Disclaimer: The characters of Walker do not belong to me.

The One Where...Lulu Gets Lost

People passed by Lulu without looking down. Men and women, people with kids, people on their phones, and Lulu wondered if anyone would stop to help her. She thought about going to the front of the store to let someone know she was lost, but she could hear her grandfather's voice in the back of her head.

If you ever get lost, you stay right where you are unless you're somewhere dangerous. It's a lot easier to find you if you're in one place.

So Lulu stayed where she was, placing one hand on the shelf beside her. It felt like she'd been apart from her daddy for a long time, but it had really only been a couple of minutes. A woman who turned down the aisle didn't notice Lulu at first. She looked at the shelf directly in front of her, until she heard Lulu sniffling a few feet away. The woman looked around to see if someone was with Lulu, but when she didn't see anyone, she knelt down and looked Lulu up and down.

"Are you okay, sweetie?"

Lulu bit her lip. She wanted to answer and ask for help, but she wasn't supposed to talk to strangers without her Daddy there.

"Are you lost? I can try to help you find your mommy."

Lulu decided she couldn't get any help unless she asked for it, so she hoped she wouldn't get in trouble for this. "I don't got a mommy. I can't find my daddy."

"Oh. I see. Do you want to walk around with me and try to find him?"

"'m not s'posed to leave. I'm supposed to stay in one place."

The nice woman nodded. "Okay. I have an idea. I'll be right back. I'm gonna go to the front and ask them to call your daddy over the loudspeaker. Do you know your daddy's name?"

"Liam."

"Liam. Okay. Don't worry, sweetheart. We'll get you back to your daddy."

The nice woman left, and a minute later, Lulu heard them page her daddy over the loudspeaker. The woman came back to stay with Lulu, trying to engage her in a little small talk to calm her, until a minute later when Lulu finally heard the familiar voice.

"Lulu!"

Lulu turned and smiled. "Daddy!"

Daddy thanked the woman for her help while hugging Lulu tight. Though Lulu didn't really get in trouble for wandering away from Daddy, the two of them had a long talk that night about staying safe when they were out. Daddy made it clear that he was proud of her for staying where she was, and for asking for help when she needed it. But he also made something else clear.

"You wander away from me again, after I told you to stay close, and you're back to riding in the cart until I can trust you to do what I told you. Now come on, Lulu bear. It's time for bed."

The One Where...Lulu Gets Stung

"OW!"

Bonham dropped the box he was holding and walked over to Lulu. She'd been helping him to clean out some boxes from the barn when she suddenly shouted.

"What's wrong, darlin'?"

"I got stung by something."

Lulu showed her hand to Bonham. There did appear to be a small bite or sting there. Bonham looked around the barn to try and see what it was that had bitten Lulu, but it seemed to have run away.

"Come on. I'll help you feel better."

Bonham treated the bite and Lulu seemed to be okay. An hour later she was back to her normal self, so he only made a passing remark about the bite to Liam. Liam checked it out himself and decided Lulu would be fine.

Lulu wasn't fine.

It was not quite midnight when Lulu came to Liam's room. He had been doing some work so he wasn't quite asleep yet. The knock on the door made him groan slightly, but Liam invited Lulu in. Lulu didn't wake up in the middle of the night often. When she did, she didn't feel well or had just woken up from a nightmare. Liam yawned, but the tears streaming down Lulu's face snapped him awake right away.

"Daddy!"

"Lulu bear, what's wrong?"

"My hand."

"Come here. Let me see."

What had been when Lulu went to bed a slightly irritated bug bite had morphed into something else much more terrifying. Lulu's tiny hand looked as if it had doubled in size since she went to sleep. The skin was puffy and red, and when Liam touched it gently to examine it, Lulu stifled a scream.

"Does it hurt bad, Lulu bear?"

"Hurts really bad, Daddy."

Liam bit the inside of his lip, the way he'd calmed himself down ever since he could remember. Lulu was already panicking, and if Liam panicked too, it would only escalate the situation beyond repair. Liam knelt down in front of Lulu, doing his best to put on his brave daddy face.

"Lulu bear, look at me. I know you're scared. We're going to the hospital now. I need you to be brave for me for a few minutes. Can you do that?"

Lulu took one deep breath and nodded. "I...I...I'll t...try."

"Okay. I'll call Gramps and Mama to come with us. They can meet us at the hospital. Would you like that?"

Lulu nodded, and one of the longest nights of Liam's life began. He called his parents, who headed towards the emergency room right away. Liam buckled Lulu in the front seat and held her unhurt hand. Liam sped towards the hospital, haphazardly parking his car and carrying Lulu inside. The emergency room was blessedly empty, with only two other patients ahead of them. Liam took a seat and held the still crying Lulu in his lap. Just as the only other patient in the waiting room was called, Abeline and Bonham appeared in the door.

The tentative diagnosis came just as the sun was coming up. A brown recluse spider bite.

Lulu was sleeping as Liam and his parents talked to the doctor. Liam had heard of the brown recluse before, and had been warned that it was dangerous, but to see the evidence so plain in front of him took his breath away. Lulu was lucky, the doctor claimed. There was no sign of necrosis from the bite, he said, something that Liam didn't even know was a possibility. Lulu would have some pain and probably itching in the hand for a few days. She had a slight fever, though it was barely above the mark of worrying about. The doctor wrote Lulu a couple of prescriptions to help with the symptoms, but left the three adults with one firm piece of advice.

"Get an exterminator wherever she was bitten ASAP."

All in all, though the night had been one of the scariest of Liam's life, Lulu would, in the end, be fine. She would need to stay at the hospital for a few hours to make sure she didn't get worse, but the doctor had no reason to think she wouldn't go home that night. When the doctor finally left, a relieved Liam sat down heavily in the chair next to Lulu's bed.

"Mama, Daddy, thank you for coming."

"Of course, Liam." Abeline said. "You sure you don't want one of us to stay?"

"No. I'll be okay now. I just...panicked a little I guess."

"Liam, I'm sorry, son."

Bonham had only said a few words since arriving a few hours earlier. He looked at Lulu's tiny sleeping frame on the bed. Liam wondered if it was tears he saw brimming in his father's eyes, but decided not to ask.

"Sorry for what, Daddy?"

"I didn't think she was hurt that bad." Bonham explained. "She said she'd been stung, I figured it was a bee sting or something…"

"Daddy, stop. It's not your fault. I know if you'd thought it was bad you'd have brought her here yourself."

Bonham nodded. "Yeah. I would've."

"It's okay, Daddy. It really is. Look, I would say tell Lulu bye but…"

"No. Do not wake her up. She needs some sleep and so do you." Abeline said. She kissed Liam's cheek and Lulu's, before turning back to Bonham. "Let's head home, Bon. Liam, call us when she's ready to come home. We'll make you two dinner tonight."

"Thanks, mama."

"And you promise me you'll get at least an hour of sleep too. You want me to have them bring a cot in here?"

"No. I'll just sleep next to her."

"Okay. As long as you sleep. We love you. Both of you."

When Liam was finally alone with Lulu, he took his place next to her on the hospital bed. The swelling had gone down on her hand a little, but it still looked huge and painful. Liam watched Lulu sleep for a moment, before stroking her cheek and whispering,

"Sleep tight, Lulu bear. Daddy loves you."

The One Where...Lulu Goes Dancing

The wedding was over, and though she'd never admit it, Lulu was fighting to stay awake.

She'd taken her job as flower girl seriously. She'd walked carefully down the aisle, putting one flower petal down at a time. She didn't know why everyone had laughed, but no one seemed to be making fun of her, so she figured she was doing a good job. When she made it to the front, she quickly took her seat next to her daddy, watching the wedding with fascination. She'd seen weddings on TV before, but had never been to a real one.

Then came the party.

The party was the fun part, Lulu discovered. There were snacks she could enjoy and her daddy was busy, so Lulu was free to walk and look around as long as she stayed within eyesight of one of the adults in her family. Captain James, uncle Cordy's boss, had even given her an extra piece of wedding cake for "a job well done".

But the best part for Lulu was the dancing.

She'd danced her little heart out quite a few times that night, stopping only when Liam made her to eat dinner, drink some water, and help him do a little cleaning. Lulu had finally sat down on her own a few minutes earlier, laying her head down on the table and watching the rest of the remaining wedding guests continue to enjoy the wedding. A hand appeared in front of her and Lulu looked up, smiling.

"May I have this dance?"

Lulu yawned again. She wanted to, really wanted to, but she was so tired. "I'm really sleepy, Daddy."

Liam chuckled. "You want me to carry you and do all the dancing myself?"

Lulu smiled and nodded. "Yeah."

"Come on."

Lulu would never know suspect it, but the dancing was a plan by her daddy to get her to go to sleep. He didn't mind her staying up past her bedtime for just one night, but he was afraid if she stayed up much longer she'd be overtired and would never get to sleep. Liam picked her up and started to move around, gently coaxing Lulu to lay her head down on his shoulder. The combination of Liam's gentle movements and the slow, soothing music the band was now playing, Lulu was sleeping before the end of the song.

Liam walked Lulu to the house. He thought about calling Katie, the babysitter he'd hired for the night and canceling, but ultimately decided not to. It wasn't often he had a night to himself to just have fun. He laid Lulu down on her bed, kissed her goodnight, and headed out to the living room to confirm his plans with Katie. Little did Liam know, over in Lulu's room, their dance from earlier was playing in her dreams.