note: this is the last chapter to part 4. If you love Andrew and his daughter, you'll love this chapter. Don't forget to vote and comment. Feedback is always appreciated! Enjoy xo 

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The last thing Andrew wanted to do was to go to Aurora's school, not because he was not interested in his daughter's education — he was — but because the entire parent committee were a bunch of gossiping arses, and though Andrew didn't mind indulging himself in gossip, he didn't like it when that gossip was turned in his direction. Did anyone? And with news of the divorce travelling fast, he was certain that he and Talia would be on the forefront of attention, stealing the light of other dramas that may be going on.

Stepping out of his vehicle and into the school, he could sense the eyes, hear the hushed whispers as people passed. It was no surprise. He was on school territory — adults or children, they all acted the same when on school grounds.

Andrew picked up Aurora, his little girl rushing to him the instant she saw him, and even talked to her class teacher. Andrew asked how Aurora was doing from Talia and Talia insisted that if he was so concerned he'd have to find out himself. Well, Andrew was concerned and he didn't mind finding out himself. So there was absolutely no problem — except for the nosy bitches, that was.

"Andrew!" came a voice. It was familiar. He'd heard it a bunch of times but he didn't socialise much with the parents committee, often leaving things in Talia's hands since she appreciated the art of taking part in your child's care, or however way Talia had phrased it for him once when he asked her why she was so bothered and dedicated to the parents committee.

He turned around just as he heard Aurora whisper under her breath, "Ugh why."

It made him smile but the instant he saw who was on the other end of the conversation, his smile dropped. Lucy Bellman was known for stealing men's hearts — especially parents. She wasn't well liked on the committee and though Andrew did not know her well he could not help but have the same mindset as all the other parents. If she was not in the committee, her son not in this school, some of the children's mothers would still be married with their fathers. Lucy Bellman knew how to seduce parents, all genders, and when the cheating happened, marital problems flared and the gossip column ran hot like it was an extremely rigorous sport.

"Miss Bellman," Andrew said, surprise in his voice as he tried to force the smile back onto his lips. All he wanted to do was go have lunch with his daughter and spend time with her at his new apartment. Lucy Bellman was killing precious minutes of his that he could never get back — especially with an ex-wife that was adamant on keeping Aurora under the lock and key of her own care.

"It's good to see you," she started, beaming. Oh God, this sounded like a beginning of a conversation and the last place Andrew wanted to be in at that moment. "I haven't seen you around in a while and the others and I thought that Talia had cut you out of Aurora's life."

Andrew raised his eyebrows, trying not to let the smile drop.

"I'm right here, you know," chimed in another voice and Andrew chuckled, drawing his arms around her shoulder. Aurora hugged his leg.

"Let's get some lunch, sweetheart," he said, thankful for the save.

Of course he should have known that it wouldn't be that easy. Just as he was about to turn, Lucy Bellman's white hands grabbed his left arm. "I'm glad to see you again, Andrew," she said when Andrew finally looked back at her he resisted a groan of frustration.

"It's good to see you too, Lucy," he managed to get out through a tight lipped smile.

"I heard about the divorce—"

Were you sad that you weren't the reason this time? he thought immediately and thereafter felt guilty. He didn't know Lucy Bellman well and yes, she was annoying but that gave him no right to judge her. But she never seemed to give a damn about what anyone was saying about her otherwise she'd have herself alienated from the committee and she'd stop stealing people's husbands and wives.

"It happens," he jumped in before she let her mouth run off to other topics. "I'm doing all right though."

"Are you sure?" she asked, brushing away blonde strands as she furrowed her eyebrows. She reached out, pinching his cheek. "You look thinner."

He moved away, trying not to show his agitation as he said, "New diet," and laughed. He prayed she wouldn't pick up on how fake he sounded throughout this.

"I'm here if you need to talk," she said, smiling at her own offer. "I'm a good shoulder to lean on and I've been told that I'm a good listener too."

A good listener. Huh, okay. Though nasty, mean thoughts came to Andrew's mind, he pushed them away. He shouldn't judge her so harshly if he didn't know why she did what she always seemed to be doing.

"Honestly, Lucy," he said, a soft smile on his lips, "Thank you for the concern but I'm doing all right. If there's anything to be concerned about I'll let you know. Right now I just want to spend some quality time with my daughter so..."

That seemed to do the trick.

Lucy's face brightened. "Of course, you two always look adorable. Have a good day, Andrew," she said, smiling wide. Then turning to Aurora, who was still hugging her father's leg, she said, "Have a good weekend, honey."

"I will," Aurora replied, looking up at her father. "I'm spending it with my dad."

"Oh, how lovely," Lucy crooned, looking at the both of them like they were the most adorable people she'd seen in a long while.

Andrew laughed and awkwardly waved his hand. "See you around, Miss Bellman."

"Oh," she waved off. "How many times have I asked you to call me Lucy?"

God, when will this end?

Laughing, he said, "Right, Lucy, I'll see you around."

"Bye Andrew," she giggled and then giving his daughter a little wave, she said, "Bye Aurora!"

"Bye Miss Bellman!"

Before Lucy Bellman had the chance to open that mouth of hers and swallow them into another conversation, Aurora pulled on Andrew's hand and walked towards the parking lot.

"Wasn't that fun?" Andrew asked, amused as he walked with his daughter back to his car.

"Miss Bellman is nice," Aurora started, her tone hinting an entirely different story, "But she can be quite annoying."

"True words," Andrew nodded as they got into the car and he buckled her in place. "I'd say they could even be wise words."

Aurora hit her father's arm. "Wise words are for old people. I'm not old!"

"Really?" Andrew shot back, eyebrows furrowed in fake confusion. "I couldn't tell."

"You're such a meanie," she pouted, crossing her arms on her chest. The sight only made him want to laugh even more.

"I'll own up to that," he laughed. "Now, let's get lunch. Where do you want to go?"

After lunch, a place of Aurora's choosing, they went for ice-cream at the Golden Quaff and he made Aurora swear not to breathe a word of this to Talia. God knows how she'd overreact to that. They made their way back to the apartment before they freshened themselves up and headed to the park. He played with her and thereafter they headed back to the flat. After dinner, a movie and a story, they found themselves in Aurora's room, on her bed with Andrew cradling his daughter like she actually fit in his arms when she was in fact growing, no longer able to fit her entire body in his arms.

The day had come to an end too fast.

"Ba," Aurora called, tapping his chest.

He mumbled in response, tiredness and sleep pulling him in.

"Are you okay?"

His eyes opened. The question that blurted out of his daughter's mouth erased whatever sleep he had, alertness taking its place. "What are you on about?"

"Are you okay?" she repeated.

He pulled away so that she was no longer lying on his chest. Peering at her face, he raised his eyebrows and asked, concern lacing through his voice, "Ba's doing good. Where is this coming from?"

"Miss Bellman—"

"You know how she is," Andrew said at once, turning his daughter so that she was fully facing him. "Miss Bellman cares a lot—"

"Probably more than she should," Aurora snickered and Andrew couldn't help but laugh at that.

"That's rude," he said, unable to keep his amusement to himself.

"I know," she said but she was grinning, no signs of shame on her face, "But it's true."

The two laughed and Andrew hugged his daughter. "I'm doing okay," he promised, kissing the crown of her head. "So long as I got you, Princess, Ba's awesome."

"Ba's awesome," she echoed him laughingly. "Sure you are."

"I so am!"

"In what world?"

He shook his head in disappointment. "Your sassiness is getting out of control."

"You usually wouldn't be complaining but you've lost your touch, Ba. You're just jealous."

He scoffed, staring down at his daughter with an open mouth. "Jealous? Of a little girl? Whatever for?"

She wrinkled her nose. "And there you go, starting all the formal talk again."

He laughed, squeezing her into yet another hug. He couldn't help himself around her. His daughter was the only person who could take down his defences. She completely disarmed him and he was helpless in her presence.

"How are you doing?" Andrew asked, settling back down on the pillow and pulling Aurora with him, letting her head rest gently against his chest.

"Weird," she replied honestly, having no reason to shy away from the truth when with her father. "Mum never wants to talk about it. Whenever I bring up the divorce to know how things with our family are going to work now she ignores me or changes the subject. It makes me wish that things could go back to normal. You and Mum weren't happy. I know that, Ba. I saw it before you told me. But everything is different now. When I'm with her, I want things to go back to normal. When I'm with you, like now, I feel like this divorce thing is good. You look much happier. I know you're struggling but you look much better."

He lay there, silently listening to his daughter without inputting his thoughts. They both basked in a moment of silence. Andrew was too stunned to speak immediately. Aurora was smart. He knew that, and yet every time she uttered something wise beyond her years he felt the need to pinch himself. She was extremely observant as well.

"I am struggling, yes," he finally said, choosing his words carefully but speaking the whole and complete truth. "The divorce is harder than I thought. I'm happy right now, especially now with you here this weekend, but it is frustrating."

"Oh," she whispered and he imagined her frowning into his chest. He couldn't peek over her head that rested against his chest. "Why is it so hard and frustrating?"

"Because I can't have you all the time."

The overwhelming urge to cry took hold of his senses and he found himself clutching his daughter. Aurora turned, he glimpsed her tear stained face, before her arms wound around his neck, her small face buried below his chin. He pulled her closer, hugged her tighter, and whispered, "I love you, Aurora."

She hiccupped. "I love you too, Ba."

She was crying. Andrew always believed in transparency when it came to being a parent whereas Talia believed that children didn't have to witness every single struggle, but Andrew didn't see sense in Talia's way. Emotions — they connected people more.

"Shh, baby," he whispered, running his hand down her hair and trying to soothe her with a Taiwanese lullaby he used to hum to her every single day in the first months of her birth. It always hushed her cries and she fell asleep soon after — it was something that hushed him up as a baby too, his mother had once told him.

Now, against his chest, in the safety of his arms, the song had almost the same effect. It was enough to calm her, to soothe her and to make her stop crying. "Is everything going to be okay?" she hiccupped, refusing to let go of him. He didn't pry her away even when his shirt was now wet and uncomfortable to be in. The comfort of his daughter surpassed his own.

"I don't know," he answered softly, his tone that of a trustworthy one. "But I swear to keep fighting. You are my everything, Aurora. What would Ba be without his sweet, cheeky little Sleeping Beauty?"

She giggled lightly, her grip around him loosening. "You'd be very sad."

"Indeed," he agreed. "And Ba doesn't want to be sad. I don't want you to be sad either. Things may seem uncertain now but your Mum and I are working around it, making things better."

"It's not better," she argued feebly, but she was correct.

No reply came to his mind instantly. She was always so blunt and even after years living with his daughter, he was not used to it. He was accustomed to it but that didn't mean he was any quicker or better at thinking up intelligent responses.

"You're quiet again," she pointed out, finally letting go of him and sitting upright so she could see her father's face clearly, as if looking at him gave her the power to read his mind. It didn't. "What are you thinking?"

"That it's not better but it will get better," he replied, a small encouraging smile pulling at his lips. "It's always dark before the light."

Her face pulled into a funny expression and Andrew's heart felt only slightly lighter. "What does that mean?" she asked, clear confusion written into her funny expression.

"That things may seem sucky now but just you wait and see. Life's going to turn out brilliant."

Her face told him that she wasn't buying it.

"I can't prove it now," he added, "You just have to wait and see."

"How long?"

"There's the impatient little girl I know."

"How long?" she repeated, whining as she flopped back down on her pillow, the one right beside Andrew.

"How am I supposed to know?" he asked, sliding down into the bed. "I can't tell the future."

He was thankful that while she was still growing and no longer fit into his arms as she once did before, she was not that big and sharing a single-sized bed with her proved to be of little difficulty.

He hugged her once more before saying, "Don't worry, Aurora. Really. You don't have to worry so much about this. I certainly won't go down without a fight."

"That's a promise," she said.

"It is," he confirmed for her. "Now, sleeping in this bed is not bad but mine has a much bigger space. Do you—"

"Race you there!" she screamed before he could even get his words out. She grabbed the duvet and rushed out of the room, screaming all the way. Andrew laughed, rolling his eyes as he got off the bed and walked on out after her.

It's a real promise, he thought as he watched his daughter clamber onto the bed and get comfortable there, a big wide grin on her face, I won't go down without a fight.

"Tell me a story," she demanded, a goofy smile still on her lips, as he removed his fuzzy slippers and got into the bed. "I'm not sleepy yet."

"Which story do you want to hear?" he asked, goofy smile matching hers as he tucked the covers around her body so she felt warmer. His room was colder than the guest room he'd chosen as Aurora's room.

"Anything. You always have good stories."

He told her a story, a long one which he made up on the spot — a story that was not all that hard to make up as it revolved around a relationship of father and daughter, just like him and Aurora. He tucked himself beside her, smiling contently as his eyes slid shut. The apartment had felt like it was missing something and with Aurora it finally felt whole. He felt whole.

Home finally feels like home, he thought, his mind drawing him into sweet, serendipitous dreams.