Ava was honestly just something else. She was incredible. We had stayed up so late on our wedding night, making love until Ava literally just couldn't move. I was also beyond exhausted, but taking care of Ava was my main priority, so I made sure she got to the bathroom before she slept.

We slept together on top of the wet sheets, not bothering with a bath because we were far too exhausted. I woke up beneath the comforter with Ava in my arms and a loud knock on the door.

"Gabriel! Ava!" My father called as he knocked repeatedly on the door of our bedroom.

"Gabriel!" He called out in a panic.

"Dad?" I asked, getting up and throwing on my boxers from last night, making sure Ava was covered and running for the door.

I opened the door and there stood my father, looking horrified.

"What happened?" I asked in shock.

"Lily... she's panicking like the time at the villa." He said to me.

My daughter was panicking and the only thing I could do was panic in response.

"She's ok, relax. Your mother has got her. She's been up since before sunrise saying she's cold. We got her some hot chocolate and we got her a sweater, she's wrapped up in blankets but she's still complaining and now all of a sudden she's having a panic attack and we don't know why.

"It's ok, it's ok." I said, knowing she just needed Mommy and Daddy's attention right now. "Where is she?"

Momma came rushing down the hallway with my crying angel in her arms. I took my baby girl and she wrapped her arms around me really tightly, grabbing onto my hair to make sure I didn't ever escape.

"It's ok. Daddy's here, my love." I said, shushing her and trying to soothe her.

"You guys good?" Momma asked and I nodded my head, thanking them and then shutting the door as they walked away.

"Sh... it's ok, baby. See it's nice and toasty in here, right? It's warm and we can have cuddles in bed. Mommy's still sleeping, but we can just sit around in bed with her." I told my daughter.

"Alright, baby. It's ok, my love." I said to her, rubbing her back as we got down on the bed.

Lily shook her head vigorously and cried. I pulled her back, away from my chest and she looked up at me.

"Daddy's here. Remember what we said?" I asked, stroking my baby's hair.

"Ev-ev-everything is o-o-o-ok." She said through her shallow, fast breaths.

"That's right. It's ok." I said, kissing my little girl on her forehead.

"M-mommy." She said, looking towards Ava.

"Mommy is sleeping, baby." I said softly.

Lily's eyes suddenly found something on the sheets and her eyes widened in horror. I looked at it and I wanted to scream in frustration. Ava may have bled a tiny bit on the sheets the previous night, and now Lily was seeing the tiny blood stain.

"It's ok." I said gently, rubbing Lily's back.

"Mommy and Daddy were drinking some red juice yesterday and a little bit dripped." I lied.

Lily believed me and she relaxed slightly.

Her eyes began to scan me and I saw her eyes narrow in on my shoulder. If I could've fallen off the face of the planet in that moment, I would've done it. I tried to come up with an explanation for the love bite on my shoulder, but my mind drew a blank.

"D-daddy!" Lily screamed, making Ava startle out of her peaceful sleep.

"G-Gabe?" Ava asked, turning to face us and looking at a Lily in concern.

"Someone seems a little scared and cold this morning, can we all have some cuddles?" I asked.

"Aw, my baby, come here." Ava said, holding the blanket against her chest and turning to take Lily in her arms.

"I think the stain from the red juice yesterday scared Lily a little bit." I said, pointing to the tiny blood stain.

"Oh. No, that's nothing to worry about... just some juice." Ava said, stroking Lily's hair as I removed the dirty sheets from the bed.

"D-daddy." Lily said, looking at the love bite on my shoulder again. I needed to back away and get myself a shirt before she saw my back.

"What's wrong?" Ava asked her.

"D-d-daddy... h-hu-hurt." Lily said through sobs, hiccups and heavy breathing.

"No. Daddy's not hurt." Ava said with a frown, looking over at me.

Lily reached out and touched my shoulder, drawing Ava's attention to it.

"Oh, you know your Daddy, baby... he's always running around tripping and letting things fall on him. He's ok, though, Mommy took care of it." Ava said. "Now don't worry about anything but my little Lily."

"C-c-cold." She cried.

"Mommy and Daddy are warm." Ava smiled, hugging Lily and then running her fingers through Lily's hair. "We're always here, always ready for cuddles and fun stuff... always."

Lily held onto Ava like her life depended on it and I quickly ran off to get a shirt. I opened the closet and turned red at the sight of all the lingerie. I turned around and grabbed my shirt from the wedding and handed it to Ava, looking around the room for something else to put on. My wife also looked around as she hugged Lily.

Ava pointed to a bag near the door and I sighed when I saw it, running over there and finding clothes for both Ava and I. I threw on a t-shirt and some sweatpants, then I went over to my wife and child, taking Lily out of Ava's lap so that Ava could put the shirt on.

"Is my baby, alright? She knows Mommy and daddy care so much about her, more than anything in the whole world and she knows that they'll always help her if she needs help. Right?" I asked.

She nodded, hugging me and calming down. I knew she wasn't panicking anymore when she started breathing normally enough to actually cry properly. She sobbed into my shoulder and she let me rock her back and forth gently.

Ava smiled at us and she grabbed her phone, turning on some music and attempting to get up before hissing and resting against the headboard again. Lily's head shot in her mother's direction, wondering what the hissing was about.

"Momma's just a little tired and cold... do you think Lily and Daddy could come cuddle her so she can get a little more sleep?" Ava asked.

A wave of guilt rushed through me, knowing Ava couldn't even get up without feeling pain. It was somewhat my fault, three rounds were probably two too many for our first time.

"Dance party first." Lily whispered in my ear. "To make Mommy smile."

I chuckled and kissed Lily's little hand, doing a silly dance with her while she was in my arms. I sang along to the song loudly and obnoxiously and Lily giggled, singing with me and forgetting her fear completely.

I spun around with her, making her giggle and making her beautiful mother giggle along with us. I kissed Lily all over her cheeks and she giggled happily, letting me collapse beside Ava. I placed my head in my wife's lap and Lily climbed on top of my chest.

"Did you guys kiss a lot yesterday?" Lily asked with a wrinkled nose.

Ava laughed and nodded.

"Good because I'm not leaving today." Lily said. "And there's no more kissing allowed."

I chuckled and took Lily's hand, kissing her hand.

"Mommy's turn for a silly dance with Daddy." Lily said, relaxing into the pillows and looking exhausted.

I got up and picked Ava up, spinning her around and moving all over the room. Ava held onto me and laughed her heart out, probably not having expected that I'd pick her up and do that. Lily watched us happily and after a while, I plopped back onto the bed with Ava laying on my chest. Lily came and crawled onto me too. And then I had both my girls laying on my chest. I wrapped an arm around each and covered them both up in the blankets.

Ava was exhausted and in pain, and I'd be damned if I let her move around while she was still so sore. Lily on the other hand was also exhausted. She definitely hadn't gotten enough sleep after the wedding and she had panicked early in the morning, which wasn't good for her energy levels either.

Ava looked up at me and mouthed to me that she wanted to cancel the honeymoon. I understood exactly why she wanted that, and I kissed her forehead.

"You and I have a grown up talk that we're going to save for later. Let's all take a nap." I said to Ava, stroking both girls' heads.

"Daddy, can you tell us a story?" Lily asked with a yawn, her hand finding Ava's on top of my chest.

"Of course I can." I smiled, kissing both my girls on their heads.

"Once upon a time, there was a little boy." I started, not knowing where I was going with this. "His parents loved him so much, and they gave him everything he wanted all the time."

Ava looked up at me and watched as I tried to formulate a story in my head.

"He went to school when he turned five, and all the other kids were a little weird and different. He didn't know if they'd like him. They all seemed to have friends already and so he stayed by himself, not going near them." I said.

Lily seemed invested in the story now.

"He didn't know if he'd ever make friends, he was too scared to talk to anyone and say something. Then one day, a little girl with pretty braids came to the class. She was the new girl." I said softly, stroking Lily's hair away from her face.

Ava smiled and kissed my chest.

"There were no seats in the class, everyone was paired up, except for the little boy." I said softly. "So the little boy and the little girl got to sit next to each other."

"What're their names, Daddy?" Lily asked me.

"What do you think I should name them?" I asked her.

"Uhm... the boy sounds like a Jackson and the girl is Daisy." Lily told me.

"Those are perfect names for them." I smiled, kissing my daughters head.

"So, Jackson and Daisy sat together in class." I said. "And Daisy had some trouble talking to their classmates too."

I went on to explain how Daisy got bullied for her pigtails and then Jackson stepped in to defend her. How he started to like talking to her and sharing colours with her in class. They also read books together and played pass in the field together. They became best friends and over the years, they only ever wanted to be with each other.

Then one day, they started to develop feelings and Jackson was nothing but a gentlemen. He learned how to do new things just so he could take care of her. He treated Daisy like an absolute princess. She never had to worry about anything, because Jackson would always be there to help her with anything she wanted.

The truth behind the story was that I was horrified of the day my daughter met a man who saw how perfect she was. Because that would be the day that Daddy stopped being so important. I wanted to at least make sure that if someone else got near my baby, it was a good person. I wanted my baby's standards to be high.

"Daddy, do you think all boys are that nice to the girls they like?" Lily asked me.

"Yeah, if they really do care about her, they have to be nice, otherwise they don't deserve her. Look at Nana Isabella and Papa Matteo... Papa always makes sure she doesn't have any single thing to worry about, she leaves all her problems to him so he can handle them for her. And my dad always looked out for my momma. Ever since I was a baby, I remember him chasing her around everywhere to make sure she was ok and didn't need anything. He always cooked for her and made her feel special." I told my daughter.

"Mhm." Lily nodded, Cornelius hanging from one of her hands.

"And look at Aunt Hazel and Uncle Riki, Uncle Riki's always tried his best to keep Auntie Hazel happy, right? And Uncle Rico, he also keeps Aunt Sophie close, he makes her feel safe and gives her cuddles whenever she's not feeling too good." I said.

"And Uncle Killian always makes Aunt Emmy smile and laugh, he helps her with work too, even though he's always so busy." My little girl added.

"Exactly." I nodded. "And Arabella, Micah gives her all the attention in the world. He makes sure to make time for her even when he's busy."

"Mhm, and even Theo, he always makes May happy, she's always giggling and acting funny especially when he's there. He buys her stuff and makes her feel better when she's sad." Lily said.

"Even Remi. He takes care of Nora and Julie. Even though Julie can't always relax, he makes her relax by giving her massages, taking some days off to make sure she's ok and handle some stuff for her. He takes her stress away and makes her calm." Ava said.

"What about Ev?" Lily asked.

"Evan is patient. Even when Rosie isn't having a good day, or she's feeling annoyed or angry, he's patient. He stays calm and he doesn't get angry back, he just waits for her to feel better and then he talks to her so that she knows he's always there for her." I said.

"And you daddy!" Lily giggled.

"What do I do?" I asked.

"You make Mommy smile even when she doesn't really want to. She can't help it around you. And.... And whenever you do something a little silly to cheer her up we can hear her beautiful laugh. When we feel sick, you take care of me and her. You cook for Mommy and me. You sometimes make sure Mommy is getting enough rest, you give Mommy massages sometimes and lots of kisses. You respect Mommy, you're patient and you're strong when she tells you she can't be. But you're also proud of Mommy no matter what!" Lily giggled, making me smile widely.

"That's right. I always want the woman I love to be happy and healthy." I chuckled.

"I think you and Mommy are perfect together!" Lily cheered. "And I'm perfect for you!"

"Yes you are, little munchkin!" Ava giggled, tickling Lily and making her squeal.

"You think all girls can be lucky enough to find someone to treat them like that?" Lily asked.

"I think so." I nodded.

"Even me?" Lily asked. "People don't like me very much."

"I think lots of people like you. Everyone in the family loves you so, so, so much!" Ava told her.

"I don't mean family, I mean other people." Lily said.

"If someone doesn't like you, Lily, it means they don't deserve you, it means that they aren't enough for you, not the other way around, ok? You're Mommy's perfect girl and if someone doesn't like you, you don't need them in your life. You have your whole family by your side and in the end if no one else can see how special you are, it doesn't matter, because your family always will." Ava told her.

"Yeah... because I'm your strawberry, right? That's my fairytale." Lily said, referring to her speech from the wedding.

"Exactly." I smiled, kissing my daughter on her head.

"And besides, awesome girls like us don't need boys to be happy." Ava said, stroking Lily's cheek.

"Yeah, boys can be stupid." Lily giggled.

"They sure can." Ava laughed.

"But men aren't stupid." I said.

"Yeah. Daddy is a man, so when one day, you find yourself happy and ready to share your happiness with someone, maybe a man will come along like Daddy did for me, and he'll make you feel like the only girl in the world that matters." Ava told our daughter.

"But that's so long from now." I said, tightening my grip on Lily.

"I don't want anyone to kiss me like Daddy kisses you, that's... ew!" Lily giggled, covering her eyes with a giggle.

"Good. I don't want anyone to kiss you like that either. Kisses are only for family." I told my baby girl.

"Like for Daddy." Lily giggled, kissing me on my cheek. "And Mommy." Lily smiled, kissing her mother on the cheek as well.

"Yes, and now it's movie time!" Ava said softly, shifting and groaning in pain.

I gave her a sympathetic look and Lily got up on my chest and sat down, looking down at her mother and stroking Ava's hair.

"Mommy... are you ok?" Lily asked.

"Yeah, baby. Mommy's ok. She just feels a little weird today." Ava told her, kissing her hand.

"You want to watch a movie and cuddle?" Lily asked.

"Yeah." Ava smiled.

I connected my phone to the TV in front of us and turned on Lily's favourite movie.

"Baby, I really need the bathroom." Ava said softly, looking embarrassed.

I immediately sat up, picking Ava up and taking her to the bathroom. Then I returned to bed with Lily.

"Are you sure Mommy is ok?" Lily asked me.

"I'm sure." I nodded.

"Does her leg hurt?" Lily asked me.

"Yeah, maybe she pulled a muscle." I told my daughter.

"Oh... maybe." Lily nodded.

Ava came waddling out of the bathroom a few minutes later and she asked me to go get some breakfast and an ice pack. I did exactly that and Ava used the ice pack down there, telling me privately that it was normal and just the friction and the tightness of her muscles down there that made her sore and inflamed. That made me feel a little less guilty, but I still didn't like seeing her in pain like that. Both my girls fell asleep on top of me during the movie and then I fell asleep as well a few minutes later.

It felt good to know that my girls were well taken care of, calm and happy. That's how I always wanted it, and that's why I was really going to struggle with the idea of Lily finding love and not needing her daddy as much anymore. But until she turned eighteen, I wouldn't let any of those little gross, daughter-stealing boys near my perfect little girl.