"Hey Roy, could you finish up these files for me, I gotta pick up my little girl from school."

"She's twelve Dick, I bet she ain't gonna appreciate being called little anymore."

Richard rolled his eyes. "She will always be my baby."

He shoved his things into his briefcase and rushed out the door of the JCPD. He slid into his car and stamped on the accelerator, whooshing out to the highway. It was jam packed.

He sighed. He was going to be late.

His phone started buzzing, "Hey Rae."

"Richard, I'm calling to remind you to pick Renee up." He could hear her printer tiring itself out in the background.

"For the fifth time since you left last week. It's fine, I've got this. I'm almost there."

"Don't you lie to me, Dick, you're stuck in traffic aren't you?"

Richard chuckled lightly. "From 300 miles away. I'm impressed Rae."

"Don't be, be punctual." She said.

"I am punctual, most of the time. I'll be at the airport at exactly 8pm, ma'am. You're back tonight, right?"

"Yeah, my flight is in two hours." He heard her zip her bag. "I miss you both so much."

"I would think it's obvious but we are barely getting by without you." He said melodramatically. "Well I'll see you soon Professor Grayson. I love you."

"Love you too."

He pulled into the emptying pick up point, and spotted his daughter. She was with a boy. He eyed them, squinting to see better.

Suddenly, he saw them duck behind a tree and kiss.

He saw fire.

His knuckles turned white and he was sure he had permanently deformed the steering wheel of his car, but he didn't care.

He considered calling Raven right away but eventually decided against it; she would probably be on her way to airport by now.

She would have told him to calm down. To be reasonable. He took a deep breath.

He was an adult. He would handle this like an adult.

So, he would not storm out of his car and dismember the boy kissing his daughter, instead, he would wait it out. He would be calm.

It would be so easy, he thought, make the kid disappear, remove the traces. No one would suspect a thing.

He slapped a palm against his face. He was thinking like a criminal. Though, he supposed this was as justified a reason for a crime as any.

"Daddy? Your face is red."

He nodded. Silent treatment it was, then.

"Daddy?"

He remained quiet and drove away, at the highest legal speed, from the school.

The colour drained away from Renee's face."oh my god, you saw…"

He drove them home, barely keeping his sanity, and slammed the door after she came in.

"Daddy, it's not what you-"

He stared daggers at her.

"Oh my god! It was just a kiss!"

She stomped up the stairs to her bedroom and slammed the door equally as hard as him.

Sighing, he texted her.

Going 2 airport at 8. Be ready.

…

They didn't talk at all, the whole way to the airport.

They waited at arrivals, for a while, before seeing Raven duck out of the doors.

To Raven, it looked like two strangers being forced to stand together because of the crowd. She graced them with a smile, anyway.

"Mommy!" Renee ran up to her and hugged her.

Richard grimaced. Raven raised an eyebrow.

He took her luggage trolley off her hands and gave her a quick hug and a look.

"So, how was your week?" She asked Renee once they were all settled in the car.

"Good."

"Just good? Be expressive. Good isn't a descriptor of anything. It is neither an adequate nor sincere adjective. You should stop using it."

"This isn't a lecture hall, Rae."

Raven rolled her eyes. "That's what you get for having a literature professor as a wife. Renee? How was your week?"

"Infuriating."

"Better… either of you want to tell me why you both look like you want to simultaneously stab each other and cry tears of anguish together?"

Richard sighed. "She was kissing someone, Raven! Kissing someone. She is twelve."

"Exactly! I am twelve, which means you don't get to tell me what to do anymore, Dad!"

"Yikes. Sorry I asked." Raven placed a comforting hand on Richard's shoulder. "We can discuss this when we get home… but for now let's talk about my trip."

…

They had dinner in silence, remind Raven of her unfortunate, occasional family dinners. There was just a horrid aftertaste to everything.

"Okay, this is pointless. Renee, I would like to see you dressed for bed and back down here in five minutes, okay? And Richard, let's talk."

Raven sat him down, and pressed a light kiss to his forehead. "It was just a kiss, Dick."

"It wasn't just a kiss. It was a kiss kiss."

"Oh. Was it Devon? That kid is a regular casanova. He's always flirting -"

"Rave, you gotta take this seriously. She is twelve years old, she is just a kid."

"She isn't as young as you think. When did you have your first kiss, Richard?"

They turned to the sound of footsteps clambering down the stairs.

"Renee, please have a seat." Raven gestured to the opposite sofa.

"This isn't going to be like the birds and bees nonsense is it?"

"Not in the slightest. We are here to discuss, your affair this afternoon. Richard,"

"Who is he?" Richard crossed his arms, teeth clenched.

"Leon Cleveland. He's in my class."

"Okay, it's okay. We just want to make sure you know what you're getting yourself into." Raven touched Richard's hand.

"Why did he kiss you?"

"Richard, please." Raven turned to Renee. "What he means is he is worried for you and would like you to re-evaluate your choice."

Renee buried her face into her hands. "I've had a crush on him since third grade. He asked me out today. So I said yes and then we kissed. That's all there is to it."

"Oh, well that's fantastic." Richard eyed her. "Fantastic that you told us that. But are you comfortable with this relationship?"

"I am fine, mom."

"You are twelve, how do you even crush on someone since third grade?" Raven slapped a hand over his mouth.

"Thanks for telling us, sweetheart. Off to bed? It's almost eleven."

"Thanks, mom. You're the best." Renee stuck her tongue out at her father before she left.

"What was that? Get back down here young lady!" Richard's voice bellowed through the house.

"Dick! Calm down. It's just a crush. It's not like she'll be off having sex in two weeks." Raven said, leaning in to his side.

"They are dating. She is just a kid!" he said as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

"When did we start dating?"

"We were much older, we were almost graduating junior high."

"We were twelve, Dick."

"But it wasn't serious at first. It was just…"

"Two kids with a crush."

"Oh."

Raven pecked his cheek. "Don't worry about it. It's just a childhood crush."

"You know, I had a childhood crush on you and now we're married so that doesn't change anything, Raven Roth-Grayson."

"Well, in that case, at least she won't be with that Devon kid. He is the school's most notorious flirt. Remind you of anyone, Dick?"

"No…"

…

Renee took a deep breath. She checked herself in the mirror again, before checking her phone.

I'm at your front door, do I knock yet? -Leon

Duh, dumbass, hurry up! Daddy hates waiting. -Renee

Okay, I'll see you in a sec. -Leon

She heard the doorbell and her heart stopped. How, for the past two years, her mother had kept her father from killing Leon, she had no clue. It might have helped that her amazing mother had never let the two meet, but alas. D-day.

"Good evening, sir. I'm Leon Cleveland."

Renee got down in time to see an evil glint pass through her father's eyes as he took Leon's handshake.

"A pleasure, Leon Cleveland."

Her mother appeared from down the hall, dressed in a lovely purple dress. "Leon, how are you? Come in, let's have a seat."

Renee sighed. It would be a long evening.

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