Suddenly, his daughter was grown, and pretty

ON FRIDAY when I came home from work, I was so stressed I went to the movies by myself to see "2 Guns." The film contains lots of violence, a little adult language and a couple of risqué scenes. It's a man's movie. I needed that.

Of course, my desire to see a shoot-em-up was about more than the stress of the moment. It was about keeping a promise to myself. You see, watching grown-up movies was one of the summer activities I pledged to engage in once the school year ended. When I finally did, it felt almost as good as sitting on my couch and scratching.

Now that I no longer have to get up at 6 in the morning to chauffeur my daughter, Eve, I can go on dates without the fiendish red eyes that frighten LaVeta when I'm staring across the table. I can stay up late without fear of going to work as Zombie Dad. I can scratch through an entire televised sporting event, and have a full night to rest my nails for future games.

But while I've been engaging in all these relaxing activities, I've missed a lot. I missed the Edward Snowden affair while binge-watching old "Frasier" episodes on Netflix. I ignored the coup that removed Egyptian President Mohammad Morsi because, well, Morsi's not on Friday Night Boxing. I've stopped paying attention to the news of the day because it's kinda hard to scratch while watching CNN.

More than anything else I've missed in recent months, I totally didn't notice that Eve - the little girl whose summer vacation set me free - is growing up before my very eyes.

I knew she was getting tall. I could see that her face was narrowing. I sensed that her tastes were changing. But I didn't know until I came home from the movies on Friday that she was entering a new phase in her development.

"Guess what, LaVeta?" I said when I came home with popcorn on my breath. "I saw '2-' . . ." I stopped in my tracks when I spied Eve through the open bathroom door and saw Eve in the mirror applying eye shadow.

LaVeta had finally given Eve permission to try on makeup, but seeing her apply it scared the devil out of me. I mean, the devil literally jumped out and started running. Not only was he running, he was laughing, too, because he can still recall the sinister designs I had on girls when I was a kid.

"You remember the girl you met when you were both working at the mayor's summer youth program?" he said between bouts of maniacal laughter. "What were you, about 14? She was wearing makeup, too, wasn't she?"

Yep, she was wearing makeup. And she was cute. Just like my daughter.

"Oh no!" I said as I watched my baby go for the lipstick.

"What did you say, Dad?"

"Nothing honey. I was, um . . . sneezing."

Pictures began forming in my mind. I could see all the little girls whose hearts I broke. Then the pictures changed, and I saw little Eve in my arms, snuggling against my shoulder as I held her while sitting in a rocking chair.

"Do you want to see how it looks?" Eve asked, tentatively coming out of the bathroom.

"Sure," LaVeta said.

"Yes," I mumbled, while I tried to shake the memories from my mind.

"What do you think?" Eve asked as she walked into the light.

I could see that the foundation had smoothed out her childlike features. I noticed the slight sparkle of the eye shadow. I saw her cheeks glowing ever so slightly. I saw LaVeta; the same beautiful young woman I married 13 years ago. Only now, she was staring out at me from my daughter's eyes.

"I messed up the lipstick a little bit," Eve said, covering her mouth like the shy little girl she is.

"Let me see," I said, smiling reassuringly.

Slowly, she took her hands away from her mouth, and there she was, this statuesque young lady, smiling nervously, and waiting for someone to tell her what she needed to hear.

For the first time since I'd walked into that room, I knew what to do.

"You look very pretty," I said.

Then my baby smiled. I'll never forget that moment, and, hopefully, when little boys approach her with the same silly intentions I had at that age, my daughter won't forget that moment, either.

She'll already know she's pretty, because her daddy told her so.