Kevin couldn't believe his humiliation, and he sure as hell couldn't begin to understand how Jayden and Antonio felt. Though Riley was young, she never had any excuse for such a high level of disrespect. She had only been his daughter for a couple of weeks officially, but he wasn't going to let her behaviour or her old lifestyle get in the way of proper respect, dignity, morals, and values.

After apologizing to Antonio and Jayden for Riley's words, Kevin stormed in the house. Mia was already on the couch talking to Riley, but that wasn't enough for Kevin. He pulled her off the couch and pointed to the stairs.

"Goodnight, Riley."

"But it's not bedtime!"

"Goodnight, Riley," Kevin repeated. Riley smacked him in the leg as she stormed off to her room. Kevin didn't react. Riley wanted to get a rise out of him and he would never give it to her. He was in charge.

"Kevin," Mia sighed as she got up from the couch, "People have different ways of thinking. We all know that there are people out there…"

"People can believe what they want," Kevin shook his head, "but my daughter is going to show everyone respect. I don't care who they are, what they look like, or who they fall in love with. Riley's better than that."

"She was telling me some of the things her father used to say about… gays," Mia sighed. "She picked that up from somewhere. She picked it up from him. I think it's just a matter of…"

"I'll talk to her later," Kevin walked off to the kitchen to get himself a glass of water. Mia followed him with a smile on her face. She crossed her arms and leaned against the island counter.

"I know I don't really know your father," she said, "but I'm pretty sure you're doing exactly what he would have done to you."

"Do you have a problem with that?"

"None at all. Your father raised a fine man," Mia smirked, "but any doubts you had about being a good father, I think, just got washed away."

"I don't like being the bad guy," Kevin shrugged and let out another sigh. He looked to Mia, "She's going to hate me, right?"

"Four year old don't take kindly to being yelled at, or sent to their rooms, or being told no," Mia nodded her head, "You did all three."

"My weeks of hard work all gone."

"I'll support you. I don't like this behaviour from Riley either. In a few minutes, once we all a little calmer, we'll go up there and we'll talk to her. We'll make her understand why her behaviour isn't acceptable."

"You're good at this parenting thing," Kevin said. Mia gave him a smile.

"I have many talents."

-Samurai-

Emily was in the backyard with Storm, tossing a ball around. Storm wasn't big on fetch like Scruffy had been, but she loved to hunt. When Emily would toss the ball, Storm would go after it and hunt it down wherever it landed. Emily had several balls scattered around the yard. When Storm would be busy taking down one rounded prey, Emily would toss another to catch the dog's attention. It kept both of them entertained long enough for Storm to get the exercise she needed.

Mike finally came home after his appointment with Dr. Fletcher and while his dinner warmed up in the oven he stepped outside. Storm dropped her ball and ran over to greet him while Emily collected the toys and gave Mike a smile.

"Serena said you were seeing the doctor."

"He gave me a lot to think about," Mike nodded. He took Storm in his arms and sat on the garden bench. Emily joined him. Storm rolled over in his lap, begging he scratch her stomach. Mike complied, only because Storm gave him the adorable puppy face she had learned from Emily. "He says I need to work on forgiving Frankie."

"Forgiving him?" Emily shook her head, "After everything he did?"

"I didn't want to at first. I still don't think I ever can. But I had to walk home and… I think it might… I think it's something I have to try and do. I should at least give it a shot."

"You want to forgive him?"

"I'm not going to be friends with him," Mike shook his head, "And I'm definitely not letting him come around here or around you, but if I can forgive him, we can all move on. He may have actually changed."

"Frankie? Changed?"

"He came to me today. That's why Serena made me see Fletcher. He came to me to apologise. I don't know if he meant it or not but… I'm going to take a page from your book. People can be good. People can change for the better. People do deserve my trust from time to time."

"But Frankie? Mike, I don't like him, and that's saying something. The only person I hate more than Frankie is Dekker, and I was right about him too."

"I'm going to be smart about this," Mike wrapped one arm around Emily and held her close, "I'm going to forgive him smartly – for us. For our futures; for our baby."

Emily pulled away from Mike, "How… how did you…?"

"Wait, what?" Mike stopped scratching Storm's stomach and almost dropped the dog as he turned to Emily, "You're not?"

"I felt sick this morning," Emily whispered, "After you and Serena left for school. I… I could just be catching something but the last time I felt like this it was morning sickness and… I haven't told anyone. I haven't even taken a pregnancy test. I don't know."

"Do you want to take a test?" Mike asked. "I can go to the store after school tomorrow…"

"Then Serena's going to know."

"Don't you want her to know? She's your sister and she's done this before."

"Can't I just… can't I wait? I could have just eaten something or I could just be getting sick. It's not like… I mean, we can't just assume that every time I'm sick I'm pregnant."

"But Emily, the sooner you know…"

"I'll be smart, I promise. I just… I want a little time," Emily leaned over and picked up Storm, who after being dropped stayed by Mike and Emily's feet to growl at Mike. She hugged her dog and started to walk inside.

Mike put his head in his hands. He was really going to have to figure this all out soon. Frankie was not going to cost him or Emily their futures.

-Samurai-

Kevin decided he wasn't going to be the one to explain gay rights to Riley. He knew where he stood on the issue and he knew where he wanted his daughter to stand. This wasn't a matter of getting her to choose sides. She was still too young to understand. This was a matter of respect.

It was a sensitive and very complicated issue, and Riley was going to ask a lot of questions. Kevin was learning how to talk to his daughter, but he didn't know all the ins and outs of four year olds and communication just yet. Mia had a better understanding of how to handle these issues with kids and so she would take the lead. Kevin would be there in the room, nodding his head so Riley knew that her parents were a team.

Riley was obviously upset her parents had yelled at her. Because of the adoption progress, and because of her concussion, she had been coddled quite a bit. She hadn't gotten in trouble for a long, long time, and her new parents had barely raised their voices with her. This was a new challenge for all of them. The perfect arrangement was going to have to come to an end, and the downside of being a parent and being a part of a family was going to rear its ugly head. It had chosen to come up now.

Riley's protest was not getting in her pyjamas and sleeping on top of the blankets without her cuddly toys. Mia couldn't help but chuckle at Riley's definition of protest. Kevin rolled his eyes.

"I'm going to prefer this over the teen years, aren't I?"

"Let's just hope nature vs. nurture will take our side," Mia nodded, "Let me remind you we'll never really know what her nature is in terms of behaviour and attitude."

"If tonight's any indication, we have a handful."

"Tonight," Mia shook her head, "Try every day since I brought her home."

"SHH! I'm trying to sleep!" Riley put her pillow over her head, "Can't a girl get a proper time out?"

"Time out's over," Mia took a seat on the bed while Kevin squatted down on Riley's tea party stools and tried his best to get comfortable. Mia pulled Riley up and sat her down, "We need to talk about the way to behaved in front of your uncles."

"Daddy said…"

"I don't care what daddy said," Mia shook her head. "Uncle Jayden and Uncle Antonio are in love – yes. They are gay."

"Daddy said those are bad people. Daddy says they're going to burn in hell."

"Did daddy say why?"

"He said they were dispecting God. He said they were wrong."

"Well, regardless of how your daddy felt, Kevin and I are in charge of you now. What you said to your uncles was very, very mean. Uncle Jayden and Uncle Antonio have feelings too, and I think you hurt them."

"So?"

"What if I took away your… pink Ranger teddy," Mia took the bear from the bed and tossed it over to Kevin. Riley puffed her cheeks and her face turned red. She glared angrily at Mia.

"That's MINE!"

"What if someone told you that you weren't allowed to love your pink bear?" Mia asked. "That it was wrong."

"No! I love my teddy!" Riley tried to climb out of bed to take her bear back, but Mia grabbed her and held her on the bed. Riley's anger rose. "Pink Bear! Give me Pink Bear!"

"A lot of people don't like the Samurai Rangers, Riley. They might tell you it's wrong to like them. They might tell you that liking them is very, very bad. Some people might even say mean things to you because you like them, and because you like Pink Bear. How does that make you feel?"

"I want my bear!" Riley screamed to her father, "Give her back."

Kevin decided enough was enough. He passed the bear back to Riley who hugged it tightly to her chest and pulled away from Mia and Kevin. She curled up beside her pillow, "I love Pink Bear. And pink Ranger. You're the pink Ranger, Mia!"

"I know," Mia nodded. She took her daughter in her arms, "Uncle Jayden and Uncle Antonio feel exactly how you felt when I told you it was wrong to like Pink Bear. A lot of people say they're bad."

"But they like boys and they are boys," Riley said, "Peter said the pieces don't fit."

"Pink Bear Ranger is a girl, and you like her," Mia said. Riley looked down at her bear, hugged her, and then looked back at Mia terrified.

"I'm not allowed to have my bear?"

"Of course not," Mia shook her head, "You're allowed to love whatever and whoever you want. If anyone tries to tell you otherwise or tries to make fun of you for that, you tell me and Kevin, okay? Because that's not right."

"Okay," Riley continued to cuddle with her bear, a little scared it was going to be taken from her. Mia gave her daughter another tight hug.

"I want you treat Uncle Jayden and Uncle Antonio the same way. Just like you, they are allowed to love whoever they want. They both found someone who makes them very, very happy. Just like you and Pink Bear Ranger. When Uncle Jayden gets scared, Uncle Antonio gives him a hug. When Uncle Antonio gets scared, Uncle Jayden gives him a hug."

"Like Pink Bear Ranger gives me hugs when I have bad dreams?"

"Yeah."

Kevin knelt beside Riley's bed and looked right at her, "When you said Uncle Jayden and Uncle Antonio were bad people, you really, really hurt their feelings."

"Like when you took Pink Ranger from me?"

"Yeah," Kevin nodded. "They felt like that. If I say sorry to you, will you say sorry to them tomorrow?"

"You say sorry first," Riley turned her bear so it was facing Kevin, "Then I say sorry to them."

"I'm sorry Riley and Pink Ranger," Kevin looked his daughter and her bear in the eyes. He felt ridiculous, but he knew it needed to be done. "You are allowed to love whoever you want. I will respect that and I will never, ever take Pink Ranger away from you, Riley."

"Can I call Uncle Jayden and Uncle Antonio?" Riley looked to her parents, "I'll say sorry for hurting their feelings."

"I'll go get the phone," Mia nodded her head. She gave Riley a kiss on the cheek and then left the room. Riley sat awkwardly with her father and played with the ears on her bear. Then she spoke up.

"Kevin?"

"Yes, Riley?"

"If boys liking boys and girls liking girls is so bad, why did God make people like that?"

Kevin didn't know how to answer this question at all, and started to panic. To begin, he wasn't very religious. He had spent most of his life focused on training and being a Samurai. When he wasn't in a dojo, he was at the pool. There had been no time for churches, synagogues or mosques. Religion didn't mean much to him.

But this incident opened his eyes. Riley came from a family that did believe in God, and he wasn't about to rob his daughter of her religion. Even if he knew something about her God, or any god, he wasn't sure he would have an answer to that question, or any others she would ask. No one really did have an answer.

Until one came to mind. One he felt comfortable giving her. He took her in his arms, gave her a hug and said: "Everybody is special, Riley. You're going to meet a lot of people who are different."

"Like how you and Mia are different? And I'm different?"

"Uh… yeah. We're all different. You have to be nice to those people. You have to treat them with respect."

"What's respect?"

"Respect is all about being nice. You don't say mean things just to hurt someone. You help them when they need help. You treat others the way you want to be treated. You need to be a good girl."

"Am I a good girl?"

"You are a very good girl," Kevin nodded his head.

"Even when I said Uncle Jayden and Uncle Antonio were bad people?"

"Your words were bad. Riley, you don't have to worry about this. Mia and I are going to teach you how to be respectful."

"And you can start with that apology," Mia walked back into the room and handed Riley the phone, "Both your uncles are listening."

Riley snatched the phone from her mother's hand and pressed it to her ear, "I'm sorry I hurt your feelings."