but Daddy also wants to brainwash you before you're of age to date."
"I'm never gonna date unless I meet a boy like Daddy," Alyssa stated firmly.
"At six and a half you've decided?" Julie asked, amused.
"Yep," Alyssa said, nodding. "I wanna marry someone just like him."
"Well, I sincerely hope you do," Julie stated. "But I hope he has less money, because then maybe he won't have to work so late all the time."
Frowning, Alyssa nodded in agreement. "Yeah. I don't think my husband should work, that way he can be home with us all the time."
Nodding, Julie said, "We'll have to find you a trust-fund baby."
Tilting her head to the side, Alyssa appeared to be confused, but she didn't say anything more about it.
"Okay, enough stalling," Julie stated. "I'm going to tell you a story and then you're going to go straight to sleep—no more arguments."
Nodding eagerly, Alyssa said, "Okay!"
"Long ago in a kingdom far, far away, there lived a young maiden—”
"A princess," Alyssa cut in.
"No, she isn't a princess yet," Julie corrected. "She's a young maiden."
"A fair maiden," Alyssa countered.