Theo

I breathe a sigh of relief as I successfully finish the icing. After four wasted cakes, thirteen YouTube videos and a bunch of swearing, I had finally finished Lily's birthday cake. I add the candles carefully and set the lighter on the counter before jogging away to the bedroom.

I walk to the bed and kneel on the side of it. I rest my arms on the bed and kiss her forehead. "Lily, wake up."

She frowns, her eyes still closed. "I'm sleeping, Muffin, go away."

"Yeah, I know, but I really need to show you something."

Her eyes open slowly and I smile. She smiles back, "What'd you do?"

I stand up, "Just come look. I think I aced this thing."

She rubs her eyes before getting off of the bed. I pull her towards me and kiss her cheek before jogging ahead of her and into the kitchen. When she appears, I press play on the happy birthday song and light the candles.

Lily gasps as she stares at the cake. "You made this?"

"Damn right. Your man is a baker now, Lily."

She cheers and claps her hands happily before wrapping her arms around my body and hugging me tightly. "I love you, you little ole peach!"

"Happy birthday to the weirdo I call the love of my life."

She stands on her tippy toes and presses a small kiss to my lips before turning back to the cake. She closes her eyes and blows out the candles as I turn the music off. She turns back to me with a smile. "Thank you!"

I frown, "You think that's it?"

"It's not?"

"Go check the closet."

She points a finger at me as she walks away. "If there's a dead man in our closet, I promise I'm not talkin' to you for a month, Muffin!"

I hold my heart dramatically. "You think so low of me. I would never only leave one dead man in there. I like to be even, baby."

"That's not funny!" She shouts, entering the bedroom as I lean against the counter. A minute later, she screams and rushes back inside with a rack of clothes and shoe boxes. "Oh, my goodness gracious! They're beautiful!" She shouts, staring at the dresses and long skirts in awe.

"They should all fit perfectly. If they don't, I'll have to fire a few people."

Lily opens the shoe boxes and claps happily at the sandals inside. She picks up a pink one and I smile. "Turn it around."

She turns the sandal over and, after reading the date on it aloud, she faces me with tears in her eyes. "Is this the-"

"The day we met. I know it's corny, but I'm not good at this, Lily."

She stands up and holds my head in her hands. She smiles as a tear falls. "I don't think I've ever been so deeply in love with anyone like I am with you, Theo."

I smile and look away. Lily touches my cheek and turns me back toward her. "You're blushin' again." She whispers

I kiss her forehead and get out of her hold before I begin cheesing and giggling like a pre-teen. Wrapping my arm around her, I lead us to the backyard. I make sure she stands in the perfect spot before backing up.

"Knock, knock."

She smiles, "Who's there?"

"Your dad."

"What?"

"Turn around."

Lily turns around just as Mr. Hernandez begins walking toward her. She screeches and starts running towards him hastily. "Diddy!'

She jumps into his arms and hugs him tightly before stepping back down to the ground and standing a foot away. Lily and Mr. Hernadez put their arms to their sides and stare at each other before Lily salutes him.

"Mr. Diddy, do you copy?"

He salutes back, "Yes, princess, I copy."

Lily nods and stands on the side of me as her father stares at me with a glare. I gulp as he steps closer. "I'd like to speak to you, young man."

Lily pats my back. "You got this, sugar."

Mr. Hernandez further walks further back and I follow him. "Name." He orders.

"Theo Acquire. It's not short for Theodore, it's just Theo. Uh, a lot of people actually think it's short for that, but it's not." I reply, fidgeting with my fingers.

He doesn't respond, only stares at me with the same glare. He doesn't move, doesn't blink, pure torture. My forehead begins sweating and my heart rate speeds up.

"What are your intentions towards my daughter?" He finally says.

"Uh, your daughter is the person keeping me alive. I love her a lot and I want to marry her and have kids with her, sir."

"You'd do anything for her?"

"Absolutely."

Mr. Hernadez stares at me for a while longer before exhaling a breath. "Good, I was starting to become bored with the whole being serious thing."

I wipe my forehead and breathe a sigh of relief. "Fuck. I was nervous as hell."

"Were you actually sweating? Theo, we talked about this in the car. I told you I was going to ask you these questions, man."

"Yeah, yeah, I know. It's just the intense stare, long pauses, had my heart racing, you know?"

"You said you were tough. You have a gun in your fucking car."

"You weren't even blinking, man! That's terrifying."

He shakes his head and begins walking inside the house. "What do you have to eat?"

Lily follows behind him cheerfully as I follow her. "I'll make you something, Diddy."

Lily and her dad go in the kitchen as I sit on the couch, waiting for my heart rate to return to normal. I resist the urge to act as if I'm having a heartache and get back Lily for her prank on me yesterday. She had pretended like she fell off the bed and her head was bleeding. Instead, I turn the television on to one of Lily's favorite reality shows. The truth was I enjoyed them a lot, but no way in hell was I going to admit it.

While they cook and catch up together, I stay on the couch and watch the show. After thirty minutes, Mr. Hernadez catches me watching it and tries to tell Lily, but I change it quickly. It lands on Forensic Files and I roll my eyes. I quickly grow bored and decide to turn to Vivo.

I stare at him intently as he continues to run on the hamster wheel. He doesn't look my way at all, as if I'm invisible. I tap his cage. "Do you have a problem with me, man?"

When he still doesn't look my way, I scoff. "So it's like that, huh?" I open his cage a little and touch his fur. I hold my middle finger up at him with my other hand. This is when he decides to look at me and I swear it's like he glares at me.

I frown, "What did I ever do to you, kid? Don't tell me you're still mad about the new cage." He looks away and I shake my head.

He's still mad about that. Unbelievable.

"Muffin." Lily says, sitting on the couch and I close his cage quickly.

"Yeah?"

"I love you."

I turn around, my facial expression turning into one of seriousness immediately. "I fucking love you more."

She smiles softly and rests her head on my shoulder. Lily changes the channel to the reality show and I hold back my smile. We watch the show in comfortable silence as her dad eats in the kitchen.

An hour goes by until Lily asks me to make her a cup of tea. I get up and when I go in the kitchen Mr. Hernadez smiles. "Hey, Theo."

I nod. "Hey, Mr. Hernandez. Are you enjoying your lun-"

His smile drops and he flips me off. "Idiot." He says, walking into the living room.

I blink in confusion as he sits down next to Lily on the couch. After a few seconds, I get back to the task at hand. I check the cabinets for tea but see we have no more. I walk back into the living room as Mr. Hernandez stands up.

"Lily, there's no m-"

Before I can finish my sentence, he punches my stomach. I frown and punch him back. He groans and tries to hit me back, but I dodge. This doesn't stop him. He kicks my leg and I kick him back in confusion.

"Theo Acquire and Fred Hernandez, you stop this nonsense right now!"

He stops, "The scars! He's abusing you, Lily!"

"What! Why would I hit Lily? That's my woman, I wouldn't da-"

"It was Mama! Mama, did it, Diddy! Not Theo!"

His face falls, and he steps forward. "What?"