Disclaimer: Anything you recognize is only mine in my dreams.

Thursday nights were Danny and Lucy's special nights. It had been that way since Lucy had started school and Danny had realized that even on his day off, he wouldn't be able to see his daughter very much. So it was decided that Danny would take Lucy out to do whatever it was that she wanted. At first, Danny wasn't sure if Lucy even enjoyed the quality time. He figured she just liked going because she got whatever she wanted. His opinion soon changed, however, once she started cancelling plans with friends because she wanted to spend time with him. She loved the alone time that she got to spend with him, and of course Danny felt the same. When you have a job like his, you really have to cherish every moment you get to spend with the people you care about, and that's exactly what Danny did.

When Danny thought back on all the Thursdays they had spend together, it still amazed him at how much his daughter had grown up. Lucy's choices of what to do during the nights had gone from McDonalds and ice cream to Disney movies and then eventually to just a nice dinner. He had to laugh at how the conversations had changed also. At five years old, all she could talk about was how yucky boys were and how they all had cooties. Danny had loved that time in her life. Then the conversations changed to little league, homework, friends, how great boys were, and all the fun stuff in between. Danny loved the fact that they had the kind of relationship where she could tell him anything.

And now, with Lucy being twenty-four, Danny was a little suprised that Lucy still wanted to spend time with him. She had called the night before, asking if his Thursdays were still open. He had told her that they were, and now he sat in one of their favorite Italian restaurants, waiting for his daughter to arrive.

"Daddy!"

Danny looked up from his menu when he heard the familiar voice. He smiled when he saw Lucy making her way through the restaurant to the table he sat at. He stood up when she got to him and pulled her into his arms.

"Lucy, baby, I've missed you." he said. Lucy pulled away and smiled as she sat in her chair.

"I've missed you too. It's been way too long."

Danny nodded his head in agreement as he sat back down in his seat. He was about to speak when the waiter came over to the table and handed Lucy a menu.

"Would you like anything to drink, ma'am?"

"Um, I'll just have a beer." Lucy answered as she opened up her menu. She scanned over the list of entrees, then looked up when she felt her father's eyes staring at her. "What?"

Danny laughed and shook his head. "Nothing. It's just weird that my little girl is here drinking beer with me. You just..you grew up way too fast." he answered. "Besides, I figured you'd be drinkin' some fancy wine like your ma."

Lucy laughed at his last comment. "What can I say? I take after my father. So how is Mom?"

"She's good. She misses you, and she can't wait to see you. So how's Seattle?" Danny asked. He still couldn't believe that his only child had decided to move all the way across the country. He had figured she'd stay in New York her entire life.

"It's great. It's really not as bad as you think."

"Yeah, well I don't see what's so great about it. It just rains there, that's all. You can get that here, and so much more." he said jokingly. As much as he wanted her to move back to New York, he also wanted to see her happy, and apparently that's what she was in Seattle.

"But I have Mike in Seattle." Lucy argued back.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. How's Mike doin' anyways? He still treating you good?"

Lucy's smile widened, thinking about her boyfriend back in Seattle. "Yeah, he's great. In fact, that's sort of why I'm here right now."

Danny looked at his daughter, confused. Why was Mike the reason she was here right now?

"Okay, now you've got my attention. What's up?"

"Well," Lucy began, "I haven't told anyone else yet, and I sorta figured since I've always told you everything first, this would be no different. Daddy, Mike asked me to marry him."

Danny's jaw dropped. He couldn't believe what he just heard. "He, uh, Mike...he what?"

Lucy giggled at her father's stuttering. "Daddy, I'm engaged!"

Danny sat in his chair, unable to speak. He did hear her right. His baby girl was engaged. She was getting married. He was happy for her, he really was, and he wanted to say something, but he was just speechless, and he couldn't help but think back to the time when Lucy swore she would never fall in love again...

Out of all the things Lucy had chosen to do on their Thursday nights, this had to be the weirdest. It wasn't that what they were doing was weird, it was just he didn't even know his sixteen year old daughter knew how to ice skate. But there they were, sitting on a bench as they put on their skates.

"Are you ready, Dad?"

Danny nodded and slowly stood up. Skating wasn't really his thing, but he wasn't going to let Lucy down. If this is what she wanted to do, then that was what they would do. The two of them made their way to the ice and they slowly began to skate. They skated for about five minutes before Danny broke the silence.

"Is everything okay, Luce?" he asked, glancing at his daughter. She was quiet, which was unusual for her. Usually she could never shut up, but not tonight. Tonight just seemed different somehow.

"Yeah, I'm fine." she said, giving him a small smile. Danny nodded, not convinced, but he decided to leave it at that. He wasn't going push her to talk about whatever was on her mind. He knew that when she wanted to, she would tell him on her own.

"So why'd you decide to come here? I figured it would just be another movie night."

Lucy shrugged. "I dunno. I guess there's just some magical feeling of being out her on the ice around Christmas time, with all the lights and everything, ya know what I mean? They cheer me up. I think we should do this on Christmas Eve, too. We can bring Mom out here. I'm sure she'd love that."

Danny nodded, smiling. He loved the image that Lucy had just put in his head, of him and his girls on Christmas Eve. But he didn't know why Lucy would need to be cheered up at the moment. What was she so upset about?

"Yeah, that'd be pretty nice. Hey, maybe I'll even be nice and let that Peter boy come along, too." Danny joked, laughing at the thought of him actually allowing his daughter's boyfriend to come with them. He hadn't even wanted Lucy to date yet. No way in hell was he letting him join in on Messer family time.

He looked at his daughter, expecting her to be rolling her eyes at his comment like she usually did. Instead, he saw tears forming. Danny stopped skating and grabbed her arm and turned her around so she was facing him.

"Baby, what's wrong?" he asked, concerned about his daughter's behavior. She'd been quiet all night, and now she was crying. Something was just not right.

Lucy wiped the tears away from her eyes. "Peter cheated on me." she whispered before she started to sob.

The first thought that popped into Danny's mind was, 'I told you so', but he didn't dare say that to his sobbing daughter. He knew from the second she had introduced him to Peter, that he was good, but he knew that telling that to Lucy now would only cause her to get pissed off at him. His second thought was how he wanted to just hunt this boy down and kick his ass for hurting his daughter. But when Danny saw the pain in Lucy's normally cheerful blue eyes, he knew there was only one thing he could do, and that was to comfort her.

He wrapped his arms around her and ran his fingers through her hair. He could feel her shaking from the sobs, and he hated seeing her like this.

"It's alright sweetie, it's okay. He's an asshole. He doesn't deserve you." Danny said, trying to reassure her. Honestly though, he didn't really know what to say. He knew that Lindsay was probably better at this stuff, but for some reason, Lucy had come to him, so now it was up to him to make her feel better.

"I'm never going to fall in love again." Lucy managed to say in between sobs. Danny pulled away from her and looked into her eyes.

"That's not true." he said. Lucy shook her head.

"No, it is. Why do I need a guy? All they do is break your heart. And shouldn't you be happy about this? Now you don't have to worry about anyone taking me away."

Danny let out a small laugh, then he returned to being serious. "Listen to me, Luce. I know it seems like this is the end of the world, but it ain't. One day, you're going to meet that one guy who you're going to fall truely in love with and who you're gonna want to spend the rest of your life with. And you've got to trust me on this one. I never thought I'd fall in love, then I met Montana, uh, your mom, and it just happened, and it's going to just happen to you. And Lucy, baby, I know you, you're strong. You're going to get over this. Do you believe me?"

Lucy sighed as she wiped the rest of her tears away. "Yeah, I guess so."

"Daddy? Are you alright? You haven't said anything."

Danny snapped out of his thoughts and looked at his daughter. He smiled and took her hand in his. "I'm so happy for you."

Lucy had a huge grin on her face now, happy that her father approved of the engagement."This is so great! So Mike's coming to town tomorrow, and I figured I'd tell Mom and everyone else about it when we go to dinner on Saturday. I can't wait to see Uncle Flack's face when I tell him. I wonder if it will be as priceless as yours. Oh hey, what were you thinkin' so hard about when I told you?"

"Nothin' much, really. Just, do you remember Peter?"

Lucy thought for a second, then burst out laughing. "Yeah, that asshole, I remember. Why?"

Danny grinned and shook his head. "No reason. I was just thinkin' about how you said you'd never fall in love again after what happened with him. And now look at you."

Lucy chuckled. "Yeah, I guess you were right, weren't you? I finally met that one guy."

"Well when am I not right?"

Lucy rolled her eyes and picked up her menu, trying to decide what to order. She hesitated for a moment before speaking again.

"Just think, Daddy. The next time we spend a Thursday night together, I could be tellin' you I'm pregnant."

Danny started to choke on the piece of bread he had taken a bite of, causing Lucy to laugh. He took a sip of water, then glanced at Lucy.

"And that statement right there, Miss Messer, is the reason why I wish you could still think that boys have cooties."

End.