Reed woke up first.
"Shane… Shane?"
"Mhmm," Shane grumbled, his face muffled by the pillow.
"Do you smell… burning?"
"Hmmm?" Shane sniffed, then sat bolt upright. The couple shared a glance, but before either of them could stumble out of bed, an eight-year old girl tiptoed into the room.
"Oh, did I wake you up?" The girl sounded disappointed. Her sleek, black hair was pulled up in two messy, uneven pigtails, and she was still wearing matching My Little Pony pajamas. The men smiled and sat straighter.
"Oh, no, honey, it's fine," Reed soothed.
Shane patted the mattress between him and his husband. "What's up, Annie?"
The girl raised a finger and scurried out of the room, returning moments later with two carefully balanced trays. Reed winced involuntarily. Annie set the trays in front of her fathers. Pulling fancy, cloth napkins off the trays with a flourish, and declared, "Happy Fathers' Day!"
"Oh, wow, Annie! That looks… delicious…"
"Yeah… Yum!"
Annie curled up next to her dads as they tucked into their breakfasts- burnt toast, rubbery eggs, and sticky glasses of orange juice.
"Oh!" the girl cried. "I forgot! One second!"
"Annie, what are you-"
But she'd already scampered off. Reed bit his lip worriedly. "We should go-"
Shane placed a comforting hand on his arm. "Let her do this by herself."
"But-"
"She'll be fine."
Two seconds later, the two heard a small cry from the kitchen. Reed squirmed under the tray, careful not to knock it over. Shane was right after him. They appeared in the kitchen to find their daughter holding a sharp knife and staring at her finger.
"Oh, honey," Reed cooed, wrapping her arms around the girl. "Come here."
Reed guided her to the sink and gently ran her finger under water. Shane appeared moments later with a Band-Aid. Reed patted her hand dry and smoothed the bandage carefully over the cut.
"I wanted to cut up some fruit for you," Annie explained apologetically.
"I know, sweetheart, it's okay." Shane smoothed his daughter's hair and led her back to his and Reed's room. The family settled into the bed, and the fathers poked at the breakfast Annie had made for them.
"Tell me about when I came home," she yawned, curling up under the covers.
"Well," Shane began, "a long time ago, Reed and I decided that we wanted a baby. So we talked to a lot of people and filled out a lot of papers, and finally, they told us that they had a little baby girl who was just perfect for us."
Reed joined in. "They said that your mommy loved you a whole lot, but that she wasn't able to take care of you. She loved you so much that she let you go so that you could be taken care of."
"So they sent a lady to get you and bring you to us. You flew across a huge ocean for hours and hours, and we came to meet you."
"We couldn't believe you were real. I kept thinking I would wake up and realize it was all a dream. It was all too good to be true."
"And from that moment when the lady gave you to us…"
"…we've never stopped loving you."
But Annie didn't hear them. She was fast asleep, tucked under their arms. The fathers kissed their daughter on the forehead.
"Happy Fathers' Day, Shane."
"Happy Fathers' Day, Reed."