Another little jump in time for this story. Now Rebecca is saying more than just a few words, it's a shame she's a teenager, so not all of these words can be nice. I imagine this is an argument had by many families, and while I'm sure Gar is a permissive parent, he would also be very protective so as not to lose any other members of his family.

Enjoy.

Story: Daddy's Little Girl
By: Shawn "The Unfunny Joke" Wheeler
Disclaimer: All characters are property of their rightful owners.
Summary: A girl's father really only has one true enemy. Boys.


Garfield watched as his daughter finished brushing her hair as he sat quietly in a chair. Rebecca had an awful habit of doing that in the living room just as she was about to leave. But he wasn't really interested in that at the moment. He was currently more interested in her choice of clothing. Whatever happened to dressing casual? He wasn't expecting her to don a suit of armour or anything, but a pair of sweat pants and a baggy shirt would be a nice change.

"Bye mom, bye dad." Rebecca smiled as she placed the brush she had been using on a nearby table and blew a kiss towards her parents. "I'll be back by ten thirty, and I'll be sure to say hello to Kevin for you."

Garfield tilted his head to the side and looked at his daughter with blank and questioning eyes.

"Who?"

Rebecca paused at the doorway as if hit by a brick wall before turning towards her father. She looked as if he had just said the stupidest possible thing imaginable.

"Kevin." She said again, though it still didn't really ring a bell to him. "Kevin Orbell, the guy who is taking me out tonight."

Garfield shook his head as a negative reply while the information he had just received registered into his mind.

"Taking you out?" He said each word slowly as he mulled over just exactly what that meant. "As in, a date? You're joking, right?"

Rebecca sighed in disgust as she turned her head towards Raven.

"Mom, I thought you said you'd tell him! You said he'd be okay with it!"

Raven looked to be just as in shock about the whole situation as their daughter was. Suddenly Garfield felt as if he had just become the bad guy in the current situation.

"I did." She replied evenly as she eyed her husband. "And he was."

He should back down. He knew that look, and he should back down. But this was his daughter, his little girl, that they were talking about and he was not about to simply give up on the matter.

"I don't seem to remember any conversation about Becca going out on a date." He rolled his eyes up into the top right corner of their sockets in an attempt to look deep in recollection. "No, that really doesn't sound like the kind of thing I'd okay."

He could tell that his daughter was furious, and if not for his wife's influence over the years would have been stating her opinion of the matter in a very loud and offensive voice. Luckily, she knew that such an attitude would not go over well with him.

"Dad," She started in a low and reasonable tone, though seething anger was apparent to anyone paying attention. "I'm fifteen years old. It's one date. Dinner and a movie and that's all."

"I don't…"

"Now, can I go? I promised I'd pick him up at eight, and it's already ten to. And remember, mom already said I could."

He turned his attention to said mother with a frown, but didn't say a word to his daughter in protest. He had lost this round and knew it. He did however let his wife know his feelings at the moment with an almost pathetic pout.

"Traitor."

"Think what you will." She replied before smiling towards Rebecca. "Run along now, I'll take care of your father. I suggest you use a rather large bird if you want to make up for lost travel time."

As if immediately forgetting her previous anger, Rebecca beamed towards her mother and rushed out the door shouting a quick "Thank you" and "I love you mom".

As soon as the door was closed however, the two parents looked towards each other in a less than warm manner. Garfield had no idea why Raven was mad at him; she was the one that let their child go gallivanting off with a boy.

As if knowing what he was thinking, Raven let out a loud sigh.

"We talked about this last night Garfield." Oh, she used the whole name. He really was in trouble here. "I told you that she was going out tonight and you didn't seem to mind at all."

He scrunched his face a little trying to remember exactly what it was that she was talking about. Suddenly he remembered his wife saying something along those lines, and the simple 'alright' answer he had given her.

"Yeah well, when you said 'going out', I really didn't think it would be a date with this Kyle guy." This much was true, his answer would have been very different if he had known of that little detail.

"Kevin, Garfield. And you would have known all about it if you only would have asked. It wasn't a secret; Rebecca has been very vocal about her excitement all day."

Garfield shied his eyes away slightly at this. Had he really been missing that much about his daughter's life? He was losing ground here, time to get the ball back in his court.

"Do we even know anything about this Kevin guy?" This was a very good question. Not just any punk could be expected to come and date his baby.

Unfortunately, Raven let out another tired sigh. Apparently they did know something about Kevin. At the very least, she did. And from the sounds of it, what was known was nothing inherently bad.

"We met him last month at Rebecca's school. His family was ahead of us in line to talk to their math teacher during meet the teacher night."

"Oh yeah… I kind of remember that." In truth, he could barely remember anything about that day besides the science teacher taking a keen interest in his genetic structure. "I had a bad feeling about that kid the moment I met him. Never liked him at all."

Raven laughed slightly to herself, though Garfield could tell that it wasn't due to any kind of amusement. Somehow he had managed to dig the hole he was in a little bit deeper.

"Really? Not at all?" She was looking at him quite incredulously. "I suppose that's why you were laughing and joking with him the moment he mentioned that you were his favourite super hero of all time."

He scoffed at the remark, dismissing it as if it were nothing at all.

"Of course he would say something like that. He was trying to butter me up so I wouldn't suspect he was trying to take our daughter from us."

"What are you talking about?" Raven asked exasperated. Suddenly didn't seem quite so mad now. "Is that what you're worried about? It's only a date. She is growing up you know, and there isn't a whole lot that the two of us can do to stop it. We might as well just get used to the idea."

"So, you aren't completely happy about this either, huh?" He paused and scratched the tip of his ear for a moment. "I know she's growing up, but does she have to grow up quite so fast?"

"I'm fairly certain that she feels that she isn't growing up fast enough." Raven walked quietly across the room and sat gently on the armrest of the seat her husband currently occupied. "Either way, we have to let her. We'll just have to watch from a distance to make sure she's okay. But you have to realize that the odd date isn't going to take her away from us."

"Easy for you to say, she loves you." He said recalling that Rebecca had neglected to say as much to him when she had left.

Raven placed a hand on his arm for comfort.

"She was angry. When I'm mad at you I do the same thing, but you still know I love you."

"That's true; she is a lot like you when she's angry." He laughed slightly. "I guess that's why I'm so terrible at dealing with her when she's mad."

Raven just rolled her eyes, which was good. That meant that she wasn't quite as mad as she had been.

"So," She started, looking down at him from her perch on the armrest. "Are you going to stop and let Rebecca have this one?"

He sighed as he wrapped an arm around his wife's body. He really had no choice in the matter. Raven was right, Becca was growing up whether he liked it or not and he had to simply accept it. Besides, she was only fifteen; it wasn't like she was off getting married or anything. And he trusted her judgment well enough. If she thought Kevin was alright, then perhaps he was.

"Alright, I'll call it a truce. However," He lowered his voice slightly. "If he ever makes her cry, I won't be responsible for my actions."

In response, Raven simply leaned into his embrace.

"Gar, if he makes her cry, I'll hold him down for you."