Abi's POV

"Aha!" Lin shouted coming backstage. "You ready to go?" He asked me, and I looked up at him, he was already changed into his street clothes.

"Go where?" I asked, standing up not setting my book down, I was almost finished, Jeb just broke his arm, and I intended to have the book come full circle.

"Oh, I forgot, I have like, kind of like a surprise." He grabbed my hand and tossed my book on the couch. "Come child." He pulled me over to the stage door.

"What is it?" I asked, as he opened the door to the screaming mass of people.

"Well, I've been reading a parenting book." He said, between saying hi to fans and signing stuff, "and, well, it..." He started.

"Wait wait wait." I laughed. "A parenting book?" I asked.

"Yes." He said indignantly.

"Are you serious?" I asked, still laughing.

"Of course I am!" He said, starting to laugh.

"Do you have it on you?" I asked.

"Backpack." He muttered. I quickly rushed behind him and unzipped his backpack, "main pouch." He specified, as I rummaged through his notebooks and such.

"How much stuff do you keep in your bag?" I asked, still looking.

"I am a busy man Mija." He said, and I finally pulled it out.

"Starting Late: How To Parent an Adopted Teen" I read aloud laughing.

"You put that back in my bag right now missy!" He yelled and I slipped it back in, still laughing. "Sorry guys!" He yelled to the crowd, "I gotta go!" He pulled me into his side, "a certain teenager is acting like a teenager." He said and I laughed, he kissed the top of my head.

My heart felt so full every time we stage doored. I felt like I was somehow special, and it was weird. I had stage doored Hamilton before. I mean, I snuck out and stage doored a couple times, and it was amazing, I never imagined myself inside the barricades, going somewhere with Lin afterwards. I never imagined him playfully making fun of me, or having a conversation lightly, or hugging me. It was weird in a sense to be separated from all of them, when 7 months ago, I was screaming behind the barricade, not laughing inside it.

"Have fun A!" I spun around to see Thayne signing a book.

"Does everyone know but me?" I asked.

"Yep." He said, grabbing a playbill from someone in the middle of the crowd.

"Come on Mija, we only have a couple hours." Lin took my hand and pulled me out of the barricades. "We're taking the subway, and I have to warn you, it's 5:00."

"Ugh." I groaned. "Tears may be shed." I said.

"I know, I'm sorry, I didn't think it through Mija."

"It's fine." I sighed, following him down the steps underground.

"Stay close Peanut." He yelled, as it was insanely loud. I picked up my pace, so we wouldn't be separated, I mean, let's face it, he would go crazy. He pulled me into one of the cars, and took hold of a pole quickly. He pulled me close to him, as the car was extremely crowded, being that it was rush hour. He had his arm around me, hugging me to his chest, so I could hear his heartbeat. I focused on that, rather then the car around me. Lin had several people come up to him for autographs, which he gave out.

"Abi?" One of the people getting an autograph started, "when are you coming back to Twitter?" She asked.

"I don't know, it's only been 4 or 5 days." I said.

"You should, you're funny." She smiled then pushed her way back to where she was standing originally.

"Do you think you're ever going to return to social media?" Lin asked me.

"I don't know, I'm liking having a break." I said.

"I know what you mean, like, when we're on vacation."

"Yeah, also, I hate the internet." I admitted.

"Yeah, I get it. The Internet hasn't been nice to you." He reminded me. "And you're a teenager."

"I know, I guess they just don't like me." I said, banging my head once against the pole.

"Okay, well, we're going to stop thinking about this, because we're doing something fun." He said.

"Okay." I said, leaning my head back against his chest.

"There you are Mija." He said, "now, let me explain." He started, "I was reading a parenting book."

"Not over that yet." I said laughing.

"Well, sweetie, I don't know what I'm doing!" He explained, "honestly, I want to be a good dad, and I, like, what am I supposed to do? I don't know how to parent a teenage girl!"

"You're doing a great job." I tried to say.

"I want to be a good dad, I really do, you've had your share of bad parents, and, well, I have no idea what I'm doing."

"No, Dad, you're great, I'm serious, quite honestly, no one has ever even, like, bothered themselves with me before." I admitted.

"There's more to parenting than that Mija. I want to do this right." He kissed the top of my head. "So, I was reading the parenting book, and it said, that you should try and spend time getting to know your kid, so, um, there's a cute little bookstore in the village, and, well..." He trailed off.

"You're taking me to a bookstore?" I asked.

"Yes, and dinner." He added, "like, a father/daughter day."

"Oh, awe, thank you." I said, looking back at him.

"You're welcome, and heads up, the trains gonna stop in about 10 seconds, so I'd hold on." He warned, and I quickly grabbed the pole, and the car came to a stop. He took my hand and pulled me out of the car, "okay, it's right down here." He said, as we walked up onto the street.

He wrapped his arm around me, and walked me down a couple blocks, to a small, quaint little bookstore.

"They have a coffee shop." He said, opening the door.

"Okay." I smiled.

"I will be in the biography section Mija." He said, "so, if you need me." He added, walking into one of the corners.

I myself wandered around into the classics section. It was a new and used bookstore, so several of these books were older and I loved them. I ended up pulling out an old copy of Oliver Twist, and started reading it.

"Abi!" I heard Lin whisper yell, I looked up from my book, he was standing there and holding a George Washington biography, and a John Adams biography, and a Marquis de Lafayette biography.

"My gosh." I said, giggling.

"I'm getting them." He smiled, "and are you getting that?" He asked, pointing at my book.

"Oh!" I looked at my book, "sure." I shrugged.

"Awesome." He said, and grabbed it, "I'll be right back." He went over and bought the four books, then came back over to me. "You ready to go?" He asked.

"Yep." I smiled, "thank you." I said, following him out of the store.

"No problem peanut." He said, "now, dinner." He added.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"Well, I know you like Italian so, does that sound good?" He asked.

"Sure." I smiled, and we walked down three or four blocks until we reached an Italian restaurant.

"Okay, so, getting to know you." Lin said, after we were seated. "I started fostering you seven months ago, what don't I know?" He asked.

"I don't know." I shrugged a little, taking a bite of my Caesar salad.

"Ugh, um, Oregon, when you were younger, did you do theatre?" He asked.

"Actually, uh yeah!" I smiled, "when I was in 7th grade, our middle school show was My Fair Lady, I was Eliza." I smiled at the memory.

"You played Eliza Doolittle?" He asked, eating his pasta.

"Yep." I grinned.

"Wow. Um, what grades were in the show?"

"Just 7th and 8th." I said, "I don't know why we didn't have 6th graders, but, never mind." I shrugged again.

"How old was Henry Higgins?"

"Oh. Um. He was, first of all, shorter than me, and also, he was in 8th grade." I said.

"My. Gosh."

"No, Dad, it gets funnier!" I said, "the boy who played my dad had a huge crush on me." I started laughing.

"Middle school shows were always the best."

"Yep. Especially because the show my 8th grade year was Grease."

"Great choice for a middle school." He nodded sarcastically. "Who were you?"

"Well, um, the show was supposed to be in June, for the end of the year, and I was supposed to play Rizzo, but, I had to drop out because that's when my whole fostering situation started, and, well, I just had to drop out."

"I'm sorry." He said.

"It's fine. I only had one song, it was 'Look At Me I'm Sandra Dee' it underwent a full lyric change, and they cut 'There Are Worse Things I Could Do', because, you know, they had to cut the plot."

"Exciting."

"Our school show this year was Hairspray." I added.

"Why didn't you do it?" He asked. "You'd make a great Amber Von Tussle."

"Thanks, and well, it cost money." I said, not wanting to say anything about the Walters, they are not imposing on my nice dinner with my dad. Ever.

•••

Hola.

All questions are open!

I will answer them in 3 or 4 days so you have time.

Abigail

Lin

Vanessa

Nick

Luke

Friends

Misc.

Myself

Thanks for reading!

- Abi