Kevin wasn't really sure what Riley wanted to eat, or even what she liked. Mia was her main caregiver and had that special bond with the little girl that made her open up a lot faster. Kevin was still the jerk who pushed her down the stairs and made Mia cry.

He was trying his best, though, and figured he couldn't go wrong with a spaghetti dinner in front of the TV. He brought her plate out to her and a bunch of napkins. Riley didn't say a word to him as he served him. She continued to stare at the TV.

The water Samurai had been around Terran for about a year, but Riley was a different case. Terran loved everybody, and he was too young to really have an opinion of his own. It made caring for him a little easier. Riley was older, she had an attitude, and she knew she didn't like Kevin. Kevin also knew he had to stand his ground with her. He couldn't give into her all the time, and he had to behave in a way that would earn Riley's respect, even if she didn't like it at first. He considered himself her father, and soon it was going to be legal. With so many orphaned children the adoption process was a little easier as the city and the state were quickly trying to find children stable homes.

Kevin did have a visit from a social worker to look forward too, but that wasn't on the table at this stage. Still, he had to get Riley to at least like him before the social worker showed up. Kevin knew kids had a habit of saying everything on their minds and of bending the truth just enough to keep it real, but exaggerated. No social worker would allow Riley to stay with Kevin if she told them how he purposely and angrily shoved her down the stairs, even if he was an accident on his part, and he had never intended for her to take a tumble.

"It's a commercial. Can you please put your bowl in the sink so I can clean it later?"

"No," Riley shook her head and handed her bowl to Kevin, "You do it. I'm watching TV."

"Riley, I think I'm being very fair here…"

"No!" Riley shouted and tossed her bowl across the room. "I don't like you!"

"That doesn't matter. I did ask you if you liked me, I asked you to put your bowl in the sink…"

"And I said no!"

Kevin remembered what his father did when he acted up. Neither Patrick nor Christina would ever tolerate Kevin disobeying them. So he grabbed the remote and turned off the TV. Riley's temper flared.

"I was watching that! You big meanie!" she threw a pillow at Kevin, who decided to let that one slide. As he set the pillow back down on the couch, Riley came at him with her fists. Her hands were little and she was nowhere near strong enough to really hurt Kevin, but the intention was there and Kevin knew his parents would never stand for this. Neither would he. He grabbed Riley, picked her up, and walked her up the stairs.

"Bedtime," he said as he put her in her bed and Riley screamed again. Kevin was losing so many points with her, he knew it, but he remembered a time where he hated his parents. He remembered hating them often as a child. He had never been a troublesome boy, but like all children there were times were he acted out and where he did get himself into some trouble. He knew it was going to be a process, and a long one, but he couldn't keep living like this. He couldn't let Riley believe she could walk all over him and do whatever she wanted.

When she tried to get out of bed, Kevin put her back in, tucked her under the blankets, and he wished her goodnight.

He had to repeat this several times before Riley gave up on trying to escape and stayed in bed. He closed her bedroom door and waited a couple of seconds. He had never had a four year old before, but he knew their tricks. Just as he expected, the bedroom door opened soon after he closed it as Riley tried to sneak out. She jumped when she saw Kevin had been waiting for her.

"It's too early for bed!" she shouted at him. "Mia puts me to bed! Not you!"

"Mia's going to be home late," Kevin shook his head, "And you didn't put your bowl away like I asked. If you're going to act like a baby, I'm going to treat you like one."

"NO!" Riley kicked Kevin in the shin and as he nursed his leg she bolted down the stairs. She jumped on the couch and started to look for the remote. Kevin had put it in his sweater pocket when he put Riley to bed and he knew she wouldn't find it.

"You're mean!" Riley cried when she knew he had hidden it from her. "I'm allowed to watch TV."

"It's bedtime."

"No it's not, poo head!"

"Riley…"

"You're not my dad! I hate you!" Riley screamed and head butt Kevin in the stomach. He grabbed her to pick her up and put her to bed but she let her body go, making herself as heavy as possible.

"I know I'm not your dad," Kevin shifted Riley's weight in his arms so she was easier to carry and walked her up the stairs. "I'm not trying to take his place. But Mia and I are taking care of you now and sometimes you're going to have to do as I ask."

As he got to the top of the stairs, Riley reached out and grabbed the banister. By now, it was an all-out war. Kevin's parents had never let things get this far. Kevin wasn't sure what they would do at this point. He tried to pry Riley's hands from the railing, but it seemed she had a tight grip and very powerful fingers. He couldn't hold her and force her to let go. Not without using too much force. So he set her down, thinking she would grab on to the railing and refuse to let go. At least then it would be easy to pull her off and take her the rest of the way back.

But Riley didn't hug the banister. Instead, she pushed a squatting Kevin out of the way and tried to run as fast as she could to get away. Her pushing Kevin was unexpected and he felt over. When he did, his leg came up just enough to catch Riley's, tripping her and she took another tumble down the stairs.

Kevin felt his heart stop as Riley let out a piercing and very pained scream. She tried to get up by herself, but Kevin watched her collapse and cry again. He didn't know what to do. It had all happened so quickly.

Just then, the door swung open. Kevin's heart stopped again as he assumed it was Mia coming home, but it was Jayden, Antonio, and Lauren instead.

"What the…" Lauren asked and she was first by Riley's side. She took the little girl in her arms carefully and looked her over. Jayden and Antonio looked up the stairs, seeing Kevin at the top with a stunned look on his face.

"What happened?"

Kevin felt tremendous guilt wash over him. He never intended for Riley to get hurt. He never even wanted her to be upset. He had just tried putting her to bed and her acting out had made things worse. He didn't blame her, of course, he could only blame himself.

"Maybe we should go to a doctor," Lauren suggested after seeing the swelling and bruising in Riley's wrist. She passed the girl over to Jayden, finding it was hard to hold her with her own injured hand. She still had the cast from the last time Riley had found trouble.

"I'll stay here with Kevin," Antonio said and he felt bad for the new father. Parenting was trial and error, but Kevin was having a lot of errors in such a short time. Antonio trusted he hadn't done anything wrong intentionally and wanted to make sure Kevin didn't beat himself up too much for it.

Someone also had to call Mia to let her know what was happening. Kevin was likely too wracked with guilt to think properly.

"Maybe you're going to get a cool cast like Auntie Lauren," Jayden said as he hugged Riley close and walked outside with her and Lauren.

"You'll get the hang of this," Antonio said to Kevin once the others were gone. "It's a good thing we decided to stop by, though."

"I'm a horrible person," Kevin shook his head. "I should have just put the bowl away myself."

"Kev, I broke a leg once because I wouldn't pick up my toys. This kind of stuff does happen. You didn't mean to hurt her, right?"

"No… no, of course not."

"Why don't you go lie down for a bit? I'll put the bowl away and then we'll think of something to tell Mia."

Kevin nodded his head and pulled himself off the floor. Still in a bit of a daze from what had happened, he walked to his room to lie down.