Grown up

My daughter tugged on my shirt hem as I was washing the dishes the other day. I peered down and saw her big brown eyes looking up at me. She seemed so interested. 

"Daddy?", she asks. 
"What it is, sweets?" 

She jestered for me to bend down so that she could whisper something into my ear. And I did. She placed her tiny hand on my left cheek and cooed her words into my left ear. I heard a deep breath of concentration.

Then she said softly, "Um, Daddy?"
"Yeah, honey."
"Um, I love you!"

I knelt down beside her and smiled greatly. she's taken to saying that to me a lot now. Not because I tell her often that I love her. It's not because she has too, either. It's because she wants too. And as each day passes, she gets just a bit older. She's growing up, but she'll forever be that little girl that asked be to bend over so she could whisper I love you in my ear.