It was the week before school started which meant it was time to do back to school shopping. A couple of Rosie's girlfriends were going clothing shopping and invited her to join. She had checked with her dad, and he agreed. He would take her to get the supplies another day, but he thought clothing shopping would be more fun for her with her friends. He told her to just get whatever she needed and put it on the card. And also, to make sure what she got would fit the schools dress code and that he would be looking at what she got so not to try and pull something over on him.

Rosie chuckled and agreed that she wouldn't try to get anything that wouldn't be approved for school.

Cass picked her up around ten that morning. She was the last to be picked up and climbed into the back seat. It was a full car.

"Hey!" She said

All the girls greeted her, and Cass drove to the mall, and they all went in. They shopped for school clothing for a few hours. Before going to the food court and getting lunch.

"So. I have news." Rosie said with a smile.

The girls all looked at her. "I have a date on Saturday."

The girls all gasped and squeed. "With who?" they all asked

Rosie chuckled. "Nolan." She said

More squealing and excitement came from all the girls.

"Where is he taking you?" Cass asked

"To a restaurant. Not sure exactly what one. He wants it to be a surprise. All I know is I need to dress nicely." Rosie said

"Do you know what you are wearing?" One of the girls asked.

"Not a clue." Rosie said

"Should we look for a dress while we are here?" One of them asked

"I don't know. Maybe." Rosie said

"Yes. Lets do it." Cass said with a smile.

They finished eating and headed to a dress shop and Rosie tried on a bunch of dresses.

Rosie ended up picking a pink dress it had pink, purple and white flowers at the top. It sat just above her knees. She also picked up a simple pair of white flats that went perfectly with the dress.

When she was ready she paid for the dress and shoes. She paid for it with her own money as her dad hadn't approve her to use the card for it. She knew he probably would, but she didn't want to take that chance.

When they were done at the mall Cass started to take people home. Rosie was dropped off first. She said bye to everyone and headed inside with her bags of clothing. Sascha barked from inside his crate. This had been the first time she had left him alone. Rosie knew her dad was at work. She put the bags on the table to show him later. Than she went and opened the crate. Sascha ran to the back door which Rosie unlocked and opened letting him out. She closed the screen door before going to the fridge to see what she could pull out to start for dinner in a couple hours.

She took out her phone and texted her dad. 'Just letting you know I'm home.'

Since everything happened with the neighbour she knew her dad was on edge about her doing just about anything so she figured letting him know she was home would help her case for being allowed to do more.

Dave got the text. He sent back 'Thank you for letting me know.'

She looked outside and Sascha was chasing around a squirrel. "Sascha. No. Leave him alone."

Sascha looked up at her and stopped. "Come inside." She said opening the screen door and Sascha came to the door and went inside.

"Good boy." She said. She made sure his water was filled before going to her room and pulling out her backpack from the closet and looking through to see what she had that she could use for this school year. She put all the paperwork from last year inside a large binder and put in on the shelf of her desk. She looked through the rest of the bag and took everything out before going and putting the backpack in the washing machine. She went about her day.

Around five she went and started to make dinner. She put some chicken in the oven and prepared some vegetables to be baked closer to when the food would be ready. She was just finishing up putting it in when the front door opened. A few minutes later her dad came into the kitchen.

"Hello." He said

"Hey dad." She said.

Sascha started to dance at his feet. Dave chuckled and pet him abit. "How did he do in his crate?"

"Barking when I came in but that could just be because he knew I was home." Rosie said.

Dave nodded. "Lots of bags on the table."

"Yup. You said you would check. Go ahead." She said with a smile.

Dave nodded. "I'm sure its fine. I trust you."

"I got a dress for my date Saturday too. I paid for that with my own money though." She said

"You could have put it on the card." He said

"I wasn't sure. Doesn't matter." She said

"You could have texted and asked." He pointed out

Rosie shrugged.

"Rosie. I know you are still adjusting. I know you spent many years being told you weren't worth spending the money on things that weren't necessary." He said, "but I want to be able to buy you thinks you want on top of everything you that you need."

Rosie took a breath and looked down.

"So. I'm going to be giving you the money you spent on the dress." He said

Rosie looked up. "I make money why shouldn't I be able to spend some of it?" She asked

"You can. But you have been spending a lot of it lately. On things that I want to be providing for you." Dave said

Rosie let out a breath of defeat.

"Rosie. I want to. This isn't a burden for me. The day you were born I made the choice to take care of you. And part of that is providing you with everything you need. And some things you want." He said

"Some things?" Rosie said with a smile. "If I have mentioned in passing wanting something. Within a week I have it."

Dave chuckled. "Okay. But how often have you actually said you wanted something? More often I come home, and you have gone and bought yourself whatever you have wanted." Dave said

Rosie looked down and chuckled abit.

"And have you been saving any money? Its important you learn how to save for your future as well." He said

"Um. Well…" She said

"Okay. I think it might be time for you and me to sit down and talk about how to handle your money." He said

Rosie sighed.

Dave pointed to the table and Rosie went and sat. "I will be right back." He said. He went to his office and grabbed a folder of documents that he had prepared for this conversation. He went back to the kitchen and sat down.

"So. Lets start with answering my question. How much have you saved?" Dave asked

Rosie pulled up the app on her phone for her bank and opened it up. When they had opened her bank account they had opened a checking and savings account. She slid her phone over to him so he could see.

Dave looked at her phone and shook his head at the zero balance in her savings. He started to talk to her about how to budget her money. And such. By the end of their conversation things had been figured out and Rosie had a better understanding of budgeting and saving.

They could smell the chicken cooking and Rosie looked at the time. She went and put the vegetables in the oven "Should be ready in about half an hour." She said

Dave nodded. "I want to see this dress." He said

Rosie nodded and went and got the bag with the dress and brought it over. She took the dress out and showed him.

"Wow. That's a beautiful dress." He said

Rosie smiled. "I love it."

Dave noticed the bag seemed to have something else in it. "What else is in the bag?"

Rosie reached in and pulled out the shoes. The receipt fell out with them. Dave picked it up. "I will get give you the money for this. But put it in your savings. Okay?" He said

Rosie nodded. "Okay."

He looked at the shoes. "Very nice." He said

Rosie smiled and nodded. When she was done showing him she took all the bags to her room and put all her new clothing away.

Dave set the table and filled up the dishwasher with the dishes In the sink before he checked on the food in the oven at half an hour and checked it was done. Rosie came down and they both ate.

"Tomorrow after work. I'm going to take you to get the school supplies you need." Dave said

"Okay." Rosie said

"You have the list of what you need?" He asked

"Yup." Rosie said. "And been through the stuff I already have. Some of the things from last year I can use this year again."

Dave nodded. "Okay. If your sure." He said

Rosie nodded. "I am. I'm cleaning my backpack too."

"That's a good idea." He said.

Rosie finished eating and got up bringing her plate to the sink. Dave did the same and the two of them cleaned up from dinner. Rosie fed Sascha before going and taking her backpack out of the washer and laying it to dry. She didn't know what the dryer would do to it, so she didn't bother to find out.

She and Dave decided to watch a movie together to end the night.