Inside the shuttle-craft, Steven helped his daughters into their seats ready for departure. Beside him, his eldest daughter, eight year old Lorelei smiled at him, happy to be chosen as co-pilot for the first time in her short life. Steven's two youngest daughters, seven year old Delta and five year old Dodo sat in the two other seats behind them, smiling enthusiastically. Being able to go on missions with their father was infrequent for the girls and they rarely had the chance to spend quality time with him due to his busy schedule.

"Right, we're ready for take off," he said, patting around him and checking everything. He then looked at Lorelei. "You ready?"

Lorelei reached behind her and checked over her sister Delta, like she had been instructed to do so before they'd set off that morning. She called out to her father. "Delta is ready."

Delta in turn, checked Dodo's seat-belt with Steven watching on closely. "Dodo is also secure, Daddy."

Dodo looked behind her but there was no one there. "Who do I check is safe, Daddy?"

Steven smiled but didn't turn around as he adjusted with a few controls on his console. "Check on the panda bears," he said.

Dodo giggled and looked over at the three cuddly panda toys, each resting in its own satchel belonging to the three sisters. "They're also secure, Daddy."

Happy that his three daughters, the three princesses of his planet, were now secure in their seats and it was safe to depart, he set the ship into flight.

"Blast off!" Dodo shouted, her mass of curly hair falling into her eyes so she could barely see in front of her. Steven smiled as he took a brief moment between pressing some buttons to glance at his young daughter who was giggling excitedly. He couldn't help but laugh at her, struggling to see her properly under her big frizzy hair, the large pink lips and the mass of freckles splattered across her rosy cheeks.

Resuming his duties, Steven could barely concentrate when the chattering started amongst his children and he sighed, unable to hear this own thoughts under the sounds of high-pitched little voices.

Finally, he'd had enough. "Girls, what did I say?" He hadn't expected the sentence to come out half as harsh as it had sounded.

Lorelei folded her arms. "You say lots of things though."

He shot her an unimpressed glance but really wasn't surprised by her reaction. His eldest was often bolshie when she was being asked to do something. He was so used to it, that he shrugged it off completely. "I meant about being quiet so Daddy can concentrate."

"You tell us to be quiet a hundred times a day!"

"That's because you're a chatterbox. There are times for talking and there are times for buttoning it."

The girls found the image of their father pretending to button up his lips hilarious and they tried to contain their giggles as he looked at them sternly.

"Flying a craft is dangerous, especially if you don't pay attention. Do you want my safety in space lecture again?"

"No," they all said in unison.

"Good. When we're on route we can relax, ok?"

…

After Steven had piloted the shuttle on its planned course and everything was in order, it was time for him to sit down and shave off the stubble on his chin. He didn't want to go to the meeting on the planet without having made his best effort and he knew he should have been better prepared, his wife had told him to not leave everything until the last minute but trying to get three young daughters ready for a mission had taken up all of his time and energy.

He sat on one of the chairs away from the console and looked into a small mirror that pulled out from the unit. He'd left Lorelei in charge of checking the controls and navigation and then looked at himself in the mirror. He took out a lazar razor and held it above his face, ready to start zapping the hairs away but before he had a chance to start, he sensed someone standing by his side and so he lowered the contraption. Before he had a chance to protest, Delta had climbed onto his lap, landing forcefully on his knee, making him yelp in surprise. She was heavier than he remembered.

"Want to assist Daddy shaving do we, little one?"

She nodded vigorously and reached across to touch his face. Instead Steven gently took her face in his hand and rubbed his rough cheek against hers. She grimaced. "Ugh it's all itchy!"

Steven laughed as he watched her rub her cheek with her sleeve. "The whiskers of doom," he added.

"Can I have a go?" she said, reaching for the razor which he moved before she could touch it.

"I don't think I can let you use it on me."

"No, use it on me."

Steven raised an eyebrow. "You don't have a beard."

"But I may one day and might need practice."

He chuckled. "Well I can't argue with that. If you ever grow a beard, I'll be happy to show you how to shave it off."

"Zap my beard off now, Daddy."

Steven laughed again and gave in to her demand, holding the razor over her chin and moving it across her face, pretending to press the button. "Zap," he said. "There we go, beard's all gone now."

Lorelei snorted from her place in her father's chair as she swivelled around in the seat as though she was the captain and it was her craft. "Why would you want a beard anyway?"

Steven shuffled and placed Delta onto the floor where she began to touch her chin to make sure it was smooth. "If your sister wants to have a beard, then we let her have a beard."

"I don't want a beard," Delta said. "That's why I shaved it off."

But before Steven could respond he stomped over to Lorelei and moved her hand away as it hovered over some controls. "Don't even think about it!"

"I didn't."

"Your hand is dangerously close to pressing the button I clearly told you not to press."

"No, it isn't, I was just stretching my arms."

"You're being deliberately irritating today, stop it before I turn this ship around and we go home."

"We can't, we have that important meeting."

"I have an important meeting. I could always simply eject you into space."

Dodo started to cry. "Daddy, I don't want to be ejected into space. You can eject Lori if you want, I haven't done anything."

Steven smiled fondly at his youngest daughter and kissed her on the top of her head. "I'm not ejecting anyone into space. I'm just asking you all to behave."

Lorelei looked down at the controls. "Dad, we've reached their system, should be able to land soon if their conditions are alright."

He double-checked her findings, leaned over her and nearly squashed her in the process. "Good girl, you're a star. Ok, now, get back to your chair, buckle up for landing. That applies to you two as well," he said as he ushered his other two daughters to their seats and strapped them in tightly and securely.

"Nearly there, Dad," Lorelei called to him. Steven sighed when she referred to him as 'Dad', no longer being called 'Daddy' by his eldest daughter.

Dodo turned to Delta and giggled. "We're there!" she exclaimed excitedly as she saw the tops of the trees and felt the descent.

"Not yet, we're not," Delta began to say but before she could finish her sentence, Dodo had unbuckled her seat-belt and was sitting unaided as the ship began to shake and move with the minor turbulent landing.

As Steven brought the ship into land, there was a thud as the craft made contact with the ground and in doing so, Dodo, fell out of her seat and landed on her knees with a bump.

Delta unbuckled her own belt and raced over to assist her sister who was crying as she lay on the floor.

"Dodo!" Steven shouted. "Did I tell you that you could unbuckle your seat-belt?" He got up from his seat and hurried over to her, bending down to check on her. "Why don't you ever listen to what I say, is that so hard hmm?" He realised he was starting to sound more like the Doctor everyday.

Lorelei scowled. "You know, Dad, you could check and see if she's alright before you start yelling at her."

Steven ignored Lorelei and looked over Dodo to make sure she hadn't hit her head in the fall.

"Don't yell at me Daddy, I nearly died and then what would you do?"

He softened the moment he heard her pitiful sob and saw her innocent large eyes looking up at him. "My heart would break of course, that's why Daddy gets angry. It's only because I love you so much." He reached forward. "Let me see that leg."

Dodo had a small cut on her left knee and Delta was propping her sister up and rubbing her head gently as if Dodo was on her deathbed rather than suffered a minor injury, but that was Delta's nature, caring for those around her.

Steven scratched his chin in thought. "Hmm, let's see."

Dodo yelped. "What's wrong with it, Daddy?"

"I'm afraid we may have to amputate," he said as he mimed a sawing motion across her knee with this hand.

Dodo let out a high pitched shriek. "I don't want you to take off my leg!"

Lorelei cackled and Steven smiled to himself. He'd always been fond of her laugh, though she didn't let it out very often. Lorelei looked at her little sister and sighed seriously. "I'll have to assist Dad in the operation, it could be gruesome."

"But I refuse to let you take my leg!" she wailed.

"Oh you won't miss it, come on, before the gangrene sets in, then you'll really be in trouble."

The oldest Taylor sibling had clearly inherited her father's sense of humour.

Steven rubbed Dodo's head. "Calm down you silly thing, I'm not going to saw off your leg, not today anyway." He lifted her into the air and then plonked her back onto her chair and placed a bandage on her knee. "You'll live."

He then helped Delta into her chair and glanced at her. "And are you alright?" he said as he looked her over. He always had the feeling that his middle daughter never got quite enough attention in a family where Lorelei was the leader and where Dodo was the cute and loud one much like the young woman she was named after. Delta in contrast was quiet and sensitive and he knew he had to take more time to get to know her in the way he knew Dodo. "You want to be the first on the planet?"

And as he helped her toward the door, he touched his face and took a deep sigh. "I never did shave!"

"Silly Daddy," said Delta. "Silly, hairy monster, Daddy."

Steven pretended to growl at her like a monster and Dodo joined them by the door. Seeing her father's contorted expression, Dodo forgot all about her sore knee and burst into hysterical laughter.

"You're so silly Daddy! I'm laughing so much my insides are going to end up outsides."

Steven pulled the expression again and she laughed harder. "Daddy, stop it." She shoved him on the shoulder as he leaned over her repeatedly pulling the same expression.

Delta giggled too and started to prod him in the back at rapid speed. "Daddy stop it, my stomach hurts."

Finally, Steven, sensing that Lorelei was missing out on all the fun, pulled her up from her chair and did the expression right up close to her face. She tried not to allow herself to humour him but as she saw his face distort, a small smile curved on her lips.

Steven threw his hands in the air. "Now we have real lift off, a smile from Lori!"

"Don't milk it," she said with a slight chuckle, but folding her arms into what Steven had noticed had become her default pose.

"Eight going on eighteen," he said as he did the final checks on the console. "Are we safe for departure co-pilot?"

"You know we are. You just did the checks."

Steven frowned. "The answer to that should be 'yes Father, we did the checks and we're ready to depart.' Alright?"

"I hardly think my future space captain will need me to answer to 'father'."

"You won't have a father in a minute, I'm thinking of having you adopted when we go outside."

"Oh no!" Dodo said, shaking her head from side to side. "Mummy wouldn't want us to be adopted."

"None of you are being adopted," Steven said, wishing Dodo didn't take everything he said quite so literally. She really was remarkably similar to his old friend. He grabbed Delta and Dodo and lifted them into the air. "Come on, off we go. You too Lori, come on."

…

Arriving on the planet below, Steven made sure the girls had their satchels and made sure that they had everything they would need for the short trip. After walking for a few minutes, he told his daughters they would take a brief break and have a bite to eat.

"We have a short walk to get to the citadel," he said. "So we should probably eat now."

"Why do we have to walk?" Lorelei asked.

"We landed short of our destination by a little bit."

"You'd think they'd roll out a red carpet for a king."

"You know I hate all that fuss and I certainly don't want any of you requesting anything so silly." He sat down and signalled for his daughters to do the same. As he did so, he looked up at the blazing sun and realised how beautiful the planet was, even more striking than his own.

He reached into the supply box and pulled out three chocolate bars. "Better eat these before they melt." He rummaged around for a fourth bar that he'd packed but it appeared to be missing. "I could have sworn I'd packed four of these."

Suddenly there was a chorus of laughter from Lorelei and Delta, and Steven turned sharply to look at what his girls found so amusing. He knew instantly what it was when he saw the chocolate smeared all over Dodo's face like she had her own beard made of cocoa. When did she even have the time to grab the bar he wondered?

"Dodo!" he shouted, his voice raising several decibels over what felt natural.

"My laughter made my tummy empty," she said sheepishly.

He sighed. He couldn't possibly be mad at her little innocent and chocolaty face. "Fine," he said passing the bars out. "Lori and Delta can have one each and you and me, Dodo, can share, seeing as you've already scoffed yours."

"I don't want to share!"

Steven felt a sudden pounding in his temples. "You share with me or its no dinner tonight."

She fell silent at his command and there was awkwardness as they all began to chew on their own bars of chocolate.

Steven smiled. "Isn't this nice though, the king and his little princesses sitting on an alien world eating some delicious chocolate?"

After the family shared their treats together, Steven sighed in satisfaction at the quiet and the pleasant taste of his treat. "It's been ages since I had chocolate. Don't tell your mummy, she thinks I brought you carrot sticks."

Delta frowned. "Oh no," she said, reaching out and touching her hair. Her usual dark plaits that were long down each side of her head were now unruly and a mass of knots and tangles. "Daddy, my hair is awful. Lori's looks nice and mine is horrible. I don't want the planet's elders to see me like this."

Steven smiled at her warmly. He looked at his watch, realising they were dangerously close to being late. "Alright, come on- let's sort out your hair."

Fifteen minutes later, Dodo laughed at the sight of Delta's new hairstyle- two uneven plaits.

"Oh Daddy," Delta said sadly. "Does it look bad?"

"Of course not," he said, looking at the mess he'd made. "A little…uneven maybe."

She frowned as she looked at her older sister whose hair was always perfect. "Oh Daddy!"

"I'm sorry, I tried my best. You know mummy usually does your hair and anyway you're so pretty it doesn't matter what your hair looks like." He lifted her up into his arms and she placed her arms around his neck.

"I want to make a good impression on the people, Daddy."

"My girls are my proudest achievement and you always make a good impression," he said, looking at her. "Now stop worrying and let's go and say hello."

Lorelei grabbed Dodo's hand and they started off for their destination. Steven turned back every few paces to make sure they were still following. "You two alright back there?"

Lorelei laughed. "Dad we've not been kidnapped in the two seconds since you last looked."

"Sorry, just checking. I'd be a very sad daddy if my special princesses were hurt."

Lorelei and Dodo raced over to him and walked directly on either side of him. "Daddy's silly," Dodo said. "A very silly, hairy king!"