A/N: I decided to separate this from Omelette because it was getting too big so I'll put all the new fics with Tori here from now on. They're posted in the order I wrote them but they don't really follow an order and some jump around different stages in Tori's life.

"Tor, we're gonna be late!" Stacie yelled from the bottom of the stairs.

"I'm coming!"

Stacie made her way back into the kitchen. The loud stomps down the stairs were punctuated by a thump as the 8-year-old crashed against the kitchen island. Stacie gave her a worried look, relaxing when the girl smiled at her. "What do you want for breakfast?"

"Ice cream!" The girl replied as she sat on her usual chair in their small breakfast nook. Stacie arched an eyebrow at her. "It's the first day of school, mom, please!"

She smiled widely, proudly showing off the gap left by the fall of one of her lateral incisors. Stacie sighed. "Fine, just for today."

She hadn't finished her sentence when the girl was already out of her chair and pulling open the freezer. Stacie rolled her eyes and turned to the coffee maker pouring a cup for herself and pouring Aubrey's into a travel mug.

She was finishing Victoria's lunch when Aubrey's heels clicked into the tiled floor of the kitchen. Stacie felt her kiss the spot behind her ear and she smiled. "Thanks for my coffee, baby."

Aubrey turned to face their daughter. "I'm sorry I can't go drop you off too."

The girl looked up from what Aubrey had thought was a cereal bowl with ice cream smeared on her cheek. "It's okay, mom's fine."

"Hey, I'm better than fine." Stacie scoffed and wrapped her arms around Aubrey's waist kissing her cheek. "Right, baby?"

Aubrey stiffened in her arms. "Stace, can I talk to you in the dining room?"

"Umm, sure." Stacie shrugged at their daughter and walked out behind her. "What is it, babe?"

"Why is our daughter having ice cream for breakfast?"

Stacie chuckled nervously. "Oh that. She asked? It's the first day of school, I figured it wouldn't hurt if she had a little ice cream."

"Stacie, ice cream isn't breakfast."

"She's also having cookies!" Stacie added like it made everything better but Aubrey just glared at her. "They're oatmeal…"

Aubrey sighed. "Stace, I know you mean well but you can't just say yes to everything she asks for, you have to set boundaries."

"I have boundaries. It's a special occasion."

Aubrey narrowed her eyes at Stacie's tone. She knew Stacie thought she was exaggerating. She didn't want to turn into her dad who only said no to everything, but they couldn't just cave in to their kid's every whim.

Aubrey sighed, she didn't want to fight with Stacie and she was going to be late for work. "Just no ice cream for breakfast again, okay?"

She kissed Stacie's cheek and went back into the kitchen to grab her coffee and give Victoria a hug goodbye. "I'll see you tonight."

Stacie walked in smiling at the sight of Aubrey sitting on the living room couch. "Hey, gorgeous. You're home early."

"I just got in." Stacie walked up behind her placing her hands on her shoulders and leaning down to capture her lips.

Aubrey responded eagerly but broke the kiss after a few seconds with a frown. "Baby, aren't you missing something?" Stacie hummed against her neck and her hands started traveling down Aubrey's body. Aubrey swatted her hands away. "Not that, our kid."

"One of the dads took the team out for pizza after practice. They're dropping her off later." Stacie's teeth scraped Aubrey's neck. "So we have the house to ourselves."

Aubrey extricated herself from Stacie's arms and moved down the couch. "How late are they going to be out? It's a school night."

Stacie sighed, resigned that sex was off the table for now, and walked around to sit on the couch. "I don't know, they were just going for pizza."

"Did you remind her to not have too much sugar? We'll never get her to sleep if she does."

"No, I didn't. I told her to have fun with her friends."

"Stacie, you can't just let her do whatever she wants!"

"I'm not letting her do whatever she wants, I'm just letting her be a kid! What's up with you lately? She's fine! She's having pizza, not going on a tour of crack houses."

Aubrey coughed out a sob and Stacie froze. Aubrey never cried when they argued. They usually just talked, loudly, until one of them realized they were being unreasonable. But she'd never cried before. She quickly moved to her side and wrapped her in her arms. "Baby, what's wrong?"

She pulled her up to her lap and Aubrey clung to her neck crying on her shoulder. Stacie rubbed her back softly and waited for her to talk. "I don't want her to hate me."

"Why would she hate you? She loves you." Aubrey let out a louder sob and Stacie tightened her arms around her.

"But you're the cool mom and I'm the evil bitch who's always telling her not to do things. I don't want to be like my dad."

"Baby." Stacie lifted Aubrey's head and kissed her cheek. "She doesn't think that. I mean, yes, I am cooler than you." Aubrey smiled a little. "But she loves spending time with you. All she talked about today in the car was how she couldn't wait for her first game so you'd get to see her play. She knows you hate having to miss practice."

"She did?" Stacie nodded and Aubrey rested her head on her shoulder again.

"Why don't you take her somewhere this weekend? I could use some time off from you two."

Aubrey smacked her shoulder but pressed herself tighter against her. "That sounds good."

"And I know I can do a better job on the discipline front. But you need to remember that sometimes it's okay to bend the rules a little too."

Aubrey sighed against Stacie's neck. "I know."

They stayed like that for a while, Stacie moving her hand up and down Aubrey's back and the blonde listening to her steady heartbeat and moving the thumb idly over her collarbone. When she felt better, Aubrey pressed a kiss to Stacie's neck and pulled back.

Stacie cupped her cheek, her thumbs smoothing over her tear-stained skin. "Are you okay?" Aubrey nodded and Stacie kissed her. "You're not your dad. Tori knows you love her and that you're proud of her. She could never hate you."

Aubrey rested her forehead against Stacie's. "I love you."

Stacie rubbed their noses together. "I love you too."

Aubrey leaned forward and kissed her softly, stopping to look at her after a few seconds. "She really shouldn't be having ice cream for breakfast."

"It was one time."

"Don't let it happen again."

"Maybe it can be a first day of school thing." Aubrey tilted her head and looked at Stacie humorlessly. "Okay, no ice cream for breakfast."