NICK'S POV

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"Come on, Els," I call over to my daughter as she colours in her drawing book whilst watching something on kids TV. My mind is numb to all the different characters and creations these productions make. The songs. The goddamn songs that drive me up the wall. "Dinner is ready."

She jumps up onto her two feet and runs towards the kitchen. "Don't run," I say as she reaches the step. "You will fall. How many times do I have to tell you?"

Her bright green eyes flash up at me as she huffs out a breath. "I wasn't running fast."

"I beg to differ," I say with raised eyebrows.

I turn my back to the stove and begin pouring the spaghetti in a bowl along with the minced bolognese. Dinners in this house are fairly quick and easy considering I barely have time to even feed myself.

Elodie hops up onto the chair as I set down her bowl on the place mat. Her brows clench together, lips forming a pout. "I don't want this," she grumbles, throwing her arms over her chest.

Oh God. Not now. Please, not now.

"You're not getting anything else," I say as I begin to fill up the dishwasher. "You love spag bol, I've never heard you complain about it before."

When Elodie says nothing more, I peek my eyes over my shoulder to see that she's still throwing a silent tantrum. Arms over her chest tightly and her nose and lips scrunched together. I hate to admit that she's adorable but at this age, she will throw fits over absolutely nothing.

"Come on, pumpkin." I sigh and lean onto the counter beside her with my elbows. "We have someone coming over soon and I need you to eat before they get here."

Her hand shoves the bowl and shakes her head once fiercely. Those brown curls around her face shake along with her ponytail that swishes. "No."

"Elodie–" I warn.

She exhales a dramatic breath. "Sienna's going to TGIFriday's tonight. I want that."

My eyes almost roll but I keep them neutral. Sienna... who is she again? All of Elodie's friends roll into one. I've heard that's something dad's do. Forget all their daughters' friends because they're practically the same.

"We're not having TGIFriday's, Els. And besides it's Wednesday." I push up from the counter and wash my hands in the sink.

That's when Elodie starts grumbling something under her breath. She knows better than to scream the house down when she doesn't get her way. It's only recently that she actually listened to me and stopped–I couldn't bear the sound of it. It made me feel guilty because it sounded like she was in pain.

"What was that?" I look over my shoulder.

Arms are crossed over her chest again, shoulders raised up to her ears. I'll give it to her, she's a stubborn little thing. "I want TGIFriday's."

"You don't even know what they sell, we've never been there." I sigh and run a hand down my face. "Eat your food, please."

I glance at the clock. Ten minutes until Aris gets here. The last thing I want is for him to see her in this mood–that way I'll be able to tell that he definitely can't handle her. I know her sneaky little ways, she'll probably end up twisting his arm in an attempt at getting what she wants.

"No."

"Elodie."

She slams her hands onto the table. "I said no!"

I blink at her outburst and curse silently under my breath. "Fine," I say calmly. "Have it your way."

When I start clearing up the kitchen counter around her, leaving her bowl on the placemat, I feel her eyes following me. I know she likes to test me, she's smart but I won't be taking part in her silly back and forth games.

Some children are far too spoiled. Some parents give them whatever they want to shut them up and stop them from throwing a little paddy but I stick to my word. They'll never grow up to be generous and down to earth people if they're not taught these lessons early on in life.

And I certainly don't want her growing up to be like my father–entitled, cold and downright miserable.

I spot her hand picking up the spoon and dipping it into the bowl but I don't look at her. I keep myself busy because as soon as I give her attention, she's got me right where she wants me. She plays with her food which is fine, I hope at some point in the next three minutes she'll have an epiphany.

Usually dinner is followed by ice-cream or some kind of small sweet treat. If she thinks hard enough, she'll soon realise she won't be getting anything if she doesn't eat her dinner first.

Elodie raises the spoon to her mouth and I glance her way, when she catches my eyes she pulls a face of disgust when the bolognese barely touches her tongue. "Ewww," she says loudly. "I don't want it."

My nostrils flare as I shake my head. "Well it's that or nothing. Take your pick."

She stares me down with her sinister look of pure evil. I love her to death but sometimes she drives me fucking insane. Being a single parent is hard. So. Fucking. Hard.

"No," she cries again and swings her spoon.

A dollop of bolognese hits me square in the chest, splattering against my crisp white shirt. I groan when I look down at the mess she's made, right at the same time the doorbell rings.

"Fuc–" I stop myself before I fall into the trap of swearing.

Elodie picking up my bad words will be what tips me over the edge.

I glance in her direction and I can see her expression change. She didn't mean to throw her food at me. Her eyes are filling with guilt by the second but she will still give me a hard time about the food.

Before running to the door I grab a cloth and attempt to wipe the sauce and residue from my shirt but I only make it worse. The doorbell goes again and I breathe heavily through my nose. As soon as I latch my hand onto the door handle, I swing it open to be met with Aris.

He's wearing a fairly thin jacket over a navy blue polo shirt with white detailing and trousers. I find it funny how he's more dressed up to meet my daughter than he is for the actual interview.

"You're early," I state, my irritation growing for this entire situation.

"Sorry," he breathes. "Should I have just stood here until exactly six o'clock before knocking on the door?"

My eyes narrow at his question and I have zero patience for this right now. "Is that a serious question?"

Aris' eyes flick from left to right. "I guess so."

"On time will work better," I grunt before shoving the door further open. "Come in."

His gaze drops down to my stained shirt and I don't bother explaining myself. I hear the door close behind me as we walk through the hall. Elodie is still sitting at the table, playing with her spaghetti but none of it has actually been eaten.

"Els," I call out to her to get her attention. "I'd like you to meet someone. This is Aris."

My body turns as Aris walks to my side and looks down at my daughter with a warm smile. "Hi, Elodie," he says brightly. "How are you?"

Elodie studies Aris for a few moments and so am I. I'm certain this isn't the same person that came to interview the other day. He was nervous, practically shaking and now he's throwing smiles and pitch changes left right and centre.

Maybe I'm the one going crazy.

"Not good," she pouts at him and I release a quiet sigh.

Aris steps closer to her and leans on the counter casually. "Oh, no," he says but his voice doesn't dip to that irritating baby voice I despise. "What's the matter?"

"I want TGIFriday's," she moans and I close my eyes in defeat. "Not this."

I'll never hear the end of this. I'm going to burn down every TGIFriday restaurant in this country and pray it's never brought up again.

"TGIFriday's?" Aris repeats. "What do you want that's there?"

This stuns Elodie because she doesn't know, she just wants what her friend is getting without knowing any context whatsoever. She hums for a second and twists her head to the wall, I know she's thinking hard. "Food."

"Yeah?" Aris smiles and I don't miss the way two dimples appear in his cheeks subtly. "What kind of food?"

Elodie glances down at the counter. "I-I don't know."

"Mmm," Aris hums. "If you don't know, how do you know you want it? It might be bad. I've been there before and I can tell you that I didn't enjoy it much."

Her eyes look back up at him. "Really?"

"Yeah, it's expensive for what it is." He shrugs simply. "But this looks delicious. I love spaghetti, it's one of my favourites."

When she offers him a small smile, it does melt my heart even after all the grief she's given me. "Me too."

A waft of bolognese sauce hits my nose suddenly and I glance down to remind myself of the accident earlier. "Is it okay if you watch her?" I direct to Aris and his dark blue eyes collide with mine. "I want to change out of this shirt."

"Of course," he nods confidently.

I hold my position for a second, looking at the pair of them. Then I step away and proceed to my bedroom. It doesn't take me long to get out of the shirt and find something new to wear but on the way past my door I glance in the mirror.

Goodness. Parenthood certainly ages you faster.

When I enter the kitchen five minutes later I hear giggling from Elodie which catches me by surprise. As I walk around the door I find Aris perched on a chair next to my daughter and her spoon going back and forth from the bowl.

How on earth–

Aris doesn't see me but he grins at my little girl, sauce slightly around her mouth but half the food is gone. "It's like alien brains," she chuckles high pitched again.

"Alien brains?!" Aris exclaims playfully. "No way. They would be green and mushy."

Elodie makes a face at him. "Ewww."

"But lucky for you, this isn't alien brains. It's delicious beef." He points back to the bowl where she takes another bite. "You know what good food does? Makes you big and strong."

"I want to be strong!" Her little voice raises in excitement. "I want to be able to hold a car over my head. I saw it on TV once. It looked easy!"

Aris' eyes widen in amusement. "Yeah? That's a big goal but I'm here for it."

Elodie's spoon hits the bowl before spooning a mouthful past her lips, she hums. At the same time Aris glances up at me, not even realising that I stepped into the room. I'm truly astounded by this interaction.

I was convinced Elodie would be in a mood all night but now...

"Hey," Aris says when he catches me staring. I don't miss the way his eyes glance down at my black t-shirt that is admittedly too small because it clings to me like film.

My head raises in his direction because I'm not entirely sure what to say. I doubted him from the second I met him yet he's already being better than I ever have been. The amount of hours I've tried to convince Elodie to eat her dinner in the past.

"I've finished!" Elodie declares and I get a glimpse of her empty bowl. "Can I get down from the table now, daddy?"

I drag my tongue across my bottom lip. "Sure, pumpkin."

"Yay!" She jumps off the chair with animation. "Aris, Aris, Aris," she sings his name like a football chant. "Come and see my doll collection!"

Aris doesn't miss a beat. "Let's go."

He shrugs out of his jacket first, draping it on the back of the chair. Then he follows my daughter over to the living room where a box of all her dolls and toys are kept when she wants to play outside of her room.

Elodie sits on the floor and he perches beside her, when she turns to look at him she gasps at the ink on his arms. "Wow," she says, pointing at one.

"You like them?" He asks simply.

"Look, daddy!" She yells over at me, not answering his question. "Aris has tattoos like you."

All my tattoos are hidden under my work clothes because I like to keep professional when I run a business. It's my personal opinion but when I go out, sometimes I like to show them off, other times I like them just for myself.

Aris twists his head over his shoulder, meeting my gaze. Something simmers there and I'm not entirely sure what it is.

"This one is my favourite," Elodie says, making Aris' attention turn back to her.

She holds up her doll which resembles a vampire or a goth with the black painted lips and midnight hair. "Oh wow," Aris blinks at her choice.

My lip begins to curl but I stop it before it develops. My daughter who loves pink and unicorns also adores her dolls being dressed all in black and wears fishnet hand warmers. "She's so pretty, isn't she? Her name is Jessabel."

Aris takes the doll in his hand and looks at it like it's haunted. "Very pretty. A little scary but pretty."

I snort out a laugh but recover before it fully comes out. His eyes cut towards me for a split second before Elodie shoves another doll into his hands and he accepts it gladly.

A warm feeling washes over my chest. Maybe I was being a judgemental ass when I first met Aris. By the looks of things they get on like a house on fire already. I hate to admit it but Declan might be right with this one.

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Author's Note

I adore this chapter. Who knew Aris was such a natural?🤭

What did you guys think?👉🏼

Seeing Nick gobsmacked is my absolute favvvvv

God, thinking about this story gives me butterflies I genuinely cannot wait to share the rest of the story😅🫶

Also it has the trope of Aris falls first but Nick falls FUCKING HARDER BRB SCREAMING

Don't forget to comment & leave a vote!✨

Love Savanna x

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