Bill sighed as he plopped down on the couch. It had been a long day for him and all he wanted to do was rest, probably for the rest of his life. He knew the relaxation wouldn't last, since Cricket would be home from Remy's soon and his mom would be finished with her bath in a moment, so he enjoyed the silence while he could. Thankfully, Tilly was a relatively quiet and non-reckless kid, so at least she wouldn't cause him any issues.
Come to think of it, Bill hadn't seen Tilly since breakfast. He wasn't concerned, he just found it odd. He figured she was probably with Cricket and Remy, so he remained still on the couch while watching whatever came on tv. His eyes shut after a while as calming thoughts entered his mind, thoughts of peaceful farmland and livestock. Oh, how he missed the country. Not that he could complain about his life now, though. He had food on his plate, a roof over his head, a loving family. What more could he ask for?
Unfortunately, his quiet time was cut short when he heard the familiar laughter of his kids coming from down the hall. He found it quite odd, since he didn't think they were even home yet. He sighed and reluctantly stood up from the couch, already wishing he had just taken the day off from work.
"Ooh! Look at this one!" Cricket said before bursting into a fit of laughter, with Tilly quickly joining.
Bill stepped into his room, where the noise was coming from, seeing his kids sitting at his desk. He raised a brow and looked to see they were on his computer, looking through old photos. The one in particular that was making them laugh was an old photoshoot of him in his high school years—which he did not want to relive.
"What in the— what are you kids doin'? I thought you were at Remy's." Bill said as he walked up behind them. "How'd you even get on there?"
"Word to the wise, ya might not want to make your password 'password'." Cricket glanced up at him, then back at the computer. "And we've been home for a while."
"We've been lookin' at good datin' sites for you, Papa." Tilly informed.
"Remy suggested a thing called , but that was like, super complicated." The younger boy said, "So we just decided to go with what Gloria uses, BigCityDating. It's supposed to work really well to find good matches!"
Tilly looked up at their father, "So we started lookin' through your photos to pick a good profile picture."
Bill sighed and rubbed his eyes. Though he found it sweet what his kids were doing, he still didn't think it was necessary whatsoever. "Kids, I already told you, I don't need to go on any dates, I've got a great life." He said in his defense, "Datin' might just mess that all up."
"How so?" Cricket asked.
"I—I don't know, it just will!" He said, "Why're you even doin' this, Cricket? You hate the idea of romance."
"Eh, got nothin' better to do." The boy shrugged.
Tilly frowned a bit, "Why exactly don't you want to date, Papa? Is it cause you're afraid of rejection?"
"No." Bill scoffed. "I could care less."
"Is it cause you're afraid you won't find your soulmate?" She asked, tilting her head.
"That's probably the least of my concerns." He shook his head.
Cricket remained fixated on the computer screen as he spoke, "Is it cause you're not ready to move on from Mom?"
Bill blinked, biting the inside of his cheek to avoid gasping. He immediately shook his head in denial before it could appear that he was hesitating. "No, trust me, I've moved on." He sighed, "Look kids, I appreciate you wantin' me time get back out there, but I'm happy with how things are. I've got you two to worry about, anyway."
Tilly sat up, "Papa, please do this for us, then. For me? Please? Just give it a chance. Go on one date, and if you hate it, you never have to do it again. Please? Pretty please?"
He was about to reject the idea and put the conversation to an end, but then he saw Tilly begin to pout. He sighed in defeat, since he knew he couldn't say no to those puppy eyes.
"Fine. One date." He agreed, Tilly's eyes instantly lighting up, "You better find a good match, though."
"We will!" She nodded. "You won't regret this."
Bill scoffed and rubbed their heads before he walked away, "Yeah, alright."
