Summary: Maria gets a special surprise for Striker.
"Happy biwfday, daddy!"
Striker's eyes widened in surprise as Maria held up a bouquet of yellow roses. He hadn't seen any in ages. How did his four-year-old daughter manage to find them? He sniffed them for a moment and something familiar suddenly clicked in him.
"Maria, where did you find these?"
"I saw someone hand 'em out awound town, lemme have 'em fo' fwee." Striker smirked at Maria's excuse knowing already that wasn't true; her twirling her hair with her fingers gave her away.
She started to look worried when he didn't say anything more. "Y-you don't like it?"
"No no no, of course I do, baby doll!" Striker quickly assured her. "I'm sorry. It's just... it's been so long since I've seen these flowers, almost forgot they even existed. Y'know, these were always me and my family's favorite."
"Weally?"
"You bet. But what made you wanna do this?"
"Well, you always get me sumthin' special." Maria held her hands together and slightly kicked her foot as she explained herself. "I wanted to suwpwise you."
Striker set the flowers on the table and pulled Maria into a hug. "Aww, baby girl, you didn't have to. But I'm glad you did. Thank you very much."
"Welcome, daddy."
They hugged for a couple more minutes when Striker pulled back to look her in the eyes.
"I know where you really got these."
"You do?"
Striker gave his daughter a knowing smile. "Maria, I can smell Ms. Lin's cooking all over you. Plus, you got grass stains on your skirt."
Maria hung her head, suddenly feeling ashamed. "I'm sowwy, daddy. I couldn't find any good pwesents, but I didn't wanna give you nothin' and-" She stopped when he placed a finger on her lips, his warm expression didn't leave him.
"It's alright, baby doll, I understand. I would've done the same for you." He smiled and wiped a tear that slipped down her cheek. "But ya know, I already have the greatest gift ever; you, princess."
"You mean I'm yow biwfday gift?"
"Nah, you're a million times better than that. Just having you here with me, that's all I'll ever need."
With that, Maria was pulled into another hug. She didn't feel bad anymore; if daddy's happy, she's happy.