A few months have rolled by and things were getting easier for Barley and his daughter Angel. Soon enough summer came.
Angel's group has expanded when she revealed that she can do magic at her elementary school. Another girl named Farren joined their group which Angel was more than happy about since she was a little intimidated being the only girl in the group. Farren was the type of girl that plays video games at the arcade and didn't care about ballet and girly stuff, and she played Quests of Yore like Angel so the two girls hit it off right away.
Barley was at work taking a break. He went into his section of the break space and there was a large board that he was preparing. Sure enough, there were pictures of Him and Angel. Some were from now...some were from when she was a baby.
"What's this Bar?" a troll co-worker asked
"A present for my daughter Angel...What do you think, Merlin?"
"It looks amazing...How old is she turning?"
"Six...Her birthday's next week"
"Ah, she's a summer baby huh and it's close to Father's day"
"Yeah.." Barley also forgot that her birthday was a day before father's day and he didn't want to be upset at his daughter's birthday, as Angel would get worried about him a lot and She always wants him to be happy and vice versa.
"So...how's the house your moving into…" Barley looked at the troll "Does Angel know yet?"
"I plan on telling her tonight...I don't know, She's grown up in the house and I'm not too sure if she's ready for the change…"
"I understand...I'll leave you to it…" Merlin left Barley as He admired his daughter's birthday gift
He luckily came home early to hide Angel's birthday present in the attic and left to pick her up from school.
Later on at home, Angel was doing her homework while everyone was doing their own thing
"Can we please have a pool party for my birthday?" Angel asked her father
"Of course sweetie" Barley replied. "Angel, there's something I have to tell you"
"What is it?" Angel asked flying to him on the couch.
"Well...We are going to have a new house" Barley spoke.
"We're moving away…"
"Well...Not away from New Mushroomton sweetheart, just getting a new house"
Angel was a little confused. "Are we going to come back here?"
"Well…" Barley looked at Laurel to try and help
"What your father means sweetheart, is that when people move houses, they go to a new location…"
"Are we going to come back here...to visit?"
"Of course Angel… On occasions" Barley replied
Angel looked away for a second and she had a small smile
"Okay…"
Barley then kissed her head. "That's my girl...I know change is a little hard, but sometimes change isn't so bad"
"I know Papa..." Angel subtly spoke
Then the day before Angel's birthday came. The winged girl was, of course, pumped for her big day as well as helping the adults with the decorations, mainly the banner and a few ballons. Her five best friends were coming and Barley told her that a few of his co-workers would bring some of their kids to meet her, which Angel didn't mind
"The more the merrier Daddy" Angel beamed. Barley knew that his daughter was a people person like he was.
Then the big day arrived. Laurel and Ian were preparing a big birthday breakfast for Angel while Barley went back into his room to wake his daughter
Angel was still fast asleep in her bed, clutching onto Mr. Fluffy while lightly snoring
"Angel...Happy birthday" Barley whispered
"To you" Angel yawned
"No princess, it's your birthday"
"It's my birthday" Angel beamed
"Yeah...Come here my little mage" Barley scooped up Angel and gave her a bunch of kisses
"Daddy" Angel giggled. Then Barley pulled up her pajama shirt and blew a big raspberry on Angel's tummy
"That's one sweetie" Barley had the idea to give Angel raspberries for how old she was turning and he gave her six
"Happy birthday Angel.." Barley said, nuzzling his nose against his daughters
"Thank you Daddy" then Angel began to sniff.
"I guess somebody's birthday breakfast is ready"
"I wonder what it is?" Angel asked
"It's a surprise, little maiden"
Angel was excited about surprises. She was sat down at the table and a large plate was waiting for her. There were pancakes with whipped cream and sprinkles and blueberry syrup, scrambled eggs, raspberries, blackberries, and green apples mixed together and chopped up and strawberry milk.
"Mmm," Angel licked her lips. She thanked Laurel and Ian and began to chow down on her breakfast which she loved
A few hours later the guest arrived and the party kicked off with a bang. Angel and her friends really had the party started to hang out and a few of the co-workers' children came too. Angel then started to notice that they were in separate circles of cliques and the adults noticed it too. Angel pondered on how to fix this...then she knew what to do
"LAST ONE TO THE POOL IS A ROTTEN EGG" Angel yelled. She and the rest of the kids jumped into the pool and they all started to play water games like tag and Marco Polo
"Marco", Angel yelled
"Polo" the other kids tried to swim away from her. But Angel had a technique of swimming underwater and she managed to get one of the kids and it was their turn and the game went on.
"KIDS, Pizza's here" Laurel called out. All of the kids rushed out of the pool to get their slices of pizza. Angel had the bright idea to bring her pizza to the pool and her father follows after her
"Pizza in the pool?" Barley asked her
"Uh-huh," Angel spoke, munching on her slice.
Barley ruffled her hair and joined her along with her friends from school
"You eat pizza at the pool?" an elf girl asked Angel, who nodded her head. "You're weird"
"Sure am" Angel muffled. Then it was time for presents. Angel got a mixture of things, from a bunch of Quest of Yore figurines to a few more stuffed animals. Angel couldn't wait for her father's present because Barley saved his the best for last and it was the best.
He showed her the board and Angel covered her mouth and tears were forming in her eyes
"Sweetie are you okay?" Barley asked her. She nodded her head
"Happy tears" Angel replied. She flew into his arms and they embraced each other causing a lot of "awws" to fill the backyard.
Then They had red velvet cake and they celebrated with sparklers and lots of pictures being taken during the party. After all of the party guests have left, Angel was happy but tired, as the party left her all pooped out of her energy to play Quests of Yore. Barley tucked her into bed and gave her a kiss goodnight.
"Happy birthday Princess" Barley whispered.
The next day was much different than yesterday. Barley was more quiet than usual and He didn't greet Angel with lots of hugs and kisses like he would usually do. Angel knew that something was wrong. She flew over to her uncle Ian
"Uncle Ian, what's wrong with Daddy?" Angel asked
"I don't know, I haven't seen him this upset before?"
"Did I do something wrong…"
"Of course not,"
Angel had her doubts. She ran outside in the backyard and pulled some flowers from the garden and ran back to where her father was sitting on the couch and She gave him the flowers and then there was nothing. She tried giving him a piece of her leftover cake and still nothing
Then she realized that tomorrow was Father's Day. She spent a few hours making a card for Barley, but she had to make it extra special, to lift up his mood. She smiled when she was finished.
Later that night Angel snuck out of the room, only to spot her father still sitting on the couch, but this time he was holding onto something. She tried to go back inside but a hiccup gave her away
"Angel...You should be asleep" Barley quietly scolded her quickly wiping away his tears
Angel clutched onto her teddy bear "I was hungry…" Barley softly smiled. He knew that wasn't the reason. She just wanted to check up on him since he was upset the whole day
"Come mere" Angel then smiles and gently trotted over to her father and sat on his lap.
"Daddy?" Angel said
"Hm"
"Are you mad at me for forgetting father's day?"
Barley fiercely wrapped his arms around his child. He was a little mad at himself for letting her think that being upset was her fault. He gently kissed her head
"No sweetie...The gifts were really sweet of you...It's something else"
Angel tilted her head "What is it?" She asked
"Wait here sweetie" Barley left into his room and came back with a picture. It was a picture of Barley as a toddler being taught how to play the lute by his father
"Who's that?"
"That princess is your grandfather…" Barley softly declared
"My...grandpa" Angel said
"That's right…"
"Where is he?
"He...disappeared sweetie pie"
"Where?"
"I don't know...Today was the anniversary of when I had to say goodbye to him...He was sick...I was supposed to go in and say goodbye….He didn't look like himself...He was fun and energetic, but at that time he was sick and tired...I got scared….And I didn't go in"
Angel felt horrible for her father. Her heart broke seeing her father like this.
"That's when Daddy decided that he was never going to be scared ever again"
Angel then spotted tears coming from her father's eyes and she took her pudgy hand and wiped them away and gave him a big hug
"I made you something...I was going to wait till morning but I think you need it now" Angel said. She left and returned with the card that she made. She gave it to her father and Barley read the card.
"What do you think?" Angel asked
Barley began to smile warmly and wrapped his large arms around her, being careful not to crush her wings.
"I love it, sweetheart...You're my little princess" Barley said rubbing his nose against his daughters causing both of them to exchange chuckles
"We should get some sleep...Okay
"Okay"
Barley then tucked her into bed and Angel reached a hand to him
"You're not gonna lose me, Daddy…" Angel spoke
Barley softly smiled at her. "What would Daddy do without you?"
"You'll always have me" Barley kissed her head and he allowed her to get some sleep. His heart swelled that his daughter would always want him happy and he wanted to do the same for her. That was how close they were to each other.