TW: Yelling

Pov y/n

On Sunday Rose seems to feel much better and is barely coughing anymore and also isn't so pale anymore. It makes me glad to see that she is on the best way of feeling better. We have a calm day until I get a message. I take my phone and look at it, frowning a little bit.

"Your dad is coming to pick you up in an hour." I tell Rose and her attention shifts from her picture book to me.

"But I thought I was gonna stay another night and you would bring me to school tomorrow?" She asks and I nod slowly, that's what I thought as well.

"It appears your dad has other plans." I say and she crosses her arms, seemingly unhappy with that.

"I'm sorry, sweetie."

I put my phone down and brush over Rose's hair.

"I will stay." She decides and goes back to reading her book.

I smile a little, I wish it was this easy but I am afraid it isn't.

Even if she wants to stay here, I can't just keep her with me because her dad has the say in this and if I just keep Rose, he could report me to the police and I could end up in a lot of trouble.

A little fire ignites inside me, I really hate that I can't say anything about this. I'm not Rose's caretaker and no matter how much she wants to stay here, without her father's permission, it won't happen.

I actually have to be thankful that he allows her to stay here over the weekend but it's hard for me to have any kind of positive feelings towards him.

"As much as I would love that, I'm afraid you can't. Do you remember how I once told you that there are things that only your mom and dad could do with you?" I ask, hoping she remembers that conversation. She scrunches up her eyebrows a little before she nods and puts her book down to give me her full attention.

"This decision, about where you stay, is something only they can make, you know?" I try to explain and Rose frowns a little.

"I don't like that. I wanna stay with you." She pouts and I cup her face, rubbing my thumb over her cheek.

"I know, sweetie, but there is not really anything I can do." I tell her the truth and she huffs a little but I know it's not directed towards me.

"But I want you to be able to do something about it." She says and crosses her arms, her expression changing between sulking and a cute frustrated.

"Me too but even if I would start the process of that now, it would take a long time before I am allowed to do that. And at that point, your mom is back again and she always lets you see me as much as you like." I try to calm her a little down because it is true, it would take a couple of months before I would be able to adopt Rose. I looked it up the other night.

Rose presses her lips a little bit together.

"We just have to get through these next few weeks and I think in about three weeks or so, we will go visit your mom and take her home with us." I tell her and Rose nods slowly, the thought of Scarlett seeming to cheer her up a little.

"Okay, but I want you to read me a story tonight." She compromises and I smile a little.

"You mean over the phone?" I ask and she nods. "You will have to ask your dad though because you would be using his phone."

Rose hums in thought before deciding that she will convince him to do so.

We spend the rest of the time together, playing with some of her toys and finishing the picture book she was reading.

When it's time to get ready, we pack her backpack and I get her dressed. I give her two more bonbons for her sore throat, pretty sure her dad will have medicine and tea as well.

Rose takes my hand as I lead her down the stairs and in front of my apartment building.

Just in that moment, the car of Rose's dad stops in front of us and he gets out. He looks kinda mad but when he looks at Rose, he smiles a bit. But Rose doesn't really care that he just arrived, instead she hugs my legs and I crouch down to give her a proper hug.

"Goodbye, my little dolphin, see you soon." I say and kiss her temple.

"Goodbye, Mommy." She replies and gives me a kiss on the cheek that makes my heart melt together with her words.

Her dad seems to have heard her words and raises his eyebrow at that but I decide to ignore that. When Rose turns around to him, she gives him a little smile.

"Hey, Rosie." He greets her and she just looks up at him, apparently still annoyed that he is picking her up already.

"My girlfriend is in the car, how about you get in and you two go get some ice cream while I talk to y/n?" He offers and I look at him in confusion, what does he want to talk about?

"No, when you stay with Mama, I wanna stay too." She refuses and crosses her arms.

I look from her dad to Rose and back to him. He shakes his head and his expression gets a little grumpier. Whatever he wants to talk about, it's nothing good and for sure nothing Rose should be a part of. But I won't be the one who will tell Rose that, that's his job for now.

"We need to have an adult talk, Rose." He tries to explain and I can already tell that his patience is thin. I'm not sure if Rose doesn't recognize it or if she simply ignores it but she crosses her arms.

"I am seven now, I can be there for adult talk." She says and I have to suppress a little smile at that.

"Rose, this is something I need to talk to y/n alone about." He says a bit more sternly and I expect Rose to drop her act and get into the car but apparently, she makes a bigger fuss towards him than towards Scarlett or me.

"What do you want to talk about?" She asks, almost challengingly and I can tell it makes her dad almost furious that she talks back so much, so I carefully place my hands on her shoulders to give her some comfort and show her dad that he better not freak out on her or I will step in, custody or not.

"That's something between y/n and me! Now, please get into the car and go get some ice cream." He presses out between gritted teeth. Rose narrows her eyes a little bit before turning to me. Her dad almost fumes at that but keeps quiet.

"But I wanna stay." She tells me and I kneel down and gently uncross her arms to take her hands into mine.

"I know you do, sweetie, but it really seems like your dad wants to talk to me alone. It'll be okay, don't worry. You can go and have some treats with his girlfriend, okay?" I say calmly and keep eye contact with Rose, my eyes soft and understanding. She murmurs a little bit and I brush some hair out of her face.

"Maybe see if they have something else than ice cream because you are still curing your cold and I'm not sure, if ice cream is very helpful with that." I tell her and have to resist the urge to shoot a look at her father for that decision.

"Maybe a waffle then?" Rose asks and it seems like she's slowly agreeing.

"A waffle sounds great." I agree and Rose smiles a little.

"Okay."

I give her a hug.

"And please be kind to his girlfriend, even though you might not like her a lot." I whisper into her ear and she nods into the hug.

"I will do my best." She replies when letting go and I kiss her forehead.

Rose takes my hand and pulls me towards the car.

Her dad watches us with narrowed eyes. She opens the door and throws her backpack in and reaches up for me.

Since her dad's car is quite big, it's harder for her to climb into her children's seat, so I lift her into it and buckle her up. I side glance at the front side, seeing a brunette woman there whose eyes seem to shoot daggers at me but I couldn't care less honestly.

"Be good." I remind Rose and she nods before I close the door. The car starts and I turn around to her dad, who looks at me.

"Can we talk inside?" He asks without any emotion and even though everything inside me wants to say no, I nod and lead him upstairs. I have a feeling this isn't a conversation the public should know of.

He looks around my apartment a little bit and presses his lips tighter together when he sees Rose's room. I lean my back against my couch and cross my arms, watching him and waiting for him to start talking.

"It was totally inappropriate for you to pick up Rose on Friday when she was sick." He starts of and looks me directly into the eyes. I raise my eyebrow, not expecting that to be the whole point of the conversation.

"Rose seemed to want to have me there, otherwise she wouldn't have told the school to call me. Besides, you probably wouldn't have had time there anyways because you had to work. It would probably would have ended with you calling me to tell me to pick her up because you can't, so no need to be upset right now." I shoot back, annoyed with his accuse and I honestly believe he wouldn't have had time anyway.

From what Rose told me and what I've experienced, he works a lot and his work is his priority, so. I mean everyone should live how they prefer but if you have a child, you should prioritize it at least in some ways, or don't get upset when someone else does it.

Romain huffs at my words and crosses his arms in front of his chest.

"That's not the point. You are legally not allowed to pick her up in such a situation because the parents are supposed to handle it." He says angrily and I roll my eyes.

My arguments don't seem to interest him or he doesn't seem to have an answer to them.

"You allowed the school to let me pick up Rose, so why the fuss?" I ask, getting more and more annoyed by his arguments not making any sense.

"Because I was at work and couldn't leave, that's the only reason why!" He explains and grinds his teeth.

"See, that's exactly what I'm talking about. You wouldn't even have had the time to pick her up and I did." I state and he uncrosses his arms to pace a little in front of me.

"You're lucky, I am kind enough to allow Rose to see you, you know. You could be a bit more thankful!" He says angrily and I shake my head in disbelieve.

"You want me to thank you? Did you ever consider Rose's feelings in this? That she might enjoy seeing me too?" I ask and push off the couch a little as he stops in front of me.

"Oh, come on, she's a child, she enjoys time with everyone who plays with her." He huffs and I bite my tongue, feeling a tiny bit hurt by his words but I know they are not true. I know that Rose loves me and that it's not just about me playing with her.

"How about you play some more with her then? Maybe she would enjoy that too!" I tell him and he narrows his eyes at me, pointing his finger at me. But I don't budge, I stay my ground and stare at him angrily.

"Are you saying I'm not spending enough time with my daughter?" He asks lowly, the anger radiating off his words and in every other situation I would try to stay calm but there is so much anger towards him built up inside me, that I won't back down.

"You may spend time with your daughter but working all the time isn't the kind of time I'm talking about. I'm talking about actually being interested in her, listening to her talk, validating her feelings, playing and goofing around with her." I reply, my eyebrows scrunching together furiously.

"You have no right of telling me how to treat my daughter!" He yells and it almost looks as if he expects me to be scared of him now but I'm not.

"Then treat her right!" I yell back, my body boiling with anger.

"Stop acting like you're her parent! YOU'RE NOT HER MOTHER!"

I bite my tongue, feeling my fingers twitch a little but I know I can't and won't hit him. I shake my head slowly and look up at him, chuckling lowly.

"That's not your call to make. Rose can decide who she sees as her mom and who not!" I say, clenching my jaw.

"Stop that bullshit! You won't ever be a mother to her!" He spits out and leans back a little, looking like he thinks he won but oh boy, he's far from that.

"Is this about you being jealous that I taught her how to swim or that she gets excited when she sees me?" I taunt a little, knowing I have the upper hand in this matter because I know for a fact that Rose sees me as her mother and that's the only thing that matters.

"I AM NOT JEALOUS!" He yells before containing himself and lowering his voice a little.

"Sure." I roll my eyes and uncross my arms, resting them on the couch behind me and leaning a little against them.

"She is my daughter and I don't need to prove anything to you. You may have taught her how to swim." He huffs between words. "But I was there when she was born and I was there when she was a baby."

I tilt my head a little, not breaking eye contact.

"I know but that doesn't mean she can't see me as a parental figure." I state and he clenches his fist a little before pointing at me again.

"You should watch your mouth, around me, y/n. I can just forbid you to see Rose and there is nothing you can do against it." He threatens and I feel a cold wave of worry wash over me but I don't show that to him.

"First of all, Romain, I am aware of that. And second, you would hurt Rose a lot with that and even though you might not want to admit it, you know it's true. I am pretty sure that it can't be your goal to hurt your own daughter because that would just be cruel." I point out lowly and to my surprise, he deflates a bit.

Seems like I hit a sensible point inside him with that. He may not be the best father to her right now but he for sure doesn't want to hurt her and he knows as well as I do, that it would hurt Rose a lot if she wasn't allowed to see me anymore. He takes a breath and looks at me with distaste.

"I can't stand you at all." He says and I can't help but smirk a tiny bit.

"Maybe that's because I have the great woman you didn't appreciate and I treat your daughter the way she deserves it." I say and by his expression I can tell I crossed a line but I don't care because he already crossed so many before.

"HOW DARE YOU?" He yells again and I can tell I made him really angry.

"I treat my daughter just right and you have no clue how much fun she has with me!"

I raise my eyebrows and cross my arms, not saying anything.

"And bringing Scarlett into this?! I have a wonderful girlfriend and you have no idea what happened between her and me, so shut your damn mouth!"

That's it.

"Don't tell me what to do in my own apartment!" I yell back and push off the couch, slowly approaching him and pointing at him.

"I may have no clue about what happened between you too but I know that Scarlett is such an amazing person who doesn't deserve whatever you did to lose her. And if you swear at me one more time, I will kick you out of my apartment and I won't do it gently!"

His eyes bore into mine but I don't falter and stare back.

"Just stay out of this kind of stuff!" He says loudly before storming out of my apartment and banging the door closed behind him.

I let out a cry of anger before hitting into one of the pillows on my couch. He really knows how to push my buttons. Usually, I am a pretty calm person but something about his way just makes me really angry.

I take a deep breath and try to calm down a little when my phone starts ringing. It's Scarlett and I take the call, still a bit fuming.

"Hey, angel. What's wrong?" She asks when she sees my expression.

"I'm gonna adopt Rose." I tell her and she looks at me surprised.

I am a little surprised too by my words but if I'm being honest, this whole fight just led to me wanting to adopt her for sure. I won't want her to suffer underneath her father's dislike towards me.

I will do all I can to adopt her, so he can't threaten me, or worse her, to forbid her to see me.

But I also wanna be able to call Rose my own daughter and take care of her without needing permission to. I will adopt her.

A/n: We finally gave him a piece of our mind.

And I wanna state again: I have nothing against Rose's dad in real life, this is all just for the story.

Thanks for reading and love to you all