Part 5- The Talk

"You're sure about telling your dad? This is all happening so fast, I would understand if you wanted to wait," Lilly reasoned as they headed out of the city, towards home.

"I'm sure, Lil. I'm not going to hide this. I've waited too long for it to happen."

"I get that. I really do. And I'm happy about it. But, at the same time, we do live in the same house, share the same room. We haven't even graduated high school yet. I just worry is all," the blonde finished, hoping Miley would understand what she was saying.

Miley reached over and took Lilly's hand, bringing it to her lips. "It'll be ok, I promise."

"Okay," Lilly nodded her head as if she was still trying to accept it. "You know there's one more person we, well really I, need to tell. Sooner rather than later."

"Who?"

"Oliver."

"Oh," the realization was evident in Miley's voice with that one word. She hadn't really given the boy much thought. "Umm… are you sure…?" She wasn't really sure what she was trying to ask. Lilly hadn't mentioned their friend lately, so Miley had honestly forgotten she'd even given him more than a friendly glance. Now she was worried he could destroy everything.

"Pull over, Miley," Lilly instructed, they were almost to the house, but she could see where Miley's head was and she wanted to clarify it real quick.

The brunette did as instructed and then turned to look at Lilly. "Let's get something clarified real quick. See this ring? The one YOU put on my finger. I wouldn't have let you do that if I wasn't one hundred percent sure about where we were going. I need to tell Oliver because he is my friend and we were together. No, we never officially broke up," putting the emphasis on 'officially.' She took a breath before continuing. "We haven't really been together either. We basically just let everything stop and that was it. And if he was what I wanted, I wouldn't have let our relationship go like that. And I wouldn't have done what we did last night. Okay? I'm sure about us."

"Okay," nodding and taking a deep breath, trying to take it all in. After taking a minute to let it digest, Miley turned back and pulled the car back out to finish the short drive to the house.

Parking the car in the large space that sat in front of the house, she ran around to once again help her fiancé out of the car. "You really don't have to keep doing that. I don't expect one of us to take on the 'man' role."

"I know I don't have too, but I want too," Miley told her honestly, tucking her hand in her own once again as they made their way inside the house.

"Hey, Daddy." "Hey Mister Stewart." Were said at the same time, in greeting to the man who was standing in the kitchen eating a piece of chocolate cake.

"Hey girls, whacha been up to today? You were kinda secretive this mornin'," he pointed out.

"Daddy, you should come sit down. We have some news for you."

He gave them both a glance, wondering what they were up too, but did as they asked and moved over to the couch and took a seat. Both girl's took a seat next to each other, and turned so they were facing him.

"We went out today, to celebrate I guess you could say," Miley began. "See, Lilly got engaged last night," she hedged.

"Engaged?" Robbie Ray asked, turning to Lilly for confirmation, only to get a nod in the affirmative from her. "But I thought you were doing school work. Oliver wasn't here was he? I thought he was still on tour." He was hoping his kids hadn't pulled one over on him about Lilly having to do school work just so she could sneak a boy in. And yes, he included Lilly as one of his kids.

"No, Oliver wasn't here, sir." The older man gave her a look, wondering why the girl seemed so nervous.

"Then, darlin', you got me at a loss as to what you're talkin' about. Is this some kind of joke?" he asked seriously, wondering if they were trying to trick him.

"No, daddy, she's really engaged. To me," Miley finished in a rush.

"Well that's… wait, what?"

"Last night, after we got home, I asked Lilly to marry me, and she said yes. So today we went out and celebrated and got her a ring." Miley held Lilly's hand out so he could clearly see the ring that now rested on her finger.

The musician opened and closed his mouth, trying to let his brain catch up with what his mouth wanted to say. He was sure he was missing something in this whole equation.

"So let me get this straight. Lilly is engaged to you, as in you two are planning to get married." Both girls nodded their heads. "How long as this been going on?" He demanded more than asked. How long had these two girls been together, had how much had they done under his own nose.

"Since last night," Lilly whispered, really afraid of his reaction now.

"Last night? You just decided to get engaged out of nowhere, last night?"

"Yes, it just happened, but I've been in love with Lilly for awhile now. We got to talking last night, and realized we both loved each other, so I asked her to marry me."

He let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding. So they just got together, that eased his mind a bit. They hadn't lied to him and they were coming to him right at the beginning. Now all he could do was tell himself to keep calm.

"Are you upset because we're both girls?" Lilly asked, afraid of the answer, but she knew Miley loved her father to much too ever ask that question, but they both needed to know.

"No, darlin'," he answered immediately, finally understanding what Lilly had been so afraid of through this whole conversation. Getting up, me moved so he was sitting next to Lilly and put his arm around her, giving her a half hug. "You have been a part of this family, for years, if I'm honest. Nothing could make me happier than to have it official. As long as you are both happy, and take care of each other, that's what's important."

"Then what is it?" Miley asked, knowing there was something that was bugging her father.

He sighed, taking one of their hands in each of his own, looking at both of him. "You're both so young, and this is so new. So why engaged?"

"Because we love each other."

"I understand that, bud. But shouldn't you give it some time to settle in before you go makin' major life decisions?"

"What, like becoming Hannah Montana? We didn't think on that very long." Robbie Ray had to nod at that, knowing she was right. "I'll be eighteen in a couple weeks, and Lilly will be too here soon. We're not that young. And we both know this is right. It's not like we're getting married tomorrow. We just want to show the world we're committed to each other."

He didn't know when his daughter had grown up, but she was no longer a little girl sitting in front of him. Somewhere in the last year or so she'd become a young woman. And he could admit that he was proud of who she was becoming. Maybe it was being Hannah Montana that had led her to age so quickly.

Sighing in defeat, "alright, but you need to finish high school before you even start making wedding plans. Are we clear on that?" Once they were eighteen, they could get married anytime they wanted, before college if they chose, but he really wanted them to focus on their studies until they graduated.

"Yes, sir," they said simultaneously.

"Good! Now I'd really like to force one of you to move into the house, but I know that won't stop you from doin' what you're going to do. But I expect you to remain respectful of whose roof you still live under, and to each other. Now if either of your grades slip, we will revisit this conversation. Got it?"

Both girls nodded their heads, then looked at each other, speaking volumes with their eyes. Without a word exchanged they both pounced on him, giving him a hug. "Thank you, Daddy."

"Yeah, thanks, Dad," Lilly squealed.

"Love ya girls," he drawled.

They both said it back, giving him a kiss on the cheek before racing out to their room.

"Well, that went better than I thought," Lilly admitted once the door was safely shut behind them.

"Definitely," Miley agreed, advancing on Lilly, giving her a deep kiss.

Lilly pulled away when she tried to take if further. "Miles, you heard what your dad said. To be respectful, and knowing he's still awake just a few feet away, we can't."

"No fun," the pop star pouted.

"Come on, let's get ready for bed, then we can cuddle. And next time we get a chance, I promise I'll make it worth the wait."

"I'll hold you too that."

A/N: Well this is the end of what I had planned officially for this story, but I will keep writing it so long as people are reading it. Feel free to suggest anything you'd like to see and I will see if it fits into the feel I want to create for this little piece. I do know where I want to eventually end it however.