Pov y/n

Rose looks at the closed door for a few seconds before she turns around to look at me.

"Can we finish my puzzle before we watch my show?" She asks and looks at me with puppy dog eyes.

"Of course, sweetie." I reply, melting at her cute face.

Her face lights up and she runs back into the living room. I follow her, hearing my stomach making hungry noises.

"Would you mind if I make myself a sandwich, Rose?" I ask, making sure she knows I'm not leaving her alone.

"Yes, of course." She answers before concentrating on her puzzle again.

I go into the kitchen and look for the things I need. A few minutes later, I lean against the kitchen aisle and eat my sandwich while watching Rose in the living room. It fees good to eat something and standing here, watching over the kid, almost feels natural. But I suppose that's just what I'm hoping for in the future.

I put everything back and quickly wash my dish before joining Rose in the living room.

She's almost done with the puzzle and as soon as I'm sitting next to her, she starts talking about candy again and it is adorable how excited she gets over almost finishing the puzzle.

Only a few more pieces are missing and when she puts the last on in its spot, she jumps up and cheers. I chuckle at her action and cheer with her.

"Well done, Rose." I say and she grins proudly at me. But shortly after her expression changes and she seems to be thinking about something.

She sits down while doing so and I join her on the couch. Rose crosses her legs to sit criss-cross and faces me. I also turn to face her.

"Why do you call me Rose?" She asks and looks up at me. I raise my brows a little in confusion, not sure what she wants to get at.

"What do you mean? It's your name. Or do you want to be called differently?" I ask, wanting to make sure she has the option to tell me she wants me to call her in another way.

"It is but why...why do you call me by it?" She agrees and continues to look at me. I look back at her, even more confused now.

"I don't quite understand what you mean. Why shouldn't I call you by your name?" I ask and watch her eyes as they look down into her lap and she starts to play with her fingers.

"It's okay, you don't have to answer if you don't want to, I was just wondering." I explain softly, unsure of the situation myself.

"I...Mommy almost never calls me Rose. She calls me Rosie or sweetheart, or so." Rose tries to explain and I slowly nod, showing her that I'm listening and I think I'm starting to understand where she wants to get at but I still let her finish.

"You mostly call me Rose and sometimes sweetie...why only sometimes?" She asks and looks up at me again, her eyes questioning and sweet. My heart melts at the sight and I hold my hand out for her to take.

"It's because I wasn't sure if you like it when I call you sweetie." I explain and Rose nods.

"I like that." She says and smiles a little, which makes me smile as well.

"And you would like me to call you that more? Instead of your name?" I ask and she nods, her smile growing as I seem to understand what she was trying to say.

"Yes, I like it." She says again and scootches closer to me, taking my hands.

"Well, then I will call you that more often." I agree and she grins. Suddenly she frowns again and my smile drops as well.

"What is it, sweetie?" I ask and see her smiling a little at the name.

"A lot of people call their children that, it's not that special." She says and looks up at me.

"Yeah, but it can still be special." I try to make her feel better.

"Or we can try to come up with another name, that is just for you." I offer and her eyes grow big and she nods.

"Like what?" She asks, bouncing a little on the couch. I think a little bit about it.

"How about...little dolphin or little frog or little turtle?" I offer and now it's Rose's turn to think about it. She purses her lips and slowly nods.

"I like all of them." She beams at me and I ruffle her hair a little. "But why always little?"

"Well, because you will still grow." I explain and she nods, accepting my reasoning.

"Are you the big version then?" She asks and my heart fills with warmth at her words.

"Of course, if you want me to be, it would be my honor." I say and put my free hand over my heart. Rose giggles again.

"I am little dolphin then and you are big dolphin." She decides and I smile at her.

"Alright, little dolphin." I say and her face lights up before she throws herself on me for a hug.

I squeeze her but not too tight and she wraps her arms and legs around me. We hug for quite a while until she lets go of me and settles in my lap.

"Can we watch my show?" She asks and looks up at me. I take a quick glance at the time to not keep her up too long and nod.

She claps and slides off my lap to grab the remote of the TV and settles back down next to me.

Since I don't know how to put her show on, I let her do it and when it starts playing, she cuddles up to me, leaning her head against my side. I carefully wrap an arm around her and she scootches even closer. It feels nice to have her cuddled up to me and it reminds me of my wish to someday have kids my own.

Rose seems to enjoy the show and since the episodes are short, we are able to watch a second one.

I see her yawn in the corner of my eye and after the second episode, I switch the TV off.

"Come, we get you ready for bed." I say and Rose nods and gets up.

"Can I put your puzzle back in the box while you get changed?" I ask and she nods again, giving me a tired smile before heading upstairs.

I put the puzzle in its box and place the box on top of the toy box. Then I follow Rose upstairs.

I've never been to this part of the house and look around a little. There are a few pictures on the wall, showing Rose as a baby, other's are of Rose and Scarlett. I smile as I look at them, they are really cute.

A door opens and Rose steps out of it, wearing a pyjama with little dinosaurs on it. She looks at me and goes to another door, which I realize is the bathroom. I follow her and open it for her since she has her clothes in her hands. She puts them in the laundry basket before pulling a stool from underneath the sink to stand on it.

I go to stand behind her, just in case she loses balance. Since she's already a big girl, she brushes her teeth herself and giggles when she sticks out her tongue at me. I do the same and pull some funny faces which make her giggle even more.

Rose quickly spits out the toothpaste and washes her face before she turns around to look at me and we pull some silly faces together. Her laugh is the cutest and I catch myself smiling at the little girl, my heart filling with love for her.

"Can you braid my hair? Mommy always braids my hair before I go to bed." Rose asks.

"Yes, I'm just not a master at braiding, so be warned if it looks a little messy." I prepare her and she giggles again before handing me a brush and hair ties. She turns around and I carefully start to brush her hair, always paying attention to not accidentally pull on it.

Once it's all smooth, I part it into two sections and start braiding the first one. Rose's hair luckily isn't very long so it's quickly done and I switch to the other side.

When I'm done, I put the hair brush down as well as the remaining hair ties away and help Rose down.

I wait outside while Rose goes to the toilet and when she is all done, she leads me to her room. Looking around the room, I notice a framed drawing and when I take a closer look, my heart almost explodes with happiness. It's the drawing we did together on the train. She framed it. It really means something to her.

Before I get too lost, I walk over to her bed and she makes room for me to sit next to her. I do so and she leans against me again, looking up at me. I wrap my arm around her and she snuggles closer to me.

"Thank you for being here with me." She mumbles and I look down at her. Her eyes now a little sad and I brush over her hair.

"You're very welcome, little dolphin. I love to spend time with you." I say and she searches my eyes for a lie, which doesn't exist.

"Sometimes I think, my Dad doesn't like to spend time with me." She almost whispers and a few tears start to pool in her eyes.

I frown and when she moves even closer, I pull her on my lap, where she wraps her arms around me and buries her face in my neck. My hand rubs over her back as I try to sooth her, as her body starts to shake a little and silent sobs escape her mouth.

"Oh honey. Is it because he didn't pick you up today?" I ask, trying to figure out where this is coming from. Rose nods against my neck and sobs again, this time a little louder. I hum and continue to stroke her back.

"I'm sure he likes to spend time with you, he is just busy today but that doesn't mean that he doesn't like spending time with you." I try to cheer her up but she shakes her head.

"He is busy so often and even when I'm with him, he often has to work and can't play with me. And his girlfriend also doesn't play with me. Sometimes I don't like to go there because I have to play all alone." She tells me between sobs.

I feel her tears staining my shirt and my other hand starts to brush over her hair. It breaks my heart that this makes her this sad and I am angry with her dad for making her question herself. She should enjoy her childhood and not question if her father wants to spend time with her or not.

"You are disappointed because he doesn't have time for you?" I ask and Rose nods.

"That's okay. It is okay to feel this way. I am sure he doesn't mean to make you feel this way, he loves you very much. I am sorry you feel this way and I hope I won't ever disappoint you, I will try my best not to." I assure her and Rose leans back a little, rubbing at her red, puffy eyes.

My heart aches at the sight of that and I want to protect her from everything bad in the world.

"If you ever need me, just ask your mom to give me a call or text me, okay?" I make sure and Rose nods slowly. I lift my hand up to wipe a few of her tears away and give her a tiny smile. She looks at me with her big blue eyes and her breath starts to even out again.

"Okay." She nods slowly and returns my smile a little and my heart feels a little lighter again.

"Have you talked to your mom about how you feel about this?" I ask and Rose shakes her head.

"I'm sure she will understand and maybe she can help you with this?" I offer, not because I don't want to deal with this but because I think Scarlett can act more on this and besides, she's Rose's mom and I think it would be important, she knows about it. But I won't push Rose to talk to her, after all it's her own decision.

"Thank you for being here." Rose whispers again and I brush a strain of her out of her face.

"You're very welcome, sweetie." I reply and she smiles at me a little before settling down next to me, snuggling into her pillow.

"Can you read me a story?" She asks, only sniffling a little bit anymore and I nod.

She points to a book shelf and I get up to look at the books. I see the book she had with her on the train and decide to pick it since she said it was her favorite book.

She looks at me and her eyes light up when she sees the book. I sit down next to her and she nods, agreeing with my pick.

She stays where she is and I hold the book a little lower so she can look at the pictures while I read to her. With each page, her eyes close for longer periods of time until they stay closed. I carefully shuffle away from her.

She reaches out one arm for me and I smile, my eyes softening and I walk back and take her hand in mine. I give her a light squeeze and kiss her temple before getting up.

She mumbles a 'good night' before turning away and I wish her a good night as well and leave her room silently.

I leave a little gap, so it's not completely dark in her room and go back downstairs. A little unsure what to do now, I sit down on the couch and pull out my phone. I end up deciding to watch some TV and turn it on, zapping through the channels until I land on one that play sitcoms. Every once in a while, I listen if there's a noise upstairs but it stays silent.

Time goes by and at some point I receive a text from Scarlett, telling me she is on her way home. Around twenty minutes later, the front door opens and I get up to check that it's really her and not some burglar. It is her and she smiles at me, her eyes telling me she is a little tired.

"Hey, how is everything?" She asks and puts her shoes aside. We walk into the kitchen and she gets herself a bottle of water.

"It's good. Rose is asleep, she was good and didn't put up a fuzz when I put her to bed." I tell her, deciding to keep Rose's feelings towards her dad to myself for now.

I don't want to pressure her into talking to her mom about it and want to leave her time and space to process everything. Scar smiles at me.

"That sounds good and thank you again for staying with her tonight, you are a life saver." She thanks me and takes a few sips of her water. I wave it off.

"It's alright. You needed someone and I like spending time with that little sunshine." I say and the familiar sparkle that always lights up, when someone talks about her daughter, appears in Scarlett's eyes.

"I really appreciate it and I know so does she."

I smile at Scarlett and look at the clock on my phone, it's 1:17 am. Good thing that I don't have to work tomorrow.

"I think I should head home." I say and suddenly feel the exhaustion of the day washing over me.

"You can stay here if you want to. We have a guest bedroom and it's already late, it'd be safer if you stay." Scarlett offers with an almost shy smile that is new for her.

"I don't want to intrude on anything." I say, unsure if she really meant it or if it was just an offer out of politeness.

"You're not and I'm sure Rose would love seeing you tomorrow again. And so would I." She adds silently but I still caught it and have to suppress a smile as my heart skips a beat.

"Only if it's really not too much to ask." I compromise and now it's Scarlett who waves it off.

"It's not, don't worry. I'll show you upstairs then. But first..." She grabs her purse and gets out some money. I look from her to the money and shake my head.

"It's just a fair payment for watching Rose. Please, you deserve it, especially after coming her on such short notice." She almost insists and I breath out and nod. I put the money in my back pocket.

"Thank you, for everything." She says and gives me a truthful smile.

"You're very welcome." I reply and really mean it.

"Alright, I will show you upstairs then." She puts the water down and gesture towards the stairs.

Let's see where I'm sleeping tonight, in the house of the woman who I'm starting to fall for.

A/n: Special update because I felt like it and already announced it yesterday XD

Some bonding time for y/n and Rose. Let's see how the next morning will go ;)

Also, do you have any ideas/wishes for angst?

I am quite far in writing already though, so it's hard to let it be directly connected to this chapter. Oh and don't worry, I do have some jealousy planned and also already written XD

Thanks for reading and love to you all