Author's Note: Happy New Year to all my readers out there!

To Kevin and Mia's surprise, Riley was a natural skater. As soon as her feet touched the ice she was off and spinning circles around adults ten times her age.

To no one's surprise, Mia fell on her ass. Mia was talented in many things; fighting, swordsmanship, Symbol Power, being a mother, and Kevin would add being right to that list as well; but there were a few things she couldn't do and skating was one of them.

She landed on her butt yet again, and as Kevin helped her up to her feet, Riley skated around and giggled.

"BOOM! That's the sound you make when you hit the ground, Mia," Riley teased and then skated off again.

"How was this supposed to be bonding for Riley and me?" Kevin asked and this time he held Mia tight and he held her close, hoping to make it around the rink once without her falling.

"I thought I was a bit better than this," Mia muttered and nearly slipped again, but Kevin held her up, "At least she's having a good time, though. Maybe it'll take her mind off Kevin the child pusher…"

"Shh," Kevin hushed her and had a look around. He was trying his best to be a good parent, but he didn't want the whole city knowing he had already made a few big time mistakes.

"Just treat her like you would a deer. Don't get too close, but stay within a good distance so you can earn your trust, and then slowly approach her."

"I need to treat her like a deer?"

"Would you like a world war four?" Mia asked, "This time, we'll do it on a third floor so Riley can fall down two flights of stairs."

"SHH! Alright, I'll keep my distance just don't leave me alone with her again, got it?"

"Little bastards," Mia gave the look Kevin feared and his stomach turned, thinking for a moment she was talking with him. When he noticed she was looking over his shoulder he relaxed and then turned to see what had suddenly angered her.

A group of boys had come to the skating rink to play hockey. The rink wasn't too crowded and so their game mostly went uninterrupted, but Riley had gotten in the middle of their game and had started practicing her spins. When the boys asked her to move, her stubborn attitude told her it was a good idea to say no and give the boys a lecture on how they had to share the entire rink with everybody.

She barely made it the halfway point of her lecture when the boys started pushing her around and jabbing at her with their hockey sticks. Riley, with an anger and strength Kevin knew was powerful, tried to fight back, but she was smaller than the boys, at least half their age, and already had a sprained wrist to worry about. On top of that, the boys had come prepared to play hockey and were dressed in full equipment. Riley couldn't hurt them even a little bit, but they weren't afraid of fighting back.

"Stop it!" Riley shouted as one boy skated to the edge of the rink and started making snowballs to throw at her, while the other boys pushed her around and jabbed at her with their sticks. They were telling her to get off their part of the ice, but they weren't giving her the chance to skate away.

"HEY!" Mia's shout made everyone on the rink stop for a moment. Even Kevin felt scared when he heard it. It was Mia's protective mother voice and it was not to be defied.

Until Mia tried to move on the ice, slipped and fell on her ass. The people on the ice had to stifle their laugh, and the boys who had been scared by her yell laughed out loud and then continued to torment Riley. They knew Mia couldn't reach them, and even if she did find a way, they could outskate her.

Mia looked up at Kevin as she tried, ungracefully, to get up. She gave him a nod. Kevin shook his head. She nodded again.

"Whether she likes you or not, you are her father."

"Mia, I pushed my daughter down the stairs," Kevin whispered very softly while looking around to make sure no one overheard him, "I want to punch those boys in the face. What if I actually do?"

"Kevin, you're a good father, and you're a good person. If I can keep myself in check while dealing with kids, surely you have no problem staying disciplined."

"Disciplined," Kevin liked that word, and he was sure Mia used it on purpose. He did pride himself on restrain and self-control. Not only had it been needed for him as a Samurai, but to achieve his goal of being a swimmer in the Olympics, he needed to stick to a schedule, follow a pre-planned routine, and adhere to a strict diet that didn't allow him to indulge in the very tempting sweets and goodies on a regular basis like the others.

All of which were tasks very few could stick to for such a lengthy periods of time.

Certainly he could control himself long enough to avoid causing any harm to the kids picking on his daughter.

Though a snowball to catch their attention wouldn't be crossing the line. He gathered some snow in his hand, made sure it was just snow, and then threw it at the kid currently jabbing Riley in the side. The snowball hit his back, taking his attention away from the little girl so he could see who had the nerve to hit him.

Kevin skated over to the boy and snatched his hockey stick from his hand. He tossed it away from the ice and into the snow and gave the kid what he hoped was a threatening protective father glare.

"What do you think you're doing, kid?"

"N-nothing," the kid was shaking in his skates and his friends made sure to keep their distance. They were still young enough to be terrified of being yelled at by an adult.

"Keep it that way. Hit the puck, not people. Got it?"

The boy nodded his head nervously and when Kevin turned his back he skated to the edge, grabbed his hockey stick and then raced off with his friends.

Kevin gently picked up Riley, surprised she would let him touch her after what had happened the day before.

"I'll take you to Mia," Kevin assured her and skated to the other side of the rink, where Mia had crawled to bench and was taking off her skates. She had just gotten her boots back on when Riley was lowered on to her lap.

"You're a lot of trouble, kid," Mia told her and gave her a warm and comforting hug. Riley nestled into her arms, a little hurt after being picked on. "Are you okay?"

"I hate them," Riley muttered and buried her face in Mia's shoulder. The pink Ranger gently stroked Riley's back and gave Kevin a bright smile.

"Riley, what do you say to Kevin, who saved you?"

"I don't hate him as much," Riley said but Mia shook her head. Kevin shrugged his shoulders. Riley's words were already more than enough for him. Riley could tell Mia was asking for more and pulled away to shake her head in disagreement, "But he…"

"You pushed him and tripped down the stairs, remember?" Mia said, "We talked about this, Riley. Kevin didn't mean to hurt you. So what do you say to Kevin now?"

Riley let out a loud huff and a groan, "Thank you, meanie Kevin."

Hearing those words made Kevin smile, "Anytime, Riley. Hey, did you see when Mia fell on her butt?"

Riley nodded her head and Kevin could see she was trying not to laugh, not wanting to show any sign of agreeing with or getting along with Kevin just yet, but Kevin still decided to milk it. Riley had had a rough few days now and he wanted to see her laugh or at least smile, "Her legs came out from under her. Just like in a cartoon."

A smile tugged on Riley's lips and she nodded her head, "I feeled your boom from the other side of the ice."

"Yeah, yeah," Mia stood up, holding Riley in her arms, "I suck at this, I know I do. You don't have to rub it in."

"You made a funny face too," Riley started to laugh as she teased Mia.

"Did not!"

"Yeah! Kevin, Mia made a funny face when she fell, right?" Riley looked over and Kevin made a face for her, imitating the one Mia made when she realized she was falling down. Mia turned around, saw the look, and playfully shoved Kevin.

"I did not make a face!"

"You made that one!" Riley pointed to Kevin who continued making the face just to annoy Mia and make Riley laugh. "And you screamed."

"No, I…"

"Yeah! Stop lying," Riley teased, "Kevin, Mia screamed, right?"

"Like a banshee," Kevin nodded.

"Neither of you are getting ice-cream," Mia muttered and put Riley in Kevin's arms so she could walk away from them and sulk. Kevin took off his skates and then he helped Riley with hers, all while teasing Mia about how she had fallen and how much she had fallen.

Eventually, they made it home. As Mia helped Riley up the driveway (which was slippery from ice and Riley couldn't resist insisting she was the one helping Mia up), Kevin noticed someone standing on their porch and peeking in through the window. He walked ahead and greeted the peeping woman, startling her slightly.

"Can I help you?" he asked.

The woman nodded, straightened out her glasses and then looked down at the clipboard in her hands, "I'm looking for the home of Mia Watanabe and Kevin…"

"You found it," Kevin told her, "Can I help you?"

"You're the guardians for Riley Walker?"

Kevin nodded his head and gestured to the little girl helping Mia up the driveway and laughing. The woman gave a little nod and then held out her hand.

"Sabrina Clarkson. I'm here to ask you and Miss Watanabe a few questions."

"Wait? I thought this wasn't for another couple of months…"

"That's what we say," Sabrina nodded her head, "but the best time to talk to parents is when they aren't expecting a visit. No time to clean up the house or talk to the kids beforehand. I feel like a get a better feel of what the home is like, and I can pass a better judgement. If you have nothing to hide, this will only take a couple of hours."

Mia overheard the conversation as she and Riley walked up to the house and shrugged her shoulders. She and Kevin did have nothing to hide, but Mia knew how kids could stretch the truth. Kevin was a great father, but the few accidents at the start weren't great stories for the social worker to hear, and they wouldn't work in favour for Kevin, Mia, or even Riley.

"Shall we head inside?" Sabrina asked and pointed to the door. Mia nodded her head and unlocked the door, letting everyone inside. Kevin hesitated for a moment and stood on the porch while Mia, Sabrina, and Riley took off their winter clothes.

"Kevin," Mia called him inside and gave him a comforting smile, "We're going to be fine. We're just going to be honest with her."

"Honesty, right," Kevin gulped and walked inside. He took off his jacket and his boots but his hands were shaky. Sabrina watched from the living room and seemed to be taking notes.

Riley had been told to play in her room, but she was curious about the new lady, and while Mia and Kevin went to prepare drinks and a few snacks for the interviews, Riley decided to approach the woman.

But not without her pink Ranger mask on, of course. She was shy around new people, but with the mask she could do anything.

"Who are you?"

Sabrina saw the little pink Ranger and smiled, "I'm Sabrina. I'm just here to help. A lot of people want to make sure you're going to be taken care of. You and I are going to talk about it later."

"Mia is taking care of me," Riley said. "I like her."

"That's good," Sabrina said, "but we'll talk later, Riley, okay?"

"I don't like meanie Kevin as much," Riley showed her pink splint to Sabrina, "He did this to me. He pushed me down the stairs and my new Auntie taked me to the hospital."

"He pushed you down the stairs?" Sabrina looked to Riley curiously and took down a few more notes in her journal. Riley nodded, but then quickly changed to shake her head no.

"I mean, I tripped and falled down the stairs. Mia said I'm supposed to say that. She says it was an accidently."

"Really?" Sabrina was very intrigued now, and couldn't write the notes down fast enough. She had worked with kids and families for a few years now and knew that kids were sometimes a lot more honest than their caregivers.

"But meanie Kevin can be nice. We goed skating today and big kids picked on me. But meanie Kevin yelled at them and made them scared."

"He did?"

"Riley," Mia called and gestured for Riley to go upstairs, "You can talk to her later. Why don't you go play with some of your Christmas toys?"

"Can I show her my costume?"

"Later, yes," Mia promised and Riley raced off to her bedroom to get dressed in her pink Ranger costume while Mia and Kevin took a seat on the couch opposite of Sabrina while setting down a tray of snacks. Kevin looked over and saw Sabrina's journal already had a ton of notes in it and his stomach turned.

"I couldn't help but notice," Sabrina started and Kevin already feared her voice. He had to remind himself he was a good father and he was trying his best to give Riley a safe home. Sabrina continued, "Riley's got a splint on her wrist. What if we started there?"