Liam

I was incredibly amused by Rena's Cinderella and the Peas story. I didn't really understand the link, but Bea did, and it worked.

My little girl had no issue with broccoli, like I didn't when I was younger, since she thought of them as mini trees. But it was peas that she had an issue with. I didn't really understand that.

After lunch, I stayed behind to clear up and Bea dragged Rena to her room to play with her.

They had this immediate bond with each other. I knew that Bea adored Rena, she found her amazing, especially after the revelation that she worked in a 'princess store'.

It was kind of sweet to see them together. They were like long-lost friends.

I wasn't entirely sure if Rena and I were friends right now. I think we are, but I guess we never really clarified that.

I didn't really know how to ask her that, it was quite an awkward thing to ask someone 'will you be my friend?'. Bea could do it easily and compared to her, I was horrible at words.

There was no way that'd I'd be able to say the words, without sounding like a complete idiot.

After I cleaned the countertop and washed my hands, I heard a sound similar to a thud and then a curse, coming from the living room.

I rushed into the room, only to find Rena on the floor, covering her mouth with one hand, the other covering her knee.

"What happened?" I asked, stepping towards her.

She shook her head, removing her hand from her mouth. "Nothing, I'm fine," she said.

I eyed her curiously, crossing my arms and raised a brow her, knowing for sure that she wasn't fine at all and was lying. No one just stayed on the floor, holding their knee like that.

"Do you usually stay on the floor like that when you're fine?" I asked.

Again, she shook her head. "It's nothing, I just fell," she said.

I saw the way she winced when she tried to move her knee and knew that she definitely felt some kind of pain right now.

"Let me see," I said, stepping towards her.

Just as I did, Rena held up a hand towards me. "No, it's okay. I'm-"

I ignored her and crouched down next to her instead.

"Stop it," I told her, glaring at her. I wasn't so far gone to not be concerned about her pain. "Just let me see it," I said, not leaving much room for argument.

I moved her hand that was covering her knee, to take a closer look. There was a small scratch, with a little blood escaping from it.

"It's just a little scrape," Rena said and tried to get up, but before she could, another panicked voice called out for her and I had a feeling I knew what would happen next.

Bea came running towards us, crouching down next to me, looking at Rena with wild, frantic eyes.

"You're bleeding!" She gasped.

"It's okay, Bea. It's only a small scratch," Rena tried to tell her, but Bea's face looked as if she was in a much worse condition.

I was pretty sure she must have just fallen on one of Bea's toys. I always tell her to clean them up, but she always puts it off and forgets.

Bea then began to frantically patted my shoulder and pointed at Rena's knee. "No, no, no. Daddy help her," she said, like Rena had minutes to live or something.

"Calm down, sweetheart. She's fine," I tried to persuade her, but my little drama queen wasn't having it at all.

"No, Daddy. Help her. She's bleeding," she said.

I glanced at her face and when I saw her close to tears, I couldn't just let her worry like that.

"Okay, okay, fine," I said.

Rena's head snapped towards me. "You don't have-"

"Just let me," I said, gesturing towards Bea and she let out a sigh. She was going to have to put up an act for her sake.

"Sit on the sofa," I told her and Rena began to get up, only for Bea to move forward and place a hand on her shoulder, halting her movements.

"She's hurt, Daddy. You have to carry her, like you do for me," she explained, as if I wasn't thinking straight.

I looked at the stern expression on her face and let out a sigh. "Bea, she's not little like you," I told her.

Instead of agreeing, Bea shook her head. "But she's hurt."

"It's alright, darling. I can get up," Rena told her, placing a hand on top of Bea's to reassure her.

"No, you-" Bea began to protest.

"Oh, for the love of-" I began to say and just picked Rena up in his arms.

I knew that my little girl was not going to be happy, or worry less, so I knew what I had to do.

Rena immediately let out a little yelp at the sudden movement, her arms circled my neck, securely. I wouldn't drop her, though.

"Let me down. What are you doing?" She said.

"Saving myself from a headache," I mumbled, knowing this was going to be a lot of back-and-forth, if I just didn't pick her up.

I gently placed her on the sofa, before stepping back.

"Wait here," I told her and walked to the bathroom, where I kept a medical kit.

Being the father of a child, one with an abundance of energy, I had to always make sure I was stocked up on plasters and bandages.

"I grabbed the kit and walked back to the living room, only to hear Bea trying to reassure Rena and comfort her. Her reaction was so exaggerated it was quite amusing.

I crouched down onto the floor in front of Rena, opening the box and taking out the supplied needed.

Using a gauze to wipe the small out of blood that was on her knee, I then took some water to wash the cut. After which, I used an antibiotic ointment to wipe the cut.

I forgot to tell her it would sting, but she didn't seem to wince, or at least she didn't show it.

"It's only a small scrape," Rena spoke up.

I glanced up at her. "You want to tell her that?" I said and then gestured towards Bea, who watched on intently.

"Now the princess plaster," she said and I took out a selection of Disney plasters.

I then looked at Rena. "Which one do you want?"

"I get to choose?" She asked in surprise.

It was a little funny to see her excited over getting a choice of a plaster, but then I realised she may take her time sifting through the various ones that were in the box.

"Actually, no." I told her.

Instead, I took out an Elsa plaster and put it onto her knee.

"I wanted that one anyway," she said.

I shook my head in response and stood up again. However, just as I did, Bea spoke up again.

"You have to kiss it now," she commanded and I froze.

"No. He really doesn't," Rena said.

Bea then looked at me with a pout on her face. "But that's what you do for me," she said. "How will it get better then?"

Ever since Bea was little and would manage to get hurt, even if my full attention was on her, I would always kiss her injuries. I told her it was magic and helped the healing process.

I meant this only for her, I hadn't expected her to assume this works for everyone.

When I crouched back down in front of Rena, she seemed to move back.

"What...what are you doing?" She asked, stuttering slightly.

"Bea knows that when I kiss her cuts, it causes the magic to work and helps her," I told her.

For some reason, Rena then looked like she froze.

"Right?" I then asked, seemingly jogging her out of whatever she was thinking.

When she didn't reply, I just leaned forward and placed a chaste kiss on her knee, before pulling back.

Bea then sighed in relief. "Now you'll be all better," she said, as if we'd just dodged a bullet and I just smiled at her, as did Serena.

In all honesty, the trick to kiss an injury to make it better, came from Rena. It was from when we were little and I met her for the first time, as I crashed my bike in front of her house.

I had a similar scrape and Rena ran towards me, helping me and then kissed my knee.

'Your kissed worked like magic' I told her that day. I meant it and it was why I convinced my daughter to believe in that magic too.

A little while after playing with Bea some more, Rena got ready to leave and I just stood there, watching the two say goodbye to each other.

"I can't wait for my birthday," Bea said as she hugged Rena, looping her arms around her neck.

"Me too. I hope you like your surprise," Rena replied.

"I will," Bea spoke with such determination, I was surprised at that, as if there was no way Rena could mess it up for her.

"Bye, Bumblebee." Rena said and then made some sort of buzzing sound, before kissing her nose.

Just as she made a move to leave, I stopped her.

"Wait. Let me walk you out," I said.

She looked at me as if I'd lost my mind.

"Uh, okay?" She said.

As we walked to the door, she turned to look at me.

"Why are you being so nice?" She asked.

I raised a brow at her. "Me being nice, is weird?"

"Yes," she replied, without even hesitating.

Okay. I didn't think it was that weird.

"The cake-"

"Elias will bake it. It'll be his priority, don't worry, I'll make sure it's perfect. Just let me know what you want the message on the cake to be," Rena said.

I just nodded at her words, trusting that she'd take care of that.

"I don't want Bea to overhear, so I'll email you the plans, if that's alright?" She asked.

"That's fine," I told her. She smiled and then nodded.

When she turned to leave, I stopped her again.

"Um, what was your idea?" I asked her.

She looked very confused. "For?"

"The present," I clarified.

I felt horrible that I couldn't think of a perfect gift for my own daughter, but I wanted to her something really special that she'd love.

Unfortunately, along with communication, I sucked at thinking of presents.

"Ask Clover," she said, which left me baffled.

Just as I opened my mouth to say something, she smiled. "Bye, Liam," she said and then asked walked away

I was meant to asked the stuffed turtle teddy?