"¿Cómo te fue… en… la... escuela?" asked Pete. How was school.

"Bien," answered Lizzy. School was good.

Father and daughter were on the couch in the living room, having another one of their Spanish conversations, which happened a lot more frequently now. Sometimes Ellie joined them, but even when she did, she mostly just watched. She understood a lot more Spanish than Pete, but she said that as long as she could understand what her kids were saying, she was okay sticking to English. She had, however, put both Juan and Lita in extra Spanish classes after school, so that they would not lose their first language.

"¿Tienes… trabajo para la casa?" asked Pete.

Lizzy smiled. She knew Pete was trying to ask her if she had any homework, but he hadn't quite got the word 'homework' right.

"Papa, it's 'deberes'" she told him.

"¿Deberes?" repeated Pete. "For homework?"

Lizzy nodded.

"Oh okay. Well, ¿tienes deberes?" he asked again.

"Sí, de historia y quimica." Lizzy had history and chemistry work… neither of which she was looking forward to doing.

"Ah bien… y… uhm… ¿qué tal la… clase? Buenas… uhm… how do you say 'grades'?"

He was trying to ask how classes were going, and if she had good grades.

"Notas. Grades is 'notas'. And classes are going okay, I have straight A's" said Lizzy, feeling proud of herself.

"Ah muy bien, muy bien…" said Pete, giving her a big smile and thumbs up. " Y... ¿qué tal… tu… novio?" he winked as he asked this.

"¡Papá!" Lizzy exclaimed, blood rapidly flowing to her cheeks.

Pete had asked how her 'boyfriend' was.

"¿Qué? ¿Charlie no es tu novio?" he teased as he asked 'isn't Charlie your boyfriend' in Spanish.

"Oh my god…." Lizzy covered her face with both hands in embarrassment.

"¿Qué? ¿No puedo preguntar… de tu novio?" Pete's smile grew wider as he asked if he wasn't allowed to inquire about her boyfriend.

"No, dad, stop, he's not my boyfriend!" Lizzy moaned.

"¿Seguro? Porque parece tu novio." 'He sure looks like your boyfriend' Pete teased.

"Oh god…"

"Ah… ¿estás embarazada?"

"OH MY GOD. DAD! THAT'S NOT HOW YOU SAY 'EMBARRASSED'!" Lizzy yelled. She wished the earth would swallow her whole right now.

"Whoa whoa, okay, that's fine, why are you getting so riled up?"

"Because you just asked me if I was pregnant!"

Pete's jaw dropped.

"Pregnant!? Whoa, well you sure as hell better not be pregnant, missy!" he exclaimed.

"I'm not! Oh my god." Lizzy brought her hands to her head in exasperation. "You know what? I have a lot of work to do, I'm going to my room," she said, standing up to leave.

Pete grabbed her arm and pulled her back.

"Wait, no, no sweetheart, wait, I promise I won't tease you again. Just a bit more? Please?" he begged.

Lizzy sighed.

"Fine. But let's talk about something else," she said.

"Whatever you want," said Pete.

"Okay well, since I passed my drivers' test… ¿cuándo me vas a comprar un carro?"

Now it was turn for Pete's blood to drain from his face as he faced the question every dad dreaded. When was he buying a car for his 16-year-old daughter?

"You know what? You're right. You have a lot of homework to do. I'll let you go now."

Lizzy smiled knowingly, leaned in to plant a kiss on Pete's forehead, and turned to leave.

"See you later!" she shouted as she went up the stairs.

"Later," Pete sighed.

He may be off the hook this time… But he knew that wouldn't last for long.