Grimmjow stomps to his car, pressing the button on the car keys. The car gives a beep! and unlocks for its owner as Grimmjow opens the door and curses under his breath, keeping in mind that Nel is close by. He had promised Ichigo he wouldn't curse in front of her. It was kinda hard in the beginning but he's getting used to it. But right he, he feels pretty stupid for forgeting to put Nel's car seat back in after he came back from his nightly venture to the bar! Guess that means she'll have to sit in front with a seatbelt. He groans. Great! Just what he needs! A nosy kid punching random buttons on his most prized possession!

'Just don't touch anything,' Grimmjow says through gritted teeth as he keeps one eye on the road and the other eye on Nel as she gurgles happily and bites into the leather strap of her seatbelt. 'Hey! Hey! Hey! Don't chew on that! This car cost me a fortune and those seatbelts probably cost more than you do!'

'But you can't buy people!' Nel says defensively and pouts.

'Yes, you can!' Grimmjow argues back.

'No, you can't!'

'Yes. You can!'

'No. You can't!'

'Can!'

'Can't!'

'Can-! URG! Why am I even arguing with you about this!'

'Well, you said you can buy people like they are things but Nel says that you can't because people aren't things to buy and-!'

'I know what we were talking about! I don't need to be told that!' Grimmjow snaps before he looks back to the road only to widen his eyes and swerves to the right before he bashed into the car in front of him.

'Nel thinks you should keep your eyes on the road,' Nel says pointedly.

'Don't tell me how to drive!' Grimmjow snaps again and this time, Nel shuts up but Grimmjow can hear her sniffling. He sighs and starts to talk in what he hopes is a kinder tone. 'What happened in school today? Your teacher told me you got into a fight with some boy…'

'He was making fun of Nel,' Nel sniffles and keeps looking out the window. Grimmjow raises an eyebrow. He licks his lips, thinking of what to say.

He had never told his problems to his parents when he had been a kid. Children had poked fun at his bright blue hair and strange dad who would never show him any attention all the time but he never had the guts to tell his mom or his dad what happened in school. It had usually been monosyllabic answers like, 'Alright' or 'Fine'. He hadn't wanted to think what would happen if they had found out. It would have probably been a repeat of what had happened on the first day of school and he certainly hadn't wanted that. So having Nel talk about her problems is as new to him as it is to her.

'So, uh, what do you mean he made fun of you? Did he call you something mean or throw you in the mud?' Grimmjow struggles to say, thinking he might just say something inappropriate.

'Not really,' Nel says softly, not realizing the nervousness in his voice. 'He made fun of Nel's hair.'

Grimmjow's hands tighten on the steering wheel. Silence lapses in the car and Nel finally looks at him, now raising her eyebrow.

'What?' Grimmjow says and blushes when he realizes that he is sounding like a child himself.

'Why are you going red?' she asks inquisitively.

'None of your business,' he says hotly and concentrates even harder on the road ahead of him. He shifts gears and takes a left. 'So, uh, what did you do to that guy?'

'He didn't stop making fun of Nel's hair,' she huffs and crosses her arms as she slumps in her seat. 'So Nel went and kicked him. Then he pulled Nel's hair so Nel bit him and pushed him to the floor. Then Mrs. Orihime came and picked Nel off him and put Nel in the naughty corner for the whole day. And then you came and are now taking Nel home. Did Nel do something wrong?'

'Well, uh, Nel, you see, um, hitting is…bad,' Grimmjow says clumsily as he tries to make eye contact with her but every time he did he can feel his face growing hot.

The way she is looking at him with such attention is making him nervous! Grimmjow is the kind of guy who likes a good fight once in a while and thank God he comes out without a bruise in sight otherwise Ichigo would be furious! How can he expect himself to be a hypocrite and tell Nel that fighting is bad and that she shouldn't do it? Is it all part of parenting? That you lie to your kids to protect them? But how can he lie to Nel when she is expecting some guidance from him? After all, why would she tell him her problems unless she respects him and wants his honest opinion? Isn't that why kids talk to their parents? Damn it! If he had known that parenting was going to be this brain-wracking he wouldn't have opted for it!

'But why is it bad?' she asks curiously. 'If he makes fun of Nel again what should Nel do?'

'Ummmm...'

Grimmjow uses one free hand to scratch his head, completely at a loss. Should he say that girls shouldn't hit? Or would that make him look sexist? She's a bloody kid! How would she know what sexist is? But what if she told Ichigo? He definitely knows what sexist is! He had already laid the ground rules (for Grimmjow, not Nel. Apparently he thinks Nel is more mature than Grimmjow. Grimmjow had laughed at this. He had to spend the night on the couch that day) that they wouldn't teach Nel anything about sexism or anything related to it until she was thirteen. It's not every day that a kid has a gay couple for parents.

Suddenly, Nel screams. Grimmjow is quickly pulled out of his thoughts and he looks up to gasp! There is a truck heading towards them! Somehow, he had accidently strayed onto the wrong side of the road.

He quickly turns the wheel, the tires screeching in the process. Grimmjow winces and scrunches his eyebrows as he concentrates on getting his car away from the monstrous truck without a scratch. The tires continue to scream, begging him to stop until the vehicle are finally out of harm's reach and safely parked on a piece of free land on the side of the road. Grimmjow pants hard, his heart beating like a frightened rabbit. He can't believe he had been this close to totaling his new car! The cost of having it redone would have been dipping it way too deep into his bank account and he had just started his new job! Still, just to be on the safe side, he should go out and check the damage. He circles the car, leaving Nel safely seated in the car with the windows rolled down. Grimmjow smiles satisfactorily. Not a scratch in sight! And that had been such a close call! Any sooner and the electric blue paint would have been completely scraped off the side. Wait a moment. He squints at a corner. Then his eyes widen. There's a small dent in the side and a little paint has come off from there.

'HELL NO!' he screeches and jumps a foot in the air. 'FUCK NO! THIS WAS A BLOODY NEW CAR!'

Passing by cars drive pass but not before the drivers shoot weird looks at Grimmjow as he does a weird dance around his car, cursing the sun, the truck, the road and everything he can think of. He kicks at the ground and send some dirt flying in the air.

'Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!' he howls and slowly calms down. He covers his face with a hand and tries to breathe evenly like Ichigo taught him when they once went for yoga (well, Ichigo dragged him there. Said they needed to clean their soul of impurities. Grimmjow just played along. As long as Ichigo used that flexibility in bed, he wasn't complaining). Suddenly, Omerta begins to play in the atmosphere, breaking Grimmjow's concentration. He fumbles to pull his cell out of his pocket and seeing that Ichigo is calling, quickly answers.

'Grimmjow? Where are you? I thought you'd be home before me!' Ichigo's voice buzzes over the phone, worried. 'Is everything alright? Did you get into an accident? Are you hurt? Is Nel hurt? Please don't tell me you got mobbed or something horrible!'

'Ichigo! Relax!' Grimmjow says soothingly, forgetting he had almost lost it a few minutes ago. 'It's all good. I'll tell you everything when I get home. Don't panic.'

'Hey, Mister Blue-haired man!' Nel yells from the car, waving her little pudgy hand at him.

'Is that Nel? Is she okay?' Ichigo asks urgently.

'She's fine, Ichigo,' Grimmjow grunts. 'Hold on a minute!' he covers the speaker. 'What is it Nel?'

'What does 'fuck' mean?' she asks curiously and cocks her head to one side. Grimmjow's mouth drops open. Oh fuck…

'What is it, Grimmjow?' Ichigo asks, his tone is back to a worried one. 'Does Nel want anything?'

'Like I said, Ichi,' Grimmjow squeaks and then clears his throat, trying to make it deeper. 'I'll tell you everything when we come home.'

'Alright,' Ichigo sighs. 'Love you, Grimm.'

'Love you too.'

With that, he shuts the phone. Nel seems to be singing a nursery rhyme now. Grimmjow smacks his head with a hand. Maybe he won't tell Ichigo everything…