Here's a new chapter! It's number 10 and I'm very excited! All the follows, favorites and kind reviews you have left make me smile everyday! Thank you so much!

Sorry it's kinda short! I hope you enjoy it anyway!

Special thanks to Amber for helping me out with this chapter! :)

Astrid and Henry had been on several more dates and they had all been wonderful.

They had been on dates so much that Laila was kind of starting to feel left out and a little lonely. For five years, she had been quite nearly the center of all his attention with very little else taking precedent over her. She was his princess after all (he always made it a point to call her that). Perhaps she had been a bit spoiled with his attention because quite honestly she was getting tired of sharing him. But then again, she wasn't used to her dad being romantically involved with anyone.

He wasn't ignoring her and she knew that. He spent most days with her. They had gone to see movies and been to the aquarium and to a museum, he took her to her dance classes, played tea party with her and read with her like he always did. Yet, she was still sort of jealous.

Mostly though, poor little Laila was just confused with how she felt about her daddy daring someone.

She couldn't explain it really, she was bright, but she was only five. She tried to tell her daddy that and grew so frustrated with her lack of ability to explain her feelings and wound up crying.

After her dad asked her a few easy to answer questions, he understood.

All that lead to an outing with Astrid that wasn't really a date because Laila was with them. That was the point of course.

They had gone out to eat and were going to the park and then to get ice cream afterwards.

Laila was walking between her daddy and Astrid, holding her stuffed dragon under her arm. They had decided to walk to their destinations simply because it was a beautiful day. The grown ups were talking, and talking to her, but she had noticed something was bothering her dad a little, but she didn't say anything.

When they reached the park, Henry said he was to sit down for a second on a nearby bench.

"Are you okay?" Astrid asked, concerned. Laila looked unbothered, which was odd because Laila was very protective over her dad.

Henry sighed. "I'm... fine, my leg just- it hurts. You two go on, I'll catch up in a minute."

"Are you sure?" Astrid questioned.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Go on."

And so Astrid and Laila started off towards the playground, which wasn't very full despite it being a summer weekend afternoon. It was cloudy, but it wouldn't rain yet.

"Does his leg bother him often?" Astrid questioned the little girl.

"Sometimes when it's going to rain." Laila was shockingly very comfortable with Astrid. She had been from the moment they met.

"Did he hurt it recently?"

"No," Laila replied simply. "It's not there. Can I go on the playground now?"

Astrid blinked in surprise. What did she mean it wasn't there? He lost his leg? He was wearing a prosthetic? How come he never said anything? How did she not notice? "Sure you can. I'll be right here."

"Can you hold her for me?" Laila held out her toy dragon.

"Of course," Astrid took the dragon from the little girl, who smiled sweetly and thanked her before running off to the playground equipment, leaving Astrid to herself on a nearby bench. She tucked the dragon in her bag.

A few minutes later, Henry limped over and sat next to her.

Astrid turned to look at him. "How's your leg?"

"Better," he replied, sounding a little like he was still in pain.

"Laila told me." Astrid replied quietly.

Henry looked uncomfortable. "She did?"

Astrid nodded. "She doesn't seem bothered."

He shrugged. "It's the only way she's ever known me. She doesn't know any better."

"How long have you-?"

"Been part robot? Since I was fifteen."

"What happened, if you don't mind me asking?"

"I was hit by a car... drunk driver. I spent a week unconscious in the hospital and woke up missing half my left leg." Henry didn't really look directly at her as he spoke.

"I'm sorry." Astrid said quietly, not knowing what else to say.

He shrugged. It had taken days to relearn how to walk again with his prosthetic and had gone through several over the years because of his growing. It was kind of a pain and kind of embarrassing to be honest. He hated to tell people, he didn't want pity and he didn't want to scare people off. He hadn't wanted to tell Astrid yet, but the impending rain had different ideas and had made it ache.

"It's okay. I'm used to it."

Laila came running over. "Daddy, does your leg feel better?"

"Yeah, it does."

"Can you push me on the swings?"

Henry stood up. His leg still kind of bothered him, but he didn't really mind it anymore. He had gone on an out of state trip in high school where they walked for hours and he had pushed through it. He would push through it for Laila for any reason, even something like pushing her own the swings. "Sure I can,"

Laila beamed and took his hand.

Astrid followed behind them and since there was no bench near the swings and there was almost no children, she sat on the swing beside Laila, the girl's purple dragon poking its head out of her bag.

Henry pulled Laila back "Ready?"

"Ready." Laila replied.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes!"

"Super sure?"

"Yes, Daddy!" Laila kicked her legs a little. She could swing on her own, but she couldn't get as high as she liked without her daddy pushing her.

Henry pulled her back even further and let her go, making Laila giggle happily.

Astrid smiled at the scene. She could definitely get used to days like this.

A/N: There will be a lot more romance soon, I promise. I think I'm going to skip ahead in time a little.

Thank you for reading!

~Pink