Lily Miller cursed like a sailor.
Nick knows she got this from him. It started when they received a phone call from the principal on Lily's behalf.
"Nick, she's five!"
"Yeah, but what five year old do you know calls bullies 'Devil's Asses'?"
"Ugh, that is so not the point right now Miller!"
Nick Miller's daughter likes museums.
Especially the ones with huge, naked sculptures of Greek warriors.
Nick Miller's daughter is very naïve.
She takes after her mother with this one. Even though she will waste no time with telling off a son of a bitch (for a good reason, always), she still doesn't understand why she should not wear tank tops and short shorts to school. At least while he's around.
"Dad, its really hot out! I'm just wearing what's suited for this weather!"
"I don't care! You're gonna get looks, and I'm not a fan of that!"
"Oh my gosh, nobody's going to be looking at me! They'll be looking at the board, learning. That's what we go to school for!"
Nick Miller's daughter is a Greek mythology nerd.
He knew he shouldn't have let Jess watch Hercules all those times Lily was being nursed.
Nick Miller's daughter is the spitting image of her mother.
Thank God for that one. Although she does go into turtle face mode every now and then. Mostly when she tastes something bad.
Nick Miller's daughter doesn't have many friends.
Maybe he should (kindly) tell her to stop doing her Judy Garland impressions, and go for a party trick that isn't so dated.
Nick Miller's daughter is scared of boys.
Now, he doesn't mind this one so much. In an ideal world, she'll want to stay with him on Saturday nights and watch bad television, but he knows that eventually this won't be the case. Soon enough, she'll have suitors buzzing the doorbell every minute, and there won't be anything he can do to stop them, which kind of freaks him out. But he'll call Winston and Schmidt for back up.
Nick Miller's daughter gets along very well with her mother. Like, really well.
"What are you guys even doing? Its eight o' clock on a Saturday morning."
"We're going to go busking in the park and then go to the aquarium! Wanna come? We could use a tenor."
"Yeah, no thanks, I think I'll sit this one out."
Nick Miller's daughter is very emotional.
Those damn animal shelter commercials with that stupid song. Every damn time…
Nick Miller's daughter hardly ever gets angry. But when she does, watch out.
He watched the whole scene from afar.
"You're so fat, you probably go behind McDonald's after it closes to eat the left over grease!"
"Hey! Don't talk about him that way. He's just a kid. He can't help his size."
"Oh, well if it isn't Lily Miller, coming in to save the day. What are you gonna do, tell me to be play nice? 'If you don't have something nice to say, don't say it at all', or some bullshit like that?"
"Oh, you know what, you got me there, clever boy. Are you a psychic?" Lily stepped closer to the boy, until she was a mere few inches away from his face. She smiled sweetly. "I can and will be your worst. Psychological. Nightmare," she said through gritted teeth. She noticed a trace of fear in the boy's eyes. And then it was as if her whole demeanor changed. "Have a nice day!" she grinned, and then went skipping off to meet her dad at the car. Unbeknownst to her, he was watching the whole thing unfold, leaning against the hood, mouth agape.
"What did you just do?"
"Oh, nothing. Just told someone to never mess with me again," she replied nonchalantly, slipping in. "Hey, can we stop at Sonic?"
Now he knows that while he can and will swoop in to rescue her at any time, she can take care of herself. And it's kind of a nice feeling for him. He told Jess the story when she got home. She just laughed, and got a faraway look in her eyes. Perhaps it's hereditary?
Nick Miller's daughter loves dresses.
The apple doesn't fall far from the tree, it seems. Maybe he could try and get her into flannel…
Nick Miller's daughter likes the taste of beer.
He came home from a late shift one day to find his fifteen-year-old daughter, clad in a pajama set, drinking a corona on the couch watching a Bear's game that Nick had recorded the previous day.
"Whoa, what do you think you're doing?" He asked, walking over to her, snatching the glass bottle out of her hand. Lily snapped out of her catatonic state.
"Hey, I was drinking that!"
"Why were you drinking beer? First off, you're fifteen, for Christ's sake. Second of all, that was my last beer!"
"I'm sorry that you have a kid who is basically the epitome of you!"
"Lil, more than anything in the world, I do NOT want you to be the 'epitome' of me!"
"Why not? You're kind of cool. Besides, I like the taste. I feel like a cool biker guy or one of the brother's from Sons of Anarchy."
"Okay, you are definitely not the epitome of me. That was all your mother, right there."
"Ugh! Why can't you accept that I'm a little bit like you? Don't you want your kid to take after you in some form?" At this, Nick sighed, ran his hands over his face, and sat down on the couch.
"Look, I love you. You know that, right? And I know that you live around me, but that does not mean that you have to inhabit any of my…habits. I used to kind of be an alcoholic. Your mother helped me get passed that stage in my life. I just don't want that to happen to you. I don't want you to have to have another person get you out of a fog that wasted a few years of your life." Lily looked at him, wide-eyed and all.
"I'm sorry. I didn't really know…"
"Its okay. What you could do right now though, is brush your teeth and go to bed. The game will be here in the morning. As for the Corona, I'm throwing it out. Okay?" Lily sighed, and looked everywhere but her father's eyes. "Hey, look at me when I'm talking to you," he said sternly. She looked up at him, meekly.
"Okay."