Pov y/n

It's been a week since I spent the weekend with Scarlett and Rose.

After Scarlett's and mine talk about Rose and if I wanted to stay the night, we decided to watch two episodes of a show and called it a day.

We were both pretty much exhausted from the day and all the running around and playing in the pool.

I wouldn't exactly call it cuddling what we were doing on the couch while watching the show but it came close. Scarlett had her legs over my lap and her head rested against my shoulder, her fingers absentmindedly playing with mine. It felt really nice to share that calm moment together after an exciting day.

Since Rose was there, we slept in separate beds because we wanted to avoid any kind of confusion or conflict.

The next morning was nice and as always when I stayed over, Scarlett made breakfast which I helped her with. Rose did love the fact that I was there for breakfast and as soon as we were done, she wanted to play with me.

It was still warm outside but not as hot as yesterday and we decided to go to the park. We spent the whole day there, walking around, playing on the playground with Rose and watching the fishes in the lake. In between we bought some ice cream to cool of and joked around.

I won't lie, that's how I imagine a perfect day with your family, just being together and enjoying each other's company. I am aware that Scarlett and Rose are not my family but I still had an amazing day.

Rose even met some of her friends on the playground, giving Scar and me time to sit down on a bench and enjoy the sun.

My work was pretty calm the following week, we had a few less customers than usual but I didn't mind. Jesse and I caught up and I told him about my weekend, which he was really excited about for me, and he told me about how he spent the weekend with his almost-boyfriend.

Seeing Scarlett on Wednesday made me smile and every once in a while we would steal glances at each other like teenagers in class. But I didn't mind if it looked childish or not, Scarlett and I are happy and that's all that matters.

We texted in the evenings, talking about our days, even though we sent pictures during the day.

Hers often contained Rose and I'd say my favorite from this week was from Thursday where Rose holds up a drawing of an underwater world.

I could tell that there were a few spots not colored and Scarlett texted me, that Rose wants me to fill in the gaps when we next see each other. That melted my heart and I stared at that picture a few moments longer, adoring how cute she is.

Now it's Saturday morning and I'm currently dusting off my bookshelf while listening to music. It's still just my phone but I planned on going to the store today to buy a speaker, so I can listen to music properly.

I'm humming along to the melody, twirling around a little as the ringing of my phone pulls me out of my thoughts. I grab it and am surprised to see Scarlett calling me but I smile and take the call.

"Good morning." I greet her with a smile and put down the feather duster.

"Hey, I'm sorry to call this early but I need you to do me a favor." Scarlett replies. I frown at her stressed tone.

"Of course, what is it?" I ask and look out of my window.

"I have a commercial shoot this weekend and am pretty busy. Rose was supposed to be at her Dad's but he bailed on her, long story. I need someone to watch her, please. Her friends are all busy this weekend and I don't want to let her alone with a stranger. Besides, I will get ready here and stuff, it will be very hectic and I don't want Rose to be in this chaos." Scar explains quickly and I breathe out, getting really annoyed with Rose's dad.

"Yes, of course, I can watch her. I just don't really have toys and stuff here." I agree and tap the window with my finger as a bird sits on the windowsill.

"That's okay, we will pack that in her bag, along with clothes and everything she needs. Can I drop her off in an hour?" Scarlett asks and I hear her shuffling around on the other side.

"Yes, I'm here." I say and after a quick 'thanks', Scarlett ends the call.

I drop my phone onto the couch, going back to my window to watch the few people walking down the street.

Anger builds up in me. I hate how Rose's dad bails on her so often. From last time I remember how shitty Rose felt and how sad she was.

I wish I could...protect her from it. I don't like her hurting at all. She's a child, she's supposed to be happy and free and carefree but thanks to her father, she has to deal with the feeling of resentment. She doesn't deserve this, no one does.

I continue cleaning my apartment, it doesn't help me in any way to be angry with her dad now, it'll only make me more tense and I want to be there for the little sunshine in the best way possible.

I'm finished hanging up the extra set of towels in the bathroom, when my doorbell rings. I buzz them in and wait for them to come up the stairs.

Rose appears first but she doesn't seem to be her usual happy self, which I get. I can't imagine how much it must bum her out that her father bailed on her again.

She smiles a little when she sees me and I kneel down to hug her properly. Her small body presses against mine and even from the hug I can tell that she's not okay.

I look up at Scarlett while Rose's stays in my embrace. She seems rushed but doesn't tell Rose to hurry up, knowing that this is hard on her daughter. Her eyes connect with mine and she gives me a cracked smile.

When Rose lets go of me, I get up.

"Sorry again for barging in on you like this, you're a lifesaver." Scarlett thanks me.

"Of course, I love spending time with my Rosie." I say, ruffling Rose's hair a bit, making her smile at me.

"I packed a bag with everything Rose needs for the weekend, including clothes and a pillow. I wasn't sure if you had sheets and a spare place to sleep though..." Scar trails of a little, looking at me in question.

"I have sheets and I thought Rose could just sleep in bed with me, if that's okay for her?" I tell them my thoughts and look down at Rose for approval. Her eyes light up a little and she nods.

"It'll be like goodnight snuggles without having to leave to go to my own bed." She says, a bit of excitement swinging in her voice and it makes my heart a little lighter to see her mood getting a little better.

"Sounds like a plan." Scar agrees with a little smile and hands me the bag for Rose.

"I also have some money for whatever activities you want to do, you don't have to pay for them." She adds and gives me an envelope. I just nod and put it on the bag, placing both behind me.

"I'm afraid I have to go now. If there's an emergency or anything, you can always call me." She makes sure and looks from me to Rose, also telling Rose this. Rose nods.

"Okay, I'm gonna head back now. Please behave, Rosie." She says in a sweet voice and Rose nods again.

Rose opens her arms and goes over to her mother to hug her goodbye. Even from the outside I can tell that Rose hugs her mom tighter than usual. Scarlett's expression is a little pained as she is of course aware of her daughters changed demeanor.

"Can we send you pictures of our day?" Rose mumbles against her mother's chest and Scarlett brushes over Rose's hair before placing a soft kiss onto it.

"Of course you can, honey. I'd love to see what you two are up to." She answers, making Rose smile a little.

Scar hugs her daughter once again, peppering her face in kisses afterwards before she stands up again. Rose looks up to her mom and gives her a little smile.

"Bye, Mommy. I love you." She says and waves. I smile at the action and lean against my doorframe, giving them their moment.

"Bye, my sweetheart. I love you too." Scarlett answers and waves as well before she turns around to go downstairs.

Rose watches her mom leave and when the door downstairs falls shut, she turns around to look at me. Her face shows a mix of different emotions as she walks back and takes my hand. I lead her into my apartment, closing the door and taking her bag with me into the living room.

"How about we unpack your stuff, so everything is available when you need it?" I offer and Rose nods, opening her bag.

We unpack her things and sort them as to where they go, before I bring her bathroom supplies into the bathroom while she brings her clothes upstairs. Her toys and one stuffed animal stay in the living room.

"And who is this little guy?" I ask and point to a blue octopus. Rose smiles and takes the octopus into her hand, wiggling around with it a bit.

"This is Mr. Mouve." She introduces him and holds him in front of me. I take one of his tentacles in my hand and shake it as if I was greeting him.

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Mouve." I say, making Rose giggle and it feels good to lighten her mood again.

I'm not sure what she needs right now but she doesn't seem like she wants to talk about it at the moment, so I will just carry on and distract her a little.

"He's happy to meet you too." Rose tells me and I smile at the octopus.

"He's very cool." I say, making Rose grin even more.

"Mommy bought him for me when we were at the aquarium. It's a long time ago, we weren't there like forever." Rose tells me, playing with Mr. Mouves tentacles. I smile at her story.

"Did you know I work at the aquarium?" I ask and Rose's head shoots up to look at me, her eyes growing big.

"Really? Do you swim with the fish and stuff?" She asks excitedly, wiggling around a little in her seat.

I chuckle at her words and slowly move my head from one side to the other.

"Not quite. I am a tour-guide and feed the fish. I did dive down there like two times to take care of something." I explain and Rose still looks at me with huge eyes.

"So, you know like everything about the fish there?" She continues her questions. I nod.

"I do." I confirm.

"That's so cool! Can you give a tour for Mommy and me? I want to visit the aquarium again, it's been so long." Rose begs and I smile at her cute face.

"I think that should be possible." I agree and Rose cheers.

"And what are we gonna do today?" She asks, placing Mr. Mouve down in her lap, looking up at me.

"I wanted to go to the store and buy a music box, would you like to help me with that?" I ask and Rose thinks about it for a few seconds before she nods.

"Yes, I will help you." She decides with a smile.

"Great!" I smile. "After that we can go get ice cream and to the park." I suggest further. Rose nods along with my plan.

"Off we go, I'd say." I offer her my hand when I stand up and she takes it to jump off the couch to go put on her shoes.

The store isn't too full but I still ask Rose to hold my hand because I don't want to lose her in the store.

We make our way to the section with the music boxes and look at the different ones. I don't know a lot about technic but enough to compare the ones they have there.

Rose helps me to pick a color and smiles proudly when I choose the one that is the color that she suggested, red.

On the way to the check out, we walk past the aisles with toys and I let Rose pull me into them. She looks at the different toys and her eyes light up when she finds an action figure of her mom, pointing it out to me.

I smile and nod, letting her look at everything she wants to. We are in no hurry and I don't see why she shouldn't be allowed to look at toys.

I let go of her hand, so she can move freely in the aisle we're in while I still see her. When she squeals a little, I walk over to her and she shows me a coloring book, excitedly bouncing up and down. I smile at the theme: underwater world.

It looks pretty cool, I have to admit and I take a closer look at it. Rose follows my movements with her eyes.

"Isn't it cool?" She asks as I hand it back to her.

"It really is. How about we buy it for you?" I offer. Her eyes grow even bigger and she looks at me in surprise.

"I can really have it?" She asks, looking from the book to me. I nod, smiling at her reaction.

"Yes. You've been very patient with me while I looked at the music boxes and it seems like you really like it." I agree.

Rose tackles me into a hug and I almost stumble a few steps backwards but catch myself and wrap my free arm around Rose.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" She repeats and lets go of me to bounce on her feet. Her adorableness melts my heart.

"You're welcome, sweetie. Let's go buy it." I say and nod towards the check-out.

Rose nods excitedly and skips ahead a little but never too far so she stays in my sight.

I pay for everything and we head out. Rose doesn't want to let go of her book and hugs it all the way back home. While I put the box on the kitchen counter to take care of the setup later, Rose lays the coloring book to her other toys in the living room.

"You know what I'm in the mood for?" I ask her and she spins around to me and shakes her head.

"Ice cream." I answer my own question and Rose claps, cheering in agreement.

We find a store quickly and buy ice cream to take with us while we walk to the park.

When we arrive there, the ice cream is gone and Rose pulls me towards the playground.

We spend the afternoon playing there and chasing each other, switching from being pirates to a school to superheroes, her favorite.

After all the running around, I can tell she is getting exhausted and when she crawls onto my lap, I brush some hair out of her face and kiss her forehead.

"Wanna head home and eat dinner?" I ask and she nods against my shoulder.

"Can you walk yourself?" I ask further as she doesn't make any movements. Rose shakes her head and I chuckle a little.

"Want a piggy-back-ride home?" I offer and Rose nods with a smile. "Alright."

I place her on the bench next to me and get up, facing her with my back. She hops on and I link my arms under her legs to keep her up as her arms wrap around my shoulders.

The walk home isn't exactly short but I don't care and carry her all the way. During the walk, she rests her head on my shoulder and I smile at the sweet action.

When we arrive home, we wash our hands and I tell her I will prepare dinner. She nods and decides she wants to draw in her new coloring book.

I watch her while I'm preparing the food and she seems happy while coloring her book. Just as I finish making dinner, she finishes her first drawing and comes to me with her book, displaying it on the counter.

"Look, I colored a reef." She proudly tells me. I look at it, taking in everything for a few seconds.

"That looks amazing, sweetie." I encourage her and her smile grows.

"Dinner is ready. How about you bring the book back into the living room, so we don't accidentally spill something on it." I suggest and Rose nods, bringing her book into the living room before joining me at the aisle.

During dinner, Rose tells me about her week in school and as sappy as it may sound, I love listening to her. The way she tells me about so many details is just adorable.

After dinner, she offers to help me with the dishes and I agree, letting her dry the plates, glasses and pans.

She seems pretty satisfied with her work and I have to admit that she did a great job. I quickly put everything away.

"How about we change into our pajamas and have a little dance party, testing out the new music box?" I offer and Rose nods in agreement and excitement and we walk upstairs to get our clothes.

She changes in the bathroom and when she's done, she opens the door and I join her to brush my teeth. We pull silly faces in the mirror and I wipe some tooth paste from her chin before it can spill onto the ground.

She giggles after spitting the rest out and cleaning her face. When I'm done, she taps my arm, yelling 'tag' before bolting off. I chuckle and chase after her.

We run a few rounds around my couch and coffee table before I catch her and lift her off the ground, carefully throwing her into the air before catching her.

"I got you." I say as her laughter fills my apartment and my heart warms up at the sound.

"But I was still fast." She insists and I nod, tugging some hair behind her ear.

"You were." I agree and put her down. She grins proudly.

"Dance party?" She asks and I point towards my music box.

"Dance party." I confirm and go to grab the box.

Hooking it up to my phone is quickly and easily done and I let Rose pick a song. It's one from Frozen and I smile before placing the box and my phone down.

Rose and I jump and dance around my apartment for a good amount of time before we both are in need of air and fall onto the couch.

"That was fun!" Rose exclaims and I nod in agreement, trying to catch my breath.

Rose's eyes look around the room and her eyes fall onto her toys and crayons. She gets up and comes back, placing a drawing onto my lap. I recognize it from the picture Scarlett sent me this Thursday and smile.

"It's not finished yet because your animals are missing. I let you space, see. You can draw them in there." Rose points the spaces out and I wrap my free arm around her and she leans against me.

"I will fill in each of those gaps." I promise. "Is it okay if I do that tomorrow though? Because it's gotten a bit late and you seem a little tired from today." I observe and as if to prove my point, Rose yawns and snuggles more into me.

"Okay, but pinky promise that you will do it tomorrow." She holds out her pinky finger for me and I hook mine around hers.

"Pinky promise." I say, making her smile.

"How about you go to the bathroom real quick before we head to bed and then we snuggle?" I suggest and Rose nods before taking off to the bathroom.

While she gets settled into bed, I use the bathroom as well and on my way back up, I feel my phone vibrating, Scarlett answered me.

I sent her a few pictures of either Rose and me or just Rose over the day and it seems that she now has the time to answer.

All of the answers are really sweet and I decide to read them to Rose, who seems to enjoy them a lot and smiles happily. She wants to wish her mom a goodnight and I start a voice message in which Rose talks a bit about the evening before wishing her mother a goodnight.

It doesn't take long and I get a voice message back. I can see how much Rose enjoys hearing her mother and after a few more exchanges, I put the phone down and put in the charger.

When I turn back around, I see Rose's expression faltered and it looks like she is at verge of crying.

A/n: What's about to happen next?

Why is Rose about to cry?

Feel free to guess and maybe I'll let you know when you're right ;)

Thanks for reading and love to you all