Notes: Thank you all for the wonderful reviews! Nomination for the First Annual Year's End Fanfiction Awards is open until January 15th! Nominate all your favorite stories! See the thread on the Daughters of the Moon Writers forum.

Circus

Chapter 3

Lillian rubbed her eyes as she trudged down the stairs that morning. Her dad was already in the kitchen, dressed and ready to go, when she pushed the door open.

"Not an early bird, I take it," he said after observing her.

"Usually I am, but I just had trouble sleeping last night." She suppressed a shudder at the thought of her terrifying visions of guys with yellow eyes and sinister smiles surrounding her and three other girls, none of whom Lillian had ever seen before outside of her visions.

"Coffee?" he held up a mug.

"Yes, please." He poured her a cup and handed it to her across the island. "So how long have you been up?"

"Oh, four hours or so."

"Four hours! It's only eight!"

"Yeah, I know. But I wanted to get out to the beach before you woke up."

"The beach? You hate the beach!"

Dad raised his eyebrows. "Really? Huh, must have slipped mind," he said with a laugh.

"I'm serious. You used to hate taking me to Lake Union."

"That's because Lake Union is not the ocean. I've always loved the beach."

"So what did you do there at four in the morning?"

"Surfed."

"When did you start surfing?" Was it worse than she thought? Was her father actually having a midlife crisis? So what if he didn't look forty, he could still be suffering from it!

"When I was about ten."

"You never told me that!"

"Your mother was not a fan, and the surf is nothing up in Washington, so it never came up."

"But what about when you moved down here? You never told me, and we talk on the phone once a week!"

"Your life is far more interesting to me than mine. I wanted to hear about your life."

"Okay, so you can name all of my friends and know stuff about me, but I know nothing about you. I didn't know you could cook or that you surf. Do you have a girlfriend, friends?"

"I have friends, no girlfriend. I'm sorry, Lillian, I didn't realize you wanted to know anything about me. I'll introduce you to all my friends; I'll take you surfing; we can do whatever you want to do, and if one of those things is learn about my life, than that's great." He set a plate of scrambled eggs on the counter for her, and she slipped onto the stool and began to shovel them down her throat. "Woah, there, kiddo, no need to eat so fast."

"We're going shopping today, right?"

"Right."

"So…" she waved her fork around as though it should be obvious.

He chuckled and shook his head. "Of course, of course."

After finishing her eggs and coffee, Lillian ran back upstairs to her room to shower and dress for the day. Forty five minutes later, the father-daughter duo left the house together, ready for the day, though Lillian seemed far more enthusiastic than her father.

"What about her?" Lillian pointed with her straw several hours later, as they sat outside a restaurant.

"Nope."

"You don't think she's pretty?" Lillian looked at her father incredulously. For the past half hour she had not gotten him to admit to finding a single woman she pointed out for him attractive. How was she supposed to get him a girlfriend if she didn't know his type?

"She's pretty; she's just not my type." He looked at her. "Lil, I doubt you're going to find my type here."

"Come on, Dad! Just tell me your type. It's not blondes, redheads, or brunettes. No particular body type has caught your interest. Mom obviously isn't your type." She turned to him and mimicked a reporter as closely as possible. "What is your perfect woman?"

"Lillian, the idea of a perfect woman, a perfect person… I'm thrilled that you believe in that. You're fifteen you should. I'm forty. I thought for a very long time that she existed, and even when I found out she didn't, I still hung on to it and that worked to destroy your mom's and my marriage." He sighed and looked away. "The idea of 'one true love' exists only when you're a teenager."

"Did Aunt Serena think she had found her one true love? Was he perfect to her?"

Collin frowned. "Serena… Serena was… different. Her relationship with Stanton" – Stanton, Lillian noted his name – "was different. She knew his flaws very well."

"But she loved him anyway?"

"I think she loved him for his flaws, to be honest. At least in some way." It was Lillian's turn to frown. Loving someone for their flaws didn't make sense at all. Especially if he was a druggie like her mother said.

"Collin?" a feminine voice called with excitement. Lillian whipped around, as Collin got up, smiling.

The woman in question was gorgeous, despite her age. Blonde wisps fell around her face in a stylish bob, and blue eyes sparkled, as she and her father embraced. Bracelets jangled on her wrists, but Lillian noticed no ring sparkled from a particular finger.

She stood and walked over to where her father and the mysterious woman were exchanging hellos.

"You must be, Lillian," the woman said as she swooped to kiss her on the cheek. Okay, so a little perkier than what Lillian would have guessed for her father, but it seemed most woman in LA were like that, and Dad did say he loves LA.

"Lillian, this is Vanessa Cleveland, a friend of mine," her father introduced them.

"A friend of yours?" she pounced. "A friend you haven't spoken to in a month!" She turned to Lillian. "Your father has horrible follow through, but don't all men?"

"Well, he can make it up to you," she said, formulating a plan in her head, "why don't you and your family come over for dinner one night. I would love to get to know Dad's friends."

Her father shot her a look. "Well, aren't you sweet?" Vanessa said, obviously missing the look. "Collin, what do you say to that?"

"Of course, you're invited to dinner. Tomorrow night, okay?"

"Tomorrow night is perfect." She smiled at him. That was a good sign, right?

"So how many should I shop for then?"

"Oh, just the three of us," Collin answered. "Unless, you'd like to bring your cat, Vanessa."

"I think I'll leave her at home; thank you. Well, I have to jet. Lillian, it was so wonderful meeting you. I'll see you both tomorrow night, sixish?"

"Sixish," Lillian replied.

"Bye," she called as she flounced away.

Lillian turned to her father, "Is she your type?" Collin only shook his head and sat back down at the table.