I was completely unprepared, completely flustered, lost and disorganized. But here I was, assembling a bed that Eleanor should've been sleeping in tonight, and putting strawberry themed everything into this spare room.

I accidentally stabbed myself with a screwdriver a few times, I messed up and tripped, banging my head against the bedside table. It was a difficult experience to say the least. Once the bed was assembled, I had to drag the mattress into the room and it was very difficult. I finally had the bed ready for my little girl to sleep in. I grabbed the bedsheets and blankets, as well as the new pillowcases and started trying to make the bed for her.

Lily was always drawing strawberries and eating the ones I brought to school for the kids. She really liked strawberries. I had to set up a child's room in record time. I moved the large bed that was already there into the other spare room, leaving it full of clutter. I tripped over several things while trying to get out of the room, and I bruised my leg in several places.

I was very clumsy because I was in a hurry to get it done, wanting my little princess to have her room ready before she finished her bath. I was going to baby Lily so much now that she was under my care. I knew Ava wanted to spoil her with attention as well right now. I just hoped everything was going alright in the bathroom.

Lily had been a lot more talkative today, but it was just her was of exploring her situation out of fear that something would go wrong. She wasn't used to this place yet and she was trying to get as much information as she could so that she could adapt.

Lily was doing a lot better with Ava than I expected her to. I expected her to test both Ava and I, to try and see what exactly life with us would be like. But she was still in the frightened phase of her stay with us.

I had to admit though, she was acting a little odd. She was asking lots of questions and looking around a lot, she was also a lot more helpless than I was used to. Like she was completely disoriented. But I knew she'd go back to her quiet, capable self. Soon enough, she'd get used to life here and she'd feel better and be herself.

Once I was done putting all her clothes in the closet, I started to hear splashing from the bathroom and then Ava squeaking in panic.

"Oh, baby, don't get him wet. I don't think he wants a bath." Ava said softly, but I could hear how panicked she was.

"He got dust on him." Lily said, which was so strange. Lily would never dunk anything into water, there were very minimal situations in which she would get something wet. She usually didn't like water unless she was having a water fight.

I chuckled when I heard Ava's nervous laugh.

"Are we done?" Lily asked her, not even attempting to take charge of the situation, which usually she would've done.

"No... let's wash your pretty hair." Ava said, still sounding pretty nervous to me.

I heard more splashing and then a sigh from Ava.

"Ok, just... turn around and let me help you, baby." Ava said softly.

"I can do it." Lily said, the independent side of her coming out all of a sudden.

"Ok." Ava said hesitantly.

I heard some splashing around and some long silent pauses.

"No, it's hurting." I heard Lily say in a panicked tone, and I could hear the frustration as well.

"Did you get it in your eyes? Oh, no. Be careful, let's not get those bandages wet." Ava said.

"Why?" Lily asked as more splashing occurred.

"Because then we'll have to change them and that'll be hard." Ava told her, in a matter of fact tone.

"You're a doctor?" Lily asked, and I knew she was only asking because she wanted to test her new environment.

"Yes... Come scoot over a little." Ava said.

"How come Mr. Morelli likes you?" Lily asked, making me feel for Ava. This wasn't going to be easy for my beautiful fiancé.

"I think you'll have to ask him that. But you don't have to call him Mr. Morelli anymore." Ava laughed.

"I like this." Lily said and I wasn't sure what she was referring to, but expressing her opinions was strange.

"It smells nice, huh?" Ava asked.

I loved hearing their little conversations. It made my heart swell with joy and pride. I had two beautiful girls now. My beautiful fiancé and a little girl that I might very soon be calling my daughter.

"Uhm... I want Cornelius now." Lily said.

"Alright, let's just finish up, Sweetie... I'm going to turn around and you can take the underwear off and wash off all the bubbles from the bath and rise everything off and then you can get out of the tub and put the robe on." Ava explained, wanting to give Lily her privacy.

"Ok, but hold Cornelius." Lily insisted, taking charge.

"Ok." Ava chuckled.

I heard lots of splashing and I could just see Ava cringing. That bathroom would need lots of wiping down after Lily's bath. After a little while of splashing, I heard the silence.

"Are you done?" I heard Ava ask.

"Yeah... I want Cornelius now." Lily insisted.

I heard Ava chuckle and then I heard the door open.

"Let's go to your room, Sweetie." Ava said.

"I-I'm slipping." Lily squeaked and I heard her stumble.

"Woah, let's not slip. Come here." Ava said.

That's when both my girls walked through the door. Ava looked very tired and Lily looked a little off to me.

"You wanna go use the washroom, change, take a second?" I asked Ava, taking Lily's little hand.

Ava nodded her head.

"Hey, come here, Lily." I said, taking her from Ava's arms and letting her curl into me. "Let's get to know your new room, ok?"

Ava left the room, going off to take a moment to process.

"No, no, I-I-I... I want to... I..." Lily said, her breathing becoming a little too quick for comfort.

She was scared. I was sure that things were moving too fast for her, so I decided to slow them down.

"Ok, we'll just sit, just you and me, Lily. We can read a book if you want." I said to her knowing that she was finally beginning to get overwhelmed. I wanted to create a familiar environment for her.

"Yes." She nodded and I smiled, picking up one of the books I'd just brought in minutes ago.

"You like this book?" I asked her, rubbing her back.

"Yeah, but... it's cold." She whispered.

"Oh... we need to get you some clothes, Sweetheart." I remembered, getting up and carrying her to the dresser where I left her onesie.

I helped her into it, trying my hardest not to cross any boundary that would make her uncomfortable.

"I'm scared." She told me once she was all dressed and warmed up.

"Why?" I asked her.

"I just want hugs." She said, shivering and turning in my lap for a hug.

I held my little girl tightly, rubbing her back gently.

"You know, Lily. Nothing ever has to be scary ever again, because now you're home, your real home, where you belong. I'm gonna keep you safe, Lily, always." I said to her.

"So you're like my dad now?" She asked me.

"I'm whoever you want me to be, Lily. If you want me to be your dad, I can be your dad." I said to her.

Lily nodded. I didn't know if the nod was a confirmation that that was what she wanted or if she was just nodding about me being whoever she wanted me to be.

"I don't wanna be mean, but I don't think I like the doctor lady." Lily said.

"Why not, Sweetheart?" I asked her.

"I don't think she's gonna be nice to me." Lily said.

"She already loves you, Lily." I said softly.

"No." Lily shook her head.

"She does. She's trying hard to make sure you're happy. She's the one who thought of getting Cornelius for you." I said.

"Are you sure?" Lily asked me.

"Yes, Lily. She's so smart and she's sweet, she likes to take care of us, and she likes doing fun things. If you give her a chance, you'll probably grow to love her, baby." I said, kissing Lily on the forehead.

"Ok, but slowly..." Lily said, making me nod. "Do you think we can have snacks while we read?"

"Of course. Are you hungry?" I asked her.

"Yeah." Lily nodded. "Just a little bit."

"Ok, let's go get you some food." I said softly.

I carried Lily down to the kitchen and I pulled out some cheese bites that I'd made with Sophie the other day.

"Look... have you ever had a cheese bite?" I asked my sweet little girl with a smile.

"No..." Lily said, taking a cheese bite from my hand and examining it.

"Let's warm some up so you can try them." I said to her.

"Yeah." Lily smiled, seeming to like the idea of eating that little ball of bread with cheese stuffed inside of it.

Lily and I snacked on some cheese bites and then Ava came down the stairs. She placed Lily's shoes by the door and put her backpack on the hanger by the door.

"Hm... I smell a strawberry." Ava chuckled.

Lily giggled and then pulled me down.

"It's me." She whispered to me.

I chuckled. Lily loved Ava, she was just afraid to fully admit it because she didn't know how trustworthy Ava was just yet.

Ava walked over and she sat down beside me. She didn't make a move to touch me or cuddle, but I could tell she just wanted a hug. I wrapped an arm around her and Lily just looked at us like we were the strangest two creatures on the planet.

"Who made these?" Lily asked, examining a cheese bite.

"Me and my sister Sophie." I said.

"Sophie?" Lily asked.

"Yeah. My sister." I said.

"Her name is nice." Lily said.

"You like it?" I asked.

"Mhm. I want to have cheese bites all the time." Lily said.

"Take some more, baby." Ava said, making Lily freeze and stare at her.

Lily was just trying to understand where she stood with Ava.

"Lily." I whispered gently, trying to break her stare.

Lily finally looked away from Ava and she ate a few more cheese bites. I don't know how Ava felt about the staring, but I knew she felt a little worried. She just wanted things between her and Lily to be normal.

Then it was time for bed. I took Lily to go brush her teeth and I did some skincare while she did that. Ava was somewhere else, most likely in our room. I felt bad because normally, I'd be with Ava right now, cuddling and giving her some attention. I knew that this day had been a little hectic for my girl, and usually, we'd sit down and talk about it. But right now, Lily needed attention and I was struggling to give Ava the attention she needed.

I took Lily to bed, only to find Ava fluffing her pillows and tidying the mess I left in the room.

"I found a book you might like." Ava said softly, walking over with a little bedtime story for Lily.

I set Lily down on her bed but she bolted up and grabbed the book from Ava, handing it over to me and then looking at Ava to gouge her reaction.

"You want me to read it?" I asked, hoping to ease the tension.

"Yes... and she doesn't have to stay, she can sleep." Lily said, and I know she didn't want to be too mean. But she was just used to me and already knew what to expect, so she wanted me all to herself and wanted Ava out of the picture for now.

"Gabe... I'm tired, I'll just go." Ava said, seeming let down.

I nodded my head and then turned to Lily, she needed to know that Ava wasn't going anywhere.

"Lily. I love Ava with all my heart, ok, Sweetie? I don't ever want her to feel like she's not wanted or like she doesn't belong. We're going to be nicer to her, ok?" I asked Lily.

"Ok, she's sleeping, and we're gonna read?" Lily asked, pulling me closer and cuddling up to me.

I read her the little story and then she didn't seem to want to let me go, so I just let her lay across my lap and I played with her hair. I talked to her too, making sure she felt comfortable and safe. Before I knew it, little Lily was sound asleep.

I removed her from my lap and wrapped her up in her blankets, then I left her with a kiss on her head and went to my beautiful, but most likely devastated fiancé. When I finally got to our room, Ava was already in bed, facing away from the door.

"Hey, baby." I whispered softly, wondering if she was asleep.

"Hey." She said, not moving or turning around.

"You ok? She doesn't mean to be so hurtful." I said softly.

"I know." Ava nodded, turning around as I got into bed.

"She's just testing whether or not it can just be me and her." I explained. "But she's never going to get that. You're the most important person in this household, baby." I said, kissing Ava on her forehead.

"No I'm not." Ava objected, but I chose to ignore her objection.

"I love you." I said, pulling her closer to me and kissing her deeply.

"I love you too." She whispered. "Can you lose the shirt?"

"I can." I chuckled, taking it off. "Now, tell me about your day, how you feel... tell me everything." I said to her.

Ava then placed her head on my bear chest and started tracing my abs. We talked a little bit about our days and the about how we were going to get Lily accustomed to this household. I needed to give Lily lots of attention, but I wouldn't allow her to pry me away from Ava. It was going to be difficult, but I was up for it. I was ready to make sure both my girls got the attention they needed and deserved.