Movie theaters never held the best of memories for you as your mind always travels back to the times you would be squished into the seat between your parents on a dreary Saturday afternoon. You would be dragged there once your parents ran out of ideas in order to keep you occupied at home in the forty-eight hours that you didn't have to attend school. As a small child, you used to love the attention that they paid to you on these days and you found yourself praying for rain on your days off from school. But eventually you began to grow up and Saturday dates with your parents became a source of embarrassment. However, Saturday dates with your parents also became something you wished that you could have again, and you find yourself questioning your motives as you drive to meet the father and daughter duo that held your affections as of late. Your fingers are tapping along with the song that is currently playing on your radio as you turn onto the small street that they live on. When you finally place your car in park in front of their house, letting the engine idle for a moment you pull down the visor and proceed to look at yourself. Wiping at the tears that gathered under your eyes at the thought of your parents you close your eyes and take a deep breath, steadying yourself for the afternoon ahead.
When you look up again you can see Lex standing on the front porch which now proudly holds an American Flag. She's waving her arms at you erratically and you smile and send her a small wave in return as you begin to gather the items you will need for the afternoon, shoving your phone into the left side of your bra and grabbing an extra elastic off of the shifter in case Lex needs to pull her hair back during the afternoon. When you finally exit your vehicle Luke has joined his daughter on the front porch and you can't stop yourself from thinking that he looks incredibly delicious in a pair of cargo shorts, a light blue t-shirt, and a pair of converses that you find match his daughter's. You smile at him, keeping your sunglasses on your face as they are the only reason you can currently see, and approach Lex with your arms open.
"Lex!" The excitement in your voice doesn't go unnoticed by you as she runs over to you and wraps her arms around you in a tight hug. She runs over to the blue truck once she lets go and you decide to turn your attention to her father, reaching out to slide your hand into his in a quick greeting, as you both haven't sat down to talk to Lex about your budding relationship.
"So," he begins, his right hand reaching up to scratch at the base of his skull and you smile warmly at the sight. "I really want to kiss you right now, and I was hoping that after the movie we could tell her about us." He says, looking down at his shoes before looking at your face. You take your hand out of his and move your sunglasses up on your head, pushing your hair out of your face.
"Or, we could take her out for frozen yogurt and tell her now," you suggest, looking at him and biting your bottom lip. "I think I was trying to recreate my childhood today and it's...I want to focus on happy things. The future." You tell him as you grip his hand again.
"So you see a future with me?" He asks, turning to you with a cheeky grin. Your eyes dart between him and his daughter with a soft smile.
"Lex, do you want to go get frozen yogurt instead of a movie?" You call out to her, avoiding his question. The small child ponders your question, turning her palms up in front of her and begins literally weighing her options before she turns to you with a nod.
"Sure, but I also want to bring Roxy," she says turning back to the house in order to get the other girl in Luke's life, and he jogs off after her. You find yourself pulling your hair over one shoulder and braiding it, the weight of it in this summer heat something that you can't deal with. When the three of them return and Luke has buckled both Lex and Roxy into their respective seats in the back he helps you into his truck and buckles you in, pausing in front of your face with a slow smile and a deliberate lick of his lips. You let out a laugh, throwing your head back as you push against his face, and settling your sunglasses back onto your face as he walks around the truck.
He chooses a table that is situated under a tree and upon further inspection, you find that the tree has grown around the table, a point which Lex finds amazing. The tree provides ample shade and you decide to switch your sunglasses for a blue pair of glasses that you have floating around in your purse. The action giving you something to focus on as you battle your nerves of telling one of your favorite people in this world that you're dating her father. You had known the pair of them for well over a year and you find yourself wondering exactly where this year had disappeared to.
"Princess," he begins, clearing his throat and you look at him in confusion at the nickname. He shakes his head with a laugh and looks back at his daughter. "Lex, Penny and I wanted to talk to you about something." He amends and you smile at him while digging your spoon into his frozen yogurt to grab a cheesecake bite. Lex doesn't look up but hums a sound to show you both that she is listening as she continues eating her treat. You look over at Roxy who is lapping slowly at a cup of vanilla frozen yogurt, ignoring the three of you as she does.
"You're not supposed to call her that, Daddy," she says after she finishes chewing on a gummy bear. "You get upset with me when I don't listen..." Lex trails off and you have to cough to suppress a laugh.
"This is different, Lex," he says, scratching at the back of his head again looking over to you for help, to which you hurriedly shove a spoonful of your yogurt into your mouth and look at him with wide eyes and a shake of your head. She had always been nothing but kind and respectful to you ever since you met her, but this was new and uncharted territory for the both of you. The pair of you had discussed in length that you were the first woman he was ever going to introduce to Lex as his girlfriend, and it frightened you both equally. "Penelope and I wanted to let you know that we like each other," he finally says, spooning some of his melting yogurt into his mouth and you find yourself watching once again as his mouth wraps around the plastic spoon. You've never wanted to be an inanimate object before in your life, but today was a day of firsts.
"I know." She shrugs and looks up at the both of you with a smile. Her tongue pushing into the space between her teeth on the right side of her mouth. You smile back at her, remembering the poorly written text message alerting you that she had lost another tooth last night.
"You know?" He asks turning to look at you before he looks back at his daughter. "How?"
"I saw you two kissing last week," she says reaching out to take a bit of Luke's yogurt. You reach out to wipe at the corner of her mouth with a napkin, a bit of the strawberry yogurt had spilled over as she finished up her bowl. Luke turns his head to look back at you, yogurt forgotten and you can tell by his eyes that he's begging you to say something. You clear your throat after emitting a small giggle which earns you a glare from the man.
"Are you okay with that?" You ask her. She looks back up at you with a wide grin.
"I can't wait to tell Abuela," she says inching her spoon into your cup for the cherry you pushed off to the side for her. "She owes me five dollars!"
You look back at Luke, eyes wide, mouthing the words did she bet money on us? He nods, speechless as he watches his daughter happily eating the remnants of your frozen yogurt. He reaches out to tuck a piece of hair behind your left ear and smiles softly at you, reaching over he places a gentle kiss on your lips before leaning his forehead against yours.
"I don't know why you were so scared." He whispers and you let out a laugh, pushing on his chest but he refuses to move away from you. He rubs his thumb over your left cheek and you lean your face into his palm, your eyes closing with a soft sigh. "I'm going to let my daughter collect her money tonight because I'm taking you out on a proper date." He whispers as his mouth hovers over your ear, his breath causing a sudden rush of desire to run through you with his words.
A/N: I've had a really shit day, I've been up for about 30 hours. This story makes me happy and I just want to be happy right now.