"Daddy, why did you and Mummy break up?" It was late at night nearing 10pm and Eddie was in charge of putting Aria to bed tonight. Eddie sighed, turning to face his adorable daughter. He knew that he couldn't just avoid her question forever. The dirty blonde sat on the side of Aria's bed and pulled the covers up and over her, tucking her in.

"That's a good question Ari, but I just don't know the answer. We were stupid and we fought over you, and I'm sorry for that." Eddie combed a piece of Aria's stray hair out of her face and tucked it behind her newly pierced ears, which Joy had taken her to do. Eddie might not be able to take her shopping at the mall or do girly things with her when she grows up like painting nails and giving advice –boy advice- but he was going to be there for her, no matter what. Aria smiled up at her Dad.

"That's okay, because now I have two Mommies and a Daddy. So in a way, it's better than before because I only got to see you sometimes. But now, I get to see you lots of times, and that makes me happy." Eddie smiled back at Aria. Aria could always make him smile, no matter what. Maybe it was because she reminded him so much of Patricia, but he had a soft side as well as his regular side, and no one saw it as much as Aria did. Not even Patricia when they were together. Another thing about Aria was that she had two last names. When Patricia and Eddie divorced, Patricia didn't bother to drop his last name and just kept it as her own.

This sometimes bugged Joy, but she never told Patricia. When Patricia and Joy became a couple, they were originally going to get married, but decided against it just for the time being and to wait a little longer. The thing was that Aria was considered under Joy's custody as well. When Aria was born, she took Eddie's last name. After they split up, Patricia decided to give her Joy's last name as well, hence her new full name being Aria Sophia Miller/Mercer.

"Come here," Eddie said, moving closer to her and giving her a big hug. "I love you, you know that right?" he told her, kissing her on the cheek. She nodded and Eddie could feel her long red hair brushing against him.

"I love you too Daddy," she whispered. "I really am glad you came back." Eddie continued to hug her, not wanting to let go just yet.

"I am too, trust me. I came back without giving it a second thought." Aria smiled and pulled away to lock eyes with Eddie.

"Mum's glad too, you know. She hasn't been this happy in ages." Eddie smirked at this comment. Something about it made him laugh, knowing that he still made Patricia happy.

"Goodnight lovebug," he whispered, giving her one last kiss. Aria accepted it, and fell back onto her bed to snuggle under the covers with her favorite stuffed animal that her dad got her for her third birthday. Yes, she still had it because as a young toddler, it was really all she had to protect her from the fighting, and the screaming, and the hurt. It provided her with comfort during the time of her parents' break up that no one else would give her. It was her everything, from that moment on.

Eddie turned to leave and shut off the light and as he did, he looked back at Aria. She looked so cute snuggled under her covers with her long red hair covering half of her face. Her crystal blue eyes fluttered closed and her small little hand peeking out from under the blanket, clutching onto her stuffed animal. Eddie smiled at the sight of her, and thought of ust how adorable she was, especially with her British/American accent that was here and there. Joy would often correct her on pronunciation and sometimes even her teacher would call on her for it, so Aria would have to use her English accent around them. But here at home, when she was with her Dad, she could use her American accent all she wanted and there would be no one to tell her no, or that's wrong.

The blonde took one last look at his daughter before turning off the light, leaving the room and shutting the door. He strutted into the kitchen to get a drink of water before heading off to bed himself, and was surprised to see that both Joy and the baby were still up. Joy sat in the rocking chair that they had in the living room with Alex in her arms, rocking him and trying to get him to fall asleep. "I see you're still up," he said to her quietly." Joy looked up at the boy and gave him an attempt at a smile that turned into a slight laugh.

"I see so are you. You're really good with her, you know. I see the way she acts around you Eddie; she loves you a great deal." Eddie closed the fridge and walked over to Joy, opening his water and taking a sip.

"I know, and I love her to. I mean, she's my daughter, and my first kid. How could I not?" Joy smiled this time before looking back down at the baby. She let out a small sigh.

"No matter what, I can't get him to sleep. I've tried for two hours," she explained. Eddie tilted his head to the side in thought. He put down his water bottle on the table beside them and turned back to Joy.

"Can I try something?" he asked. The brunette looked up at him to see if he was serious, which he was. She handed Alex over to Eddie, and Eddie rocked him back and forth in little swaying movements very slowly. They saw Alex yawn as his little baby hand rose in the air like he was stretching. After a few moments, Alex was fast asleep. Joy's eyes went wide, not believing what just happened. "There," Eddie said, handing Alex back over to his Mom. "Try not to wake him." Eddie smirked at Joy, who started laughing.

"So you're great with girls, and boys now?" she asked. Eddie shrugged while picking up his water.

"Maybe it's a gift," he said teasingly. Joy went on her tiptoes and gave Eddie a kiss on the cheek and whispered to him 'thank you' before heading off to put Alex to bed. Eddie was shocked for only a brief second, whispered goodnight, and then headed off into his room to sleep. Patricia and Joy shared a room, Eddie had his own room, and so did Aria. Alex slept in the nursery upstairs where the girls' bedroom was. Aria slept on the main floor, and so did Eddie.

Eddie changed into pajama like clothes and plopped into bed. Laying on his back the American stared at the ceiling thinking about what Aria had said about Patricia being happier than she was when they had broken up. Something about that made him smile, and kept him smiling every time he thought of it. His mind soon calmed down enough to let him fall asleep. Not too far into the night, a strange noise caused Eddie to wake. He sat up and rubbed his sleepy eyes, preparing to investigate if needed. He was both relieved and surprised to find that it was only Aria coming into his bedroom.

She shut the door behind her after entering and climbed up onto her father's bed, dragging her blanket, pillow and stuffed animal along with her. "What's wrong, Aria?" Eddie asked, pulling her closer to him. Aria hid her face behind her puppy and shyly answered him.

"I had a nightmare." Eddie moved over and let the girl crawl under the covers with him, covering herself in both her light blanket and her Father's warm comforter. Eddie rolled over onto his side and looked the girl in the eyes.

"Feel better?" he asked while giving her a reassuring smile. She returned the smile, and nodded. "Good. Now, try and get some sleep, okay?" Eddie ruffled her hair slightly and repositioned himself so that he could fall asleep. At some point, Aria had moved closer to Eddie, and slept while clinging onto his arm. Eddie never noticed until they woke up, but of course he didn't mind.

*It was now the day before Mother's day, and Aria was already downstairs eating breakfast with her Mum and Dad when Joy came downstairs with Alex. She sat the baby in his highchair and fixed him some breakfast of his own. Alex Jonathan Miller/Mercer was eleven months old. He had Eddie's eye color, but he looked like Joy. Even though he was young, he had a god head of auburn hair that had a sort of curl to it. He had a nice little tannish tone to his skin as well. Joy yawned while pouring herself some coffee and fixing herself some breakfast now too. "So Aria," she started, taking a seat at the table. "Are you excited for today?" Aria nodded eagerly, very much excited.

Ever since Patricia and Eddie broke up and Patricia and Joy got together, they made this tradition. Now, every year, the day before mother's day Aria is allowed to spend the entire day with just her father. She loved this, because Eddie just recently moved in with them, and before, she hardly ever got to see him. Still, sometimes she rarely gets to see him because he goes to work, and she has school. Eddie looked forward to it too. Patricia and Joy got to see her every day and do things with her all of the time. It's nice when he gets to spend time with his daughter alone.

"I'm really excited, because Daddy and I are going to do lots of fun stuff today, right Daddy?" Aria's crystal eyes met Eddie's and he smiled down at her, getting up from the table and standing behind her. Aria tipped her head back to look at him, her hair falling over the back of the chair.

"Right and the fun starts right after you're done." Eddie leaned down so his eyes were right above hers, which made her laugh. He then proceeded to grab his jacket from the hall closet before pulling it on and zipping it up. Patricia stood from the table and walked over to Eddie, requesting a word in private.

"Aria told me about her nightmare last night," she said, crossing her arms over her chest. Eddie studied Patricia's emotions and body language.

"Okay, arm crossing is not a good sign." Patricia sighed.

"You didn't let me finish. Her nightmare was losing you, Eddie. In her dream, you were gone. She wouldn't tell me why or where you went, but you just disappeared and she never saw you again." Eddie's face froze in shock. He certainly wasn't expecting that.

"Patricia you know I would never leave her. I love Aria just as much as you and Joy do." This was true, in fact. Eddie loved Aria very much. Maybe even more than Patricia and Joy did. Patricia looked at the floor.

"I know you wouldn't. And Eddie," she continued. "This isn't the first time this dream has occurred." That was all she had said. The redhead turned and walked away before he could say anything, or ask any questions. Aria came running into the hall and Eddie scooped her up.

"Are you ready to go?" she asked hoping that the answer was yes.

"Of course I am, Ari." Ari was a nickname that Eddie gave to her when she was just a baby. Only he calls her Ari though. They all have their little pet names for her, in fact. Eddie calls her Ari, and when it's only them around, lovebug. Joy calls her sweet/sweetie and sometimes boo, and Patricia calls her velvet because of her hair. Then there are the usual nicknames/pet names that they all call her.

Eddie brought Aria back out to the kitchen to say goodbye before taking her out to the car strapping her in and heading off to the park. The whole ride there he kept wondering what Patricia meant by this isn't the first time this dream has occurred. Would he ever find out? Maybe he would ask her when they got home, or maybe he would just lay low until Patricia decided to tell him. Should he ask Aria about it? His thoughts were interrupted by the young girl's voice.

"Daddy, what are we gonna do today?" she asked with a very excited look on her face. Eddie looked back when he had the chance.

"Whatever you want to do, lovebug." Aria smiled and thought for a minute.

"We should go to the zoo after the park! I love the zoo." Eddie looked at the girl's facial expression in his mirror and he could tell she really wanted to go.

"We haven't been to the zoo since your Mum and I broke up," Eddie remembered. Aria looked down at the floor of the car.

"But that's why I love it so much, because you and Mum were so happy, and we were a family." Eddie's eyebrows dropped slightly at this, and he felt a knot in his stomach.

"But we're a family now," Eddie told her. Aria sighed, shuffling her feet.

"Yeah, but now it's different. You and Mummy aren't the same, and I miss it." Eddie's heart sunk a little and he could tell that Aria's did as well. He hated that she felt this way, and he hated putting her through it all. "I love our family now, but I miss our old family sometimes."

"I know, Ari, I do too."