It surprises me to wake up to an empty bed. Groggily rolling out of the covers, I make my way to the kitchen where Stanley is busily cooking breakfast.

He notices my confusion and laughs "don't look so surprised. I can cook too, you know."

"Like, edible food?" I ask cautiously.

He nods and gives me a fork full of eggs. Opening my mouth, the tender egg fills my taste buds and I smile. "It's good."

"Well I'd hope so. Ophelia and I have been eating my cooking for—"

He doesn't finish is sentence; instead he trails off, and starts flipping sausage in the pan.

"Since I was gone. Five years," I say depressingly.

"Daddy?" a quiet voice asks from the hall.

Ophelia is standing in her Hello Kitty pajamas, rubbing her eyes and clutching her "frog" to her side.

"Morning baby, you hungry? Daddy made breakfast," Stanley says placing a plate on the table. He reaches down and picks her up spinning her once before placing a kiss on her cheek, and setting her down at the table.

She eyes me carefully, and picks up her fork, shoveling a piece of toast in her mouth.

I smile at her, "Morning Ophelia."

She looks down at her plate before hopping out of her seat and running back to her room, shutting the door.

Stanley raises an eyebrow but doesn't go after her.

"Was it something I said?" I ask worriedly. The last thing I wanted to do was upset her.

"Of course not, Rebel. She's just trying to get used to you. It'll take time. All you did was say good morning. It's not a crime to care about your daughter."

I look back at her unfinished plate and sigh. What if this was a mistake? Stanley's been nice and comforting, but it's not the same way it was before. Nothing is to be honest. Everyone's gone. Kaige and I were getting to be good friends. And it isn't like Dreagon to run off….

I don't know what to think about Near. Ophelia didn't mean to kill him. Did she? Does she think we're mad at her for killing him? We couldn't have possibly let Near stay consumed by Wrath. It was inevitable.

I can understand why Matt and Mello have been so cold. I don't think that anything will ever be the same. If I left Stanley, would it be beneficial? I hate to think that way. I do love Stanley, just not in the same way, anymore.

Coming home was all I wanted, so why do I feel so regretful? Because it didn't turn out right? I have a daughter, shouldn't that make me the happiest person in the world? Shouldn't I be overwhelmed with this joy, and sing and be perfectly content?

Shouldn't my life end like a Disney movie? Where's my happily ever after?

Where's my family?

Stanley sets a plate down in front of me and moves Ophelia's plate over to make room for his own. "So I thought about what you said, and I think that I'll go give Matt and Mello a visit today."

"That's nice," I say, picking at my eggs.

Stanley watches me and sighs, "I thought you and Ophelia could use the time to yourselves. Mother daughter bonding and all that. I need a well deserved guys night out."

Peeking up at him, I see him smile, "What do you say?"

"I say yes," I reply, a smile pulling at the corner of my mouth.

"Great," Stanley replies. "Then you'll get to give her a bath!"

I laugh, "I'm sure it's not that bad," I say rolling my eyes.

"Whatever you say," Stanley replies taking a bite of sausage.

"Whatever you say," I sneer, relaying Stanley's words in my head. So far I've gotten about a gallon of bath water dumped on me, and Ophelia's managed to stay completely dry, running naked around the house.

"Dammit!" I curse, as I step on a rubber duck, causing it to squeak loudly and its eyes to bulge.

"You said a bad word!" Ophelia sings, running off down the hall. I chase after her, picking up speed before I can grab her from behind.

"NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO!" She screams, hitting and kicking me hard.

"Yes, yes, yes, Ophelia, now stop it."

She kicks me one time hard in the gut, causing me to drop her. She gets off the ground and hightails it to her bedroom. Ha! I can corner her there!

Racing down the hall I practically fly into her room and slam the door behind me. She's hiding under her covers. Pulling back the midnight blue bedspread, I see her cover her face with her hands like I can't see her. It's kind of adorable, actually.

"I can see you, come and take a bath before the water gets cold."

She jets out her lip so far she could trip on it, and shakes her head.

Groaning in annoyance, I glance around the room, until my eyes run across something on the floor.

Picking up the "frog" I smirk. "Lose something?"

Her eyes widen and I pull it away as she reaches for him.

Heading off to the bathroom, Ophelia follows me like a puppy, jumping up trying to reach her toy.

She freezes when I hold it over the bath tub. "You either take a bath, or Croaks, here takes the dive," I say.

Huffing, she eyes me coldly, but none the less, gets in the bath tub.

Smirking triumphantly, I wash her hair with vanilla shampoo and let her play with the rubber duck I stepped on.

After the bath, I dry her and put her in a white shirt with pink overalls and fix her hair in a blue bow. "Now was that so bad?" I ask, handing Croaks back to her. If eyes could speak, she was scolding me with the glare I receive.

She snatches the toy back in her arms and hugs it tightly.

"Look, I didn't even make you wear a dress. Everyone's happy," I say but she frowns none the less.

"Well do you want to spend the day with me? We can get to know each other more…" I ask.

"I want to watch The Shining," she says in her cute high pitched voice. I shake my head, "Daddy shouldn't have let you watch that in the first place."

"BUT I WANT TO!" she yells, her voice rising.

"But I don't," I mimic in her whining tone. "Te quiero, pero no deberias ver esa pelicula."

Her eyes widen and she tilts her head to the side. "What language was that?!"

"Spanish," I shrug simply.

"Teach me, teach me!"

I raise my eyebrows; she wants me to teach her Spanish? Well I guess it's better than watching The Shining.

We spend the rest of the day speaking simple Spanish phrases and learning a few verbs. She learns very quickly.

Evening rolls around and I start to wonder if Stanley will get home soon.

"I want to watch The Shining!"

"Ophelia…"

"Pleeeeeeeeeeaaaaasssssssssseeeeeeee—"

"OKAY! Fine, we can watch that movie."

I'm more terrified of it than she is. I jump when the door starts moving, and Stanley enters the house.

"Daddy, Daddy!" Ophelia screams, running into his arms.

"Hi, how are my girls."

Scared shitless. "We're fine," I say, turning off the movie.

"Daddy, te amo," Ophelia says.

"I love you too. Someone's been learning fast."

She smiles and Stanley tells her to go brush her teeth and get ready for bed.

She rushes off and I look to Stanley.

"How'd it go?"

"Well, it was awkward when I first showed up. But we got into the swing of things and warmed up to each other a bit again."

"That's good."

"How'd things go with Ophie?"

I laugh sarcastically, and give him a hug. Turning, I whisper in his ear, "Never make me give her a bath again."

I pull away and peck his lips before running off to go say goodnight to Ophelia.

She's already in bed and I sit on the edge like last night. Looking to her right, she picks up The Catcher in the Rye, handing it to me.

"Read some more," she demands toughly.

Smiling, I nod and squeeze in next to her. She rests her head on my shoulder, looking at the pages while I read:

"Oh, I have a few qualms, all right. Sure. . . but not too many. Not yet, anyway. I guess it hasn't really hit me yet. It takes things a while to hit me. All I'm doing right now is thinking about going home Wednesday. I'm a moron."

"Do you feel absolutely no concern for your future, boy?"

"Oh, I feel some concern for my future, all right. Sure. Sure, I do." I thought about it for a minute. "But not too much, I guess. Not too much, I guess."

"You will," old Spencer said. "You will, boy. You will when it's too late."

I feel Ophelia's soft, even breathing on my arm and I look to see she's asleep. Sighing, I set the book on the night stand. I can't possibly leave her or Stanley. I could never forgive myself. Spending today with her was a real eye opener.

Letting the thoughts of the day cloud my brain, I turn off the light, and drift off to sleep.

Hey guys! How are you? Good? Good. I love comments so tell me what you think. M'kay? Kay! Love you!