Hello Everyone. I'm sorry for the long wait, and because of that I won't waste any time getting into the story. Thank you all for the continued support. I'm sorry that I did not answer any questions in this Author's note, but leave your questions in the reviews for this chapter or PM me and I will have a section dedicated to answering them next time. Thank you so much!
"Hey Sweetie! How was… Oh my! Baby, your eyes are red!" Lilly exclaimed as she looked over her daughter's face. Blossom laughed dryly.
"My eyes are a lighter shade of red all the time, Mom." Blossom said as Lilly cupped her face. Lilly glared softly at her while wiping under eyes with a table cloth. In the back ground, Blossom could hear Blake happily gurgle and slap his highchair's table.
"You look like you've been crying." Lilly spoke softly. She looked right into Blossom's eyes, still seeing a trail of pain behind her orbs. "What happened, Baby? Was there another bully?"
Blossom sighed as she leaned out of her mother's touch. It wasn't that she didn't like it. No… Blossom loved her mother and her caresses, but if she continued with her caring assault, Blossom knew she would begin to cry again. She had to be strong for her parents. They made this big move for her and she would be damned if she cried.
Besides… She had enough crying for the day.
"No. Well, there's a girl who I'm not too fond of, but she's not the problem. To be honest, no one is really the problem… I'm just … I don't know." Blossom sighed again. She didn't want to look at her mom. She knew that her mom wouldn't accept the answer given, but maybe she would let Blossom go to her room and sleep.
It was quiet for a moment. Blossom looked at her shoes, while she felt her mom burning holes into her figure. Soon enough though, Lily gave in. Obviously, today was a hard day and the worse thing she could do is irritate it any more.
"Okay. Go rest some. I'll get you a snack if you like?"
"I'm not hungry." Blossom replied, heading to her room. As she walked she ran into Michael.
"Woah, Blossy. You okay?" Michael's eyes darted to his wife when he saw sudden movement from his peripheral. Lilly was shaking her head, telling him to let her be.
"I'm fine, Daddy. I'm just tired." Blossom spoke. Michael nodded slowly and kissed her forehead.
"Okay, Sweetie. Rest easy. I'll get you for dinner." Blossom nodded, and continued her journey to her room.
The adults waited until they heard the soft noise of Blossom's door closing before they turned and looked at each other.
"I'm worried, Michael. What if…? What if she's not happy here? Oh I hate this! I hate not being able to protect her!" Lilly gritted through her teeth. Michael came up to her and started to rub her arms soothingly.
"She made some friends and they seem like really nice girls. I'm sure whatever it is, it's just teenager hormones. We can't smother her, or she'll never learn to pick herself up. Her eyes are always going to receive attention. The only thing we can do is show her to love herself unconditionally like we do." He said, now pulling her completely into her embrace.
Blake's giggling became louder as he tossed mashed peas over his chair. Lilly instantly rushed out of the hug to clean the mess. Grabbing her cloth, she wiped the spots on the wall and commenced to wipe his face, hands, and chair.
"I know… but it's just painful. I don't understand why so many people have such an issue with her eyes. They're beautiful! She's beautiful! We have a brilliant, kind, and beautiful daughter! Why can't anyone else see that!" Lilly exclaimed. "Even the adults act immaturely."
There was a brief knock, suddenly at the door. Michael wasted no time in answering. Buttercup was standing at the other side holding her skateboard on her right side. She smiled slightly towards the older man, but Michael had seen that smile too many times before to know the true message.
"Don't worry, Daddy. I'm okay. I'm a strong girl."
"Hi, Mr. Richards. Can I see Blossom? It's kind of important." She asked. Desperation was laced tightly in her words. Her eyes held a similar urgency.
"Of course." He answered. He stepped to the side, letting Buttercup come on in. The ravenette squeezed through and shot down the hallway in search for Blossom. Blake cooed from his spot upon seeing the racing girl.
"I know, Blake. I love her new friends too." Lilly smiled kissing the top of his head. Lilly gazed back up to Michael who was slowly shutting the door. "You okay, Honey?"
"Hmm? Oh yes! I'm fine just something that came to mind. Well, I see Blossom is in good hands now. Wasn't even five minutes before one of them came over worried for her." Michael spoke looking down the hall where both girls were. Lilly nodded. She picked Blake up in her arms and cradled him close
"This move was good. I see that now. Where ever we go, there will always be something that causes an issue, but with her new friends, I know Blossom will be okay." Lilly said, coming up to Michael, kissing his cheek. "I'm going to put Blake down for a nap."
"Okay." Michael responded to his retreating wife. Then a thought occurred. "Since Buttercup is here, I'm going to head to the Utonium's to visit John." He called out to her as he opened the door and left.
"Yes, it seemed Blossom went through a spell of some sort earlier around lunch period. I could tell the girls needed their space so I let Buttercup and her use my room." John said as he placed a cup of tea in front of Michael.
"Thank you I really appreciate it. Blossom doesn't like to cry in front of others. She thinks it makes her look weak. I have no clue where she got that though. Lilly and I have always told her that it was okay to cry." Michael sighed.
"Buttercup is the same way. I didn't see her shed a tear until two years after her mother passed." John stated. He took a seat to the left of Michael. Science papers were sprawled over the far side of the table. Some had already been graded and placed neatly in a stack.
Michael's eyes darted to a picture that rested on the counter in the kitchen. It was a professional picture of the woman, Michael assumed was his wife, and Buttercup when she couldn't had been no older than four. John followed his gaze to the picture and smiled.
"Taylor would've loved to meet you and your family." John spoke.
"If you don't mind, How…?"
"Cancer." John answered. "Pancreatic. By the time they detected it, it had already spread. They didn't give her too much time to live afterwards."
"I'm sorry." Michael said, not really knowing how else to respond.
"Yeah…" John sighed. "I was scared. At the time, Taylor was a full-time mother. I made enough at the laboratory to support us without her having to get a job. She loved spending all time with Buttercup. Losing her, I didn't know what to do. I was scared that Buttercup would come to resent me for not being good enough. For not being like her mother."
"I can imagine… I have no clue what it would be like without Lilly to help me. Blossom never consults to me like she does with Lilly. If wasn't for I wouldn't even know what goes on in my own daughter's life. I feel so useless sometimes. "
"It happened again, Michael. They're getting worse. She's coming home with bruises and her face is puffy from crying." Lilly was pacing around their bedroom. Her voice was frantic as her hands fiddled with the fabric of her shirt.
"I'll go see if she wants to talk about it. Just sit and relax. Let me see what I can do." He smiled.
"No, I'm okay, Daddy."
"Are you sure sweetheart? Mommy tells me that those kids are hurting you?"
"They're just cuts and stuff when I fall down. I'm just fine. You and Mommy don't need to worry. I'm a strong girl." Blossom said defiantly. Her eyes were stern, but Michael could see the pain behind them. "I love you Daddy. I'm okay." She smiled.
But that smile was fake.
"They want to be strong." John spoke up, seeing the stormy expression on Michael's face. Micheal looked up and met John's eyes. "They want to prove to us that they can handle anything. To make us proud. Mothers are more sensitive and they sense that vulnerability within them. Us, as fathers, hold a much stronger disposition. Our daughters feel that if they don't show that same kind of character that we will be disappointed."
Michael nodded, understanding completely.
"How do you do it, John?"
John Utonium smiled kindly before he said:
"Buttercup only cried in front of me after those two years, because she saw me crying."
Michael walked back into his just as Buttercup was coming down the hall. She smiled at the man, and this time he knew it was genuine.
"Blossom is a strong girl. She's lucky to have parents like you and Lilly." Buttercup smiled. "Goodbye, Mr. R. If she needs anything, just tell her to give me a call."
"Goodbye, Buttercup. Thank you."
And at that, Buttercup left. The house was silent. Michael assumed that Lilly and Blake were sleeping, so Michael made his way to Blossom's room. When he got to the door, he peeked inside to see her laying down on her stomach. She was gazing down at something.
He knocked.
Blossom looked up at him and smiled. A sweet and kind smile that he adored.
"Hey, Dad." She greeted. He smiled back and entered her room. He came and sat on her bed as she sat up. What he had been looking at caught his eye.
An old picture of when they had gone to a carnival. Blossom was cradled in his arms as Lilly wrapped her arms around his waist.
"Blossy, I-." Michael felt his throat constrict. Blossom only looked at him with curious eyes. Beautiful and soft eyes that he loved more than anything. This was his baby girl. His sweet little girl that held the world on her shoulders, because she thought that's what she had to do to make him proud.
It was time that he took the world off.
"You know, when I was in middle school, I was bullied severely." He told her looking her in the eyes. They were wide with shock. "My brother was in the popular crowd, so him and I rarely conversed within the school walls. I was known as a geek who everyone could push around and cheat off of. Including my family."
"Really?" She asked in disbelief. He nodded.
"I was one of the smartest, if not the smartest, in the school. The faculty loved me for it. Everyone else would call the teacher's pet and a brown noser. Petty name calling. That didn't affect me. When they started to notice that, they started to get physical. I would get beat up after school, jumped between classes, and robbed for my lunch money and anything else I valued."
"What did you do?"
"Nothing. I just continued to let it happen. I told my parents and my brother, but that didn't help much. They didn't seem to care. I was alone." Michael answered. Blossom's eyes looked as if they were about to water. That's when Michael felt a warm stream slowly come down his left cheek. He touched the falling tear not even aware that he was tearing up.
"Daddy?" Blossom called out, holding his hand.
"I met you're mother in high school. She was one of the only people who were nice to me. You can say I fell fast for her. She was beautiful and smart. She had a great laugh and smile. She was someone I could talk to about anything and she actually listened. She cared. After a year of knowing her, I knew I wanted to marry her. We graduated at the age of eighteen, and married at the age of twenty. All those years of bullying didn't matter because I had someone who I could talk to about it. I just want you to know, I'm always here for you, Baby. I know your mother is easier to talk to, but I'm always right here."
Blossom flung herself into her father's arms. Renewed tears streaming from her eyes.
"I love you, Dad. I just didn't know what to say. I didn't want you to think I wasn't strong enough."
Michael chuckled as he hugged her back tightly.
"You're your mother's daughter. You'll always be strong enough, but don't forget you always have me right behind you if you get too tired to fight." He kissed the top of her head. He felt her nod. Neither noticed Lilly leaning the doorframe to the room.
"Thank you. Actually, I do have a problem." Michael pulled away a little to get a good look at her face. Lilly leaned in a little more to hear better.
"Shoot."
"There's this boy…"
Michael's heart dropped. Lilly froze.
The time had come for their little girl to deal with boys.
"I'm going to kill him." Michael growled.
"Dad!" Blossom shouted. Lilly could only huddle as her stomach hurt from laughter.
I know these chapter may seem slow, but I'm trying to show a family dynamic. You will see several chapters dedicated to each family and how they affect each character as a whole. So,s I promise, even though it may be slow, it is essential for me to move the story on with genuine feeling.
So, I wanted to introduce a sort of common relationship between fathers and daughters. Especially, when it comes to situations such as loss, rejection, or bullying. I feel like it's definitely something that plays a crucial role with those who have a single fathers, or a relationship where the bond is formed from immense respect. I made the Professor a single parent for two reasons, one of which will not be known for some time, but the other is because I wanted to nod towards single parents who raise children of the opposite sex. It can be quite difficult when trying to find common ground, and I find that very admirable.
Also, I would just like to say that this story is going to go deeper into real life situations. Ones that may be very difficult for some to read due to familiarity. I would like to apologize before I get too deep. My PM box is always open for those to talk to me. I would love to hear from you and your stories because everyone deserves to be heard, which is why I want to write these situations. I want everyone to know that it is okay, that life can be difficult and there is always someone out there to help.
This story is more than just a drama and romance. It's about bonds that are formed and how people can overcome life's trials by having friends and family around. I would love to just take this moment to say that I respect and admire everyone for their different obstacles that they face every day.
You are all beautiful and strong people. I applaud you and your efforts.
Thank you for your time.