Little Stars

Chapters

Bad Words
New Clothes
A Bad Date
First Day of School
Trip to the Hospital
An Old Friend
Surprise!
What a Beautiful Sunset
Halloween
More Chores
Laced Dresses
First Date
Christmas

Bad Words

"Am not!" Sonata rattles off from her position in the cart in front of you.

"Are too," Aria says with a roll of her eyes beside you. You've lost track of where this even started. It happens so much these days you don't even pay attention anymore.

"Am not!"

"Are too."

"Am not!"

"Are too."

"Girls!" you say quietly, but sternly to them. They both stop and solidify their attention on you now instead. "If you're on your best behavior for the rest of this trip, I'll let each of you get a new toy before we leave. How's that?"

Sonata's face brightens up at the prospect, and she lets out a little "yay!" from her seat in the cart.

"As long as she doesn't mess things up like she always does. Again," Aria scoffs at Sonata.

Sonata looks over and opens her mouth at Aria, her face stern and ready for battle, but you put a finger on her lips to stop her. "Remember now, best behavior."

Sonata nods at you and the smile returns to her face. "Yes, Daddy."

"Aria, how about you go ahead and pick yours out? We're almost done, so just meet us in this aisle when you find what you want, okay?"

Aria's face brightens up and she smiles at you. "Awesome!" she says, right before turning around and bolting for the toy aisle.

Another long day, another wonderful outing with your three beautiful daughters. Thankfully, one of them isn't quite as prone to causing problems.

"At least I have one little girl that's starting to grow up," you say, wrapping an arm around Adagio to your side, and bringing her in close to you for a little hug.

She gives you a little smile, then pulls her hand out of her sweater pocket to adjust her glasses. "Thanks, Dad."

"Do you know what's gotten into her today? She's been arguing with her sister ever since I got home."

"One of the neighborhood girls called her stupid when we were playing outside. They almost fought. I think that's why she's so grumpy today," Adagio says, walking a little closer to you as you get deeper into the frozen food aisle.

"Huh. Why didn't they fight?" you say, surprised. A week where Aria doesn't come home with a few cuts, bruises, and an angry neighborhood mom is a rare experience these days.

"I dragged her home before she could do anything. She always gets mad when she can't hit anyone after stuff like that."

"Well it always makes my life easier," you say, putting your hand in Adagio's curly hair and giving her a thankful pat. "Thank you for doing that. It makes me happy to see you looking out for your sisters."

Adagio gives you a bright grin at your compliment. You can't help but smile back. "So, do you know what you want?"

Adagio looks up to you hopefully. "Well, there was this new book that I really wanted to read."

"What about you, Sonata?"

"A coloring book! With ponies!" she yells in an excited tone.

You turn back towards Adagio. "Can you grab those real quick? We're about to check out. As soon as Aria gets back we can leave."

Adagio nods to you. "Yes, sir," she says before leaving you and Sonata alone.

You smile as you grab the last bag of frozen vegatables you need and take the opportunity to play with Sonata. You push your finger gently into her belly, eliciting a determined expression from her. She grabs your hand and fights for dear life with it, while you make silly noises and faces at her. Her laugh all the while makes all the worries of work and life wash away. Little moments like this remind you why you had three kids in the first place.

"Dad! I found what I wanted!" you hear Aria say from behind you.

"Alright, now we just need to--" the smile drops from your face when you see what she's dragging across the tiles.

"Aria, no."

"What?" she says, her face turning pouty already, "but you said I could get any toy I wanted!"

"Aria, that's not a toy, that's a guitar," you say, nodding to the cheap acoustic that she found very far from the toy aisle. Even the poorest quality ones here were sixty dollars. That's not something you need to tack on to your budget right now.

"So what? Adagio and Sonata always get what they want. Why do you always have love them so much more than me?" Aria says, her pouty face growing stronger by the second. Her little indignant pout is cute, but you have to stay strong on this one.

"Aria, you know that's not true. Now put that back and pick something else so we can go home."

Aria drops the guitar on the ground and crosses her arms, looking away from you in anger. "Fucking asshole..." she says under her breath.

She definitely thought she was being sly with that one, but you heard it loud and clear. "Excuse me, young lady?"

Aria goes straight as a board and fear seizes her face. "N-nothing!" she says, doing her best not to look at you.

"Ooooooh, Aria's in trouble," Sonata says, putting her hand over her mouth.

You walk over and kneel down beside Aria, putting on your best stern face. "Where did you learn those words?"

"Nowhere! I didn't say anything!" Aria says, nervously looking at the aisle to the left. As lenient as you could be sometimes, you didn't mess around when it came to discipline. Aria knows exactly what messing up like that meant.

"Stop lying to me, Aria." You sigh and get back up to your feet. "We'll deal with this when we get home. Now put that back where you found it and come straight to the check out lane."

"Dad, please! I'm really sorry, I swear I didn't mean it!" she blurts out, the fear of god successfully struck in her.

You look at her sternly. "Aria..."

Aria looks down, knowing she's been beaten. "Yes, sir..."

And so begins the walk of shame, Aria's march back to the music aisle with the low-quality guitar in tow.

You sigh as Aria walks away. "What am I going to do with that girl..."

She's been acting out ever since... Well ever since two years ago. You could never connect with her quite as well as you used to, and her attitude seems to get worse by the day.

"Send her to fat camp, Daddy!" Sonata exclaims, the look on her face like she just gave you the secret answer to everything.

You look down at her, puzzled. "But she's perfectly fit, Sonata, why would she need to go there?"

"Cause of her bad attitude, Daddy!"

You laugh at her and rub her head. In her six-year-old slur, "fat" and "bad" sounds exactly the same. You might have your faster way of talking to blame as well.

"No, Sonata. That's for an entirely different problem, but thank you for the suggestion."

"Oh..." she says, confused.

"Let's go meet your sister over at the check out line. We can go home after that."

Adagio found you just as you're rolling up to the check out line, two books in tow. One of them is some romance novel you've never heard of, and the other is a My Little Pony coloring book. Sonata is definitely going to love that one. Aria silently joins your trio, trying not to look stressed to give her current predicament away to Adagio, but you can tell the suspense is already killing her.

After a long trip of silence in the car ride home--which is an amazing feat in and of itself--the girls help you unpack the groceries and get dinner ready. Once you have it ready and have all the girls sitting down eating, the drama that had to be building up in the car finally comes to a head after a few rounds of generic family dinner table conversation.

"What's wrong with you anyway, Aria?" Adagio asks after swallowing a mouthful.

Aria hasn't even touched her food since she sat down, and is way too busy brooding to even think about it.

"What are you even talking about?" Aria says in a low, angry voice.

"You've been sulking ever since we left the store. You're not still mad at Indigo after today are you?"

"Just leave me alone."

Sonata pipes up from her position across the table. "Aria said a bad word to Daddy and now she's in big trouble."

"Oh," Adagio says, going back to her meal.

Aria stiffens up and glares daggers over at Sonata, her fists clenching beside her as she grinds her teeth. "Shut up, Sonata! Nobody asked, you stupid baby!"

Sonata looks over at her sister with a pout, then opens her mouth to say something. Time to nip this one in the bud.

"Girls," you say calmly, putting your fork down. "Aria, don't call your sister names like that."

Aria looks over at you, betrayed that you took her side. "But, Dad, she--"

You look over to Sonata and cut Aria off. "And Sonata, don't be a tattle tale. If Aria wanted everyone to know what she did, she would've told her sister. I'm sure she's embarrassed enough about it."

Aria turns to Sonata, sticking her tongue out at her. Sonata sees this, makes a little gasp and does the same in retaliation. Once the girls are done eating, Adagio is the first one to speak up.

"Can I go read my new book now?" Adagio asks.

"Sure thing, sweetie. Just make sure to brush your teeth before bed, alright?"

She smiles at you and roles her eyes. "I know, Dad. I'm not eight anymore."

"Just making sure, honey. Goodnight."

Adagio gives a tiny little "mmhmm" as she puts her plate in the sink and walks upstairs, her new book in tow.

"Oh! Daddy! Can I go color?" Sonata asks.

"Of course, Sonata. Just stay out of the kitchen for a few more minutes, okay?"

"Yay! Okay!" she says, hoping out of her seat and grabbing her coloring book off of the counter and runs off to the kitchen.

Aria perks up, trying to look innocent."Can I--"

"No, Aria. You know what happens when we say bad words."

Aria's head drops down into a pout. "I know..."

You get up out of your seat and head into the kitchen, Aria begrudgingly following. Once you arrive, you hoist Aria up onto the countertop. You can already see her tough girl act breaking apart as the looming punishment draws near. You reach up to the top shelf in one of the cabinets, pulling out a little hot sauce bottle you pulled the label off of. You marked a big black x on the ripped white label, just to make it look scarier. You know in reality it's just some regular extra spicy hot sauce, but it's something little girls aren't going to be used to.

Once you set it on the counter, you see Aria is closing her eyes tightly, trying to fight back tears. You open the bottle and put a drop onto your finger. You sigh, wishing you didn't have to do stuff like this all the time.

"Open up, Aria."

Aria shakes her head violently, a stark "uh-uh" coming out of her.

"Would you rather be grounded until school starts?"

Aria looks away and gives a sigh of defeat. "No..."

"Then open up. This will only take a second."

Aria looks up to you, her big, puppy dog eyes filling with tears. You have long since grown immune to the effects of that pout, as cute as it is.

"Because everyone has to do it. If you make a mistake, you have to pay for it. Do you understand?"

"But, Dad, I'm really sorry! I promise I'll never do anything bad ever again!"

"Aria," you say sternly.

Aria reluctantly sticks out her tongue slightly, and you dab it with the drop of hot sauce.

"Look, Daddy said a bad word today at work too, so even I have to go through it," you say, putting a dab of hot sauce on your own tongue.

The sudden spicy taste brings back a few bad memories from a CHS bake sale and a certain pink friend of yours' idea of cupcaking toppings, but mostly you just want to try it and see if it's too much for your daughter or not.

Aria lets out a little whine and grips the counter tightly as her face turns slightly red at the heat. You can feel that the hot sauce really isn't that strong. It must just be the sentiment that it's supposed to be punishment.

She grimaces as the effects continue. You figure she's had enough, so you pour her a glass of milk and hand it over. As soon as she opens her eyes to see it, she snatches it out of your hand and gulps it down so fast that you're afraid she might actually choke.

Once she's done, she sticks her tongue out and huffs like she just ran a marathon. You pick her up off the counter, and turn towards the stairs to take her up to her room. She's way too tired to fight you now. You think she's a little old to be carried like this, and usually, you figure she might agree with you most of the time, but without Adagio or Sonata watching, she's just fine with it.

She settles into your shoulder, obviously worn out from her day and her little ordeal back there. The usual punishment of having to go to bed early don't seem like quite as much of a punishment for her now.

"Daddy?" she says.

"Yes, honey?"

She waits for a second, a worried look crossing her face. "You're not still mad at me, are you?"

You give a little smile as you start up the stairs, even though she can't see it. "Just as long as you learn to stop using bad words like that, everything is fine. And I'm not mad at you, sweetie. I love you, even if you do act out sometimes. Just don't do that again, okay?"

"Yes, sir."

You take your hand away from Aria's back once you reach her door. You open up the dark room and move to her bed, pulling back the covers and stick her in. You know she's way too old for this, but you can't help it sometimes.

"Daddy?" she says one last time as you tuck her in.

"Yes, Aria?"

"I love you too."

You smile at her, then lean down to plant a kiss on her forehead. "Night, honey," you say, leaving her to it.

The evening ritual continues as usual. Sonata never wants to go to bed, but as soon as you set her on her sheets, she drops like a rock. You spend the last couple of hours in the night surfing the internet or watching tv; biding time until you have to get up again tomorrow. Thankfully you have the next couple of days off, so you don't have to scour a town for a babysitter the girls haven't run off yet. With the way Aria and Sonata are, those are getting very few and far between these days.

You could lament about the incredible ability to strike fear into any babysitter that crossed their paths later. For tonight, you just want to get a good night's rest before you spend a full day with your girls.

With the house finally dead quiet, you head up to your room and go through your own little nightly ritual before getting into bed. As you do every night, just as you settle into the massive king size bed, you sigh.

This bed is way too big for just you. When you bought it, that never seemed like it was going to be a problem. Things don't always go according to plan, though. You run your hands through the cold, empty sheets across from you, feeling more alone than ever. All you can look at is the dark outline of the picture frame on your nightstand. You didn't need any light to know what's on it. A happy family of five. Hard to believe the woman in that picture tried to take over the world. And even harder to believe is that you ended up with her after you hated her so much in high school.

But things change. You reach over and pull the picture down on its face, hiding it away from sight. You don't want to look at it anymore. All it's going to do is keep you up thinking of what could have been. It's too late for that anyway.

You roll over in bed, hoping to at least fall asleep quickly, but once you do you notice that your door isn't closed anymore.

"Daddy?" you hear in the dark. You narrow your eyes, expecting Sonata, but the silhouette in front of you is just a little bit taller.

"Aria?" you ask, leaning up in bed.

She walks over to you, not wanting to look directly at you, but still wanting to be close. She clears her throat, trying to shake out whatever is making her choke up. "D-Dad? I..."

"What is it, honey?"

"I... I had a bad dream. Can I...?" she says cautiously. She's defintely way too old for this. Not like you could ever say no, though.

"Sure, sweetie. Just don't hog up the entire bed, okay?" you say jokingly.

Aria crawls over you and under the sheets, making sure to stick as close to you as humanly possible. You wrap an arm around her and close your eyes, feeling slightly better about tonight.

After a few moments of silence, Aria speaks up. "Promise you won't tell Adagio or Sonata?"

"Of course not. Just go to sleep and don't worry about it, okay?"

"Thanks, Dad," Aria says quietly, snuggling into your side. You just smile and hold her tighter against you.

You smile even wider at the thought of being with them all day tomorrow. As little fun as breaking up fights is, it's always better than work.

New Clothes

"Dad..."

You groan, trying to move away from the tiny hand shaking your shoulder. "Dad..."

"Ugh..." you groan again, this time reluctantly opening your eyes as the shaking becomes more persistent. You look over at the clock. Only seven in the morning. You hoped to sleep in a little later than that, but you know that's asking for too much.

Your vision focuses in on your shoulder aggressor. "Adagio? Why are you up so early?"

"I needed help with..." She looks over at Aria beside you, who begins to stir to life. "Can you just come help me in my room?" Adagio says in a hushed tone.

Aria slowly opens her eyes to see her sister, then as soon as she does, they open wide in terror, a massive blush coming over her face. She turns over in the covers to try to hide herself, but the damage has already been done.

You turn up to get out of bed, leaving the embarrassed Aria underneath the covers. Adagio wouldn't ever use that against her sister, unless Aria somehow really pisses her off, but you haven't seen Adagio anything but cool and collected for quite a while now.

You follow her into her room, where you find one of her shirts laying on her bed, already stretched out around the collar slightly.

"What's wrong, Adagio?"

"I just... needed some help getting this shirt on," she says, picking the shirt up carefully.

"And you didn't want to say that in front of your sister because...?"

You can see a tiny bit of frustration cross her face. "Can you just help me, please?"

You put your hands up innocently, trying to curb her wrath. "Alright, alright."

Adagio takes her other shirt off, and tries to put on the other one. As you attempt to work around her insanely thick, curly hair and get her shirt on, you could tell how it got stretched out in the first place. Once you pull her hair out of the collar, you could see the shirt is at least two sizes too small for her and clings way too tightly to her body. You close your eyes and shake your head.

"Honey, it's not going to fit. You'll just have to find another one." You hadn't taken them out clothes shopping in quite a while, and there's no doubt they've probably outgrown half of their wardrobe in the past couple of years.

Once you open your eyes, you see Adagio is looking up at you, almost at the verge of tears. No doubt she thought you were shaking your head at her.

"Adagio, honey, what's wrong?" you say, concern overtaking your expression as you kneel down to her level and put a hand on her shoulder.

"I'm getting fat, aren't I?" Adagio says, a pout forming on her face as she looks down at her body then back to you.

Your concern turns to amusement. "What? What made you think that?"

Adagio takes a deep breath. Oh lord, here it comes. "Indigo called me fat yesterday and said that was why none of the boys ever talked to me, then once we ate dinner I noticed I was the only one who ate everything and then this morning I tried to put on this shirt but it was really tight and I think Indigo was right and I'm getting fat and I'll never get married and have kids because I'll be--"

You give Adagio a little shake to snap her attention back to you. Damn this girl could talk fast sometimes. "Honey, you're not getting fat. You're just growing. This shirt is way too small for a girl your size."

"But Indigo said--"

You give Adagio a stern look to stop her mid-sentence. "You and Aria need to stop listening to this Indigo girl. She is causing nothing but trouble around here."

"B-but the shirt doesn't fit! And look," Adagio says, pinching a little section of skin on her arm.

You give her a little laugh. She has the exact opposite problem Aria does. She is way too young to already have body insecurities, and imaginary ones at that. All three of them could stand to gain a few pounds so they could grow properly.

"Sweetie, you're not fat. You're just growing. It's perfectly natural for a girl your age to start growing out of her clothes. Besides, school is starting up again in a few weeks. You and your sisters probably need some new clothes anyway."

A hopeful light returns to Adagio's eyes. "You mean it? You don't think I'm fat?"

"Of course not. You could be a model when you grow up if you keep looking like that." That got a smile out of Adagio. It always makes your day a little better to see that smile. "Now come on. Now that I have the day off it'd be good to spend it getting some new clothes for you and your sisters, don't you think?"

"Sounds good to me."

"Good, now we just have to wake up Sonata."

Adagio smiles up at you. "Not it!" she says as she goes back into her closet, leaving you to the agonizing process of getting that six year old out of bed.

After that nightmare of a process, full of the usual grunts and groans, you finally get Sonata to the dinner table for a bowl of cereal before you finally leave. Once you get Adagio and Sonata ready, Aria is a bit harder to coax out of bed. Her face was still red with embarrassment that her sister saw her sleeping in your bed, and once you said something about clothes shopping, Aria definitely didn't want anything to do with it. After another long process of convincing you finally told Aria to suck it up and get in the car. By the time that actually happened it was closer to nine.

Just as soon as you pulled out of the driveway, the drama already started.

"Why does Adagio always get to sit in the front seat?" Aria says, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Because I'm the oldest," Adagio shoots back. She looks almost confused that Aria would even question the order of things.

"So? Why do I always have to sit in the back with this baby?"

"I am not a baby!" Sonata says.

"Last time I checked most babies needed booster seats."

You sigh. You're never going to get away from it.

"Sonata isn't big enough for it to be safe without it." Aria smiles triumphantly at her sister at that. "But that doesn't mean she's still a baby, Aria." And then quickly loses it as you shoot her down.

"Maybe you have to sit back there because you're still a baby too," Adagio mumbles under her breath.

"What?!" Aria shouts. She definitely heard that one. You look over at Adagio, surprised that she actually threw an insult back at her sister.

"Maybe you just don't have the emotional maturity to sit in the front seat," Adagio says, pushing her glasses up her nose.

"What does that even mean?"

"It means just because you don't look like a baby doesn't mean you still don't act like one. What nine year old still sleeps in her par--"

"Adagio!" you say, giving her a stern look. As soon as you cut her off, you can see she's wondering where that came from too. "What's gotten into you?"

"S-sorry, Dad." She casts a quick glance back at Aria before looking down into her lap.

You adjust the mirror to see Aria's fists clenching hard, positively seething at Adagio. Sonata's sitting there wide-eyed at the display. "Wait, where was Aria sleeping?"

"Nowhere!" Aria blurted. "Just shut up, Sonata. No one asked you."

"But I was asking Adagio." Sonata's face turned to a pout. "Why are you always so grumpy?"

Aria let out a grunt of frustration. Before she could actually say anything, you speak up. "Aria... leave your sister alone."

"Fine."

You adjust the mirror towards her and give her a stern look. She meets your eyes and crosses her arms tighter before looking away and giving you a weak, defeated "Yes, sir."

You finally get to the mall just before another drama outbreak starts. As you pull into a parking space, you quickly remind the girls to be on their best behavior, or else they won't get to buy the clothes they want.

As soon as you walk into the stores and start actually letting them pick things out, you quickly learn how bad of a decision letting them choose themselves was. Adagio had some semblance of style and actually picked out something decent, albeit expensive, but Aria and Sonata... With Aria, you don't think you've ever seen a ten year old want to go goth this badly. Every shirt and jacket was pitch black, and she even tried to try on a pair of combat boots. Thankfully they didn't actually have any for kids. When you told her that you weren't going to buy her any leather because she would outgrow it too fast, she glared at you like she was about to start calling you names again.

Sonata on the other hand... you'd never seen so much pink in your life. Pink pants, pink shirts, pink shoes, pink socks, pink underwear. You're convinced she'd dye herself pink if you let her. She actually tears up a little when you tell her she needs to find something other than pink to wear.

You let out a long sigh as even something as simple as clothes shopping became infinitely more complicated than it needed to be. You really wish their mother was here to help. Your throughts drift away to a time where you might do something like this with her, smiling as you knew she'd obviously deal a lot better with picking out some good girl's clothes. The thought only made the reality that she isn't here even worse.

"Dad... are you alright?" Adagio asks you, tugging on your sleeve and snapping you out of the reverie you were in.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"You just looked... sad, or something." Adagio looks up to you with a concerned tone. Just as you open your mouth she speaks up again. "You aren't mad about what I said to Aria, are you?"

"No, no. That's not it. I just... I'm just having a hard time with this whole clothes shopping thing. I don't know if I can really send Aria and Sonata to school in good conscience with the clothes they're picking out." You give Adagio a smile, but you can't really tell if she bought it or not.

"I can help! I read something the other day about color coordination. I could definitely pick out something that will look good on them."

"That would be wonderful," you say, giving Adagio a thankful pat on the head. "Just try find something a little less expensive, alright?"

"O-oh, alright."

After another few less excruciting hours, you have a pile of rather expensive new clothes for the girls. Aria's selection still had a few too many skulls surrounded by black fabric and Sonata's pick was still pretty pink-heavy, but to Adagio's credit it certainly could've been worse. You admit defeat and buy it for the girls, knowing their mother would probably have a fit if she could see what you got them. Once you take a solid hit to your bank account, you decide that's probably enough fun for the day.

You almost get out of the mall before you realize you're missing one. You stop suddenly, making Aria run into your leg and since Sonata was holding your hand, you give her a little jerk when you stop. "Wait, where'd Adagio go?"

Aria gives you an uncaring shrug, but Sonata looks around like a bloodhound before finally pointing to a big sign for a future designer clothes store. You find Adagio standing there staring up at the sign: a shirtless male model with a pretty chiseled six pack, covered in a glistening layer of water as he modeled some funny-looking shorts. You bring your hand to your own stomach for a moment, lamenting the loss of your own fit, high school body as you walk up to her.

"Dagi, why are you staring at the naked man?" Sonata asks.

Adagio seems to jump at the sound. You droop a little at the realization of what exactly Adagio was just doing. You are not prepared to deal with this at all.

"What? I wasn't staring at anything," Adagio blurts out, a tiny blush forming on her face.

A sly smile crosses Aria's face at the display. "Looks like Adagio has a crush," she said in a sing-song, teasing voice.

"I do not! I was just looking at how--"

Aria's smile grows even wider. "How dreamy he was? How great your wedding is going to be?"

Adagio's blush grows even darker as she slowly gets more pissed at Aria. "That's not what I was going to say!" she says with a little stomp of her foot. As cute as that was, you know Aria is playing with fire on this one, and you've already had a long enough day as it is without Adagio bringing down the brunt of her wit on her sister.

"That's enough, you two. Don't worry about what Adagio was doing; let's just get home so we can get everything out of these bags, okay?"

"Unless we have to stop every five seconds for Adagio to stare at every guy she sees."

Adagio gets even redder at that one. She opens her mouth to say something, but you give her a quick, stern look and she stops her impending barrage. You let out a sigh of relief. At least one of them actually listened to you. "Aria, leave your sister alone. This is your last warning."

Aria went stiff at that, making sure to look in the opposite direction of Adagio. It wouldn't be the first time you had to punish her two days in a row, and you can only imagine it wouldn't be the last. You adjust the myriad of bags in your hands, just hoping you could get out of here without another incident.

"Mrs. Cheerilee!" Adagio says, completely forgetting about her previous embarrassment. You sigh as she runs off in another direction, but as you watch her go you remember that name.

"Hello, dear. It's so nice to see you here!" Cheerilee says, leaning down to give Adagio a hug.

"Teacher's pet..." Aria mutters. You ignore her as you walk up to the pair.

"Well, long time no see," you say, giving your old high school teacher a smile.

"Oh," she says, perking up as she sees you. "I'm just seeing everyone today, aren't I?"

"Mrs. Cheerilee, this is my dad," Adagio says proudly.

"Oh really," Cheerilee says, raising an eyebrow at you as she looks across your three girls.

"Hey, I've been pretty busy since high school," you say with a sheepish smile.

Cheerilee gives you one back. "I can certainly see that."

"Wait, you two already know each other?" Adagio asks.

"We sure do. Cheerilee was actually my teacher in high school."

Adagio looks between the two of you in amazement. "But she's so young..."

Cheerilee giggles at that. You're not exactly sure how to take it. "I'm not that young, dear."

"Couldn't take high school anymore?" you ask.

"Oh, middle schoolers are so much easier to deal with, and when the superintendent told me they needed someone like me in the new school I couldn't resist."

"Yeah... I remember some kids giving you quite the hard time."

Cheerilee gives you a playful smile. "I don't remember you being any easier to deal with either. It seems every other day I'd catch you distracting Su--" Cheerilee caught herself mid-sentence. Her expression immediately turned apologetic. She looked between you and the girls, not exactly sure how to handle the situation. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to--"

You raise a hand to stop her. The start of her name took you off gaurd. Even after two years a lump still formed in your throat every time you thought of her. You clear your throat and give Cheerilee an easygoing smile. "Hey, don't worry about it. Listen, it's been a long day for the girls and I, and I should really get them home, but I'd love to catch up some time."

Cheerilee perks up. "Oh! Of course. We could certainly get together some time this weekend if you'd like. Would you like my number?"

"Of course."

Sonata and Aria look between each other and let out a quiet "oooooh" at the exchange. "Looks like someone else has a crush too," Aria whispers to her sister, eliciting a little giggle from Sonata. You nudge her as you take down Cheerilee's number and tell her goodbye. Adagio is standing there awestruck at the exchange you two just had.

Once the three of you get back into the car, Adagio looks apprehensive, like she wants to ask you a question. After you get back onto the road, she finally speaks up.

"Dad... is Cheerilee going to be our new mom?"

Uh oh. You wince at the question, reminding yourself to have a talk with Adagio later to remind her she's the only one who knows the truth. You brace yourself for the oncoming drama.

"What? How are we gonna have a new mom when we're still waiting for our mom to come back," Aria says. Adagio freezes up, immediately realizing the error of her ways. She opens her mouth, but it looks like she has no idea what to say.

"And Dad, I'm totally going to tell on you when Mom gets back for this. She is gonna be so mad when she hears you have a crush on Adagio's teacher," Aria says, a mischevious smile on her face. Your heart sinks for a moment. You know now isn't the time to tell her, even if she's way too old to still believe that lie.

"It's... It's not like that, Aria. We're just friends, okay?"

"Whatever you say, Dad."

"Is she gonna be our new babysitter?" Sonata asks, prompting Aria to roll her eyes.

"The only reason we even need a babysitter anymore is because of you, you big baby."

"Aria, do not start this right now!" you say a little louder than you intended to. All three of the girls jump at your volume, and end up staring at you with a little fear in their eyes.

"O-okay... I'm sorry, Dad," Aria says, her voice cracking.

You sigh. "I'm sorry, honey. It's just been a long day and I think we're all a little worn out. Let's just listen to the radio."

The rest of the ride home is pretty quiet somehow. It would almost be nice if all three girls weren't pointing their worried glances towards you constantly. You can't even enjoy the silence after the awkwardness of yelling at Aria like that. You chide yourself for it, but not like you can really do anything about it now.

Once you get home the tension starts unwinding a little bit, the usual bickering between Sonata and Aria starts up again as you eat dinner and let them play for a little bit before bed. Adagio is surprisingly quiet through it all, but you can't bring yourself to pay too much attention to it. You spent way too much of the day thinking about her, and now all you need is something to take your mind off of it.

Once all the girls went to bed, you drag a bottle of whiskey off of the top shelf and grab yourself a glass. You sit in your chair in front of a blank tv, just taking shot after shot, trying to take your mind off of her. You try to think about Cheerilee, and how maybe you could spin that meetup into another few dates. You try to think about work too, and play with the dream of finally starting that business so you didn't have to put up with so much shit anymore. None of it really occupied you for long. When the world got quiet, you could never help but let your mind wander back to her.

"Dad?" you hear from behind you. You jump a little at the sound. Once you turn around you see Adagio standing there, a worried look still on her face.

You scoot the bottle behind the chair, hoping Adagio wouldn't put two and two together, and then look up to the clock to see it is way past this girl's bedtime. "Honey, what are you doing up so late?" you say. You're surprised at your clarity. After that many shots you expected at least a little slur.

"I couldn't sleep."

"Why not?"

Adagio looks away from you for a moment. "I... I kept thinking about Mom."

You look over to her. She looks between you and your lap anxiously, as if standing there next to you is making her uncomfortable. "Come here, honey," you say.

She crawls up onto your lap, making you wince and try to adjust under her weight. She's getting too old for this. You put a hand around her anyway as she curls up next to you.

"How do you forget?" she asks.

"W-what?" The question catches you off guard for a moment. If she was ten years old you might say whiskey, but that didn't really seem appropriate.

"How do you forget Mom so easily? I think about her all the time and I just miss her so much," Adagio pauses, bringing her knees up to her chest. "How do you just keep going so easily."

You let out a long sigh. "I've never forgotten her, sweetie. Sometimes I can't think of anything else."

"But you never seem sad or anything. I... I still cry sometimes about it," Adagio says, looking away from you. She looks a little ashamed to have said that.

"Honey, when you're a grown-up sometimes you just don't have time to be sad. Sometimes you just have to suck it up and do what you have to do for the people you care for." You think about the whiskey bottle sitting behind the chair. Not exactly the most responsible thing to do. "I have to go to work and take care of you girls. I can't afford to spend too much time being sad."

"But you still remember her?"

You run a hand through Adagio's thick, curly hair. "Of course I do, sweetie. Not a day goes by that I don't still think of her."

"Then what about Cheerilee?"

"What about her?"

"If you can't forget about Mom, then how is Cheerilee going to be our new mom."

You give her a laugh. You'd think a twelve-year-old would be a little more understanding of the whole romantic process, but who knows. "I don't know about all of that."

"So you really are just going to be friends with Cheerilee?"

"I don't know, honey. We haven't even gone out on a date yet."

"But you're thinking about going on a date with her?"

"I am."

Adagio furrows her brows at you, her lips turning down into a little scowl. "Why?"

You raise an eyebrow at her. "Why does it matter, sweetie?"

"Why do you want to replace Mom?" she says, anger growing in her voice.

That one took you even more off guard. You open your mouth to say something, but aren't sure what to say as you look into Adagio's angry little eyes.

"Adagio..."

"You're trying to replace her! She's only been gone two years and you've already moved on! How can you just do that?" she asks, tears starting to roll down her cheeks. You wrap her up tightly in a hug, feeling the sting of her words like an icy dagger ripping at your heart.

"Adagio listen to me," you say as she starts crying into your shirt. "I could never replace your mother in a million years. I'm never going to forget her for as long as I live, and I'll never find anyone that could ever come close to replacing her."

You stroke Adagio's hair as she cries into your chest. "Just because I want to spend time with someone else doesn't mean she'll ever replace your mom, okay? No one could ever make me forget about her," you say, feeling yourself choke up as well.

"I just miss her so much..." Adagio says between sobs.

You rock her back and forth, shushing her as you run your fingers through her hair. "I know, honey. I do too."

You sigh and hold her tightly against you. "I do too..."

A Bad Date

After a wonderful first date and an even better second one, you can tell Cheerilee was someone you really wanted to spend time with. The momentary break from the kids was nice, and you actually really enjoyed Cheerilee's company, despite all the awkward memories you two had from high school. She was really only about six years older than you, since the year she started teaching was your senior year in high school, so it wasn't all that bad. It had been about a week and a half since you first ran into her, so you decided it was time to go for broke and risk it all.

It was time to have her over to your house.

"Dad, can we take a break already? We've been cleaning all day," Aria groans as she throws the rag in her hand onto the floor.

"That stain isn't gone yet, young lady."

"Ugh. Why does it even matter? She's only going to be here for one night," Aria says, crossing her arms over her chest.

Adagio looks over from her position near the shelves by the tv. The duster in her hand stops for a moment. "I don't think it really needs to be this clean, Dad. You should see what she has to deal with at school."

"See?" Aria starts. "Even Adagio thinks this is overkill. When goody-two-shoes over there wants to stop cleaning we've probably gone overboard."

"Hey!" Adagio shoots back.

"Look, girls. I want to make a good impression, and that means this house needs to be a little cleaner."

"You've been saying that all day, Dad," Aria says. "When's it gonna be clean enough?"

"Fine. You two can take a break."

Aria rolls her eyes. "Finally." She throws the squirt bottle in her other hand down to the floor, then starts up the stairs for a moment before her eye catches Sonata in the kitchen, coloring away in her book. "Hey, why doesn't she have to do anything?"

"She's been helping me cook, Aria. Now do you want to take a break or not?"

Aria goes stiff at the idea of having to keep cleaning, then quickly bolts up the stairs before you give her another task. You let out a little laugh at the display. Maybe you did push the whole cleanliness thing a little too far for the day. Besides, as soon as you look down at your watch you realize that Cheerilee was going to be here in less than an hour.

"Adagio, can you help me with the table?" She nods to you in response, walking into the kitchen and grabbing the right plates and utensils out of the drawer.

Her face scrunches in thought as she sets the other side of the table. "Dad, why does she have to come to our house?"

You give her a quick laugh. "Because I invited her over for dinner?"

"But don't you think it's kinda weird?"

"What's weird about it, honey?"

Adagio looks down to the plate in her hands, turning it over a few times as she thinks for something to say. "I don't think you should be doing this," she quickly blurts out, making sure to stare at the ground and away from you.

You sigh and make your way over beside her. You kneel down to get on her level as you put your hands on her shoulders. She looks up at you, worry plain on her face. "Are you still worried I'm trying to replace her?"

Adagio gives you a weak nod. "Well don't, honey. Remember what I said? No one could ever replace your mother."

"I know, but I still don't like it."

"I know you enjoyed having her as a teacher. I think you'll get used to seeing her more often around here too," you say, giving her an easygoing smile.

Adagio doesn't respond, and instead just turns away from you and goes back to setting the table. She clearly wants to avoid the subject, and you know you aren't going to get through to her right now. You just hope that after another few dates she might warm up to the idea of having another woman around the house. After two years of staring at that empty side of the bed and feeling sorry for yourself, you sure are. You leave Adagio to the table and move off into the kitchen instead.

"Hey, how's my little chef doing?" you ask Sonata.

Sonata smiles and picks her book up off the floor. "Look, Daddy!" she says, showing you a picture of a bunch of different animals she drew outside the lines instead of actually coloring in the pony on the page.

"Wow! Looks like we've got an artist on our hands. You think you could take a break and help me with the food?"

She gives you a little "mhmm", so you pick her up and set her on the counter by the oven. You open up the oven and pull the food out, grabbing a few different spices out of the drawers just in case your cooking isn't quite up to snuff.

"So, are you ready to go back to school, sweetie?"

Sonata swings her legs off the counter, then puts a little pout on her face at the question. "No. All the boys in class are mean, and the teacher doesn't like it when I draw."

You raise an eyebrow. What pre-k teacher doesn't let their students draw? You start to imagine what sort of dystopian future the school system has entered, but then you realize there's probably a better explanation. "Where were you drawing, Sonata?"

"On the desk!" she says proudly.

You should scold her, but you can't help but laugh instead. "Sonata you should really draw on paper instead."

"But the desks look so boring, Daddy. My desk was the only pretty one until she made me wipe it off," Sonata says, acting like she had to throw away a masterpiece.

"I can't believe she'd do that," you say playfully.

"I know! School is stupid."

You cut off a piece of the roast you just cooked, making sure it's small enough for Sonata to try. "Maybe you'll like Kindergarten better, sweetie." You raise the fork up to her mouth. "Here, try this."

Sonata leans forward and takes a bite, taking a moment to thoughtfully chew it. "Any good?" you ask.

She nods, giving you another quick "mhmm" before swallowing. A quiet moment passes as you try to make sure the vegetables are seasoned as well before Sonata speaks up again.

"Daddy... are you really replacing Mommy?" Sonata asks. The question makes you freeze as you hear it. Instead of answering Sonata right away, you lean back and look into the dining room, narrowing your eyes at Adagio.

She definitely heard that, since as soon as she sees you looking, her curious gaze into the kitchen quickly snaps back down to the table as she nervously sets down a few utensils, trying to look inconspicuous.

You turn back to Sonata and give her a smile. "No, honey. Cheerilee is just a friend I'm having over for dinner, okay?"

"Oh... okay."

You pull a few smaller plates of a cabinet and set them on the island. "Now go get your sister so you guys can have dinner," you say as you pick her up and set her back down on the tiles. She nods to you, then makes her way over to the stairs.

"Aria! Daddy says it's time for dinner!"

After another fill of grunts and groans, Aria makes her way downstairs as you fill their plates up and slide them over to where the stools were on the island. Adagio is the first to sit down, making sure to look at anywhere but you as she picks up her fork. Aria reluctantly takes her place beside her, and finally you pick up Sonata and place her on the last stool, since she's too short to get up there herself.

Aria picks around her food, looking like she's dreading having to eat any of it. "Ugh, how much more cleaning are we gonna have to do?"

You move over to the sink to wash your hands, since everything else seems like it was in place for Cheerilee's arrival. "I think you've done enough for the day. Thank you, girls, for your help."

"Daddy, why don't you cook this good every night?" Sonata asks. That makes Aria perk up a little bit, suddenly a little more keen to try her own food. Adagio lets out a snicker as she takes a bite off of her fork.

"Daddy doesn't have time to put this much effort into dinner every night, honey."

"Time enough for a date," Aria mutters.

You raise an eyebrow at her. "What was that, Aria?"

Aria takes a bite out of her food, then gives you mischevious smile. "You know how mad Mom is gonna be when she hears you had a date in our house?" Aria says, acting like she has all kinds of dirt on you now.

Adagio freezes up for a moment, her previous smile immediately fading. This is not something you want to deal with right now. "Aria this isn't a date. I'm just having a friend over, alright. Now don't chew while you talk, honey."

"When's Mom getting back, anyway," Aria asks. "She's been gone for like forever."

You look away from them for a moment. You still don't want to deal with this. "Finish your dinner, Aria."

She lets out a frustrated grunt, but reluctantly does what she's told. The girls offer a little more weak conversation as the finish their dinner, asking why they can't eat at the big table and some gossip about the neighborhood girls. After they're done you take their plates and put them in the sink, preparing the food now for you and Cheerilee instead. You send the girls up to their room and change into something nicer. You light a few candles around the table and spend a little time trying to make sure everything looked straight and proper, then you wait for the doorbell to finally ring.

Once it does, you make sure to push your hands down your shirt to make sure it's somewhat straight, then open the door to greet her.

"Good evening," you say as you get a look at her. She really dressed up for this one. The last dates you had were somewhat casual, but tonight Cheerilee had on a slick black dress, and her hair shined in the soft light of your house. Her appearance made you feel pretty underdressed. "Wow... you look amazing."

"I thought I'd look at least somewhat decent for my first time over," she says with a smile. "May I?"

"Oh, of course, come in." You get out of the way and let her walk in, watching her as she surveyed your home for a moment.

"I didn't imagine your home to be so well decorated," she said, giving you another quick smile.

You open your mouth for a moment, but the words catch in your throat. You had your wife to thank for that, and the thought caught you off gaurd for a moment.

You clear your throat, shaking the thought out of your head. "Please, sit down. I have everything ready for us. Let me just grab--"

"Hey, Miss Cheerilee!" Adagio says, holding one of the plates you made for the two of you in her hands.

Cheerilee jumps slightly as she turns around. "Oh! Hello, dear. I didn't see you there."

"We've got all your food ready if you want to sit down," Adagio says, a bright smile on her face. Aria and Sonata stood behind her, the former with the other plate in her hands, and the latter with two glasses of water wrapped in her arms. You narrow your eyes at them for a moment. You definitely told them to go up to their rooms for the night. Now that they're down though, you can't really make a scene in front of Cheerilee.

Sonata's mouth droops open as she looks up to her. The glasses slip out of her arms a little bit, making you worried she might actually drop them. "Wow... she's pretty."

"Oh..." Cheerilee brings a hand to her chest, an embarrassed expression forming on her face. "Well, thank you. I certainly tried to make a good impression tonight."

Adagio steps in again. "Do you want to sit down?" she asks.

"Oh, of course," Cheerilee says, then goes to take her place at one end of the table. Adagio beats her there, sliding the hot plate into place in front of her and making sure to pull the chair out for her. Cheerilee gives her a smile as she sits down. "My, I didn't know you had such well-mannered little girls."

You look between Aria and Sonata, who just give you two big, cheesy smiles. "I didn't either," you say, looking to them to try and find any hidden motives.

You finally go to your end of the table, where Aria slides your food in front of you as well, with Sonata close behind to give you your glass of water. She's too short to get it all the way up onto the table, so you just take it from her instead. She goes to the other side and gives the other to Cheerilee, then turns to Adagio.

"Was that the right one?" she asks. Adagio quickly nudges her with a harsh glare, eliciting an "ow" from her sister. Adagio turns back to the two of you, a wide smile on her face.

"Just tell us if you need anything else!" Adagio says.

"Thank you so much, dear. We will," Cheerilee says, giving her a smile back. The three girls retreat back into the kitchen, drawing your suspicious gaze the entire way.

"What did you have to do for them to get them to do that?" Cheerilee asks, clearly amazed at the display.

"Nothing. This is a very... happy surprise," you say, even though you doubt the intentions behind this were very happy.

"Well, it was a nice welcome, at least. I was almost worried they might not want to see me."

You raise an eyebrow. "Why wouldn't they want to see you? Adagio always said you were her favorite teacher."

That put a smile on Cheerilee's face. "Did she now? Well I certainly enjoyed having her. You'd be amazed at how few seventh graders are interested in the books I assign," Cheerilee says, picking up some of the food off of her plate.

You give her a laugh. "I can only imagine."

"Adagio actually wanted to talk about them with me. She sometimes even skipped lunch to come talk to me about book we were reading in class that week."

"Really?" you say. You give a little bit of worry at the state of your daughter's social life, but you pay more attention to Cheerilee for the moment.

"Oh, yes. You have a very bright daughter. I have no doubt she's going to do great things with her life," Cheerilee says, a wide smile on her face. After a few bites off of her plate, Cheerilee stops and stares at her napkin. "Oh?"

"Is something wrong?" you ask.

She picks up a little slip of paper off of the table, giving you a raised eyebrow and a playful smile as she turns it over to you. The little slip says "U R STUPID" in what was undoubtedly Aria's handwriting.

"Confessing your true feelings for me?" Cheerilee says with a lighthearted tone.

You close your eyes and shake your head. "I am so sorry. She knows better than that."

Cheerilee sets the paper back down on the table, her smile not faltering. "Oh, it's quite alright. You should see what I have to deal with at the school. When I have Aria next year she'll definitely be far from the worst student I've ever had, though the fifth-grade teachers do tell me she's quite the handful."

You smile. "They aren't lying."

"Hopefully she starts picking up after her sister. I know she's just as smart."

If the girls are waiting in the kitchen listening like you're pretty sure they are, that surely caused some juicy drama between them. Thankfully you can't hear any harsh whispering from where you're sitting.

"So you plan on sticking with middle school for a while?" you ask.

Cheerilee lifts her glass up to her lips to take a drink. "Well," she starts, taking a sip before continuing. Before she can say anything else, her eyes go wide when the liquid goes past her lips. She coughs a little bit as she puts the glass down.

"Are you alright?"

Cheerilee clears her throat. "That was not water." She looks back up to you with a raised eyebrow and a sly smirk. "Are you trying to get me drunk?" she says with the same playful tone. You're thankful you had spent some time around her before this and you were somewhat used to each other. If this was your first date together it would be a disaster already.

"What? No, I--"

"Just straight vodka is a little brash, don't you think?" Cheerilee says, swirling the liquid around in the glass.

Your eye twitches. A myriad of hows and whys pop into your head. You take a quick sip of your own glass, which is definitely just water. Now is definitely not the time for the girls' little jokes, and especially not with your alcohol supply.

"Girls!" you say, making sure it was loud enough for them to hear.

Adagio walks out of the kitchen, giving you an innocent smile. "Yes, Dad?"

"Could you please go into the kitchen and get Cheerilee a glass of water?" you say, trying to keep the irritation out of your tone.

"Sure," she says, turning around to go back into the kitchen.

"Adagio." She stops in her tracks. "Make sure it's water this time," you say sternly.

Adagio quickly comes back with a glass of water in hand and Sonata behind her, who's holding her hands behind her back for some reason. "Here you go, Miss Cheerilee," Adagio says with a sweet smile.

Cheerilee nods to her. "Thank you, dear."

Sonata disappears under the table for a moment, before quickly returning to Adagio's side to go back into the kitchen.

"So, what were we talking about?" Cheerilee asks.

You shake your head. You're too busy thinking about what the hell your girls were thinking to remember. "I don't recall."

"Oh, well... I know it's a long way off, but do your girls want to go to college?"

"Oh, uh... I know Adagio would like to. I haven't really had that discussion with them yet."

Cheerilee nods. "Certainly something to start thinking about. I was just wondering what Adagio was wanting to do when she got older. I've never really had a student quite like her."

You let out a happy sigh at the thought. "I know she's got a bright future ahead of her, if anything," you say, despite the irritation of tonight.

The two of you exchange a little more conversation as you finish the dinner laid out in front of you. She compliments you on the food, and you talk with her a little more about your previous date at the local bar. Despite being in such different roles at the time, the two of you have a lot of memories to share of high school, and quite a few amazing stories to trade as well. You definitely think it was interesting to hear about what the teachers had to deal with in your class.

You try to avoid the plethora of stories you wanted to share about you and your wife at the time. It's hard, since most of your last year in high school you spent with her, and talking about it always brought back memories of her. You keep a smile on your face, even through the occasional stab of emotional pain as your thoughts drifted back to her. Thankfully, you don't think Cheerilee saw you drifting off with the thoughts.

Once your plates are clear, you stand up out of your chair and grab your plate. You take your her plate from her as well, wanting to be somewhat gentlemenly. Cheerilee puts her hands on the table to scoot her chair out, but as soon as she pushes you hear her yell out a "Woah!". You spin around just in time to catch her before she hits the ground, somehow managing not to drop the two plates stacked in your other hand.

"Are you alright?" you ask her, lifting her up out of the sideways chair to her feet.

Cheerilee dusts her dress off, letting out a sigh of relief. "Yes, I think I'm fine. I'm not sure what happened there."

You look down to where the chair is sitting on the ground. where the back leg used to be on the hardwood, you see the little rubber doorstop sitting defiantly in place. "I think I have an idea."

You walk into the kitchen and put the dishes in the sink. All three of the girls are sitting on the stools again, smiling at you innocently. You turn to them, trying to keep your voice as calm as possible. "Girls, I want all three of you to go up to your rooms and stay there for the rest of the night."

Adagio dropped her smile. "But Dad, we just want to help."

You give her a stern look, somewhat surprised Adagio would lie to you like that. "I don't want to hear it, Adagio. Do as you're told."

She gives you a weak "yes, sir" before helping Sonata down off of the stool, with Aria close behind. The three of them make their way up the stairs finally, leaving you and Cheerilee alone.

You sigh as she walks into the kitchen, a glass in her hand. "I'm so sorry about all that. I didn't expect the girls to be that much trouble."

"It certainly could've been worse," Cheerilee says, leaning against the island behind you and taking a sip out of her glass. "I expected a few growing pains if I'm going to start spending more time with them."

Cheerilee leans in closer to you, giving you a coy smile. "Assuming you want me to start coming over as much as I think you do."

You give her a grin back, then look at the glass in her hand. "Are you really drinking that vodka?"

"You say that like I don't know how to have fun," Cheerilee says.

You laugh. "At least let me make you something instead."

You open up the top cabinet to see that your bottle of vodka has definitely been moved. You push the aggravation at that fact out of your head for the moment as you grab the bottle and some juice out of the fridge. You pour yourself and Cheerilee an actual drink and slide it to her over the counter. After the two of you get about halfway down the glasses, Cheerilee stops and traces her finger over the rim, looking at it thoughtfully.

"It's been a pretty lonely summer. I've mostly just been tutoring kids and attempting to get my master's."

"You can't tell me you haven't had at least one date in the past few months," you say, taking another sip from your glass.

"No... you've been the only one," she says, with an almost sad expression forming on her face.

"Well, you don't look like you've aged a day, since I last saw you in high school. I'm amazed you have the time to keep in such good shape," you say, your eyes tracing down her tight dress again. She definitely doesn't have to worry about looking bad in it; her body looks like it doesn't have an extra ounce of fat more than it needs.

Cheerilee turns to lean against the counter again, moving a little closer to you, a smile forming on her face again. "If I'm being honest, you're not quite as fit as you looked in high school," she says playfully.

"Easy now," you shoot back.

"But I still can't complain," Cheerilee says, taking another drink. She sets an empty glass down beside yours and moves a little closer. Her hips are just a few inches from you now. "I'm glad I ran into you..."

"Me too." You look between her and the empty glass a few times. "Here, let me--" you say as you move your hand towards Cheerilee's glass. Just before you touch it your hands brush across each other for just a split second, long enough for you to forget about the glass and want to grab her hand instead. As your fingers interlock, you turn to face each other, not bothering with the long formalities as you slowly lean down let your lips touch to hers. You'd already given her one kiss on your last date.

The two of you lean closer into each other until your bodies are pressed together. You wrap your hands around her, holding her tight as the kiss turns into making out for a few passionate moments. After a while you break away from the kiss to look down at her. Her eyes flutter for a few moments before she looks up to you. You can feel her heart beating pretty quickly in her chest.

You clear your throat, a few impure thoughts running through your mind. It is the third date after all. "So do you want to--"

"Yes," she says quickly, cutting you off.

The two of you completely forget about the alcohol on the table as you make your way upstairs to your room. Cheerilee kicks the heels off her feet as you lock the door behind you. In an instead you're back in each other's arms, another kiss slowly morphing into a make-out session.

Cheerilee breaks away from the kiss and moves her lips down to your neck. Her hands move up your chest to unbutton your shirt, making sure to plant a few more kisses on your collarbone.

You let your head fall back at the feeling. You let out a long sigh.

"Sunset..." you whisper to her.

Cheerilee freezes in place, the warmth of the moment completely evaporating in an instant. She lets out a sigh of her own as she takes a step back away from you. You wince once you realize what just came out of your mouth. "Cheerilee, I--"

"I thought this might happen," she says with a disappointed tone, looking away from you for a moment. "We can't--"

You raise a hand up to stop her. You know what she's going to say already. You sit down on your bed, pinching the bridge of your nose as you chastize yourself. "I understand." You let out a quiet, frustrated grunt at yourself.

Cheerilee sits down on the bed beside you, putting a hand on your shoulder. "I know how much you must miss her, but I can't be her for you..."

"I'm... I'm not trying to replace her," you say, more to yourself than her. Cheerilee doesn't say anything at first.

After a few moments, she shifts on the bed and tries to give you a warm smile. "Back when you were in high school, I can still remember how inseparable you two were. I thought it was cute... when it didn't disrupt class," she says, rubbing your shoulder a little. "You'd always sit behind her and mess with her hair during class... towards the end of the semester I thought she was looking back at you more than she was looking up at me," Cheerilee says with a weak laugh. She rolls her eyes with a little grin. "I don't think I've ever had to give so many PDA warnings in my entire career..."

"My point is... I know how much you loved her," Cheerilee says, looking unsure for a moment, "but she's gone... and if you want to have a relationship with me, you're going to have to let her go."

Those words struck you like lightning. You'd spent every night for the past two years looking at that empty side of the bed, just imagining her still sleeping there. You couldn't imagine a single day where you didn't give her a few minutes of your day just to remember all the great times you had together. You'd accepted those bouts of missing her so bad it was almost crippling as a part of life now. You know that you would never in your lifetime or after be able to let her go for even a day. Cheerilee was asking the impossible.

"I can't..." you say in a quiet voice.

Cheerilee rubs your shoulder one last time before giving you a kiss on the cheek and standing back up. "Then I think I should get going," she says, sadness in her voice.

"I'll walk you out."

Cheerilee puts her shoes back on and you unlock the door. The walk back down the stairs to the front door is quiet and awkward as you follow her out. You open the door for her, watching as she slowly made her way into the night air. She turns around just at the doorway.

"I hope you change your mind one day," she says, stepping forward to give you a hug. You wrap your arms around her tightly, giving her one last affectionate squeeze before you let her go.

"Goodbye, Cheerilee," you say as you close the door. You see the glimpse of her disappointed expression before you shut it. Part of you wants to console her, but nothing you can say is going to change your own feelings. You leave her out to the night, watching as she walks to her car and drives away.

You sigh as you walk over to the kitchen. A quick glance back up at the alcohol cabinet reveals the shine of a bottle of whiskey. You know what you're going to be doing tonight.

"Dad?" You hear Adagio ask from the top of the stairs.

You look up at her, not being able to hide the slight annoyance in your face. "I thought I told you to stay in your room, Adagio."

Adagio turns and walks down the stairs. "I know..."

You don't even want to start with her tonight, but now that she's down her you might as well get it over with. "Adagio, what was all that tonight?"

Adagio is way to smart to try and play dumb with you. She looks away from you for a moment, wringing her pajama shirt in her hands, looking unsure of what to say. "You were making a huge mistake, Dad!" she finally blurts out. "I know you said you didn't want to replace Mom, but bringing Cheerilee over here for a date and being together with her meant that you were!" Adagio says rather quickly. "If you keep going out with her that means you're going to start thinking about her more than Mom and that means that eventually you're going to forget her and that means that Cheerilee is gonna be here more and that means that--"

"Adagio," you say, leaning down and shaking her out of her little spout before she talks herself into oblivion.

"Dad I had to get her to go away," she says, looking up to you with a pout on her face. "You can't let her make you forget Mom."

You look into Adagio's pleading eyes as she looks up into yours. You wonder for a moment how you raised such a little cockblock. You want to tell her that she has no business in your love life and that she shouldn't be trying to enforce her wants and desires on others, but you can't. In the end, she's completely right. That was exactly what Cheerilee wanted you to do. You had to give her a little credit for seeing that. She's definitely the smartest twelve-year-old you've ever met.

"We're going to have to have a long talk about this, you know that, Adagio?"

Adagio sighs and looks down at her feet. "I know..."

You ruffle her hair a little bit, a smile crossing your face. "How did you get your sisters to agree to this?"

"I told Sonata I'd read to her every night this week and Aria that I'd let her sit in the front seat next time," Adagio says, as if it was nothing special.

You shake your head and laugh at the little criminal mastermind standing in front of you. She'd be dangerous if she wasn't so sweet and honest.

"It's getting late, honey. Go up to your room. We can talk about things later."

"Okay, Dad," Adagio says, a sweet little smile on her face from her victory. She turns and looks up at you for a moment, her expression apprehensive, as if you might not give her an evening hug. You lean down and give it to her anyway. "I love you," she says softly.

"I love you too, honey," you say with one last little squeeze. "Now go upstairs and go to bed already."

With that Adagio finally runs up the stairs into her room, leaving you alone. You take one more look at the whiskey bottle in the cabinet, but decide against it for the night. You had a long enough day as it is. No use making it longer by staring at nothing as you tore through that bottle.

You make your way up to your room, taking off all those nice clothes and changing into something a little more comfortable to sleep in. You sigh as you look over the crease in that Cheerilee left in the comforter.

Let her go, she said... After so many years together, how could you even play with that thought. Her face was pinned up in every picture frame around your room. You walk over to your dresser and grab one of them before sitting back down on the bed.

You laugh at how many times she asked you to take this picture down. She hated this picture. It was a selfie Rarity took with her and Fluttershy back in high school at a slumber party they had. You had her portion of the picture put into a frame and brought it home as somewhat of a joke. She hated that you framed a picture of her with no makeup on, a messy head of hair, in her pajamas, with a big, cheesy smile plastered across her face. But you loved it. You loved every inch of it. Her big, goofy grin and her sweet teal eyes looking up into the camera like a pair of diamonds. She was beautiful. The most beautiful girl in the entire world. You regret not telling her that more often. It hurt even more knowing you'd never be able to tell her again.

You set the picture down on the empty side of the bed as you crawl under the sheets. You know she's not really there, but the thought of her messy hair and bare face stirred up happy memories of when she did fill that side of the bed. You finally fall asleep to the thought of her.

First Day of School

You sit outside the middle school, drumming your fingers across the steering wheel. You're pretty irritated you had to leave work early for the little troublemaker sitting in your passenger seat, but you take a big, deep breath so she doesn't end up getting the brunt of your agitation. The last thing you want to do is get legitimately angry at her; you're not that kind of parent. You turn to look at her: her pigtails were all frayed and one of them is almost pulled out, her clothes are all stretched and dirty, and a bruise was quickly forming on her cheek. Aria definitely looks like she just stepped out of the ring. After that talk the three of you had with the principal, Aria hasn't stopped her angered sulking since she got in the car. She has her hands crossed over her chest as she looks out the window and away from you, obviously not wanting to talk about it.

"Aria..." you start.

"What?" she shoots back, not bothering to look over at you.

"It's the first day of school, Aria."

"So?" she asks, still not looking over at you.

"I can't come pick you up every day like this. Why are you getting into fights on the first day anyway?"

Aria finally looks over at you. She uncrosses her arms and clenches her little fists as anger takes over her face. "I didn't start it!"

"That's not what the principal told me."

Aria looks away again. "Yeah, well she doesn't know anything."

"She knows you got into a fight with two different girls on the first day. Was she lying about that?"

Aria crosses her arms over her chest again. "No..."

You let out a sigh. "Aria, you have to talk to me. Why were you fighting with your classmates."

"Because I hate them."

"That's no reason to start a fight with them."

Aria turns to you again, letting her temper get the best of her again. "I told you, I didn't start it!"

You give her a stern look. "Don't take that tone with me, young lady," you say as calmly as you can. "Did they hit you first?"

Aria's anger faltered for a moment and her eyes drop away from you. "Well, no..."

"Then you shouldn't be fighting with them, Aria. I've told you a thousand times you can't solve your problems by hitting people. It's only going to make things worse. And you play with these girls all the time; why are you fighting with them today of all days."

Aria crosses her arms over her chest again. "Sugarcoat and Sour Sweet are stupid. I hate playing with them."

"That still doesn't mean you should fight with them, Aria. How many times do I have to tell you?"

"They were making fun of me!" she says, frustration growing in her voice.

"I don't care, Aria. Nothing they could say should--"

"They said Mom left because of me!" Aria finally blurted out.

"W-what?" you say, that little bit finding you a little off-guard.

Aria goes deeper into her brooding with her brows furrowed and tone quite angry. "Sugarcoat said Mom wouldn't have left if I wasn't so bratty, and then Sour Sweet laughed at me, so I hit them both."

"Aria, you can't do that," you say softly.

"Why not? Were they right?" Aria asks you, finally looking up at you, her angry eyes expecting an answer.

You lean over and put a hand on her shoulder. "Of course they weren't, honey. I told you, Mom left after her accident to get better," you say. The words left a bad taste in your mouth. You hate having to lie to your daughter, but you don't feel like now is the best time to break it to her. That's the last thing you have the strength to deal with today.

"Well that's not what they think," Aria says, looking away from you again.

"Well, it doesn't matter what they think, sweetie. What matters is that you know better. Next time they say things like that just walk away and stop talking to them, okay?"

Aria's frown curves down even worse. "Then how are they gonna learn to shut up?"

You almost let out a laugh at that one. "That's not something you need to worry about, okay?"

Aria lets out a frustrated grunt and turns back towards the window. "Whatever."

Out of the corner of your eye, you see kids start pouring out of the middle school doors. You give off a sigh of relief that you don't have to deal with your little boxer alone any longer. You smile when you think of that meeting with the principal. Your daughter beat those other two girls to a pulp, and barely ended up with more than a bruise on her. As much as you don't condone it, you are a little bit proud that she had no trouble fighting two girls at the same time. She was absolutely vicious when she wanted to be. Too bad that was way more often than you'd ever like, and never in the right ways.

Finally, you see Adagio walk down the sidewalk towards you. She raises her eyebrow when she goes to open the front door, only to see Aria sitting there. Once she opens the door and settles into the backseat, she leans forward between the two front seats to look up at you. "Hey, Dad."

"Hey, honey."

"I thought the elementary school didn't get out for another half hour," Adagio says, giving a passing glance at Aria. Aria makes another grunt and turns away from her sister's gaze. Adagio looks a little disappointed when she turns back to you.

"It does. I had to pick Aria up early," Aria shoots you a quick glare, not wanting to look bad in front of her sister. You feel her pain, since you remember hating when your parents would always announce every bad deed you did to the world. You don't want Aria to suffer any more than the punishment you're already going to give her. Adagio knows better than to ask as well, at least for now. She usually spent a little bit of her day trying to get through to Aria regardless, so she'd probably find out eventually.

"Oh..." Adagio says as she leans back into her seat and puts her seatbelt on. You look at her in the rearview for a moment as you pull out to head back to the elementary school.

You see a little disappointment still on Adagio's face, but there isn't much you can do about it now. You guess it might've scared her a little to think that elementary suddenly got out earlier this year and she might not get that time anymore. Ever since she started middle school she took this opportunity to talk with you about pretty much everything; whatever book she was reading, what she was doing in school that day, or pretty much anything, really. That girl could really talk your ear off, but seeing her smile so much made you not mind at all. You doubt she's very comfortable with opening up like that in front of Aria.

You get back to the school just in time to walk Sonata out of her class. You actually see Adagio talking over the seat when you walk back out, but you didn't know how much Aria was talking back. You pick up Sonata and begin strapping her into her booster seat, noting that as soon as you opened the door it got very quiet.

"Hi, Dagi!" Sonata says as soon as you lift her up.

Adagio gives a weak wave. Sonata looks up to Aria in the front seat and immediately sees that she's in brood mode.

She looks up to you. "Daddy, did Ari get in trouble?"

You nod to her as you finish strapping her in. "What did she do this time?" she asks in her sweet little innocent tone. Aria doesn't appreciate her sister's curiosity at all. As soon as she hears the words come out of her mouth she spins around in her seat and glares at Sonata.

"It's none of your business, baby, so just shut up!" she says before plopping back down in her seat and crossing her arms over her chest.

"Daddy! Ari's being mean again!" Sonata says.

You sigh and rub your temples. They aren't even all strapped in yet and they're already giving you a headache. "Aria, leave your sister alone." Aria gives you a grunt. "And Sonata, if Aria wants you to know what she did, she'll tell you, alright? Don't worry about her."

"Yes, sir..." she says, looking over at Aria curiously.

You get back in the car and put your seatbelt on, sincerely hoping Aria doesn't start any more drama before you can get home.

On the way back you decide that you really don't feel like cooking tonight, so you just grab the girls some fast food and called it a day. Before you even close the front door behind you, Sonata is already tearing into her bag, scooping big handfuls of fries out with her hand and shoving them into her mouth. Aria looks over at her with a look of mild disgust on her face.

"Sonata, if you keep eating like that you're gonna get even more fat and ugly," Aria says.

Sonata pauses with a handful right in front of her mouth. Her face immediately turns to frustration at her sister as she stomps her foot and clenches her fists by her side. "I am not fat and ugly! I'm gonna be pretty just like Adagio is!"

Adagio stops just short of putting a single fry in her mouth. Her slowly turn red with a blush when she realizes what her sister just said. "W-what?"

You smile down at her and put a hand on Adagio's shoulder. "Yes, she's starting to look a lot like her mother, huh, sweetie?" Adagio's blush goes even darker at that.

Sonata's frustration turns to a little smile as she gives you a happy "mhmm" before going back to shoveling down her fries.

Aria looks between you and Sonata, looking a little sad that she isn't included in your praises. "Wait, what about me?"

"You'd be pretty if you weren't so stupid and mean," Sonata says, sticking her tongue out at her sister.

Aria rolls her eyes and crosses her arms over her chest again. "Whatever," she says before heading for the stairs.

"Aria," you say to stop her. "Stay down here for a minute. I want to talk to you."

Aria lets out a frustrated grunt after you crush her hopes of getting away, and stomps her way into the kitchen. Adagio awkwardly runs up the stairs, a deep blush still on her face. Sonata goes into the living room and pulls her coloring book and crayons off of the coffee table, sitting down onto the carpet to color while she eats. Aria gives her a quick glare, no doubt worrying that she might be able to hear the two of you.

"Aria, sit down," you say, motioning to one of the stools. She reluctantly does as she's told, setting her bag of food onto the counter and looking away from you.

"What's gotten into you over the past couple of weeks?" you ask.

"I don't know," Aria grumbles.

"Something has to change, honey. You can't keep getting into trouble now that school has started, and you definitely can't keep fighting the other girls."

"Why not," Aria says in the same low rumble of a voice she was using in the car earlier. You sigh and rub your temple. This isn't a hard concept to grasp. You know you've taught her better than this. You look to your daughter with a little sadness in your heart. You wish Sunset was here to help you. She knew how to deal with kids so much better than you did.

"Because I can't keep getting out of work to deal with you, Aria. And if you keep getting into fights you're going to get expelled."

"So?" she asks, still not bothering to look at you.

You fight to keep yourself from getting too frustrated at her. "So if you don't stop a lot of bad things are going to happen, Aria. There aren't any other schools around here, and I don't have the time to drive you all the way out to Hoofington every morning. That means if you get expelled I'm going to have to send you to a boarding school. Is that what you want?"

Aria's hard demeanor falters for a moment when she hears the words "boarding school". Her lips twist further into a frown. "No..."

"Then you have to stop acting out, okay? I don't want to have to keep punishing you for things that you know better than to do. If you keep this up I'm going to have to start grounding you for a week at a time instead of just for the day, do you understand me?"

Aria's face grew even more upset by the word. "Whatever," she spits out.

"Aria that's not how you address me when I ask you a question," you say sternly.

Aria lets out another frustrated grunt. "Yes, sir," she says, not really bothering to hide the anger in her voice.

"That's better. Now you can go up to your--"

"Ari, Ari!" Sonata says as she runs into the kitchen with a piece of paper waving in her hands and a big smile on her face. "I know you had a bad day, so I drew you this!" Sonata says, handing Aria the paper in her hands. Aria slipped the paper out of her sister's hands and looks over it with a scowl for no more than a second before crumpling it up in her hands and throwing it across the room.

"I don't want your stupid drawing, Sonata, so just leave me alone!"

"But, Ari..." Sonata says as she starts tearing up, following the piece of paper as it bounced with her eyes.

"Ugh. You are the worst, Sonata. Just stop talking to me already!" she yells as she hops off of the stool. She pushes her sister out of the way, almost making her fall to the ground.

"Aria!" you say to her, your tone edging almost on anger as you help Sonata steady herself. Aria doesn't even look back at the two of you. She runs up the stairs as fast as she can and slams her door behind her. Sonata rubs the corner of her eyes as her face slowly turns into one of her occasional fits of crying.

You pick her up in your arms before she starts, but that doesn't stop her from letting loose into your shirt with some loud sobbing. "Shh, honey. It's okay. Aria didn't mean it."

"B-but she... she said she thought... she thought it was stupid!" she says around her sniffs and sobs, making you wince at her volume.

You rub her back, trying to calm her down. "She just had a bad day, sweetie. She didn't mean any of that. I'm sure she loves your drawings.

"And... and she called me... she called me the worst!" Sonata says, letting out another series of ear-piercing cries.

"It's okay. I'll talk to her, sweetie. Just calm down for me," you say. Sonata keeps on crying just as loud, but as you sit down with her on the couch it gets a little quieter. You know you just have to let her cry it out now.. You rock her back and forth a little with one arm as you lean down to pick up the drawing that landed in the living room. As you smooth it out, it reveals a picture of purple and blue stick figures holding hands with big smiles on their face, surrounded by flowers and trees, standing in pink grass of all things. They were labeled "Me" and "You". It might have been a cute gesture had it not ended so disastrously.

You set Sonata down once her crying dies to just a few sniffs. "All better?" you ask. Sonata gives you a weak little nod. "Good. Now go back to drawing, honey. I'll talk to Aria, okay?"

"Okay, Daddy. Do you think she's still mad at me?" Sonata asks with another sniff.

You smile down at her. "No, honey, I don't think she was ever mad at you. She just had a bad day is all. She was just mad that she got in trouble. You didn't do anything wrong."

"Okay," she says, walking back over to her spot in the living room. You let out a long sigh, wishing Aria had taken up a little more of her mother's personality. You wondered how she could be so different from Adagio, even though they were only born two years apart, and their mother gave them each just as much attention. You look over to the bag of food that Aria had left on the counter. There's no use in dwelling over it now; you just have to do your best to set Aria back on the right path. You grab her food and walk up the stairs, hesitantly pushing open her door as you got there.

Her room is dark when you walk in, with Aria already hiding herself under her blankets away from the world. "Aria..." you say.

"Go away!" a muffled voice says from under the covers. You turn the light on and close the door behind you, walking up to Aria's bed and putting the food on her nightstand. You take a seat on the mattress beside her. She jerks away from you when you put a hand on her shoulder. "Just leave me alone..."

"Aria, you know you can't treat your sister like that. You really upset Sonata."

"I don't care," Aria says, not bothering to come out from under the covers.

"I know you do care, Aria. Just because you're mad at those girls at school for saying something mean doesn't mean you can take it out on your sister like that. How would you feel if Adagio or I were that mean to you?" you ask. Aria doesn't answer you, and instead just shifts under the covers uncomfortably. "You wouldn't like it, huh?"

"No..." she finally answers.

"Please talk to me, sweetie. If you've got something troubling you we need to talk about it."

"I just want everyone to leave me alone," she says, pulling the covers even tighter over her.

A knot twists up in your stomach and you close your eyes tightly. You really don't want to do this, but you think it might be time after today. The last thing you want to do is crush her on a day when she's happy, so it might as well be now. "Do you... do you want to talk about your mother?"

Aria slowly peeks out from under her blanket. Her face isn't angry anymore as she looks over her shoulder at you. "Can I just go live with her?" Aria asks.

"What?"

"You said you can't drive me to another school, and if Mom is living somewhere else, can't I just live with her so she can take me?" Aria asks, looking to you with a plain expression as if it was just some normal question.

"I'm sorry, Aria. You can't," you say, feeling a lump form in your throat.

Aria sits up in bed, frustration building in her face again. "Why not?"

"Because your mother is..." you start. You leave the sentence hanging in the air for a few seconds. Aria raises an eyebrow at you.

"Is what? Why can't I stay with her, huh?"

You look into her eyes, fighting that lump in your throat from getting anywhere. You can't do it. You can't stand to see that pain in her eyes, or hear her crying over her Mom. You don't want to have to put her death on your daughter, not now, not ever, really. Adagio can barely live with it herself... how could you possibly tell Aria that she's never going to get to see her mother again?

"She... she just can't see anyone right now, alright?"

Aria furrows her brows. "Well why not? You haven't even called her or anything! Can you at least call her and let me talk to her?"

"No, honey," you say, looking away from her.

Aria tugs on your sleeve, trying to get you to look back over to her. "Why not? She doesn't have to go anywhere. All you have to do is call her."

"I'm sorry, Aria, but we can't."

Aria crosses her arms over her chest again and leans back into her pillows. "She probably still talks to Adagio, doesn't she."

You turn over to Aria and put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "She... she can't talk right now, okay? But she loves you every bit as much as she loves Adagio. Don't ever forget that."

"If that's true then why hasn't she come back already? What if she never wants to come back and that's why she won't talk to us?"

You open your mouth, but you have no idea what to say to her. You can only take this lie so far before it stretches too thin. You've already put this off for more than two years, you know Aria isn't going to keep buying it forever. As much as you know it can't keep going, you just don't have the heart to tell Aria right now.

"Don't think like that, Aria. Your mother still loves you every bit as much as the day she left," you say, trying to fight back your own emotions.

Aria gives another frustrated grunt, then rolls over in bed, yanking the covers over her shoulders again.

"Ari!" Sonata says as she busts open the door with another piece of paper in her hands. You shoot a quick, stern glance at Aria, nonverbally warning her not to pull the same stunt twice. "I know you didn't like the last one, so I drew this one even better," she says, handing the drawing to Aria.

Aria takes it and looks over it curiously for a moment, holding it in both hands with a much softer expression on her face than earlier. "Thanks, Sonata," she says, giving her sister a little smile. You raise an eyebrow. Was that genuine gratitude you heard for a moment there? You look over at the paper to see the same two characters from Sonata's previous drawing, except this time they had a little more structure to them than just a few sticks. In the middle of them though holding both of their hands was a much taller woman with red and yellow streaks flowing off of her head. Below her an arrow pointed up at her from the word "Mommy".

Aria purses her lips for a moment, looking between the drawing and Sonata. "Listen, Sonata... I'm sorry about earlier... I didn't mean to be that mean."

What alternate dimension did you just get transported to? You have to double check Aria to see if she isn't just trying to catch her sister off-guard for another insult. When you see her actually looking over at Sonata with some genuine remorse on her face, you can hardly believe your eyes.

"It's okay. Daddy said you just had a bad day and I shouldn't bother you, but I just want to help you feel better," Sonata says, holding her hands behind her back and looking at the floor as she rocked back and forth.

"I... I think this helped," Aria says, looking down at the drawing again.

"Yay!" Sonata runs forward and climbs up onto the bed next to you. She holds out her arms in front of Aria, eliciting a raised eyebrow from her.

"What are you doing, Sonata?"

"When I'm having a bad day, Daddy or Adagio always gives me a big hug to make it better. I wanna make you feel better too, Ari," Sonata says, wiggling her arms and waiting for Aria to come closer.

Aria looks at you with a little reluctance at first, but then slowly leans forward to wrap her arms around Sonata as she does the same.

"I'm sorry you had a bad day," Sonata says around Aria's shoulder. "I love you, Ari."

That brings a bright smile to your face. Aria blinks a few times, a little confused by the sudden influx of affection. "I... I love you too, Sonata."

You give Aria a quick pat on the back as you get up off of her bed. "I set your food on the nightstand, honey." You look back at her with a smile. She's still wrapped up tightly in her sister's arms, so you just give her a wink and whisper, "be nice to your sister."

"Thanks, Dad," she says, some confusion still on her face.

You walk out of her room, leaving them to it. You feel good that if Aria has a more positive relationship with her sisters, she won't feel the need to act out so much. You know it's going to be hard, but you're thankful that Sonata and Adagio haven't given up on Aria. You just have to find some way to bring them closer together. Despite the nervous knots still lingering in your stomach, and having no idea how you're going to deal with Aria, seeing those two hug made you feel pretty good about the future.

Trip to the Hospital

"Dad..."

"Dad, please wake up..." you hear with the usual accompanying nudge against your shoulder.

You brush whoever's hand it is off of you and wave them off. "Just make some cereal. I'll be down in a minute," you say lethargically.

"Dad!" Adagio shouts. Her urgency snaps you right out of your trance and you shoot up straight in bed. You blink a few times as your vision focuses on her. The look on her face is one of desperation, like the house is burning down or something.

"What?"

"I think there's something wrong with Sonata. She won't get up," Adagio says, her voice edging on panic. You push the covers off of you and quickly move out into the hallway to check on her. Adagio follows you close behind.

"What do you mean she won't get up?" you ask, your heart pounding at the sudden possibilities that might imply. Without waiting for an answer you burst into Sonata's room, looking to her bed and fearing the worst. Instead, you just find her writhing in bed, holding her stomach and letting out a few low moans. You let out a sigh of relief at the sight.

"She just keeps saying it hurts and won't talk to me. I tried to get her up but she won't do anything else." Adagio stands close by you, fidgeting her hands together with worry plaguing her face. You shake your head.

"Adagio, try and open with something a little less serious next time," you say as you walk up to Sonata's bed and kneel by it.

"What do you mean? Sonata won't get up. Something's really wrong with her, Dad!" Adagio almost sounds like she's about to cry. She's looking down at her sister like it might be the last time she ever sees her.

"Adagio, calm down, honey. Sonata is going to be fine, okay? Just take some deep breaths."

Adagio nods to you. "Y-yes, sir."

You turn back to Sonata, who's still tossing and turning in bed, holding a harsh grimace on her face. "Sonata, honey, what's wrong?"

"It hurts, Daddy."

"What hurts, sweetie?"

She lets out a little groan of pain and turns over. "Everything," she says. You can definitely hear how congested she is in her voice.

"You're gonna have to be more specific than that, sweetie, or Daddy can't help you."

Adagio taps you on the shoulder. "I heard her crying in the bathroom last night. I think she was throwing up."

You put a hand over Sonata's forehead. The heat radiating off of her is intense. A frown crosses your face, as you do not have the time to deal with this right now. You turn back to Adagio for a minute. "Can you go grab me the thermometer out of the kitchen drawer by the fridge?"

She nods to you then is off like a bullet out of Sonata's room. You shake your head again as you hear her stomp down the stairs so fast you're sure she might fall. The last thing you need is to have to deal with two incapacitated daughters. Before you can even yell out the door at her to be careful, she runs back up the stairs and is in Sonata's room holding out a hand to you with the thermometer in it.

You give her a raised eyebrow as you take it from her. "What?" she asks you.

You stick it in Sonata's mouth, having to put a hand on her shoulder just so she doesn't rock around her bed and spit it out. As soon as it beeps, you pull it out to see it flash the number 104.9.

"Oh, Jeez..." you say as you look at the little screen. Sonata was complaining of a stomach ache the day before and had a bit of a cough, but she seemed fine when you dropped her off at school, and only marginally worse when you picked her up at the end of the day. You've never really seen it get this bad this fast though, and you chastise yourself for not catching this sooner. How could you expect her to get this sick after only a couple weeks of school, anyway?

"Is she gonna be alright, Dad?" Adagio asks as you stand up again, her voice growing even more worried after hearing what you said.

"Go wake up your sister and get her dressed and tell her to grab her game thing. Go grab some books or something of yours for the day and meet me in the car, okay?"

"What? Where are we going?"

"We need to go to the hospital," you say. You realize a little too late that might have been the wrong way to say that.

"What?!" Adagio nearly shouts. Her breathing goes erratic as she looks up to you. "She's gonna be okay, right? We don't really need to go to the hospital do we? Dad, please say something! Is Sonata gonna die?!" Adagio rattles off faster than you can even keep up with.

You kneel down next to her and put your hands on her shoulders. She is way too old to be freaking out this badly over her sister getting a little sick. "Adagio, deep breaths, honey. Your sister is going to be fine, okay? I just don't have the medicine to deal with this, so we need to go see a doctor. Now just calm down and get your sister out to the car for me, okay?"

Adagio closes her eyes and tries to take a few deep breaths. She calms down a little bit, but you can still see some pretty intense worry in her eyes when she looks back up to you. "O-okay."

"Good girl." You give her a little push out of the room and pick up Sonata out of the bed. Sonata lets out another moan, and writhes in your arms.

"Daddy, it hurts..." she says, then rattles off a couple of really nasty coughs. You hold her close and pick up a few of her things to take to the hospital.

"I know, honey. We're gonna go to the doctor's and they're gonna make it all better, okay?"

She just lets out a little whine in response. You take her into your room so you can get dressed really quick and grab a bag to take to the hospital for you and the girls. You hope you wouldn't be there for more than a day or so, but you can never really know for sure. You curse whatever pestilence gods there might be for not waiting at least a day later until Sunday since you'd have to call into work and take off... again.

Once you get out to the car, Adagio and Aria are out there waiting for you thankfully. You thought Adagio might actually break down and have a panic attack before she could get to Aria's room. She's still looking through the window at the two of you with worry. As you open the door to the car and strap Sonata in, she still looks at the two of you apprehensively, especially Sonata, who is still moaning in her little six-year-old agony.

As you drive to the hospital, Adagio seems like she's on the verge of breaking down as she keeps looking back at Sonata. Aria, on the other hand, can't seem to care less as she sits beside her sister and gives her an occasional glare at every pained moan she lets out. Aria just goes back to playing on her handheld thing and pretty much ignores Sonata's cries for help. Thankfully it looks like she's too tired to give her sister any lip, so you thank whatever gods there are for the little things.

You put a hand on Adagio's thigh to try and calm her down. "Honey, she's gonna be alright. Stop worrying, okay?"

"But what if something goes wrong at the hospital and they can't do anything and then she gets worse and then we--"

"Adagio!" you say, shaking her a little bit. "She's going to be alright. Don't freak out on me, okay?"

Aria perks up at her sister's outburst. "Wait, why are we going to the hospital?"

You raise an eyebrow at Adagio. "You didn't tell her?"

"No, I just told her she needed to get in the car."

Aria unbuckles her seatbelt and leans towards the front seat. "Why do we need to go to the hospital?"

You nudge Aria backward. "Put your seatbelt back on, honey. Sonata's just a little sick and I don't have enough medicine to take care of her, so we're just going to the hospital to see a doctor, alright?"

"Is she gonna die?" Aria asks, a little bit of concern growing on her face as she looks over at her fidgeting sister; though not even in the same galaxy as the amount of worry Adagio is going through. "She sure looks like she's gonna die," Aria says, scooting away from Sonata towards the door.

"No, Aria, she's going to be fine. Now put your seatbelt back on already."

When you finally get to the hospital, Sonata looks even worse than when you put her into the car. She started sweating pretty heavily on the way over, and all the color has drained out of her face. Moving her around probably didn't do her any favors, but you would rather her get a little bit sicker than be miserable for the next couple of days.

You check into the ER and fill out a couple of forms. Luckily, since it's so early in the morning, no one else is really there to slow the process down, so you get into a room pretty quickly and get to see a doctor.

After a few back and forth trips from several nurses and a doctor, Sonata finally stops squirming and is resting peacefully in one of the hospital beds. Adagio looks like she just missed getting hit by a truck as she stares at her sister with a relieved smile on her face. You roll your eyes at her hysterics. It makes you happy that she cares about her sister so much, but even she could go a bit overboard sometimes.

Aria, on the other hand, isn't happy at all as she sits beside you in one of the chairs, her arms crossed over her chest and her face is slowly being overcome with frustration. "Aria, why don't you play your game or something?"

"I don't want to."

"Are you hungry? We could go down and get something from--"

"No," she says harshly.

"Then what's wrong, sweetie?"

"I want to go home."

You put a hand on her shoulder. "Honey, we can't go home right now. Sonata's sick and we need to stay here with her until the doctors say if we can take her back or not."

"Well how long do we have to stay here?" Aria asks.

"I don't know. We might have to stay here overnight if--"

Aria jerks out from under your hand and jumps up out of the chair. "I am NOT staying here overnight!"

Adagio's relieved smile quickly turns to a furrowed glare at her sister. "Sonata's sick, Aria. The least we could do is be here to help her."

"She's over there sleeping! She doesn't need our help," Aria says, giving her sister a glare back.

"She'll feel better if she sees us all here for her when she wakes up."

"I don't care! I just want to go home already. This is stupid! Sonata's stupid, and I don't want to be here anymore," Aria says, stomping her foot.

"Sweetie--" you try to say.

"The whole world doesn't revolve around you, Aria!" Adagio shoots back, getting angrier by the second at Aria.

"Yeah? Well the world doesn't revolve around that baby either. Maybe if you weren't so boring you would know that."

Adagio scoffs. "What? I'm not boring."

"Are too," Aria says. "That's why you don't have any friends. All you ever do is read and no one wants to talk to you."

Adagio lets out a little, frustrated growl at her sister. "Yeah? Well maybe you'd keep a friend longer than a few days if you weren't so awful to be around. Sugarcoat was right, you really are bratty," Adagio says, giving her sister a once over and using an extremely conceited tone. You have some uncomfortable flashbacks of how Sunset was before the Fall Formal at that. That's definitely not a trait you want your daughter to pick up.

You stand up. "Girls, that's enou--"

Aria lets out her own frustrated growl and then finally yells out "Shut up!" loud enough to make you wince. She sprints over to the door and jerks it open, then runs out into the hallway.

You shake your head and sigh. "Adagio, stay here with Sonata," you tell her as you chase Aria out. Adagio looks a little shaken up, but that's not something you can really deal with this instant.

You run after Aria and finally grab her by the sleeve in the hallway. "Let go of me!" she shouts as she turns around and tries to fight you off. She gives your shin a few weak kicks and slaps at your arm grasping hers. "Let me go already!" she shouts, making a scene to everyone around her. The other people in the hallway are starting to stare, so you bring her in closer to you.

"Aria, calm down!"

"No! I want to go home! Let me go!" She lets out a scream as she fights against you, making you let out your own agitated grunt as she continues to fight against you.

The urge to smack some sense into her creeps into your thoughts, and instantly shocks you out of your rage. You bring Aria into a tight hug so she can't struggle as hard, gently shushing her as you held her. She keeps struggling until finally she doesn't have the energy to push against you any longer and finally goes limp in your grasp. Her little head rests against your chest, and her voice shakes with a sudden sob. You can see a few tears running down her cheeks. She also grasps your shirt tightly, as if letting go of it might find her lost to the world forever. You pick her up off the ground and keep her held against you, gently stroking her as she starts crying. "I just want to go home..." she says in a cracking voice.

"Shhh, it's okay, honey. We'll go home soon."

You walk back to Sonata's room with Aria in your arms, feeling ashamed of yourself that you thought for even a split second about hitting her. You close your eyes, thinking of the promise you made to Sunset a long time ago that neither of you would ever resort to hitting your kids. You hate that your mind even played with the idea of breaking that promise. You intend to keep it until the day you die, no matter how bad any of them get.

You sit back down in one of the chairs, stroking Aria's hair as she lays there against you. She didn't have time to pull her long locks into their usual pigtails, so her disheveled head of hair is laying frayed against you. "I just wanna go home, Daddy. Please..."

"Shhh, I know, honey. Daddy's here. I'll take you home soon."

Adagio looks over from Sonata's bedside with a pained expression on her face. She looks at Aria and bites her lip with worry. "I... I didn't make her cry, did I?"

You shake your head at her, though you are a little disappointed that she got into it with Aria. You usually try to stop Aria and Adagio fighting as quickly as you can, since Aria basically gets crushed every time. Adagio could be absolutely vicious with her words, and Aria never seems to learn. You felt lucky Adagio doesn't take up the same attitude as Aria does.

After a long wait for Aria to finally stop crying, she falls asleep against you and starts to quietly snore. You figure it's pretty early in the morning, and she definitely wore herself out fighting against you and crying so much. You gently set her into one of the other chairs and inspect the tear stains on your shirt.

"Dad, is she okay?" Adagio asks.

"I think so, she was probably just tired from being woken up so early on a Saturday."

Adagio looks over at her sleeping sister with a tentative glance. "You don't think I really upset her, do you?" she says, looking back up to you.

"No, sweetie. I'm not sure what got into her..." you say, but as soon as you think about it, you instantly know why. The last time Aria was in a hospital, this hospital specifically, all three of you were waiting to hear the news of how the surgery went after Sunset's accident. Those memories are hardly bearable for you, you can't imagine how Aria is handling it.

"How are you doing?" you ask Adagio. This is the first time she's been back into the hospital too since then.

"Huh? I'm okay."

"Are you sure, honey? You aren't thinking of any bad memories?" you say, leaning forward towards her. If anything you'd think she would have the worst of it. You'll never be able to forget that look on her face after the second surgery when the doctor told you and Adagio that Sunset was gone. You felt lucky that you had left Sonata and Aria with a friend at the time. You didn't know if you could actually deal with all three of them at once.

"Oh... well, I've been trying to think about Sonata. It... it hurts thinking about that," Adagio says, her eyes drifting to the floor.

"I know, honey. I'm here if you feel like talking about it."

Adagio is silent for a moment as she stares at Aria. "Do you think I could go down to the cafeteria to get us something to eat?" she asks innocently.

You smile at her. "Of course, honey," you say as you slip your wallet out of your back pocket and give her some money.

She shoots a quick "Thanks!" at you before running out of the room, leaving you with a sleeping Aria.

You let out a sigh of relief that it's Saturday. You didn't know if you could really let the girls miss any more school this early without falling behind. As you start thinking about it, you wince once you realize it had been a few hours and you hadn't even called into work to tell them you couldn't make it.

After a pretty heated discussion with your boss about absence etiquette and how much work you've missed recently, you step back into the room, even more stressed out than when you left. On top of Sonata getting sick, Aria getting in so much trouble, and already having to worry about the future, the last thing you need is to have to bring your own job security into question.

You sigh when you see Aria sitting there sleeping, all curled up with her knees against her chest and her mouth hanging slightly open as she leans against the wall. She looks so peaceful despite her tearstained face. You run a hand across her cheek, smiling at the little girl you and Sunset made. A twinge of guilt hits you again when you think about contemplating hitting her. She was only scared of being in the hospital again and didn't know how to deal with it; you can't even imagine how much a smack might have made that worse for her. You brush her bangs back and give her a quick kiss on the forehead before you sit back down beside her.

Adagio makes it back with a few bags in her hand from the cafeteria and is quick to hand you the change from the money you have her. The crinkling of the plastic bag soon wakes Aria up. Adagio picks up a cup out of one of the bags once she sees Aria's eyes fluttering open.

"Aria," she whispers.

"Huh?" Aria says as she slowly sits up.

"I got you some ice cream. It's some cookie dough with crushed Oreos on top. The ice cream place didn't have crushed up Oreos so I bought a roll of them and crushed them up myself. I hope that's okay."

"O-oh..." Aria looks into the cup that Adagio gives her. "Thanks, Adagio," Aria says, a little bit of wonder in her eyes.

"I'm really sorry about what I said. I don't think you're bratty," Adagio says, giving her sister a smile.

"It's okay..." Aria says as she blinks her puffy eyes a few times and takes a bite of her ice cream. You shoot her a quick, stern glare as the silence hangs in the room for a few moments.

"Oh, I'm sorry too, Adagio. You're not that boring."

You shake your head and nudge Aria. "Okay, you're not boring."

Adagio leans forward and wraps her sister in a hug. "Thank you, Aria."

The exchange leaves a smile on your face. Adagio hands you a sandwich she got from the cafeteria and pulls out one of her own to eat. After a few minutes she perks up and pulls her own bag over to her side. "Oh, Dad, I got the mail for you before we left."

"Thanks, honey," you say as you take the stack from her. You flip through it, frowning at the pile of bills and junk mail, that is until you see a yellow and pink decorated envelope.

"What's that?" Adagio asks.

You pull it open and pull out a very nice piece of pretty expensive paper. It takes you a bit by surprise as you read over it. "It's a wedding invitation."

"To whose wedding?" Adagio asks.

You have to read over the names a few times. You're a little surprised the two of them finally ended up together. They were quite an odd pair in high school, and you really couldn't see them lasting much longer than that, but you've been wrong before. "Fluttershy and Bulk Biceps," you finally answer.

An Old Friend

"Come on, honey," you say as you unbuckle Sonata's booster seat. She rolls her head over in the seat away from you, giving you a little whine like she's still trying to sleep. She's pretty much been unconscious since you brought her home from the hospital, which makes it a lot easier on the babysitter while you're at work. Adagio and Aria are waiting for you on the sidewalk, excited smiles on each of their faces.

"There we go. We'll get you back home soon." Sonata falls limp against you as soon as you pull her out of her booster seat, seemingly going back to sleep right there in your arms.

"Can we go in yet, Dad?" Aria asks.

You grab the bag with your suit in it and shut the car door behind you. "Just a second girls."

You walk up behind them, struggling to keep Sonata up against you with one arm. They both have big, goofy grins on their faces as you walk up the path to the elaborately-designed building in front of you.

"Do you think she'll make us dresses?" Aria says in an excited tone. Adagio's beaming grin turns into a sly smile at that one.

"Did you just say you actually wanted a dress?" Adagio asks.

Aria freezes up for a moment when she realizes what came out of her mouth. "What? N-no. I meant that..."

"Big, tough Aria actually said she wants a dress?" Adagio asks again, her sly smile growing even larger.

Aria forms a little blush on her face as she gets frustrated at her sister. "I did not!"

You adjust Sonata against your chest as you walk up the path with them. "Girls, I don't want you two fighting in here, okay?"

"Yes, sir." Adagio nods to you. Aria just crosses her arms and sticks her tongue out at her sister. You open the door and let them in before you, and they both immediately adopt their wide smiles again and run in. "Hey! Don't run either," you shout after them.

You roll your eyes and follow them in. "Aunt Rarity!" they both yell in unison.

Once you get over the overwhelming smell of expensive perfume, the odd lighting, and massive amounts of bright colors adorning the boutique, you look over to see Adagio and Aria running over to Rarity as fast as they could. Luckily, Rarity saw them in time to lean down and meet them for a hug before they latched onto her.

"Girls!" she says with a smile. "It's been such a long time. You two have gotten so big! Adagio, you look like a proper young lady now."

Aria's mouth drops open as Rarity looks over Adagio, giving her all of her attention. With a furrowed brow and crossed arms, Aria gives a little grunt, clearly wanting a compliment of her own. "And Aria, you've definitely grown as well. I can tell you'll be quite pretty when you grow up," Rarity says. Aria's frown changes to a smile at the compliment.

Rarity stands up and brings her eyes to you, or more specifically, to the sleeping Sonata in your arms. "How is Sonata doing?" Rarity asks with a gentle smile.

"She's fine. She's just been sick over the weekend and needs as much rest as she can get before she heads back to school," You say, making sure Sonata is still secure against you.

You place your bag on a counter behind Rarity, trading quick, greeting smiles before her eyes focus back on Sonata. "Oh, well I hope she gets well soon. Anyway, it's so good to see you after so long. To what do I owe the pleasure?"

You take a second to look over her. She doesn't seem to have aged a day since you got out of college, though out of everyone you knew she was always the most obsessed with her appearance, so you're not surprised. "I'm sure you've heard about Fluttershy's wedding."

"Of course. I'm helping her with the decorations. She actually wanted to have it in Canterlot just so all her friends could make it."

"It'd be nice to see her again. How many years has it been?"

Rarity let a reminiscent smile cross her face. "I don't even want to think about it. Too many, to say the least."

Aria and Adagio get bored of standing between the two of you, so they go off into the shop somewhere as they talk at each other. "Anyway," you start, "I just came by to get my suit fixed. Once I got it out I saw the buttons were coming loose and the pants were tearing around the zipper," you say as you put the bag on the table beside Rarity.

"Well, that shouldn't be a problem. Let's just see what we have to--" Rarity raises an eyebrow as she pulls the folded cloth out of the plastic bag. She lets out a scoff as she examines the fabric in her hands as if she just had to dig through the trash. "Where did you get such an appalling suit?"

You let out a quick chuckle at the display. Rarity hasn't changed a bit since the last time you saw her. "Probably some department store."

"How have I not made you a better one before now?" Rarity asks.

You let out another laugh and shake your head. It was never through of a lack of trying if your memory serves you correctly. It seemed like every other week she'd want to dress you up like a life-sized doll for her men's designs. That was a long time ago, though.

"I've never really needed a good one before now."

Rarity shakes her head as she shoves the suit back into the bag. "No, this simply won't do. I can't have Sunset's husband..." Rarity blinks a few times as she trails off. A remorseful expression crosses her face as she looks over to you. "I... I'm terribly sorry, darling. I didn't mean to--"

You raise up a free hand to stop her. "It's alright, Rarity. Besides, I don't really have the money to spend on a designer suit."

Rarity waves you off. "Ah. Think nothing of it, dear. I'd be happy to make you something within your price range. You're basically family anyway."

You don't know how many of these offers you've refused in the past--your closet used to be filled with various designs Rarity had given to Sunset--but this time you can't say you'd be opposed to it.

"Are you sure? Last time I heard you had two other stores to worry about. I don't want to eat up too much of your time."

Rarity rolled her eyes. "Oh, those stores basically run themselves. I just have to make new designs every so often and have the girls at my other boutiques make enough of them. Right now I really don't have much of anything to do." Rarity perks up with one of her old idea faces. "Oh! I could make something for the girls as well! I assume you want to bring them to the wedding too?"

When you first read the invitation, the nightmare of trying to control those three at a wedding flashed through your head, but you know how mad Adagio would be if you didn't at least take her along. You didn't even think of what they might wear, though. "That's a lot to ask of you, Rarity. I'm not sure if--"

"Nonsense, darling. I assure you, I really don't have anything else going on. It'll be fun. And I'm sure the girls would enjoy it as well."

Your mind rolls back to just a few moments ago, when even Aria was excited at the prospect of a new dress. "Well, if you insist."

An excited smile crosses Rarity's face. "Oh, it's settled, then! One brand new, dashing suit, and three adorable little dresses. I can't wait to get started," Rarity says with a little accentuating bounce.

You wince as you hear the crash of one of the mannequins behind you. You turn around to see Adagio and Aria standing around it, sheepish smiles on their faces. You let out a sigh. "Girls, please don't break things in Rarity's shop."

"Sorry, Dad," they both say in unison.

Rarity waves it off. "Oh, it's quite alright. Those mannequins are quite resilient; it'll take more than a few falls to break them."

You sigh as you watch them attempt to tip the mannequin back up, only to have it fall over in the opposite direction. Rarity covers her mouth with her hand and lets out a little giggle at the display; it happened way too close to the window for you to get any amusement out of it. "Anyway, thank you for the offer. How much do you think it might run me?"

Rarity waves you off. "You don't have to--"

"Rarity, I think my family has already cost you thousands, at least. I insist on paying you something," you say, thinking of the mountains of dresses she'd made for Sunset for free over the years.

Rarity clears her throat. "Well, um, we can certainly discuss it once you and the girls come in for some measurements. I'm sure they've grown quite a bit since the last time I made something for them."

"That sounds good. We can--" Another crash makes both you and Rarity wince. A few seconds later you hear a meek 'sorry, Dad' coming from the other side of the store. You sigh again. "Well, we can make a date for it. Right now I think I should get Sonata back home to rest up, and get Adagio and Aria out of here before they tear your shop down."

"Oh, really, it's nothing. I've been meaning to order some wider bases for them," she says with a gentle smile.

You look back at the two of them. "Let's go, girls. Meet me outside. I'll be out there in just a second."

Aria looks up at you and pouts from across the room. "But Dad, we haven't even gotten to play with Aunt Rarity yet," she says. Adagio looks a little disappointed herself but doesn't say anything.

"Maybe some other time, honey. I'm sure Rarity has a lot of work to do today."

Rarity walks over to them and kneels down, putting a hand on each of the girls' shoulders. "I'm afraid he's right, girls. I wouldn't want our time together to be too brief, so it'd be better if we set a whole day aside for it, don't you think?"

Aria and Adagio smile at that. "Yeah!" Aria says, followed by weak "Yes, ma'am" from Adagio.

"Wait out by the car, you two. I'll be done with Rarity in a minute." They both nod to you and head out the door, leaving you and Rarity alone, or with a sleeping Sonata and a tipped over mannequin at least.

"Well it was nice talking with you again, Rarity. I'll be sure to call you and set up a day to get the measurements and everything," you say as you turn around to grab your suit.

Rarity adopts an uneasy expression, looking to the floor for a moment as if going over something in her head. "Could you wait for a moment, dear? There's something I want to talk to you about."

You adjust Sonata against your chest and turn back to face her. "Sure. What is it?"

Rarity lets out a sigh. "I know things may not have been easy these past couple of years, but I just want you to know that just because..." Rarity looks over at Sonata for a moment. "...just because she's gone, you shouldn't feel like you aren't welcome here."

Your friendly smile fades at the thought of her. "I know, Rarity. It's just, things have been busy, having to deal with everything myself. I haven't really thought about bringing the girls over. If you don't mind I'm sure the babysitter could use the break."

Rarity, let's out another soft sigh, looking away from you a bit disappointed. "I'm sure. If you ever need anything--"

"Of course. You'll be the first person I'll call."

Rarity reaches forward and moves Sonata's hair out of her face to get a better look at her. "It's been such a long time since I've really seen them. If you ever need some time to yourself, I'd be happy to look after them for a while."

You give Rarity a smile. "I'll be sure to." You look through the glass to see Aria with her hands on her hips and a sly smile on her face as she says something to Adagio. Better get out there before that argument gets too heated. "I really should get going, Rarity. See you later, alright?"

"Right. Well, you have my number. I look forward to seeing you again soon," she says with an odd smile. She looks like she wants something else, but you don't really have the time to ask her about it. You nod to her and walk out the door, adjusting Sonata yet again since you have to carry your suit in your other hand.

You shake your head once you see Aria's trademark, irritated glare. "I don't care if pigtails aren't cute. At least they aren't a rats nest like your hair is."

Adagio glares right back. "Just because my hair is curly doesn't mean it's a rats nest!" she shoots back.

"Girls. How about a quiet trip back home without any fighting?" you say as you open up the door to your car and put Sonata back in her car seat.

"But Adagio said my hair looked stupid!" Aria says.

Adagio scoffs. "I didn't say it like that, and you started it."

You motion for them to get in the car. "I don't care who started it, just stop it, okay?"

"Yes, sir," Adagio says.

Aria sticks her tongue out at her sister, eliciting an eye roll from Adagio.

"Aria..." you say, holding the door open for her with a stern look.

"Fine." You shut the door behind her as she gets in. What were you going to do with that girl? You ponder the various ways you might get her to start using "sir" and stop getting into trouble as you climb back into the car and head home.

The rest of the night went on to be pretty uneventful. You set Sonata down to sleep, and thankfully it felt like her fever was finally dying down. You expect you could send her back to school pretty soon, much to her dismay. Aria and Adagio went off to their rooms for the night, leaving you alone in the living room to stare at the blank tv and think about that bottle of whiskey calling your name above the fridge.

Just before you decide to have a shot before going to sleep, the doorbell rings, breaking you out of your thoughts as you wonder just who would bother coming over this late at night. Your eyes shoot upstairs at Sonata's room once you realize it might've woken her up. After a few tense moments, you let out a sigh at the comforting silence. You get up to answer the door, expecting to grumble at some neighborhood teenagers trying to give you a hard time.

Instead, you open the door to Rarity, who is staring patiently at the door frame when you greet her.

You blink a few times to make sure your eyes aren't deceiving you. Rarity looks like she's ready to head out to a fancy party with her smooth, black, designer dress clinging to her features, but really, you couldn't imagine a time when she wasn't.

"Rarity, this is a... nice surprise," you say, smoothing out your wrinkled shirt.

"I'm sorry for the late-night intrusion, dear. May I come in?"

"Oh, of course."

You step aside to let her in, and she brings a hand up to her mouth with some sudden dismay. "Oh, I really should have knocked instead. I didn't wake the girls, did I?"

"Well, their bed time has been extended a bit since the last time you were over, and I didn't hear Sonata wake up, so you should be fine," you say with a smile.

Rarity waits for a moment, surveying the living room in kitchen as you wait for her to say something. "I know this isn't the best hour for an impromptu visit like this, but I just felt..."

"Don't worry about it, Rarity. Was there something you needed? I didn't leave anything at the shop, did I?"

"No, nothing like that," Rarity says, pursing her lips with a sudden thought. "I just wanted to speak to you about something. Is it alright if we head up to your room?"

You raise an eyebrow. That's a bit of an odd request. The overtly male thought process of your brain jumps to a few quick conclusions, but you brush them off. "Sure, I guess."

Rarity doesn't say anything. She heads up the stairs as you follow. She knows where she's going. She's been around this house a million times with Sunset, and it's not like you've done anything major in the last two years. Once you get inside your room, Rarity shuts the door behind her and sits down on the bed. You cough awkwardly as she looks around the room at the dozens of pictures of your wife hanging up around the room.

"Look, I came over because I knew you wouldn't have invited me over any time soon. I think we should talk."

You raise an eyebrow at her. "Abou--"

"About Sunset," she says.

Your heart sinks at the sound of her name. You look down to the floor and away from Rarity. "I don't think that's necessary."

"I do," Rarity says sternly as she gets up off the bed and stands in front of you.

"Look, Rarity. I appreciate you dropping by, but it's getting late and I have to work tomorrow, so I think you shou--"

"She loved you more than anything in the world," Rarity says, making your breath catch in your throat. "Every time she'd come over to the boutique, all she'd ever talk about were you and the girls.

"Where you went out to eat that weekend, all those fancy vacations you promised her, every odd thing you two did in... here," Rarity says, with a roll of her eyes and a reminiscent smile. "It never stopped. It was like gossiping about her high school sweetheart every time I saw her. She was borderline obsessed, darling."

You fight back the lump in your throat as you watch her talk. You want to tell her to leave, that you don't need this tonight, but some part of you just makes you sit there and listen.

Rarity lets out a sigh and drops her gaze away from you and back towards all of the pictures you have up. "It was the sweetest thing I'd ever seen. I only wish I might someday I might have a relationship like that. As much as I wanted to shake her until she changed the subject sometimes, it made me happy knowing she found that fulfilling life she'd always been looking for."

Rarity walks over to the nightstand and picks up a picture of you and Sunset from back in college, on some spring break trip to a beach. You know that picture, and all of them, really, too well. You lose yourself in the smile on her face on quiet nights with nothing else to do, kinda like Rarity is doing now. "The rest of the girls and I never really thought you two would last. I mean, with how much time you spent with each other, you'd have to get sick of it eventually, right? I was happy to be wrong, though. I'd never seen a brighter smile on her face than the day you two got married." Rarity sets the picture back down and looks around the room, presumably for one of your wedding photos.

Once she finds one perched on a shelf, she walks closer to it and admires it. "You made her happier than I ever could, dear. I just want you to know that she treasured every second she had with you."

You clear your throat to try to push that lump away. It didn't work. "Why are you telling me this?" you say, trying to keep your voice from cracking. You can feel your eyes start to water as you imagine Sunset gushing to Rarity about you and the girls.

Rarity's eyes drift down to the floor, then back up to you. Her eyes are glistening in your bedroom light. She wipes one of her eyes quickly and covertly, trying to give you a smile despite the feelings passing through both of you. "It's been two years and I still think about her every day. She was my best friend for so long that I... I... I just don't want to forget her."

You close your eyes tightly for a moment, your mind flashing back to that moment with Cheerilee. "I don't see how anyone ever could."

"Back in the boutique today, I realized how long it had been since I'd even said her name. It's been months since I've even visited her grave. I know I still think about her, but it... hurt... to think she might just be slowly phased out of my life like that," Rarity says, trying to keep her composure. You can hear the hurt slowly peeking its way through her voice, and her eyeliner is already starting to stain her face a little bit.

Rarity clears her throat, then straightens herself up to meet your eye again. "I know it's been two years, and I'm sure you have your reasons for not seeing me--"

"Rarity, it's not like that."

Rarity holds up a hand to stop you. "I'm sure it's nothing malicious, dear. Busy with work, the girls, life, etcetera, but it's just been difficult not having such a close friend in my life any longer. Every time I talk to one of the girls from our old group of friends, or make a cup of that jasmine tea she loved so much, I..." finally, the first tear runs down Rarity's cheek, prompting another quick run of her sleeve across her face and a quick clearing of her throat to try and keep her composure. "I know how selfish this is going to sound, dear, and feel free to say no..."

"Rarity, anything you need..."

Rarity lets out a quick laugh. "I should be the one telling you that, darling. Anyway, with all of the girls moved off and living their own lives, I... I just need a friend. Someone that I can remember my best friend with." Rarity fiddles nervouslly with one of the pictures on the shelf. "Who better than her husband?" she says with an anxious smile.

You blink a few times, since you're not sure what to say to her.

The silence makes Rarity drop her eyes away from you and stammer for a moment. "I'm not asking for you to move in with me or anything. I just wanted someone to... hang out with, as it were. Do you think we could do that?" Rarity asks, looking back up to you with a hopeful smile on her face.

"Yeah, we could spend some time together," you say, finally pushing away that lump in your throat. "I know the girls would love to have you around more often. They've really missed you, if today is any indication."

"Yes, it's been too long since I've had my mannequins tipped over from a few little girls running around my shop," Rarity says with a playful giggle. She lets out a relieved sigh and takes another look around your room. "Well that certainly takes a load off of my mind. You wouldn't believe how often I hear 'I'm just really busy right now' or 'Maybe some other time'. The only people I really speak to anymore are uptight designers and the girls that work for me. A lady can get awfully dull with no real friends to talk to."

Her words hang in the air for a moment as the two of you search for something to say. Rarity looks over her shoulder to your closet and decides to open the door and lean on the frame after she flicks on the light. "You never got rid of them, did you?"

You walk up behind her and trace her eyes to the dozens of colorful dresses she'd made for Sunset. "It doesn't feel right taking them down."

"I know what you mean. I still have a pending order for a blue dress in her name. I can't bring myself to delete it..." Rarity takes a moment to let out another sigh, then turns around and looks up at you with a determined glare. "Promise me you'll actually do something with me."

You give her a smile at that cute, indignant expression. You can tell that these last two years have been just as lonely for her as they have been for you. You pull her close to you for a quick hug. "I promise, Rarity. I have the day off on Monday. You free?"

"Sounds like a date," Rarity says as she settles into you for a moment. She quickly realizes what she said, however, then pulls back and looks up to you with a sudden blush on her face. "Not that I'm asking you out or anything... I just wanted to--"

You let out a quick chuckle. "It's alright, Rarity. It'd be nice to have some fun with an old friend again."

Rarity settles back into the hug and wraps her arms around you. "That's just what I wanted to hear."

Surprise!

It's a nice, lazy Sunday afternoon. You roll over in bed to look at your clock, showing a few minutes after nine. You raise your arms over your head for a long, drawn-out stretch before you yank the sheets back over yourself for a moment, contemplating sleeping in like you haven't done since college, but today isn't a day to waste away like that. Today is Adagio's thirteenth birthday.

You reluctantly pull the covers off of your body and get dressed. Knowing Adagio, she's probably already up by now, so a surprise for her first thing in the morning is probably off the table, but you imagine a late surprise is better than none at all. You pull the big stack of giftwrapped books out of your closet, momentarily wishing Adagio would pick a more girly--and lighter--hobby like makeup or trashy teenage movies.

You pull the books up to your chest, careful not to let them slide apart and rip the paper or tumble out of your hands completely. You make your way over to her bedroom door and nudge your way in, surprised the light is actually still off.

"Adagio? Wake up, honey. It's your--" you start softly, but quickly realize Adagio isn't even in bed. You raise an eyebrow and the scrambled sheets laying on the floor.

Before you can investigate any further, an ear-piercing scream emenates through the entire house, making you tense up and drop the package of books in your hands all over the floor. You turn around to the bathroom where the scream came from, your heart already pounding at the thought that one of your girls might be in danger.

You run up to the bathroom door and try the knob, but it's locked. You can hear soft panting and a panicked stream of 'oh my god' coming from inside the bathroom. Aria steps out of her room, wide-eyed and frightened, followed quickly by Sonata who's gripping her blanket tightly with the same shocked expression on her face.

"D-dad?" Aria asks, but you're too preoccupied to focus on her.

"Adagio, are you alright?" you say through the door. The only answer you get is a little panicked whine from the other side, making your heart beat even harder at the what might be happening to her on the other side. "Adagio!" you yell, making your other two girls wince. Sonata runs up to Aria and hugs her tightly, her little face already tearing up at the situation.

"Adagio, are you alright? Let me in!" you say agian over Sonata's whines.

You take a step back, deciding her privacy isn't quite as important as whatever impending emergency might be on the otherside. You ram your shoulder into the bathroom door and break it open, sending wood splinters across the tiles.

Aria lets out a yelp at the sudden violence and holds her sister tightly as you stumble into the room. Your eyes dart around the bathroom until you find Adagio standing in front of the sink where she's looking down at her bloody hands. You look her over expecting a gash or something, but instead just find a dark red spot painting her pajama pants.

You let out a massive sigh of relief at the sight. "Oh, thank god," you let out. That doesn't do much to quell Adagio's panic, though. Tears are streaming down her panicked face as she turns to you, still looking down at her bloody hands.

"D-dad?" she says like it might be the last time she ever sees you.

You shake your head, realizing you're probably going to have to buy a new door over nothing. You want to hug her and tell her it'll be alright, but you'd rather not get blood all over your clothes. "Honey, you're alright. Just calm down."

You hear another ear-piercing scream come from the doorway you just smashed into. Sonata screamed even louder than Adagio did at the sight of her. She turns away and clings to Aria like her life depends on it. Aria looks between you and Adagio's hands with a growing panic on her face. "Is she going to die? Adagio are you going to die?" she asks, her voice cracking like she's about to start crying.

"I-I don't know!" Adagio says, looking down at her hands. She lets out another frightened whine and looks up to you for guidance.

"She's not going to die," you say to Aria, then turn back to Adagio. "You're not going to die honey."

"B-but--"

You put your hand on her shoulder and guide her back towards the sink. "Wash your hands for me, sweetie, it's going to be alright, okay?"

You turn the water on for her and Adagio puts her shaky hands under the faucet just as you asked. She doesn't really look like she's calmed down any and her face definitely looks like she thinks these might be her last moments on earth. Her hands are shaking wildly under the running water and her face is as white as a sheet. You doubt Sonata's crying is helping her any either.

Sonata tears herself away from Aria and runs up behind Adagio to hug her. "Please don't die, Dagi! I love you too much! Please don't let her die, Daddy!"

You open your mouth to say something, but Aria barges in on the hug as well. You blink a few times once you see her actually crying as well. "I'm sorry for everything, Dagi," Aria lets out, her voice shaky as she hugs Adagio tightly around Sonata. "I take everything back. Every time we fought, every time I called you a mean name, every time I spit on your toothbrush after you were mean to me..."

"Huh?" Adagio says, a little less freaked out.

"I'm so sorry! Please don't die! I love you too!" Aria says, trailing off into a sob.

"Girls. Adagio isn't going to die. This is completely normal for a girl her age."

They don't seem to be listening much to you, so you just let them cry it out for a while and keep repeating that this isn't a death sentence for their sister. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity of trying to reason with the unreasonable, all three of their cries die down and they unlatch from each other.

"You promise she's going to be okay?" Sonata asks you, looking out from the sandwhich she's trapped between.

"For the last time, honey, yes. Adagio is going to be fine."

"Are you sure?!" Aria says frantically.

You resist the urge to laugh at her. At least deep down she really does care about her sister. "Yes, Aria. Now, go back to your rooms. I need to talk to Adagio alone for a little bit."

Sonata runs up and gives Adagio one last hug and Aria looks over at her sister tentatively, but decides to abstain for now. Both of the girls reluctantly walk out of the bathroom, looking at Adagio like it might be the last time they ever see her again.

Once they're gone, you turn towards Adagio to say something, but feel like something is off. You turn around to see two pairs of eyes peeking around the door frame. "Girls. I said rooms. I need to talk to Adagio alone." With that they scurry off, finally letting you and Adagio talk about her new teenager problems. You would shut the door to make sure, but there isn't much left of that part of the door.

Adagio is still looking down at the blood running off of her hands, surely traumatized at the sight. She's also shifting her weight uncomfortably, no doubt a side effect caused by her new situation. You open your mouth to start giving her the whole puberty talk, but you have no idea where to start. Sunset would have been so much better with this kind of thing...

"Just stay right there, honey. I'll be right back."

"D-dad, where are you going?" she asks, her voice still shaky. She definitely didn't sound like she wanted to be left alone, but all you really knew what to do now was try and help her clean it up.

"I'm going to get some things to help you, honey. Don't worry. Just make sure your hands are clean, okay?"

Adagio gives you a timid 'okay' in return. You walk into her room and grab a random pair of underwear and pants out of her closet for her, then into your own bathroom to grab a box of very old pads for her. You aren't entirely sure if there's an expiration date or something for them, but it was better than nothing for her.

Once you walk back into the bathroom, Adagio has a really uneasy expression on her face, no doubt from the growing red stain on her pajamas.

"All better?" you ask her.

"N-no... It isn't stopping and my stomach really hurts. I... I think I might need to go to the hospital, Dad," she says, looking up to you with desperate eyes. How has this never even come up to her before?

"No, honey. You don't have to go to the hospital, alright? This is just something that's going to happen every month from now on. Now--"

"Every month?!" Adagio almost yells, making you wince. "Why is this happening to me? What's wrong with me? Am I sick with something?" she says quickly.

You kneel down beside her to look into her eyes with an assuring expression as possible. She's starting to pant again as the worry builds up inside her. "No, calm down, Adagio. You're fine. I'll explain everything later, okay? Just take a shower and change clothes, then put this on for me," you say, handing Adagio the box of pads.

"W-what's this?" she says, her eyes shifting down to the box in her hands.

"They're going to keep all that blood off of your clothes."

"Are they... diapers?" she says, her uneasy expression returning. You can tell that's the last thing she wants her sisters knowing about her.

"They aren't diapers, honey. They're just to help girls out with this sort of thing."

"But what if Aria..." she starts.

"Aria is going to have to use them someday too."

Adagio looks back up to you, her expression turning towards dread again. "I'm not going to get her sick too am I?"

You take a deep breath. How do these talks normally go? You can get pregnant now, so you bleed out of your privates every month? What would Sunset tell her?

"Don't worry about it, honey. I'll explain everything later. Just get cleaned up and put one of those on and we'll take care of it," you say, employing your usual tactic of avoiding the issue and putting it on your future self. Adagio gives you a timid nod and heads over to the shower, so you leave her to it, pulling the door into a closed enough position.

You let out a massive sigh. This is not something you wanted to deal with today and you can't imagine how Adagio is feeling about it. What a birthday present from Mother Nature. Hopefully you can make it up for her a little bit.

You walk back into her room and pick up the stack of books that bursted out of the wrapping paper and try to stack them neatly on her desk. You look over all of the titles again: weird teenage romance novels, a couple of introductory books to various niche subjects you'd expect to see on a college student's desk, and a bunch of other novels and nonfiction titles you had no idea how to categorize. You flip open one of the romance novels and skim through it while you hear the shower running. Might as well see what she's reading at least.

Once you hear the shower turn off, you wait a few moments and give the broken door a few knocks.

"Are you dressed, sweetie?"

You hear a weak 'yeah' through the broken frame. Once you walk in, you see Adagio holding her stomach, still looking just as uncomfortable as before. "How are you doing, honey?"

"My stomach really hurts, Dad, and this thing feels really weird," she says, her expression turning sour.

You imagine the usual massage you gave your wife for that wasn't really appropriate, so you grab a bottle of advil from behind the mirror and give her one. She doesn't look any better after taking it, but she's probably still a bit traumatized after all that. "Come here, honey. Let's get you something to eat," you say, picking her up like she was six again. She happily falls limp against you as you carry her downstairs.

Once you set her in a stool, you get to making her something that'll go down easy instead of the birthday breakfast you had planned. "Did you still want to go see a movie and go to that restaurant you like, or would you rather stay home today after... all that?"

"I still want to go!" she blurted out quickly, like she almost lost the opportunity of a lifetime. "I can deal with it, I promise."

"If you say so, honey. Just don't push yourself if you really need to come back home, alright?"

"Okay..." she says, going back to looking down at her hands and fidgeting in her seat, no doubt still hurting from the cramps. They had to have been keeping her up last night too, if the dark circles under her eyes are any indication.

You slide Adagio her plate and set two more. As soon as you walk around the corner to walk upstairs, you see Aria and Sonata standing there, peeking curiously through the railing at Adagio.

You let out a little chuckle. Who knew Aria could look so worried. "Do you want some breakfast, girls?" They both give you a timid nod and walk downstairs, not taking their eyes off of Adagio.

They both climb up onto the stools beside Adagio as you slide their plates towards them. It looks like their sister is a lot more interesting though.

"Are you going to live, Dagi?" Sonata asks.

"Um... yeah?" Adagio says, not sounding entirely sure herself.

"Are you sure? That was a lot of blood. Did Dad give you stitches?" Aria asks, looking down at Adagio's hands.

"I don't think that--"

"Daddy isn't a doctor. She needs to go to the hospital," Sonata interjects.

You let out another long sigh. Why did they all have to be girls? "For the last time, girls, Adagio is going to be fine. She is just going through something completely normal for a girl her age."

"What is it, Daddy? Are thirteen year olds supposed to bleed on their birthday?" Sonata asks.

Aria's eyes go wide with the realization. "Wait, does that mean I'm going to die on my thirteenth birthday too? Are we sick with something. Dad, what if--"

"Aria!" you say, cutting her out of the beginning of her frenzy. "You're not sick, and you're not dying. How do you even... actually, nevermind. I promise you, it's completely fine. Don't worry about it. I'll explain it all to you later, okay?"

"A-alright," Aria says, shifting her uneasy gaze down to her food.

"What about me? Is it just me and Dagi that are sick? Do we die when we're thirteen or is it just when we catch it. Does this mean me and Dagi are going to die together? What if..." Sonata asks without a hint of dread in her voice. She really just sounded more curious than anything.

You pinch the bridge of your nose at you youngest daughter's line of questions. "Oh my god..."

For the first time this morning a smile actually crosses Adagio's face, accompanied by a little giggle. If only it wasn't at your own frustration.

Another distressed hugging session and a long-winded attempt to explain that a menstrual cycle is normal without ever actually explaining it, you manage to calm the girls down and arrange a babysitter for Aria and Sonata.

Once you get Adagio alone, you ask her what again what she wants to do today. The first stop on her list is some animated movie she'd been wanting to see for a while, that she also specifically requested she see with you and only you for some reason. It was her birthday after all, and after the morning she went through you couldn't really tell her no.

Adagio seems happy enough as you put your seatbelt on and get ready to leave. Just as soon as you pull out of the driveway though, Adagio curls up in her seat, an uncomfortable expression crossing her face yet again.

"Are you feeling any better?" you ask her.

"No," she replies, pulling her knees up to her chest. "My stomach still hurts and I feel like crying. Were you just lying to Aria and Sonata? Do we actually need to go to the hospital?"

"No, Adagio, I wasn't lying. I promise, you're fine." You take a deep breath. No time like the present. "Do you know what a menstrual cycle is, sweetie?"

"No..."

"Uh, do you know what a uterus is?"

"I don't think so. It's something only girls have, right?"

"Yeah," you rub the back of your neck awkwardly. "So now that you're a little older, your body is going to start changing a little. Right now you're having your period, so your uterus is shedding its lining since you didn't have any fertilized eggs."

"...what?" she asks, as if you just told her the inner complexities of a rocket engine.

"Okay, so now that you're older, you can get pregnant now, and every month you don't, this is going to happen."

"What!?" Adagio almost shouts "Pregnant!? But I'm not even in high school yet! I can't raise any kids right now. I'm only thirteen! Dad, what if I--"

"Adagio," you say, putting a hand on her shoulder to stop her. She barely hangs out with her sister's friends. You have a hard time believing that's something she seriously has to worry about at her age. "You're not going to... wait. Do you know what it takes to get pregnant."

"Y-you have to have sex with a boy, right?"

That sent a jolt through your system. You definitely never told her about that, though at her age you really should have already. You clear your throat and try to calm yourself. "Uh, how did you know that?"

"In one of the books I was reading, that's how it happened..."

There goes surprised jolt number two. You really should have been a little more attentive to your daughter's literature choices. Also how did she know all of that but nothing about her period? "Are you doing something to be worried about being pregnant?"

Adagio awkwardly fidgets in her seat, her hands playing with each other as her blushing face looks down towards the floor. "Well... no... but in all the books I've read it just sort of happens and you never know if you're gonna fall in love with someone and then have se--"

"Okay, that's enough. I don't think you have to worry about that kind of thing, Adagio. I mean, do you ever actually hang out with any of the boys from your class?"

"No..." Adagio says, a dark blush still forming on her face.

"Then you shouldn't have anything to worry about. If you do, uh... get to that point, come and talk with me about it first, okay?"

"Okay..." she says, still looking at everything in the car but you. "What about the... period? Is it going to stop?"

"Yes, sweetie. It'll stop in a couple of days and you'll be back to normal again. You just have to wear those things I gave you so you don't make a mess."

"No, I mean. Do I stop having them when I get older?"

"Uh... you'll stop having them in about forty years."

Adagio slides down in her seat and lets out a pained whine.

You lean over and put a reassuring hand on her shoulder and give her a gentle smile. "It'll get easier to deal with, honey. And I'm always here if you need anything.

She lets out a sigh then looks at you, a thankful smile crossing her face. "Thanks, Dad."

Once you get to the movies Adagio seems to calm down a little bit. Every now and then she'll let out a tiny whimper and hold her stomach. Once you sit down with her, she's quick to lift the armrest up and snuggle up next to you, bringing her knees up to her chest and practically disappearing under your arm and into her hoodie like a turtle going into its shell.

You can feel how tense her body is up next to you, no doubt from the pain of the cramps. You hold her close to you and kiss her on top of the head. Such a sweet girl didn't deserve such an awful birthday present. Thankfully, once the movie starts the pain relievers kick in and she relaxes up against you, the whimpers slowly disappearing as the two of you enjoy the movie together.

Once that's over, you're happy to see that the pained expression she wore for most of the morning is gone by the time you walk out of the theater, replaced by a happy little smile as you get into the car and head off to the restuarant she wanted to go to. Since it's a little bit before lunch it isn't too crowded.

The restaraunt is one of those fancy french places that charges way too much for way too little food, but not nearly fancy enough to bother with reservations. You're not entirely sure how Adagio heard of this place, but if she wants it, you could humor her for today at least. Once you get your food, she curls up in her seat yet again, bringing her knees up to her chest as she lets the smile slip off of her face.

"Adagio, are you alright? Is your stomach hurting again?"

She lets out a little sigh. "No," she says as she pokes at her food. "I just... could we do this more often? Without Aria and Sonata?"

You raise your eyebrow at the question. "Do you not like spending time with them?"

"It's not that. I love both of them, but I just... I just want..." she says, focusing down on her food. "Oh, I don't know."

"You don't have to feel bad about anything. What's the matter?"

Adagio pulls her hand back from her food and rests her chin on her knees. "It's just... ever since Mom died, you don't really spend time with us seperately anymore. I know you're busy and all, but I just want to feel like... I don't know, feel like you care."

"Adagio, sweetie. You know you mean the world to me."

Adagio finally looks up to you with a that little smile again. "I know, Dad. I still just want to do stuff like that, like we used to."

You give her a smile back. "We can do that, honey. I'll find some time for you. I promise."

Adagio goes back to her food and you start thinking about why she might feel that way. It doesn't take you long until you realize what else your daughter needs, and why she is out here eating with you and not out having a party with her friends. "Adagio, have you made any new friends at school yet?"

Her smile quickly turns into a tiny frown at the question. "No."

"Why not?"

"I told you, Dad. All the other girls want to talk about boys, or drama, or makeup, or other dumb stuff. There's no one that I can really talk to. And some of them make fun of me..."

"Well have you tried? I'm sure if you search around you can find a girl that likes the same kind of things that you do."

Adagio lets out a little, frustrated huff and looks away from you. "Didn't we go through this last year, too?"

"We might have. Look, honey, I know most of the other girls aren't what you're looking for, but I promise you there's someone out there that you'll want to spend time with, and who will want to spend time with you too," you say with as caring of a tone as you can put on. You don't want to be harsh about her not having friends, especially when other kids are already doing that. It certainly isn't healthy for a girl her age to be completely alone though. If she doesn't start now high school could be a nightmare for her.

"I don't know, Dad. I have Aria and Sonata... and you. I don't need that many friends."

You sigh as you look her over. Anyone would be incredibly lucky to spend time with her, she just needed to put herself out there more. "Please, honey. You need to at least try, okay? I can't be there for you at school and I don't want you to be all alone there. Promise me you'll at least try to talk to some of the girls for me? Or the boys if you find one that you get along with."

A blush forms on Adagio's face at that. "But what if we... then we..."

"Like I said, come talk to me, but I don't think you have to worry about it, okay?"

"A-alright."

Once you finish your food and pay for the bill, you instinctively pull out your keys to leave, but Adagio jerks at the sight, holding her hand out to stop you.

"Wait, we don't have to go back home now, do we?"

"No, I guess we don't. What else did you want to do today?"

Adagio looks off to the sidewalk outside the restaurant. "Do you think we could walk through the park or something?"

"Yeah, we could do that if you wanted." Those words quickly put a smile back on her face.

"Good," she says as the two of you get up. She wraps her hand around a couple of your fingers as you walk out, making sure she was close to you, like you did when she was six and you were crossing the street. "I don't want this day to end yet."

Author's Note

I'll start back up with more frequent chapters soon enough. Summer didn't go particularly well.

What a Beautiful Sunset

You take in a huge, deep breath of the fresh air around you. It'd been a pretty great day, besides the drama that happened this morning. Adagio's sitting down next to you on the bench, swinging her feet over the sidewalk since she still isn't tall enough to reach all the way. You smile at her.

"So, did you have a good birthday, honey?" you ask her.

She turns to you with a big, beaming grin and nods her head. "Mhmm. Thanks for doing all that for me."

Your mind runs through the last couple of hours as you lean back. The two of you took a long walk through the park, then headed for the mall to look through some new clothes for her. She dragged you into the bookstore for a few hours, sifting through mountains of different novels and getting excited like Sonata might if you'd brought her to a candy shop. Not a single one of them were in that big stack of books you bought her either, which made the trip a little more aggravating than it should have been for you.

After another trip for dinner and ice cream, you're now back at the park with her, watching as the sun slowly creeps down under the trees.

"You seem to be feeling better."

"It got better I think. It still hurts, but not quite as bad anymore," she says, her eyes shifting down to her feet swinging below her.

You follow her eyes too, thinking about how short she still is for her age. She's barely taller than Aria now. "Is there anything else you need before we head home? I know you probably stayed up all night last night. We could get you some sleeping medicine if you want."

"No, I think I'm alright. Thanks though." Adagio stops swinging her legs and looks over to you. "Well, there is one thing..."

Adagio pulls her feet up onto the bench and grabs your arm. Before you know what's happening she lifts it over her head and is snuggled up against you again. She lets out a little, contented sigh as she settles into you.

You let out your own sigh, but your demeanor is far from content. You can remember so many nights like this, just sitting out on the bench in silence with Sunset. You can remember the way the evening sun bounced off the tiny little pond at the spot you used to go to, you can remember the way that soft glow surrounded Sunset and the way she used to grin and blush when she'd catch you staring at her. You can almost hear the soft whisper of her voice again, telling you how much she loved you, or how much she enjoyed the day.

You can feel those sweet little promises you made to her on your tongue again, promising an amazing life for her, or just an amazing night to come. The way she used to giggle and call you a jerk when you'd whisper a joke into her ear about her goofy smile or her dorky laugh. The way her hair felt when you held her tight in a hug, the softness of her skin when she'd place her hand on your cheek for a kiss.

The lump forming in your throat promised to take away any of that happiness you earned with Adagio today. You cleared your throat to try and push it down, but being here and feeling Adagio next to you just cemented it harder. You wanted nothing more now than to just go home and forget about it now, but you care about Adagio's happiness more than you do yours.

"Dad?" Adagio says quietly.

You clear your throat again. "Yes, honey?" you say, your voice still shaking a little.

"Could you... could you tell me about Mom?"

You close your eyes and grit your teeth for a moment. Couldn't she have asked for something else? Like a pony or a yacht? You take a deep breath as you let the question hang in the air for a moment. You can't say no to her, especially not on her birthday.

"What do you want to know, sweetie? You still remember her, don't you?"

"Yeah, of course. I just... I just wanted to know what she was like before I was born. You know, when you guys first met?"

Oh boy. You can feel the pain striking your heart already like a dozen vices all crushing your heart at the memories already flooding in. "Well... I'm sure you remember some of the stories about when we really first met. When she came through the portal and did all those bad things?"

"Yeah, but she changed right?"

You let a smile cross your lips, despite the hurt weighing on you. "Yes, she did. Though, I didn't believe her at first. I think I was the last one to still think she was the school bully."

"Huh? Why?"

"Well, your mom was really smart, just like you. But instead of using it to learn and help people, she used to to be really mean to a lot of people instead. She did something particularly nasty to me, and I wasn't ready to forgive her yet."

Adagio raised her eyebrow, looking up to you as if you were beginning an epic. "What did she do?"

"Uhh," you rub the back of your neck and look away. "I don't think I'll get into it, but just know that I wasn't ready to forgive her for it. Anyway, your mother was determined to show me that she'd changed, so she spent almost an entire week trying to be the best friend to me she could possibly be."

"What happened? Did you forgive her?"

"Eventually I did. She ended up being such a good friend that I ended up falling in love with her, despite all the nasty things she did."

"What happened after that?"

"Well, that was towards the end of high school, so after that your mother and I ended up going to the same college and living together for the rest of the time. There were a couple of hiccups here and there, but we managed to survive."

You let out another sigh as the memories flood back in. You have to try your hardest to keep up your demeanor for Adagio. "She was the most amazing person. She'd do anything to help her friends, even if it meant sacrificing her own needs in the process. I've never met anyone that cared so much and expected so little in return. She woke up every day determined to have a smile on her face and be happy, so that she could try and brighten everyone's day. I may have messed that up a few times, but she was still such... such a ray of sunshine in everyone's lives."

Adagio blinked at you a few times and then counted something on her fingers. "Wait, did you only go to college for three years?"

"Huh? No, both your mother and I went for the full four to get our degrees."

"But I'm thirteen, and you..."

A jolt goes through your system once you realized what Adagio is trying to add up. "Oh, well... you were kind of an accident, sweetie?"

"An accident? What do you mean?"

You rub your neck again and give her a sheepish smile. "Well, we didn't actually mean to have you... you were kind of a surprise."

Adagio's mouth fell open for a moment. "So I'm just an accident? I was never supposed to be born? What the heck, dad?" she says, looking up to you, a little bit of hurt in her eyes.

You put your hands on her shoulders and give her a loving smile. "You are the best accident I've ever had, Adagio. Just because it happened without us meaning to have you doesn't mean I love you any less."

Adagio looks up at you with a tiny grin. "Okay... the least you could've done was lied to me about it," she says with a joking tone.

Like that's worked out well for you so far. Adagio nestles herself back under your arm and looks out towards the sunset.

"What about when I was born? What was she like then?"

You feel that lump in your throat grow even bigger. The joyful memories of being with your daughter and your wife for the first time strike a harsh contrast from the emotions flowing through you now. You clear your throat yet again. "I'd never seen her so happy in the entire time I've known her..."

You have to take a moment as you feel the tears well up in your eyes. "Even with the all of the pressure of having to take care of you and finish college, she never once stopped trying to smile. Even when I felt like the whole world was crashing down on me, she took the time to be there and have fun like we were teenagers again...

"And after we graduated she spent every second of her day making sure you were going to have the best childhood possible so that you'd never have to go through what she had to. So that you'd wake up every day with a reason to smile and two parents who loved you more than anything in the world."

You feel the first tear roll down your cheek. Why couldn't it have been you? "She loved you so much, Adagio. If she was here now I know she would want to give you the best birthday party ever. If she were here now, I know she'd hold you close and tell you how proud she is of you, and about all the great things you were going to do in life. If she were here now... God... I miss her so much," you whisper to yourself as your voice finally falls apart. You didn't want to break down in front of your daughter, but it's too late now.

You have to look away for a moment. Adagio doesn't move for a while, but you hear a quick sniff that isn't yours, pulling your attention back to her. Once you look down at her face, you can see the tears rolling down her cheeks too.

"Dad?" she asks, her voice frail and cracking.

"Yes, sweetie?"

"Do you think I could have one of your pictures of Mom?" Adagio asks, letting out her first sob.

You pull her up onto your lap and wrap both of your arms around her tightly. "Of course, honey." You kiss her on the top of the head as she curls up against you, breaking down and sobbing into your shirt. "Of course..."

You close your eyes and just let the tears fall. You hug Adagio even tighter, for both you and Sunset. "I love you so much, Adagio. Don't ever forget that."

Halloween

You take in a long breath from the fresh air and feel the wind move around you. You let your hands sift through the grass you're sitting in. An almost relaxed feeling washes over you as you lean your head back against the cold stone. You want to open your mouth and speak, tell her about Adagio's birthday, how you're feeling, how much you miss her, but it didn't seem entirely appropriate. You let your hand find it's way behind your back and rub your fingers over the name "Sunset Shimmer" engraved into the stone behind you.

"So you come out here every week?" Rarity asks you, holding her arms close to her chest. She's leaning up against the gravestone in front of you, just watching.

"Three times a week, usually. If I get a decent lunch break then I'll spend it here, or if I get a little time before the girls get out of school," you say, putting your hands back in the grass.

"What do you... do?" she looks around the graveyard with a hint of confusion on her face. It's not like you see many other people sharing lunch with a chunk of stone and a patch of grass around here. You guess some people just have an easier time letting go.

"I'll usually talk to her, or just sit here I guess."

Rarity raises her eyebrow and tries not to let a shiver overtake her. Fall is about to give way to winter and you can feel that harsh nip of the cold wind through your jacket as well. "Talk to her?"

You let your eyes fall from hers. It feels weird saying it out loud after doing it for so long. "It just makes me feel better."

Rarity looks at the grass underneath you. "Well, if it helps you. I suppose we all deal with things in our own way." You let your hands sift through the grass again, wishing Rarity wasn't here so you could talk. She looks around the graveyard awkwardly for a moment before breaking the silence again. "I have the girls Halloween costumes done. I think you'll like them," Rarity says, an excited smile crossing her face.

You let out a sigh. "I think the dresses for the wedding were more than enough. You really didn't have to do that."

Rarity waves her hand at you. "Darling, we've been over this. I really don't mind. I don't think I've ever done Halloween costumes before and your girls were perfect guinea pigs for my designs."

It's your turn to raise an eyebrow at her. She gives you a sheepish smile once she realizes her own implications. "Not that I was doing anything too experimental. They should be run-of-the-mill as far as costumes go."

You have a hard time believing that. Through all of the years you've known Rarity, nothing she ever made was "run-of-the-mill". Hopefully it isn't anything too extravagant. You'd rather not parade around three peacocks if you had a choice. "I'll believe that when I see it."

You take in another deep breath of the fresh air and decide to finally get up. You could talk to Sunset another time. "Well, the girls should be getting out of school pretty soon. I probably shouldn't keep them waiting tonight. Sonata'll have a fit if she doesn't get into her costume as soon as possible," you say as you bring yourself to your feet.

Rarity gives you a little laugh and stands up as well, digging around in her purse for a moment. "I did bring this for her," she says, pulling out a rose. She walks over and places it in front of Sunset's grave, looking between you and the headstone awkwardly for a moment. "Um... I miss you, Sunset. I hope... I hope you're doing well, wherever you are. I'll be sure to keep you husband out of trouble."

You raise an eyebrow at her, but she doesn't look like she wants to banter right now. Her face turns somber as she stares down at the grave of her old best friend. "M-maybe I'll have more to say next time," Rarity says clearing her throat and looking away.

"That's alright. I'm sure she appreciates it."

The two of you head back to the parking lot in silence. Your wife is definitely still on your mind and it seems like she's on Rarity's too. By the time you get to your cars, you still haven't spoken.

"Well I guess I'll see you later, Rarity," you say, opening the door to your car.

Rarity holds a hand on the door for a moment to stop you. "Actually, I had a favor to ask."

"Oh?"

"Would you mind very much if I were to accompany you tonight?"

You smile at her. "Looking to get some candy?"

She crosses her arms over her chest. "Please, darling. It'll go straight to my thighs. I just wanted to spend some time with the girls. It's been ages since I've been on any sort of outing with them."

"Sure, just come by my house around six. I should have the girls ready to go by then."

Rarity nods at you. "See you then," she says, a hint of excitement on her face.

You look down at Adagio, aggravation building up inside you. It's way too late to buy another costume and you know she's not about to put on one of her old ones. Aria and Sonata are already getting antsy and you can't hold them off much longer either. Adagio is spinning around in the big mirror in your room, a big smile on her face as her eyes look over her brand new costume. Sonata is beside her, fighting for space to check herself out as well. Aria's sitting on the bed, looking bored in her devil outfit as she swings her legs off of the side.

"What's wrong with it, Dad?" she asks as soon as she looks up at you and sees the sour look on your face.

"I really don't think that outfit is appropriate for a girl your age, honey."

Adagio looks shocked for a moment. "What? What's wrong with it?"

"Well..." you look her over again. It would be a cute purple witch outfit, if not for it showing off her bare shoulders and midriff. "Don't you think you'll be a little cold out there, Adagio?"

She looks between you and the mirror a few times. "I don't mind. I really like the way it looks."

You cross your arms over your chest. "I think I'm going to get you a shirt to wear under it."

"What? I don't think that's is how Aunt Rarity wanted me to wear it, Dad."

"I know," you say, deadpan.

Your doorbell rings. That's probably Rarity, just the woman you want to exchange a few words with right about now. You go downstairs to check it, all three girls following close behind you, bags in their hands ready to go trick-or-treating.

You open the door and greet Rarity with a flat expression.

"Hi, how are you do-- what?" she asks when she notices your unamused expression.

"Really, Rarity?"

"What's the matter, darling?"

You open up the door all the way and motion towards Adagio. "How did you think this was appropriate?"

A blush comes over Rarity's face for a moment as she realizes what she's done. "Oh... well, I am used to making more, adult costumes for Halloween," she says. Memories of all the scanty halloween costumes she made for Sunset and herself flash back into your head. None of which are things you'd like to see your daughters in.

"Well, it's not really that bad," Rarity says with a sheepish smile.

"Aunt Rarity, Dad says I should put a shirt on under this, but wouldn't it make the costume look bad?"

"Well..." Rarity starts, rubbing the back of her neck.

"Ugh, can we just go already? I'm getting bored," Aria says.

"Daddy, if we wait too long all the good candy will be gone!" Sonata chimes in.

Rarity walks in and leans down towards Adagio, trying to move the fabric around her body so that not quite as much skin is showing. It's a futile effort, really. There's no way she's walking around the neighborhood without half of her tummy showing.

Adagio holds her arms out and lets Rarity look at her costume. "Do you think I need to change, Aunt Rarity?"

"Honestly, sweetie, I don't think it's that bad. You like it, don't you?"

Adagio nods her head. "I like it a lot better than the dinosaur costumes we all had to wear."

Rarity laughs as that memory passes through her head. How could she forget the year you and Sunset brought three little velociraptors up to her house for halloween.

"Well I think you should be fine, darling. It's only for one night."

You cross your arms over your chest again, clearly not happy about it. "Next time I'm supervising your costume selection, Rarity."

She lets out a giggle. "I think that's fair. So girls, are you ready to go trick or treating?"

"Yeah!" Sonata yells. Adagio gives a sweet little nod, and even Aria gets an excited smile on her face. "Let's go!" Sonata shouts before bounding out the open front door like a bolt of lightning.

"Sonata, wait for us!" Adagio says, running after her.

Aria snaps to attention once she realizes she just got left behind, quickly darting after her sisters. "Hey, wait for me!"

"Well, no going back now," you say, letting Rarity out the door first as you close and lock it behind you.

The night air nips at you as soon as you step away from your house. You can't see it on Adagio's face yet, but you can imagine she's starting to regret not listening to you. You walk with Rarity to catch up to the girls and head towards the first house, each of your girls toting excited smiles as you ring the doorbell and they get their candy.

A couple of houses pass you by as the darkness creeps in. The girls with their bags getting heavier and the neighborhood activity slowly transitioning from excited toddlers to the older kids walking around by themselves. You can tell Adagio is avoiding your gaze once you notice the goosebumps forming around her midsection, reluctant to admit you may have been right. Your agitation only grows when you start catching some of the neighborhood boys' lingering stares settling on her for a little bit longer than you'd like.

"Oh, she's thirteen. She's got to start learning about these things somehow," Rarity says, trying to defend herself after yet another annoyed look from you.

"I'd rather teach her myself than let some boys three years older hurry the process along."

Rarity gives you a sheepish smile as she catches a boy ogling your daughter herself. "So I may have gone a bit overboard... Next year's costumes will be more appropriate; you have my word."

You let the girls get the next house on their own as you talk with Rarity. The three of them seem capable enough with Adagio taking the lead; she even rings the doorbell and makes sure her sisters are right beside her the whole time. Before too long you won't even have to be here to look after them any more, though you're not entirely sure how to feel at that thought.

"It seems like yesterday we were up there asking for candy as well," Rarity says wistfully.

"Yeah, but we were in high school and probably should've been doing something more productive," you say with a little smirk as the memory of a the big group of all of your and Sunset's friends went around the neighborhood during that last year of high school.

Rarity let out a quick laugh. "Dear, you know very well we were never going to get Pinkie to give up a chance at free candy. She was still calling us to go trick-or-treating our junior year in college. I wouldn't be surprised if she's out tonight with her husband trick or treating."

You let out your own chuckle now as a smile crosses your face at the memory. You and Sunset almost passed up a Halloween party that year to give into Pinkie. You shift your focus back over to your girls, not really up for letting that conversation play out.

Unfortunately, you got caught up in that memory just long enough to let your girls get into a staredown with the other neighborhood kids. Even though the two groups of girls played together quite often, they stand now in the middle of the street motionless, waiting for the other to make the first move so they can get out the best counter. You sigh as you catch up with them. Knowing Aria's track record with them over the past couple of months, this wasn't going to end well.

"I see you losers have barely gotten any candy," The short-haired girl named Indigo said with a smug grin, standing in front of her little red wagon piled high with candy. Two of the other girls stood beside her, looking like they were ready for some kind of showdown.

Adagio steps forward to say something, but Aria is quick to cut her off. "We only just got started Indigo, by the end of the night we're gonna have way more candy than that little pile."

"Ha! Fat chance, Aria," one of the other girls said, you think her name is Sunny something, but you really don't remember. "Since no one in the neighborhood even likes you, all you're going to get is all the bad candy no one else wants."

"She's a lot less of a brat than you three are," Adagio says. She takes a quick look back to make sure Sonata is behind her. Since they ended up stopping, Sonata's busy burying herself in her candy bag looking for something good, completely oblivious to the standoff going on in front of her.

"We're not the ones who have to hang out with girls two years younger because we don't have any other friends," the last girl says in a monotonous voice.

Adagio lets out a quick huff. "Well at least I'm not so emotionally immature I had to be held back a grade," she says, making the grey-haired girl's eye twitch for a moment. Sugarcoat, you think that one's name is.

"I bet your mom just bought you all that candy anyway, Indigo. There's no way you could've actually earned it," Aria says.

"Oh yeah?" Indigo's lips turn up into a little, haughty smile. "Well at least I have a mom."

Uh oh. You take a quick step forward towards Aria after you hear that one. There is no way this is going to end in anything other than another talk with Indigo's parents if you don't do something. To your surprise, Rarity grabs Aria by the shoulder before she can stomp over to Indigo.

"Aria, dear. Why don't we get back to trick-or-treating, hmm? You don't want to waste time arguing when you could be getting candy, do you?"

Aria jerks around a couple of times, then changes her angry expression to a pout up at Rarity. "But she said--"

"I know, dear, but do you really want to get into another fight and get in trouble with your father? When you could be getting candy?"

You finally step in front of Adagio. A quick look at her face shows you some apprehension, as you're sure she's had to break up plenty of fights that started just like this one. "All of you, go back to trick-or-treating. I don't want to have to tell your parents you've been starting fights again."

Inidigo's eyes widen for a moment before she sticks her tongue out at Aria before walking off. Aria jerks around in Rarity's arms for a second before finally giving up and going limp. You let out a sigh, thankful you didn't have to go home early to treat a few new scrapes and bruises.

"Good thing that's over. You girls ready to get back to it?" you ask with a smile to try to soothe the now-heated temperaments.

Aria finally snaps out of Rarity's grasp. "You heard what she said, Dad. Let me go after her!"

"And what is that going to accomplish, Aria?"

Aria grits her teeth and clenches her fist as she looks over at Indigo fading off in the distance. "It'll teach her to not mess with me," she says indignantly.

"That hasn't been working out very well so far, Aria. Let's just enjoy the rest of the night, okay?"

Aria crosses her arms over her chest in a pout, looking away from you once she knew she wasn't getting her way. "Ugh, whatever."

"Found it!" Sonata says, yanking a bright blue lollipop out of her candy bag and voraciously tearing apart the wrapper and sticking it in her mouth. You let out a quick laugh and shake your head. That girl could ignore a hurricane if you gave her enough candy.

You put your hands on Sonata and Adagio's shoulders to turn them away towards the other end of the street. The last thing you need is another run-in with the other girls tonight. "I think we've been out long enough, don't you think, girls? Let's go to another couple of houses and go home."

"But I haven't filled up my whole bag yet..." Sonata says, shooting you a quick pout as she looks down at a candy bag that's almost as big as her.

"I think that's enough, Sonata, come on."

"Wait, we have to stay out for another few hours! I can't let Indigo get more candy than me!" Aria says, looking up to you desperately.

"It's already getting late, Aria. We're going to go to a couple more houses on the way back but that's it."

Aria starts again, saying something about how you had to at least buy her some candy to compete with Indigo, but Rarity stepped in instead to say something to her. You didn't really catch it, as your attention turned to Adagio. Surprisingly, she didn't have anything to say about your early departure. Her attention is focused up on Rarity instead. She looks... anxious for some reason as she watches Rarity talk Aria down from her candy collecting competition. You don't end up saying anything for now as you guide the girls up the street and back home.

After a few more houses and even more candy later, you finally get out of the cold air and back into your own house. Aria's indignant expression is already forming on her face as she looks down at her candy bag. She crosses her arms over her chest, knowing it's not nearly enough to compete with Indigo. Sonata runs immediately into the living room and dumps the mountain of candy out onto the floor before looking back over to you.

"Can I have three this year, Daddy? I promise I won't stay up," Sonata asks, her sad, pleading, puppy-dog eyes flicking between her newfound treasure and you.

"That's fine sweetheart. But nothing big, alright?"

"Yay!" Sonata shouts, diving into her pile as soon as you gave her the word. For a moment you're afraid you might actually lose her in there.

Rarity takes her coat off and sets it down before leaning over to Aria, giving her a sweet smile to try to make Aria's disappointment wash away. "I know you didn't get as much as you wanted, dear, but how about we start trading candy with your sisters? That way you can get all your favorites."

Aria lets out a defeated sigh. "I guess so..." she says as she follows Rarity into the living room.

You catch Adagio's eyes wandering upstairs and you can already tell what she wants by the occasional shiver she's trying to hide from you. "Want to change clothes, Adagio?"

She gives you an embarrassed smile. After being so adamant about it she hates having to admit you were right.

"I'll keep guard on that candy for you," you say as you take her bag from her. She darts up the stairs, one thick sweater in particular surely on her mind.

You make the girls a couple of glasses of water and a take out a set of wine glasses for Rarity and yourself. Once Adagio comes back down the stairs in some more appropriate attire, you hand out the glasses to everyone sitting around on the living room floor. Rarity already has a pile of candy sitting in front of her that Aria and Sonata don't like and every now and then she'll act as the referee when one of them shouts no fair at the other, making the final decision for your girls on how much a bar of chocolate is worth against a handful of lollipops.

Adagio sifts through her candy with uninterested motions, pushing it around until she finds a wrapper she can fiddle with for a while before putting it back and looking again. You trace her eyes over to Rarity again, an unsure expression on your daughter's face as Rarity talks with her sisters with a smile on her face. You don't bother to bring it up now, anyway.

Once you hand the glass to Rarity, she gives you a raised eyebrow as you sit down on the couch. "Planning something else exciting this evening, are we?" she says coyly.

"Wouldn't want to have something without offering my guest. I figured you might appreciate it after a long day."

She swirls it around in the glass for a moment before taking a long sip, giving you a quick smile before she sets it down on the coffee table. "Well you'd be correct. Thank you."

"Oh, could I have some juice too?" Sonata asks. She completely drops her attention from her candy once she witnessed how much Rarity enjoyed that sip.

"That's not juice, Sonata," Adagio says, still looking down at her candy. You didn't care for her flat tone, but you decide not to say anything.

"Huh? What is it then?"

"It's that gross stuff adults drink before they have alone time," Aria says before sticking her tongue out.

Rarity shoots you a concerned look once she hears Aria knows what it tastes like. You just shake your head. "It's a long story," you tell her, still a little disappointed in Aria for crawling all the way up to that cabinet just to try all of your alcohol.

"Is it medicine?" Sonata asks.

"I dunno. It's the stuff Sunny's parents drink a lot before they tell us to play outside and not bother them for a few hours."

Adagio raises her eyebrow for a moment, obviously contemplating something before a deep blush washes over her face and her eyes affix down at her candy, not daring to meet the gaze of anyone else in the room.

You have to stifle a laugh for a moment at the sight and you spot Rarity having to do the same at Adagio's sudden revelation.

"You'll learn about it when you're older, alright, sweetie?" you tell her.

"Oh... okie dokie," Sonata says, shifting her attention back to the candy bracelet, blue lollipop, and piece of chocolate sitting in front of her. That was a lot easier than it should have been.

"Do you have the candy you want picked out, darling?" Rarity asks them.

"Wait! I still need to pick my last one," Aria says. Her eyes dart over her pile of candy desperately like she's trying to defuse a bomb. She finally yanks out a little package of twizzlers, a weight seemingly lifted off her shoulders as she sets it with the other pieces in front of her.

"What about you, Adagio? Do you have what you want?" You say as you look down at her. Her blush is gone, but you notice she doesn't have a single piece of candy out in front of her.

"I... I'm not really hungry."

You raise an eyebrow at her, a little concerned. "Are you sure?"

Adagio just scoops all the candy up into her bag and pushes it over to you. "I think so. I'm kind of tired. I think I'm going to just go to bed."

You purse your lips for a moment as Adagio climbs to her feet. Strangely, she doesn't want to meet your gaze and instead just turns towards the stairs. She doesn't look sad or anything, so you try not to worry about her too much. "If you say so, sweetheart. I'll see you in the morning."

She shoots you a quick goodnight back before disappearing into her room. Neither of her sisters seem too concerned either, as they devour their allotted pieces of candy with reckless abandon.

Rarity crawls up onto the couch next to you, the worry on her face telling a different story. "Is she going to be alright? Her mood seemed to turn after that whole debacle with the other girls."

"Something tells me that's not what it is," you say, thinking about how she looked at Rarity. It was certainly a strange behavior after having Rarity in her life for so long. "At any rate, I'll make sure she's okay in the morning. Think it's time to put the girls to bed." You look over at the clock, confirming your suspicion. It's already a good hour past bedtime.

Rarity gets up and puts on a motherly smile. "You heard him, girls. It's time for bed."

After a little bit of disappointed whining and making Aria spill all of the candy she tried to smuggle out of her pockets, you gather up everything in their candy bags and put it away for the night, breathing a little sigh of relief that you don't have to worry about the girls' constant begging for dessert after dinner for another few months at least. Once the girls are up in their rooms and everything seems quiet enough, you sit back down on the couch next to Rarity and work on finishing that glass of wine.

"Are you ready to finish our alone medicine, darling?" Rarity says with a playful smile and another swish of the red liquid in her glass.

"Certainly wouldn't mind after today," you say as you pick up your glass again.

A moment of silence hangs in the air before Rarity decides to speak up. "Well that was certainly more excitement than I've seen in quite a while," Rarity says as she sinks into your couch a little more, throwing one of her legs over the other and letting her head rest against the cushion.

"What, you don't have the occasional mexican standoff over candy in your high-class parties?"

Rarity lets out a little laugh. "Oh, heavens no. I haven't been to a 'party' ever since the last time I saw Pinkie Pie. All I really do anymore is design, design, design, alongside an unhealthy dose of accounting. If I'm lucky I may take a trip out to Canterlot once in a blue moon to see how things are going with that store."

"Can't you hire someone to do the accounting for you?"

Rarity runs a hand through her hair to let it fall over her shoulder and onto her chest, letting out a sigh as she looks up at the ceiling and takes another sip of her wine. "I suppose I could, but I hardly know what else to do with myself as it is. I can't imagine what I might do with those extra hours to myself as well."

"I thought you'd be mingling with the bigwigs and marrying your prince by now," you say jokingly.

Rarity lets out a wistful sigh and looks down at the reflection in her glass. "Well not all dreams come true..." she says solemnly. "Where would I even find a prince, anyway? And what would he want to do with a bored, middle-aged seamstress?"

You can feel a tinge of regret in Rarity's voice. "Hey, you never know. You certainly haven't lost your looks from high school at least."

Rarity gives you a quick giggle and rolls her eyes. "That's sweet of you to say, but it's everything I can do to fight the nightmare of aging."

A few moments pass before Rarity sits up and looks at you, a gentle, hopeful expression overtaking her. "This may sound odd... but do you think we could have more nights like tonight?"

"Huh?"

Rarity clears her throat. "Um... I just mean with the girls. You know, just so I could spend a little more time with them."

"Oh," you say, "of course, Rarity. I'm sure they've missed you, and I wouldn't mind a little weight off my shoulders too. It's always nice to spend some time with an old friend too, anyway."

She lets out a quick sigh of relief and looks off towards the floor. "I had a nice time tonight as well..."

You both catch each other's gaze for a moment, not entirely sure what to say to each other before you look away, both clearing each your throats awkwardly as the silence seems to linger for a little too long this time.

Rarity takes one last sip out of her glass and gets up off of the couch, walking over to the coat she laid on the dining room table beside the door. "I think I should be heading off before it gets too late."

"Oh, sure," you say, taking the glasses over to the kitchen before meeting her at the door.

"So you're sure you won't mind me being over here a little more often?" Rarity says as she slips her coat back over her shoulders.

"Of course not. Wouldn't want you dying by boredom if I can help it, and I certainly won't pass up a chance at a break from the girls every now and then."

"Wonderful," she says with a delighted smile. "I'll call you soon then," she says before leaning in to give you a quick hug.

You wrap your arms around her, expecting a quick pat on the back before she walked out the door, but instead she nestles into your chest for a moment, letting out a breath as your arms settle around her body. A strange feeling fills your chest as you feel her embrace, something you haven't felt since Sunset died. You suddenly don't want to let go, just wanting to stay like this for a few more hours as the relaxed, contented feeling of having someone else against you after so many years washes over you.

You let your hands slip off of Rarity, resisting the urge to kiss her and tell her you love her like she's Sunset just going out to a trip to the store. A lump quickly forms in your throat and you have back away from her.

Rarity clears her throat, looking away from you, apparently realizing the awkward length of the hug as well. "W-well I'll talk to you soon. I hope you have a good night," she says as she opens the door and walks away, granting you one last look before she closes it behind her.

"Y-you too," you say weakly as the door finally closes in front of you.

You stand there for a few seconds, not entirely sure what to think. Once you finally think about it, it really had been years since you'd even touched another woman besides Cheerilee, and even she never really gave you this feeling. You take a deep breath and head up to your room for the night. This isn't something you want to worry about now, especially not with Sunset so suddenly fresh in your mind.

Author's Note

Surprise. I'm not actually dead.

Chapter inspired by this beautiful pic:

https://derpibooru.org/1014245?q=artist%3Arileyav%2C+younger

More Chores

The light shines through your bedroom window, stirring you back to the land of the living. The alarm clock sitting on your nightstand lets off a dull red seven forty five. You grunt and roll over, not wanting to waste this free Saturday morning waking up this early.

You pat the other side of the bed wondering where Sunset has gone this early. She never passes up a chance to sleep in with you. The question is seemingly answered with a distant sizzle and pop coming from outside your door. You let out a smile at the thought of sharing bacon, eggs, and pancakes with your wife, and the smell of that bacon filling your room slowly persuaded you up to your feet.

As soon as you flip the blanket off you, reality seeps back into your senses. Your wife hasn't cooked in this house in a long time and that can only mean one of three people are downstairs dealing with an open flame, hot grease, and sharp utensils.

You bolt out of your room as fast as your body will allow, leaving your bedding strown all over the floor and your door almost knocked off of its hinges. You barely escape from tripping and tumbling down the stairs in your rush. You slide into the kitchen in your socks, ready to deal with the second round of disaster that could be Aria trying to make her own breakfast... or even worse: Sonata. Your mind races to think if your fire extinguisher is up for the challenge and how fast you could get her to the hospital before you slide around the corner and notice it's actually Adagio standing in front of the stove, poking at the bacon sizzling in the skillet with a spatula. You'd call it cute the way she's standing on a stepstool to reach up to the grill if your heart wasn't beating so fast.

You let out a tense breath and slowly try to relax, knowing you wouldn't have to put out any fires and be making any more trips to the hospital. For now anyway.

Adagio looks up from the pan and gives you a tired smile. The bags under her eyes tell you she must've gotten up pretty early to beat you to the breakfast punch. "Oh, hi, Dad. How are you doing?"

You walk into the kitchen, giving Adagio a confused look before kissing her on top of the head. "I'm alright, sweetheart, but what are you doing?" you say, looking across the spread of bacon, eggs, and pancakes that are already prepared on the counter top beside her.

She raises an eyebrow up at you as you put your hands on her shoulders. "Um... making breakfast? What else would I be doing?" she says with a little amused smile.

"Why? You shouldn't have to--"

"I think I'm old enough to handle the stove, don't you?" she asks, sounding like she was afraid you'd stop her. She looks back down to the bacon sizzling in the pan and gives it a quick poke to look at the other side.

You shrug. You can't see why you wouldn't trust her with this, but you can't imagine why she didn't just ask you to make it instead like you usually did.

"Dad! Are we gonna have panca-- Oh," Aria says as she rounds the corner, an excited smile on her face dropping to slight confusion when she sees Adagio holding the spatula. "Why are you cooking, Adagio?" she asks, probably not even aware of how rude that sounded.

"Well Dad always makes it for us, so I thought it would be nice to give him a break for once."

"Thank you, sweetheart. This is very nice of you," you say, giving Adagio a quick, one-handed hug. You can't complain about someone else making your breakfast, but something about this seems odd to you; Adagio has never wanted to help with the cooking before. She did her chores and did as she was told but never really any more than that. You let the thought go for now, getting out some plates and telling Aria to get her sister up for breakfast.

Once everyone sits down and Adagio passes all the food out, you take the first apprehensive bite. How bad could it really be? Not like she had to do much more than put some water in with the pancake mix. As soon as you bite into it though, you can tell it was her first time. The pancakes are a thick, dark brown on the outside and have a gooey, uncooked batter on the inside. They're still pancakes though, so you drench yours in syrup and don't end up saying anything else.

Aria's face scrunches up on her first bite and you can see Adagio blushing from across the table after hers.

"Dad makes them better..." Aria says, watching two crunchy pieces slide off of her fork while the gooey middle remained. Adagio's mouth twists into a little frown after she takes a bite of her own, being sure to keep her eyes down on her plate and away from you or her sisters.

"Aria, that's not fair. Adagio did her best. You should be thankful that your sister did this for you."

Aria lets out a sigh and starts on the bacon on her plate instead. "I guess so..."

Sonata on the other hand doesn't seem to care at all, as she voraciously tears into her pancakes like she'd been starved for the past couple of days. Once she's done she looks up with syrup covering her face and hands with a bright smile. "Can I have seconds?" she asks, giving you that beaming grin you can't bear to disappoint and take away.

Aria looks over at her sister's empty plate in bewilderment since she's only gotten through half of one of her pancakes. Sonata's request puts a little smile on Adagio's face as you nod to her.

After breakfast is over, Adagio even walks around the table and grabs all the dishes before any of you can say anything about it. "Are you...?" you start, taken somewhat off-guard by someone actually wanting to do the dishes.

"Oh, yeah. I'll clean them. If I cooked I should clean too, right?"

You shrug again as Adagio pulls the stool over to the sink now. "Sonata, could you help me?" she says, giving her sister a hopeful smile.

Sonata gives her sister a soft "Okay" as she eyes the tv Aria is already heading towards to turn on the cartoons. "What am I supposed to do?" she asks as she steps up on the stool next to Adagio.

You just leave them to it as Adagio goes over the basics of using a sponge. You sit down on the couch beside Aria, the spots around you feeling a bit empty without your girls sitting around you. After about an hour you look back towards the kitchen, only to see your daughters missing from the sink.

"Adagio, Sonata?" you ask around the house.

You get a weak, "Up here, Dad!" coming from upstairs. Investigating that you find both of them in the bathroom, rubber gloves on and scrubbing away at the floor... with dish soap.

"What are you doing?"

Adagio wipes the sweat off her forehead before going back to scrubbing the soapy tiles with a sponge she found in the kitchen. "Well, we thought it'd be a good idea to clean the bathroom. It's been awhile since you've done it, hasn't it?"

"The bathroom doesn't really need the tiles, cleaned, honey. Haven't you ever seen me do it?"

Adagio shrugs. Sonata is slipping around on her hands and knees behind you, seeing how far she can slide on the soapy tiles with a much larger sponge beneath her knees. You let out a sigh and go over the basics of bathroom cleaning: cleaning the toilet bowl, making sure all the tiles in the shower were clean, disinfecting all the surfaces, etc.

After almost half an hour of you mostly doing the cleaning yourself with Adagio watching intently and Sonata playing sponge surfer in the background, you wipe your brow.

"Okay... I think I got everything. So where do I start now?" she asks.

"Uh..." You look around the sparkling bathroom you just cleaned pretty much entirely yourself. "Well, it's done, actually."

"What? But I was supposed to clean it!" Adagio says with a cute little frown and her furrowed brows.

"Why did you want to..." you start before Aria yells up to you guys.

"Dad! Rarity's here!" Adagio's frown grows even worse at the sound of Rarity's voice talking to her sister downstairs.

"I'm not interrupting anything, am I?" she asks you with a curious smile as you walk down the stairs, wiping the suds off on your pants.

"Nah, I just got done cleaning the bathroom."

"What are you doing here?" Adagio says in an uncharacteristically snarky tone.

Rarity's taken aback for a moment by the rude remark. "Well..." she says before clearing her throat, "I had some ideas for some dresses for the wedding. I thought it might be better for them not to be a surprise this time." she lifts up her hand, revealing her black-clad sketchbook to you.

"Yeah that'd probably be for the best," you say, giving her a pointed look.

She rolls her eyes at you, letting herself in and putting her pad down on the kitchen table. "Oh, it wasn't that bad."

You catch a glimpse of Adagio giving Rarity an oddly angry look before storming off down the hall towards... your room? You push it out of your mind as a conversation starts up between you and Rarity.

"Dad, can we go play outside?" Aria asks, with Sonata trailing close behind her.

"Sure, honey," you say, waving her off.

"Adagio! Let's go play outside!" Aria shouts, probably wanting some backup in case they get into another fight with the neighborhood girls.

"Can't! Busy!" you hear from upstairs. You raise an eyebrow at that. As reclusive as Adagio could be sometimes, you've never seen her not want to play outside with her sisters before. You shrug your shoulders and her sisters do as well. You almost want to say something to them before they leave since Adagio won't be there to look after them, but you figure Aria's old enough now, so you let them walk out the door together.

You and Rarity flip through her sketchbook looking at various designs, eventually going off the subject of the girls' dresses completely as you look through a lot of her other ideas. Outside of the conversation you can see Adagio passing by up and down the stairs several times, carrying a lot of her clothes for some reason. You ignore it for a while since you and Rarity are talking but once the conversation dies down, you peek up the stairs to see what she's actually up to.

Just as you do you can spot her, or, well, half of her behind a mountain of your clothes in a hamper. The massive pile is way is almost bigger than she is, and she's taking her first step down the stairs. The sight makes your breath catch in your throat as you can already see the massive weight in her arms tipping her forward. Just before she comes tumbling down the stairs in a massive heap she leans back to try to counterbalance herself, only to let out a quick yelp as the fabric monster she's holding overpowers her skinny frame, sending her sprawled out onto the carpet as the beast consumes her in a mountain of cotton and denim. You quickly run up to her, relieved you didn't have to catch her falling forward.

"Adagio, are you okay?" you ask in a worried tone as you look through the mountain of clothes to see some signs of your daughter. The only thing left of her are her feet sticking out of the pile.

Adagio digs herself out of her mess, socks and underwear draping over her and sticking to her poofy hair. "Yeah, I think I'm okay."

"What did you think you were doing? Trying to carry that much down the stairs could've gotten you hurt," you say, brushing a pair of underwear off of her head.

"I was just taking the the dirty clothes to the laundry room," she says as she digs a sock out of her poofy ponytail.

You give her a gentle smile. "I appreciate the help, honey, but how about next time you don't take everything all at once."

"Oh, it wasn't everything. I actually started a load already," Adagio says, proud of her minor accomplishment. Your smile almost immediately drops, though. You've never shown Adagio how to use the washing machine. You leave your daughter in her mess as you hurry down the stairs to look down the hall at the laundry room, only to have your worst fears realized. The open door leading into the room is currently overflowing with bubbles, like a monster out of some cheap horror movie creeping into the rest of the house.

"Is something wro... Oh my..." Rarity says as she follows you into the laundry room.

You catch a glimpse of Adagio's face as she pulls herself up. She looks confused at your sudden change of demeanor.

"Dad, what's wrong?" she says as she rounds the corner at the bottom of the stairs. Out of the corner of your eye you can see her face turn bright red.

With a long sigh of defeat you trudge through the mess of soapy suds to the washing machine. You open the lid to get it to stop as you take in the sea of white bubbles completely filling the room. Adagio had followed you over, her mouth hanging open trying to find something to say as she surveyed the damage.

You honestly don't even know what to do. "...How?" you ask Adagio.

"I-I don't know, I... I just wanted to help," she stammers, looking like she's about to cry. You almost want to laugh at her. Adagio has always been the good girl of the bunch and you can hardly remember the last time she actually got in trouble; now even when she's thirteen she looks like a scared toddler at her screw up. Rarity stands behind her awkwardly, not really sure what to do as she looks between you and Adagio.

"It's okay, honey... but just... how?"

Adagio's breath catches in her throat for a moment before she can talk again. She glances back at Rarity for a moment, like she didn't want to tell you with her there. After a heavy moment of silence she finally speaks up though. "I... I couldn't find what you usually use for it so I just used the dish soap."

You almost want to laugh at her, but now you both have a mess to clean up. "I'm sure it's kind of obvious now, honey, but you shouldn't put anything other than laundry detergent in the washer."

"I'm so sorry," she says as she looks up to you with those adorable sad eyes that were welling up with tears.

You wade through the bubbles and wrap your arms around her before she breaks down completely. "I told you, sweetheart, it's okay."

Rarity steps back for a moment, not wanting to get any bubbles on her shoes. "It really isn't that big of a deal, dear. Sweetie Belle used to do things like this all the time with her friends. We can clean it up before anyone even knows what happened," she says, trying to be as sweet as possible. Adagio just buries her face in your shirt and grabs you even tighter. Before any of you can actually get started with it though, Aria and Sonata barge through the door. "Yeah well I don't like you anymore either!" Aria shouts out to the street.

"Bubbles!" Sonata yells the second she turns her head inside. You can feel Adagio reflexively jerk at the sound of her sister's voice. This isn't going to turn out well.

"Sonata, wait, no!" you say, trying to catch her before she disappears into the flood of bubbles in the laundry room.Rarity takes a panicked step back as Sonata comes barreling into the room, sending a quick puff of bubbles behind her.

Adagio's face turns even redder as Aria walks into the doorway. "Woah," Aria says, walking up on the scene. "What happened? Who released the bubble monster?"

Adagio stood silent, her entire face pretty much beet red at this point. "There was just an accident with the washing machine, alright, girls, nothing to see--" you say, trying to fish Sonata out of the bubbles. Unfortunately the bubbles filling the room are piled up even higher than she is tall, so you try to follow the trail of moving bubbles around the room to no avail as she runs around to her heart's content, giddy laughs emanating out of the abyss of bubbles around you.

"What's wrong with Adagio?" Aria asks, noticing her sister's silence and inability to face the mess she's made, or anyone else in the room, alongside the glaringly obvious blush of embarrassment on her face. "Oh... did you do this, Dagi?" a wide smile grows on Aria's face while you fish around for Sonata. "Miss perfect finally made a mistake? Hahahaha!" Aria says, doubling over and probably quite pleased it isn't her head on the chopping block.

"Aria, that's enough!" you say pointedly, making Aria shoot up straight in fear. Your heart sinks once you see the tear running down Adagio's cheek. She doesn't stick around long before a sob overcomes her and she runs out of the room.

"Darling, wait," Rarity says, trying to catch her. Adagio violently jerks away from Rarity's grasp and running up the stairs.

"Really, Aria?" you say with a low grumble.

"What? Why am I in trouble? Adagio is the one who flooded the laundry room with bubble bath!" she shouts back at you.

"You're in trouble for making your sister cry. This was an accident, Aria. There was no need to make fun of her for it."

"Not my fault she's a crybaby," Aria says under her breath, crossing her arms and looking away from you.

"Now, Aria, that's no way to talk about your sister. How would you feel if she was making fun of you for a mistake you made?" Rarity says to her, doing her best motherly voice. You almost want to laugh as she looks between Aria and the suds encroaching her feet, not wanting to move any closer.

You let out a long sigh before grabbing your little bubble monster's collar as she tries to escape out of the laundry room. "And you, young lady, are going to need a bath."

Sonata looks back up at you, with what you can only guess might be her puppy dog eyes. You can't tell since she's become nothing but a giant mass of bubbles in the shape of your daughter. "Awh, but Daddy! It's not even bedtime yet."

"I just need you to get all these bubbles off of you, alright, sweetie? Then you can keep playing."

You let her out of your grasp and she slouches down for a moment. "Okay..." she says before running off and leaving a trail of bubbles along the floors and up the stairs. With a long sigh you wipe the bubbles off the floor after her, making sure no one was slipping on anything.

"Now, how about we start cleaning up this mess?" Rarity says to Aria.

"What?! But this wasn't even my fault! I shouldn't have to clean this up, Adagio should!" Aria protests.

Rarity looks around the room for a moment, finally deciding her clothes were worth the sacrifice. "So you're saying you don't want to make bubble sculptures?"

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Go get a bowl and I'll show you, dear."

Rarity gives you a quick wink as Aria actually goes into the kitchen with a curious smile on her face. "How did you...?" you ask.

"Don't fret too much about it. I think maybe you should check on Adagio instead. I believe I have it covered down here."

"Good idea," you say, glad to not have to be the only one to deal with this mess anymore.

You head upstairs and into Adagio's room, finding completely dark except for the light poking through her window. When you flip the light on you find Adagio on her bed all wrapped up in her covers, silently whimpering away. "Please, just go away," you hear from under her blankets.

You close the door behind you and sit down on the bed beside her. "Adagio, what's going on today?"

"Nothing. I just want to be alone."

You pull the covers off of her head to see her wiping the tears out of her eyes and still not wanting to look up at you.

"Honey, just talk to me. What's going on with you? First you cook breakfast, try to clean the bathroom, and now you're doing the laundry? To top it off you were rude to Rarity earlier when she's been nothing but nice to you your whole life. This isn't you, Dagi."

"I can do it okay! I just need to learn how and you don't have to..." she says, sitting up in her bed and glancing at you for a moment.

"Don't have to what? You know I've been doing those things for years, you don't have to pick up all this slack all at once."

"Don't have to find someone else... If we can handle all the chores you don't need another woman around the house."

Now her being so averse to Rarity finally makes sense. "Adagio... There's a lot more to being a mom than just doing chores."

"Well tell me what to do and I can do it!" she says, finally looking up to you, desperation in her pleading eyes.

You put a hand on her shoulder and give her a soft smile. "That's not a role you need to fill, sweetheart. I want you to enjoy your childhood while it lasts."

Adagio looks down towards her blankets again. "Are you and Rarity going to get married?"

You give her a quick laugh. "Adagio, Rarity and I are just friends right now. You know nobody could ever replace your mother, and you know if I ever did get remarried I would never make you try to replace her with someone else."

"I know... I just... nobody else should be our mom. We already have one, even if she's..."

You move over and wrap Adagio in a tight embrace. "Nobody's ever going to replace her. Not for you, and not for me. No matter what."

The two of you sit there quietly for a moment, just enjoying the hug before you pull her away and look down at her sternly. "Just don't start messing with Rarity like you did with Cheerilee, alright?"

Adagio lets out a little laugh. "I guess that's fair..."

"Now, how about we go downstairs and have a good saturday where we're not stressing about chores?"

Adagio gives you a quick nod and wipes her eyes one last time.

"And you need to apologize to Rarity for being rude to her earlier, alright?"

"I will," Adagio says as she climbs out of bed.

As the two of you make it back down the stairs, you find Rarity with her hair up and her hands covered in suds, surprisingly. The two of them are slowly washing the mess down the sink, but not before making weird, floaty statues on the kitchen table. "Adagio, look! I made a velociraptor!" Aria says with an excited smile before her oddly shaped blob falls apart in front of her.

She lets out a little chuckle at her sister. "It looks great, Aria."

Aria shoots back a quick frown. "I know you're lying."

"Aria, dear. Let's go get some more bubbles and trying again."

"Yeah!" she says, running off to get another bowl full.

Adagio walks up in front of Rarity with a solemn look. "I'm really sorry for what I said earlier. I didn't mean to be rude."

"Oh? It's quite alright, darling," she says with a sweet smile. "Would you like to help us?"

"Well, it is my mess, so I guess I'd better."

Rarity hands her a bowl. "I bet you could make something quite interesting with so much to work with."

Just as you thought the excitement was dying down, Sonata comes out of the bathroom in a new set of clothes, just in time to see Aria carrying a bowl full of bubbles into the kitchen.

"Are we playing with bubbles?!" she asks as she sprints down the stairs to you, looking up to you with an eager expression.

"Yes, Sonata. Just don't--" Before you could even finish the word yes she'd already sprinted towards the laundry room and shoveled up an armful of bubbles, getting it all over her clothes yet again. "make a mess..." you say as you watch her drip suds all over the floor before just plopping her bubble load onto the kitchen table. All of you share a quick laugh over the brand new mess before finally getting into actually making something together.

Sonata gets busy treating the suds like clay, eager to smash and throw them around much to your chastising her. Aria makes a lot of quick, sloppy figures with hers, and Adagio gets out a fork and a butter knife to try to sculpt the perfect dog, though the bubbles never actually stuck together long enough to let her. You and Rarity walk around them, being sure to wash away as much as you could while they were all tricked into bringing more bubbles into the kitchen.

An odd feeling washes over you as you play with all of your girls like this. An unconscious smile spreads over your face watching them and Rarity together acting like kids should be. It was something you haven't felt in a long time.

Author's Note

Hopefully the next chapter won't take eight months.

Laced Dresses

"Sonata, for pete's sake just work with me here," you say as your hands fumble around the straps of her carseat. She's trying to get out herself around you, squirming around the straps and pushing your hands around so you can't even get to the buckles without getting trapped in her wriggling.

"I can do it, daddy! Just let me--" Sonata says as she manages to lift her arms out of a hole that should be nowhere near big enough for her torso to fit through.

Adagio and Aria are giggling on the sidewalk behind you, obviously enjoying the show as Sonata contorts her body into shapes you didn't think possible.

"If you would just hold still I could have already had you out of there, honey. Please just..." You try to hold her in place but it's a futile effort. She's already gotten herself tangled sideways in the straps and getting her out now would be like untangling Christmas lights.

"Ow!" Sonata cries out for a moment as she pinches herself in the straps tied even tighter around her body. Her eyes instantly well with tears and she finally sits still for half a second.

"See, honey? Just let me help you and this wouldn't have happened." Now that she's finally still you can finally unclip the buckle and pull her out with ease, albeit a little worse for wear. You lift her up and set her on the concrete, a little red mark on her hand where the mean straps bit her instantly going up to her mouth to try to make better.

She lets out a little whine and instantly throws herself onto Adagio for a hug. Aria just rolls her eyes and whispers "crybaby" under her breath while Adagio rubs her sisters head and tells her it's going to be alright.

"Now, let's not keep Rarity waiting. She worked really hard to make dresses for you so be nice to her, alright?"

They all nod to you as you walk them up the path to the door. Aria has an excited little smirk on her face she's trying to hide from her sisters, but Adagio is too busy nursing Sonata along to notice.

"Rarity? We're here," you say as you usher the girls into the shop. The smell of expensive perfume hits your nose like a quick slap, almost prompting you to cough. You never could get used to the smell of this place, despite coming in and out since high school.

"Right here, darling!" Rarity says, peaking her head around a corner. "I just finished up one of the dresses and I'm just putting the finishing touches on the last two."

"Great, are you--"

"Can we try them on?!" Aria immediately spits out.

Rarity walks around the corner and gives her a little giggle. "Yours is actually the one that's done, dear," Aria's face brightens up with a smile until she looks over and sees Adagio smirking at her. Aria shoots her sister the stink eye before crossing her arms. "Just give me about ten minutes and we'll be all ready. I just need to get some more quick measurements for Sonata and Adagio."

Aria rolls her eyes. "Whatever."

Rarity looks down at Sonata and sees tears streaming down her face and instantly kneels down to her and holds her. "Sonata, darling, what's wrong?"

"The seatbelt attacked me," she said in her most pitiful voice.

"Huh?" Rarity asked with a raised eyebrow.

You let out a sigh. This happens at least every other time you get her out of her carseat. "She tried to squirm out of the straps on her car seat. I didn't know it was humanly possibly to get tangled up in them like she does."

"Oh, Sonata, it's going to be okay. Don't you want to see your new dress? It's going to have pink on it." And in an instant Sonata immediately forgot she was in any pain in the first place.

"Pink!? What does it look like?" She says, her face brightening up with the brightest smile you've seen on her since you took the girls into a candy shop.

"Follow me, darling, I'll let you try it on to get the final measurements."

Rarity stands up and puts her hand on Sonata's back to lead her to the back room. Adagio follows them closely with an excited little smile on her face as well.

You follow them in with Aria at your side through the side door to Rarity's little workshop. You can't remember the last time you've actrually been in here; must've been at least five years ago. It's definitely a lot messier than you last remembered: little bits of string and strips of cloth are thrown around as if a scissor tornado blew through. Pincushions and rolls of measuring tape cluttered her desk on top of the thick stacks of drawing paper that had her designs and doodles all over them. You forgot how talented Rarity actually is being apart for so long. The drawings on her table looked effortlessly lifelike, at least as much as monochrome and pencil could.

The platforms were really the only neat thing in the room that you noticed. Rarity led the girls back to a dressing room and gave them all their respective outfits. All three of them excitedly rush in with bright smiles on their faces, even Aria who doesn't seem to mind Adagio's occasional amused grin at this point.

"Nothing too revealing this time I hope," you say with an accusatory tone.

"Oh, darling, please. It was only a little midriff. Besides, these are for a wedding; anything too revealing would be garish. When they come out I promise you you'll absolutely adore them."

"Let's just wait a few years before you try to turn my girls into super models, deal?"

Rarity lifts her hand over her mouth for a quick giggle. "Oh, I suppose I can wait. If we're being honest though, Sonata would absolutely live for the runway."

"Easy now," you say with a stern look towards her. The two of you share a quick laugh before settling on the dressing room curtain, listening to the girls' little grunts and bickering as they tried to put on their dresses.

"So, how are you doing?" Rarity asks, looking over at you with a hint of concern.

You shrug. "I'm making it through. Not much has changed in the last couple years so I don't have anything particularly interesting to tell you."

"That's kind of what I was afraid of. Don't you ever get out anymore? Have a night out on the town or spend time with friends?"

The thought of your date with Cheerilee sprang to mind. You're kind of glad, considering how that one went down. "I don't think that's a thing adults really do."

"Oh, nonsense, darling," Rarity says with a wave of her hand. "I still go out all the time to meet with friends. Or, mostly acquantainces and business contacts. Still, the occasional dinner party never hurt anyone. I think it might be good for you do something exciting in your life, don't you? It would leave you less time to dwell on things"

"With the girls though? I've yet to find a consistent babysitter that can handle Aria, and who would I go with? Not many of our I'old friends still live around here."

"Well... I've been dying to try out this new french restaurant that opened on the other side of town if you'd be so kind as to accompany me."

You look over at her with a sly smile. "That's one way to ask someone out."

Rarity rolls her eyes and nudges you with her elbow, a light blush forming on her face. "Darling, please. I'm only trying to spend some time with a friend. Besides, it'd be nice to finally be around someone who isn't so..."

"Stuck-up? Spoiled? Prissy?"

That got a laugh out of her. "Well, I wouldn't have put it like that, but yes. Someone a little more down to earth. We always had fun together in high school and college, didn't we?"

"I was always surprised you were hanging out with losers like Applejack and I."

Rarity waves you off. "You and Applejack are not losers. I've been very good friends with her since we met, and even to this day since she still lives around. And I don't know how I would avoid being around you. Sunset brought you to just about every single thing we would do together. I think I would've had to pry you away from her with a crowbar if I wanted some alone time with her."

You let out a bittersweet sigh. "Well, you were her best friend. You two spent plenty of time together without me."

"Well I'm not saying I didn't enjoy your company. You were a joy to be around. It's just a shame that all those rumors kept everyone else away from you; you would've made so many great friends otherwise."

You let out a quick chuckle. "If there was one thing Sunset was good at before we got together, it was ruining someone's reputation."

"I think she more than made up for it, don't you?"

Before you can answer, Adagio walks out from behind the curtain sporting her new dress. It was a pristine white with artistic lace going down the sides. The fabric clung gently to her figure and flowed outwards around her knees. The simple, laced design might not have been the most complex thing in the world, but it still made your little girl look radiant.

"She definitely did."

"How do I look, Dad?" Adagio says with a bright smile. She looks between you and her dress, lifting and turning it to see how it would flow as she turned her body.

"It looks great, honey. A lot better than Rarity's last outfit to be sure."

Rarity rolls her eyes again. "Ugh, you are never going to let that go, are you?"

Aria and Sonata follow out close behind. Aria's dress is a lot like Adagio's but the streaks of light purple and red added some character to it that suited her personality really well. Sonata's dress on the other hand mostly abandoned the traditional white for a more light pink color, with a lot more lace and a bow that wrapped around her waist. It looks more appropriate for her age, strangely, and went well with her blue ponytail, though the only real problem is that she was missing an arm. Her head was stuck through an arm hole and her left arm was sticking through the head hole. Her right arm was stuffed up against her side and her left side had a little more poof to it with that extra sleeve.

"Rarity? I think it's kinda tight," Sonata says, trying to squirm to get her other arm through and tugging the sleeve around her neck.

You and Rarity both leap on her to try to pull her head out of the sleeve before she chokes. Both Adagio and Aria take a step back at the sudden movement.

After overcoming a quick heart attack and pulling Sonata through the right sleeves, you breathe a sigh of relief and can properly get a look at all of them.

Rarity picks up Sonata and rests her on one of the platforms. "Now, dear, if it doesn't feel like your head is going through the hole, try a different one, okay?"

Sonata nods her head. "It's better now. It's also super pretty when I'm not choking!" she says as she looks down at it.

Rarity gives her a quick laugh. "I imagine most things are, darling."

Rarity looks back over to the other two girls. "Aria, could you walk around for me and tell me if everything fits right?" Aria nods with her own beaming smile and struts out of the room, looking down at her new clothes all the while. "Adagio, would you mind getting up on the other platform for me? I just need to take some more measurements and see if everything fits right.

"Yes, ma'am."

Rarity goes over to her bench and stretches out a length of measuring tape. "Now, Adagio, lift up your arms for me." She goes on to make a few more measurements before speaking up again. "So, would you like to accompany me on Friday then?" she asks you.

"Oh, this Friday? I'm not sure. I'll have to try to find a babysitter, and at this point that's no easy feat," you say, looking down and rubbing your neck.

"Hmm, well, don't you think Adagio is old enough to look after the house herself? She is 13 now after all, and quite mature for her age."

"W-what?" Adagio asks after blinking a few times at her.

"Oh, I guess you're right, but I'm not really sure. You think you're ready for that Adagio?" you ask, still unsure if Adagio could handle that level of responsibility with the two other monsters running around your house. To be fair though she did take up pretty much all the chores with only one hiccup, so she's probably ready for it.

"I... I'm not sure. Being in charge of the whole house?" Adagio thinks it over for a moment, but a smile quickly forms on her face. Whatever she was smiling about probably wasn't good, but this had to happen eventually. "Yeah, I think I can do it."

"Wonderful! Friday night it is, then."

Adagio looks down at Rarity quizzically. "What are you two doing?"

"Oh, I'm just going to be taking your father out to eat. It'll only be for a few hours, dear."

"Aren't boys supposed to take girls out, though? Does that make daddy the girlfriend?" Sonata chimes in.

"That's... That's not how it works, honey," you try to say through the giggles of Rarity and Adagio.

"Would that mean you have to wear a dress too?" Sonata asks.

"Sonata, no... I'm not going to be wearing a dress..."

Both Adagio and Rarity have to bite their lips to avoid bursting out laughing. "I could make you a wonderful dress for the occasion, darling. Don't knock it until you've tried it, I always say."

Adagio couldn't hold it back any longer. "Hahaha, I would love to see you try to wear a dress, dad. I mean if someone like Aria loves it so much you might like it too."

"Hey!" Aria yells from the other room, only eliciting further laughter.

"Okay, that's enough. No more talk about men in dresses."

"We'll keep his dress private for now," Rarity says with a wink towards Adagio. Adagio lets out a quick giggle.

"So, no dress?" Sonata asks.

"No dress. Make sure to tell Rarity about yours instead. Is it still too tight?" you say, trying to change the subject.

"Oh, it's not that bad anymore..."

Rarity works through some more measurements with both of the girls for a while, marking things down on her clipboard every now and again. Adagio keeps trying to start up conversation with her, but Rarity isn't the most talkative person when she's focused, but still tries to be polite at least. Once the boredom reaches critical levels, you decide you should probably just leave her to it.

Just as you're about to get into the main room you hear a loud crash that makes everyone jump. Considering where you were and who was in the main showroom, you already know what it is.

"I, uh, the wind... is really strong in here," Aria tries to say as you walk through into the room. She looks down at the slumped over mannequin nervously, slowly slinking away from it like it might bite her.

"Honey, that excuse didn't work when you were six and it's not going to work now," you say with an amused smile as you pick the rather fabulous mannequin in the red dress up and put it back into the window.

"I'm sorry..." she says under her breath.

"It's okay, sweetheart. Just don't tug on them so hard, okay?"

"Okay..." she says solemnly, like she's still about to get in trouble.

You kneel down to her. "Do you like your dress? It looks good on you."

A smile returns to her face with that compliment. She looks down at her dress and swings it as she shifts her weight. "Do you think? I really like it. It's, uh, pretty," she says as if the word felt uncomfortable on her tongue. It's not something you usually hear her say, that's for sure. "Can I wear it after the wedding?"

"Of course, if you want to. You can wear it whenever you want." You take a deep breath, knowing your next words might cause a little friction. "I think we should talk about your fight with Sugarcoat, sweetie." And in an instant her smile fades away.

"I don't want to," she says, folding her arms across her chest and looking away.

"I know you don't, honey, but we really need to get the fighting under control. I talked to the principle and they said if you don't stop fighting they're going to have to expel you. Do you want that?"

"I don't care."

You put a hand on her shoulder. "Honey, I know those girls are mean, but you have to think about your sisters. If you get expelled we might have to move to keep you in school."

"I just won't go to school then."

"You can't do that, Aria."

"Why? I hate going to school anyway. It's so boring and everyone there is mean."

"You'll understand when you're older, but you can't just go without an education, sweetheart. And if we have to move to put you in another school that means your sisters will have to give up all their friends too, and if we get a different house you might have to share a room with them."

"W-what?" she asks, her hard expression immediately turning into horror.

"And, if that school expels you to you're going to have to be homeschooled by Adagio. That means eight hours a day of her telling you what to do."

"Th-that's not true, right?"

"I don't know what else we could do," you say, feigning as much seriousness as possible. "And if you're really bad after that, Santa won't be able to bring you anything at all for Christmas."

"No... not Santa..." she says with the most adorable pout you've ever seen. It almost makes you feel bad.

"Look, honey, I know those girls are mean and I'll talk to your teacher about it, but you have to stop this, okay?"

Her expression softens and she looks down again. "But how, Dad? They're so mean and I don't know how to get them to stop. I just wish they'd leave me alone or be nice or something."

"You have other friends in your class, don't you? What about Lyra and Bon Bon, I remember they came to your last birthday party and you really liked them."

"Yeah, they're really nice. But they're like best friends and mostly just hang out with each other," she says with a defeated sigh.

"Just try to talk to them, sweetie, I'm sure they'll hang out with you more if you put some effort in to try."

"Okay, but how does that stop the other girls from being mean?" she says, looking up to you genuinely just wanting an answer.

"It doesn't unfortunately. But let me show you a trick. Whenever they're being mean and you want to fight, just close your eyes and think about something you really like instead. It might be hard but if they see you're not going to respond to them they'll lose interest."

"Okay, I guess. But what am I supposed to think about? I don't think anything could distract me from them..."

"I'll tell you what. If you can go without fighting until your birthday, I'll take you out to do whatever you want, just you and me. You can have a couple of gifts of whatever you want, within reason."

"A guitar?!" she asks, with a sudden, wide smile.

That might not be the best idea, but at this point you really just want her to try to do her best and stop acting out so much. "Sure. A guitar and maybe even those clothes you showed me in that magazine, if they actually make them in your size anyway."

"A real leather jacket with spikes and boots and torn up jeans? Really?"

As much as you don't want your daughter walking around looking like a biker, you figure it isn't that big of a deal, as long as you make sure she doesn't go to school wearing it. "Really. But you have to behave, okay? No more fighting."

Aria nods her head. "Okay, I'll try."

"Great. I know you can do it, Aria. Just remember not to say anything back and think about good things instead, okay?"

"Got it."

Rarity walks back into the room with Adagio and Sonata in their normal clothes behind her. "Aria, sweetheart, does your dress fit you properly?"

"Yeah, it feels fine, Miss Rarity."

"Wonderful! You can take it off now and I'll get them ready for the wedding."

"Oh... okay," Aria says, a bit defeated.

While Aria walks off to the dressing room, Rarity walks over to you with your other daughters close behind. "Well, I have everything I need now, darling. I think everything is ready for the wedding."

"Great. Adagio, would you mind helping Sonata into her carseat?"

Adagio lets out a breath and looks down for a moment. "I'll do my best."

"Thanks, sweetie," you say as you hand her the carkeys.

"I think she'll do just fine on Friday."

You watch them go down the sidewalk to the car. "I really hope so," you say as the sound of fire engine sirens, distant explosions, and neighborhood anarchy ring through your head.

"She is quite mature for her age, I think. I don't remember being that well-mannered or polite when I was that age. I think you should start trusting her with some more responsibility."

You let out a sigh. "Yeah, you're probably right. Seems like only yesterday Sunset and I were taking shifts going to classes and taking care of her."

"College was a long time ago, but that time really does fly, doesn't it?"

"Way too fast..." you say, your heart sinking as you wish you could be back there with Sunset again.

"Well at any rate, we can make some of that time a bit more enjoyable on Friday, don't you think?" Rarity says with a quick nudge.

"Yeah, it would be nice to finally get out of the house for once."

"It definitely would. All this time cooped up in that messy little room would drive a lady absolutely mad, and I'm sure you wouldn't fare much better. It will be fun, I promise," she says with a wink.

Aria comes out of the dressing room in her normal clothes, looking a little more disappointed than when she went in.

"You ready, Aria?"

"Yeah," she lets out under her breath.

"Alright, well I guess I'll see you on Friday then."

"I'll be sure to wear something nice. Put on that suit I made for you, would you?"

You smile and lean in to give her a quick hug. "I sure will. Have a good night, Rarity."

"To you as well!" she says as you walk out the door.

Adagio wipes the sweat off her forehead as she steps down from Sonata's seat. No doubt that task tired her out. You walk around and get in the car with Aria, thinking about what just happened.

Rarity really did just ask you out on a date, didn't she? That was a weird feeling. You don't think you've ever actually been asked out by a girl since Sunset did it all those years ago. It felt nice, actually. You've gone so long only associating with people at work and your girls that you forgot what it felt like to really enjoy another adult's company like that. You found yourself really excited all of the sudden for Friday, even if it did mean risking the apocalypse popping off at the house while you were gone.

Author's Note

Nothing too interesting. Just trying to get comfortable working with the story again so here's a little bit of set up. Only took six months this time. Next chapter should come a lot sooner.

First Date

You let out a sigh as your arms start to feel heavier. "Adagio, I think I'm good," you say as she darts around you, stopping in a different place under your arms to take a look at your newly pressed suit.

"I think I might need to iron it again," she says, rubbing her chin and looking at the back of your leg.

"Adagio, sweetie, that would be the fourth time you've ironed it. I think it's good enough," you say, shaking off the unnaturally warm feeling of your freshly ironed clothes.

"But I don't know if this crease is going to stay. If I just do it one more time I think it will do it."

You put your arms down and turn around to face your daughter. You kneel down and put your hands on her shoulders before she can open her mouth and say something about you wrinkling your suit. "Adagio, it's going to be okay, it's only Rarity. I appreciate you wanting to help me look good, but there's no need to overdo it."

"I'm doing this because it's Rarity, dad. Who else is going to be able to notice these things? Besides, she did make it for you, didn't she?"

The sudden tightness of the pants around your waist reminded you how long ago she actually did that. You clear your throat and look back up to Adagio. "She did, but I doubt she's going to mind if my pants aren't creased to a sharpened edge, honey."

Adagio lets out a sigh as she finally takes her mind off of the ironing. "Okay, Okay. Just one more pass with the lint roller and you'll be fine," she says, reaching out for the instrument on your nightstand.

You grab her arm and bring it back over. "Adagio, these clothes don't even collect lint." She gives you a sheepish smile, and you raise an eyebrow at her, remembering the debacle with Cheerilee. "Why exactly are you so concerned with it anyway? I don't have to worry about anything, do I?"

Adagio blinks a few times. "W-what? What would you have to worry about? It's not like I'm trying to ruin your night... uh, this time," she says, her sheepish smile widening.

Your eyes narrow at her in response. "You better not be."

Adagio lifts her closed hand with an stretched out pinkie finger. "Pinkie promise."

You wrap your finger around hers. "If you're lying I get to cut it off," you say with a playful smile.

She gives you a nasty look and jerks her hand away. "There will be no finger cutting today, thank you."

You stand back up and look in the mirror to straighten your tie one last time. "Hopefully not. Besides, sweetie, you have nothing to worry about. It's just a dinner between friends."

Adagio crosses her arms and raises an eyebrow at you. You let out a quick chuckle at her suspicious glare. "I'm serious. We're just old friends."

"If you say so," she says with a roll of her eyes and a wave of her hand.

Once satisfied with the straightness of your tie and the sharpness of your suit, you break away and look down at your daughter with a sigh. Her playful attitude might soon be too much for you to handle. You kneel down and kiss her on the forehead. "I should be back by 10. Make sure Sonata is in bed by nine and that Aria doesn't burn down the house, alright?"

Adagio gives you a quick nod. "I can handle it, dad, promise."

Thoughts of Aria in her demon costume from Halloween laughing maniacally as she watches the house burn down pass through your head. You purse your lips as you look down at your daughter. "Are you sure, Adagio? You've never been home on your own before. This is a big responsibility, you know."

Adagio rolls her eyes. "Dad, I'm officially a teenager now. Most of the other kids from school have been staying home alone for years. I think I can handle it."

"Those kids also don't have a troublemaker like your sister around the house."

"I am an experienced Aria wrangler, dad."

You let out a quick laugh. "Alright, alright. Just make sure to call me if anything goes wrong, alright?"

She gives you a quick nod and you plant a quick kiss on her forehead before closing the door behind you, hopefully not sealing the fate of the interior of your home.

You take a deep breath before get in your car. Your chest starts feeling odd as your thoughts sway away from your house and back towards your date with Rarity. Is this really a date? Where does she expect this to go? Where do you expect this to go? What are you supposed to do when you get home? Does she expect a kiss?

You shake your head as you pull out of the driveway and towards her house. Your heart starts beating a lot faster than you thought it should, considering you two were already good friends. You take another deep breath and push all those thoughts out of your head, taking one last look down at your suit to make sure it really was up to snuff. Gotta give her credit, Adagio did do a good job with it.

When you finally roll up to Rarity's boutique the strange butterflys in your stomach only get worse. What were you supposed to say? Did you need to hug her? You rub your temples in frustration. You've been out of the dating game for decades and you aren't even sure if this is a date. Before you can make up your mind though, Rarity walks out of her front door. The second your eyes meet her body you couldn't think of anything else.

Before you can say anything your eyes are drawn to her sleek black dress and heels sparkle in the moonlight as she walks towards you as her violet hair brushes across her shoulder with the same immaculate sheen.

"Ready, darling?"

"I... uh," you manage to stammer out as your eyes pass over the lengths of smooth, pale skin you can see.

"Eyes up here, dear," she says with a wave of her hand up to her face.

You let out a quick cough as you compose yourself. "Sorry, I just..."

Rarity waves you off with an amused grin. "Oh, think nothing of it. I get it all the time. I didn't expect you to be so susceptible, however," she says while eyeing you with a sly look.

"Well you do know how to dress."

"After working in fashion for more than fifteen years I would certainly hope so. Would you like to take my car?"

You raise an eyebrow at her. "Does it matter?"

"Not my usual car, darling, my other car. Let me show you."

With a quick press of her key button she lifts up the door to the garage she added to the boutique to reveal a sleek, black sports car you'd never seen before. "Dang..."

"Oh, it's not much. A colleague of mine suggested I get something a bit higher class to show off for the upper crust around Manehattan. I thought my car was just fine but it really does turn heads at times. Would you like to drive?"

"Would I?" you say with an excited grin. Rarity shakes her head and tosses you the keys. The second you step in you get blown away by the sheer amount of bells and whistles around you. The display looks straight out of a sci-fi movie and the screen on the dash starts up with a sleek logo that says "jaguar" before transitioning into the display.

Rarity sets her purse in the floorboard beside you and lets out a giggle as she watches you inspect her car. "You look like a kid in a candy shop," she says with a hand over her mouth.

"I want one," you say without taking your eyes off the dashboard.

"It actually wasn't that bad. I went with a cheaper brand so it was only seventy thousand or so," she says as she wraps the seatbelt around herself.

"Aria probably won't want to go to college, don't you think?"

Rarity playfully gawks at you. "That was just awful," she says with a gentle push on your arm.

"Just kidding, just kidding. This does make me want to upgrade though. Guess that fashion business is doing well, huh?" you say as you finally start it up and figure out how to put it in gear.

"Well, I prefer to call it an empire, personally," she says with a few fingers placed across her chest and her eyes closed with a proud grin.

"How big of an empire?" you say as you pull out of her driveway and out onto the road.

"Oh, just a few dozen stores, brand deals with most major retailers, and I think last I checked I make a few million dollars a year, but who pays attention to those kinds of things?"

You aren't even drinking something and you almost choke at that. "Seriously? That's insane, Rarity. Good job."

She lets out a sorrowful sigh and looks down at the floorboards. "Thank you. It took a lot of work and a lot of networking, but it's... it's quite the business."

"I'd say. You must be one of the richest fashion designers in the world. Though..." You look over to see that proud smile has dissipated into a forlorn emptiness. "I'd think you'd sound happier about that."

Rarity has to blink herself out of her trance for a moment before clearing her throat and looking back over to you."Oh, don't get me wrong, the fame, the notoriety, seeing thousands of people on the streets wearing my brands... it's all quite an amazing feeling, but..."

"But? How is there a but to that?" you ask incredulously.

She looks over at you for a moment, seemingly contemplating something. "Well, you always want what you don't have, don't you? I'd like to think we're quite good friends at this point, don't you think?"

"Yeah, we have been since high school, I'd say."

"Well, if I'm being honest, I've always been kind of jealous of you and Sunset."

You look over and raise an eyebrow at her. She's fiddling with her hair and looking out towards the road, her eyes not focused much on anything. "Really? With all that money?"

"Money isn't everything, darling. Despite achieving my dream I worked so hard I never ended up starting a family or settling down. I've been the face of a multi-million dollar brand for so long I forgot there was even a possibility of another life for the longest time. These days I kind of wish I had gotten married and had a few kids along the way... Of course Fluttershy's wedding is certainly not helping. I think I may just be too old at this point."

"Fluttershy isn't, obviously. I don't think it's too late for you. Never know what might happen, right? Plus you've got plenty of money to risk trying new things and taking some time off."

Rarity takes in a deep breath. "I suppose you're right, but you know how it is. There's always something about your past you'd like to change."

"Yeah, I know how that goes..." You finally roll up to the restaurant where a valet is patiently waiting for you in front of a beautifully decorated entrance. You can almost already taste how good this food is going to be just from the fancy digs at the entrance, but your wallet is also stinging from the price.

After you toss the keys to the valet Rarity wraps her arm under yours. "Have to look official, don't we?" she says up to you before you walk into the entrance.

After years of living a decent middle class lifestyle with your wife and three kids, waltzing into this fancy restaurant in a custom-tailored suit and a beautiful, sophisticated lady made you feel oddly upper-crust, like you should be speaking in a posh accent or something.

The waiter confirms your reservations and finally seats the two of you after you walk up to the counter. The atmosphere almost shocks you with how quiet it is compared to most other restaurants you've been to. The clinking of utensils against plates is more prominent than most of the talking and there's actually a live band playing some gentle, classical music. The surroundings leave you a bit tense as the anxiety that you obviously didn't fit in begins to wash over you. The last thing you want to do is to embarrass your date, but looking around the fancy establishment, it already feels like you're severely under-dressed for the occasion.

"You really pulled out all the stops, huh?"

Rarity looks up from her menu. "How's that?"

"Well, for starters, I've never actually been to a restaurant with a valet, let alone one that had a menu that I in no way could ever understand," you say, holding the menu upside down for comedic effect.

Rarity lets out a quick giggle as the waiter brings by the two glasses of wine you ordered. "I suppose you get used to a certain kind of lifestyle, this isn't much different than what I'm used to."

"Sunset was always more of a sushi and ice cream kind of girl. She always, uh..." you trail off as you catch yourself. Talking about your late wife in the presence of a new date didn't strike you as the best idea. "Sorry..."

"No, no, do go on, dear. I really don't mind," she says. You look over her face for some sarcasm or annoyance, though thankfully there wasn't any there.

"Really? Seems kind of in bad taste to talk about my last relationship while in the middle of a, well, you know."

Rarity let out a sigh. "I did expect this to come up. She was my friend too, you know."

"I know, it's just..." Before you can finish a waiter walks up and asks the two of you what you'd like to eat. Rarity rattles off some odd french syllables and then the waiter decides to turn to you.

"And for you, sir?"

You look over to Rarity like a cat cornered by a few hungry dogs and shrug your shoulders. She lets out another cute giggle before turning back to your assailant. "He'll have the chicken basquaise," she says, eliciting a nod so he'd finally go away.

"Probably should have brushed up on your french, darling," she tells you with a sly smile.

"I know five programming languages, but french, french scares me..."

Rarity puts a hand over her eyes and lets out another quick chuckle. She shakes her head for a moment before looking back up to you with a smile. "If you're going to be accompanying me I expect you to know at least a little of the high class languages, darling."

You take a sip from your own wine and point and wag your finger at her. "That was kinda racist, Rarity. Implying not all languages can be high class."

"Oh please, like anyone would be caught dead in a high-society gathering speaking something as garish as German or Norwegian."

"Wow. Imagine if all your customers knew about these racist tendencies."

"If you'd like a kick under the table you're certainly earning it. These heels are sharp, dear," she says with a playful smile and a gentle tap of her heel against your shin.

You wave her off with your own grin. "I'll just make sure to remember this if I ever need to blackmail you."

Rarity leans down in her seat and gives your shin a light tap with her heels now instead. You immediately jump at the feeling as your leg tenses up and a cringe settles on your face. "Agh, okay, you were right. Those things are sharp."

"I may be a lot of things, but I am not a liar, darling," she says with a sly smile.

"Like a racist?"

Rarity leans back down in her seat again, making you reflexively jerk backwards. The sudden screech of your chair makes the surrounding high-class patrons look over at you with some condescending raised eyebrows. "Okay, okay, I'm done," you say, raising your hands innocently at your date.

With a playful smile, Rarity fidgets in her chair to regain a more ladylike composure. "Smart boy. I've got my eye on you, though." Out of the corner of your eye you can see the surrounding diners watching you with some mild disgust. You reflexively clear your throat and look away, but Rarity doesn't seem phased at all.

The surprise at Rarity's uncaring attitude is overshadowed by the sudden embarrassment as the judging stares linger a bit too long over at your table. You tug at your collar as your eyes roam around the room for a moment. "This place is, uh, different."

Rarity rolls her eyes and waves her hand at you. "Oh, don't mind them. They've all forgotten how to have fun years ago." That took you off guard. Didn't seem much like Rarity to not care about this kind of thing.

"You're not worried about any weird rumors spreading or something?"

"I have had every single slanderous lie in the book spread about me, dear. Business can be a harsh environment when you're putting your competitors to shame. Nothing anyone here could say would even make a dent in my empire at this point. You typically need proof for that kind of thing."

Her soothing and nonchalant tone takes your mind off all the uncomfortable stares for the moment. "If you say so, Napoleon."

Rarity gives you a pointed look. "Well, I think I've earned the right to brag a little, don't you think?"

You clear your throat again as the eyes around you slowly go back to their own tables. "Yeah..."

"Oh, let your hair down, darling. It'd be a shame to not have a little fun tonight."

You take a deep breath and let your eyes settle back on her. "So, you wouldn't mind that much if I tell the tabloid how racist you are?"

Rarity's grin quickly drops at that. "Don't push it. Play nice or I won't show you the surprise I had planned"

"Oh?" Just before you could get another kick in the shin, the waiter brings back a plate of some sort of meat on a pile of vegetables. You aren't exactly sure what it is, but it certainly looks beautifully crafted.

"That is why I brought you out here, after all," Rarity says after a quick bite off her own dish.

You poke around yours for a second, not entirely sure how to eat it yet. "Really? I thought I was your new trophy date or something."

Rarity shakes her head and lets out a quick snicker. "It's because you're fun, darling. Everyone I know is always so respectful and formal. It's either all business or they don't want to get on my bad side. It leaves a girl awful dull."

"So what I'm getting from this is that you want me to disrespect you," you say, shooting her another playful smile.

"Please do, it would be welcome change of pace after being around so many suck ups," Rarity says, accentuating it by sticking out her tongue and shaking her head.

"...well now that you want me to I can't actually think of anything."

"Well, so much for you, then," Rarity says with a wave of her fork.

"I guess I'll see you in the pile with all your other boy toys and quick flings."

Rarity tilts her head and gives you a quick glare before cracking a smile. "Well, I suppose that's a bit more like it."

"Do you really not have any friends?" you say, before your mind has a chance to catch it. You quickly wince before opening your mouth again. "I mean, people to hang out with?"

Rarity lets out a longing sigh, resting her elbow on the table and resting her cheek in her hand in a way that would make the snobs around her scorn. She pokes around her food for a moment before looking back up to you. "I guess the answer would be no. You've been the only person I've really 'hung out' with since Sunset died. It has been a quite dreadful few years, if I'm being honest."

"Well, doesn't have to stay like that forever, right?"

"Does it bother you that I've been around you and the girls so much lately?" Rarity says, looking up at you with an apprehensive expression.

"What? Of course not, Rarity. I think the girls are glad to have someone besides me to be around for a change. Even Adagio is warming up to you after Halloween."

"What about you?" she asks.

You open your mouth, but you're not sure exactly how to answer that one. You can see it in her eyes. Despite how many times you've said the two of you were just friends, deep down you knew it would probably come down to this. The night with Cheerilee flashes back in your mind as you look into her soft, blue eyes and try to find the words to give her. You know what she wants, you just aren't sure you can give it to her.

"Where do you want this to go, Rarity?"

Rarity brings her hand down from her cheek and places it on top of yours. "Sunset certainly wasn't lying when she told me you could be a tad... clueless. I thought you might know by now."

You let out a sigh and flip your hand over to hold hers, running your thumb across her velvety soft skin. "Well, that's only half of the time." You purse your lips and look down at her hand for a moment, trying to find the right way to take this. "I just never thought you'd actually want it, all things considered."

Rarity looks down at your hand with a soft, relieved smile. "Why would you ever think that?"

"Rarity, I... I have three kids. I'm pretty much a full-time dad and not many people want to just jump in on that."

She rolls her eyes again. "I would think you'd realize by now I don't particularly mind, dear. I love the girls."

You look away, doing your best not to let out a sigh once you realize you're going to have to have this conversation again. "Look, I know you do, and I know that's not going to stop you, but... you know I'm not over her. I can't just..."

"Stop," Rarity says in a quick, stern tone, squeezing your hand for a moment. Her voice felt like an icy cut that struck right at your heart, but her soft hand still resting in yours took off some of the sting. You look up at her expecting a face filled with anger, but instead she looks, frustrated and confused. "I think... I think I should show you that surprise," she says, doing her best to give you a reassuring smile.

"You don't want to finish eating?"

Rarity shakes her head and waves the waiter over. "I think this is more important."

After paying the check and wrapping up the tiny plate of leftovers, Rarity quickly grabs the keys from the valet before you have a chance to, ushering you into the passenger seat without a word. You're almost relieved to finally get out of that high-class atmosphere, but the tense air around the two of you after that exchange feels almost as bad. You open your mouth a few times to say something, but every time you look over at Rarity, she seems pretty deep in though and almost frustrated, in a way. You search the roads around for some sort of hint at where she's taking you, but you can't begin to guess.

"So, uh, where are we going?" you finally get out.

"Well, if I told you before we got there it wouldn't be a surprise, would it?" she says, in a softer tone than you expected.

"Look, Rarity, I didn't want to ruin the mood or anything. I wanted tonight to be enjoyable too, it's just--"

Rarity raises her hand at you. "Just wait until we get there, darling. Everything will make more sense then. Also, would you mind getting that picnic basket in the back seat?"

"Oh, sure." By the time you reach back and grab it, Rarity has already made another turn and is coming into a stop in a parking lot.

The graveyard parking lot.

"I think you'll like this," Rarity says, putting her hand on yours again and giving you a soft smile before getting out of the car.

Your heart drops as soon as you step out of the car. This really isn't what you'd call a date, and you know for the rest of the night you probably aren't going to be fun to be around. Rarity drags you along in the darkness for a little while anyway as you carry the basket at your side.

Out of the darkness a soft orange glow emanates though. As soon as you can finally see that sad spot your heart lifts a little out of the depressing and familiar slope of emotions you always went through. Around the grave Rarity had pinned up an array of beautiful red and orange flowers, their petals flickering softly as the candles around them burned with the familiar scent of autumn leaves that Sunset used to love. The soft light illuminated the half dozen pictures scattered around of You and Sunset, along with some fun times she'd had with Rarity as well. Tears quickly well up in your eyes, but it's different this time, somehow.

"Do you like it?" Rarity finally asked.

The words get caught in your throat as you look over the memorial. Finally you take a deep breath and smile down at her. "It's wonderful..."

"Come, sit down with me," Rarity says as she tugs down on your sleeve on her own way to the blanket beneath the two of you.

You slowly lean down beside her, not able to take your eyes off the thoughtful display. Once you rest on the ground, you place your hand down to feel a familiar fluffy softness beneath you. You look down to see a fluffy purple blanket that Sunset always wrapped herself up in when the two of you were living together in college.

"Is this...?" you ask, running your hand across it. You could have sworn you kept it sitting in your closet.

"No, I actually made this one myself. As close as I could remember to it, at least. Open up the basket," she says sensually, giving you a soft nudge with her shoulder.

You flip open the lid, expecting some fancy wine and cheese, but instead what's inside makes you tear up even more.

Rarity let's out a reminiscent sigh as she watches you pull the contents out. "I never understood that girl's obsession with cherries."

You let out a pained laugh at you look at the packs of wild cherry capri suns and the chocolate covered cherries. If you close your eyes you can almost see her now, wrapped up in her purple blanket staring intently at the tv with a capri sun sticking out of her mouth and a controller in her hand. That finally did it. With gritted teeth the first tear rolls down your cheek.

"Why did you do this?" you ask her through a broken voice.

Rarity just smiles at you before leaning over closer and putting an arm behind your back and resting her head on your shoulder. "I know you still love her. I don't expect you to ever stop. I suppose... this is my way of saying I don't want that to stop. I want someone in my life that misses her as much as I do, that cherishes her memory every day no matter what."

You hear Rarity take a deep breath before she lets off a soft little sniff. "All of our old friends, it seems like they just moved on from her after she died. Sunset was just so important to me I didn't understand how anyone could just not be crushed every time they thought about her and realized she wasn't here any longer. I just miss my best friend so much..." she says, her voice finally cracking as well. "...and I can't think of anyone I'd rather be with than someone who I know will never forget her."

"I think... I think I'd like that too," you say, putting your arm around Rarity too and pulling her close.

The two of you share a few silent sobs together before finally opening a few capri suns. After you ran out of tears, the reminiscing starts to flow instead. The moon travels across the sky way too quickly as the two of you share endless stories about your antics with Sunset, all the trouble you all got in and the secrets you kept, and even a few things you didn't know each of you shared with her.

The chilly winter air might have nipped at you on some other cold, miserable night, but now, now you felt a warmth inside you and a genuine happiness that you haven't felt in a long time.

Author's Note

Merry Christmas, guys. If you're not having a good one, I hope this makes it a little better. Sorry if I'm kinda rusty.

Christmas

You groan and roll over in your sheets to catch a glimpse of your clock. You wince when you see it presenting a solid ten thirty-six. A groan escapes your lips and you sink back into the comforter, cursing the universe for not hurrying the day up. Your first instinct is to take a nap, but you look down at your hands to find little, colorful dots and stickiness from frosting and sprinkles. A deep breath reminds you of the stench of adhesive from the last minute presents, and the excited giggles and yells of your girls tell you that you probably won't be able to fall asleep anyway.

This Christmas is going to be hectic now that Sonata is old enough to really enjoy it. Just a few minutes before the chaos begins won't be that bad, right?

Your eyelids don't get much of a chance to rest. Just before your body can fully relax and your head sinks into the pillow, you get a gentle nudge on the shoulder that jerks you back to life.

"And just what do you think you're doing?" a feminine voice asks you with playfulness in her tone.

A smile crosses your face at those red and yellow streaks flowing off her shoulders and that beautiful smile, even if it was accompanied by a raised eyebrow.

"Caught me that quick, huh?"

Sunset nudges you again. "You're not getting away that easily. I need you to wrangle Aria before she manages to find a way to reach the cookies."

"Adagio will talk her out of it," you say, throwing your head back into the pillow.

"I already gave them a taste of the dough; I think Adagio might be in on this one."

You smile and shake your head, trying to ignore the growing fatigue in your body. "Those were some good cookies. I might have to get in on it too."

Sunset rolls her eyes and throws herself down onto the mattress, her beautiful teal eyes staring up into yours as she sets her chin on your chest. "When my enforcer joins in on the crimes the whole house is going to fall apart. Now come on, we've still got things to do," she says with a playful push towards the edge of the bed.

"Five more minutes," you say, closing your eyes and looking away in a fake nap.

Sunset's fingers tap against your stomach and her smile turns slightly more sly. "We'll have plenty of time with this bed tonight when you get your present."

"Oh yeah?"

Her eyes turn a bit more pointed now that she has your attention. "Yeah, but only if you get up."

"Fine, fine... You know, you're working harder on this than Pinkie did on the prom afterparty," you say as you finally force yourself to sit upright.

A kiss finds itself on your cheek, followed by a flood of warmth and affection in your gut as you meet your wife's gaze. "It'll be worth it. Now that Sonata's finally old enough to understand the word Christmas I want to make it special."

You gaze out the window, remembering how many hours you put into the light show in the front yard. "Did it have to be this special? I basically had to take an electrical engineering course online to wire up everything."

Sunset rolls her eyes again and leans up against you. "Oh, you'll survive. Besides, think of how jealous the neighbors are going to be. With Twilight's schematics we'll have tons of people wanting to watch the show. Think of all the envious glances from the other dads at the next barbecue."

You give her a quick laugh. "I think I get enough of those already."

"Well you do have the sexiest wife this side of the portal. Not to mention the best daughters in the world," she says, planting her chin on your cheek.

"Self esteem certainly doesn't have any issues, does it?" you say, grinning even wider at her.

Sunset taps you on the nose. "I believe those were your words, mister."

"They probably were."

Her hands wrap around your arm and give them a light tug. "Now come on, I've got some more cookies that need making before the girls eat all the dough and I need you to take them outside to build that snowman."

You playfully roll your head backwards again. "I'm really going to need a nap for that one, Sunny."

"We'll nap together tonight. Right now the girls need to spend some time with their dad so their mom can get a break." Sunset leans in a little closer to whisper in your ear. "If you're good, I'll tell the girls they can't get out of bed at all tonight or else they'll scare Santa away. We'll have the whole night to... enjoy your present."

You adopt your own sly grin and lean over to give Sunset a loving kiss. "Well how can I say no now?"

"You can't," she says with a wink. "That's the idea. Now get up already."

You put your hands up and roll over to the side of the bed. "Alright, alright. I'm going."

"Hey, get up!" she says again.

You raise an eyebrow at her as you get to your feet. "On my way?"

"Dad, get up! Come on!"

You take in a quick gasp as your eyes shoot open. You have to blink a few times to get your bearings once you realize you're lying down back in your bed. The bed beside you is disappointingly empty and you have to do your best to fight away that sadness after another light shove from your daughter.

"Dad... dad!"

"Alright, alright. I'm up, kiddo." You blink the blurriness out of your eyes to see Rarity standing behind Adagio, her arms crossed and an eyebrow raised.

"I'm quite surprised Adagio had to let me in. Forgetting something?"

You rub your eyes and pull yourself upright. "Yeah... yeah, that thing"

It's Adagio's turn to raise an eyebrow. "Did you guys need to do something? It's Christmas Eve; You're not going to leave us here, are you?"

Rarity leans down to put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Oh, of course not, dear. Your father and I just have something we need to talk about and then we're going to spend the entire day together. Christmas is nothing without family, of course."

You rub your eyes and finally sit up completely before smiling at your daughter. "Hey, if Aria and Sonata aren't up yet, why don't you get started on making the cookies? I'll let you have first dibs on the batter."

Adagio's face lights up with excitement. "Really?"

"Yeah, really. Just leave some for the cookies, alright? Now get after it, honey."

Adagio doesn't even hesitate to sprint out of the room and race downstairs. You let out a little chuckle as you felt a warmth of love for her. No matter how old she gets, some things never change at least. You can only hope your little girl gets this excited about cookie dough after high school too.

Rarity taps her foot impatiently to draw your attention back to her. You clear your throat as you rock yourself up to your feet, standing up to your full height a few inches above hers. "So, did you want to talk about something more than the presents?"

She looks away for a moment, her expression shooting a pang of worry into your gut. "I did, actually. Would it be much of a trouble to do this outside? May not be appropriate for the girls to hear, if they do."

"Uh... is it something serious, Rares?" you ask, putting a comforting hand on her lower back.

She gives you a tired smile and shakes her head. "No, no... nothing like that. I'd rather not get any odd questions from Aria or Sonata, if I can help it."

"Sure, let's go," you say, trying to keep the uneasiness out of your voice.

You take a little time to get on something other than a t-shirt and underwear, listening to Rarity's giggles in the background at your fashion choices with some playful banter. Through your usual playful conversation you notice a tinge of concern in her voice. Definitely seems like she has something on her mind, and things get quiet as you both head out the front door together into the chill of the winter sunrise.

A long, deep breath of the cold air fills your lungs as you make your way over to her sleek black car. You slap a hand on the trunk before looking back up to Rarity with a grin. "I hope Aria didn't find these."

"She did not, as far as I can tell. I still don't quite get why you had to hide them at the boutique though," she says, cautiously adopting your grin as well.

"Rarity, if you had to deal with her the last two Christmases you'd know exactly why. As soon as she caught me handling 'early' presents from Santa she's been raiding every part of the house she could find to get to them early."

Rarity lets off an amused grimace at the thought. "Ah, now I certainly can see why."

"I'm still finding bits of wallpaper she tore up in the living room. She's a little sneakier about it now but I don't think I would've hidden it from her otherwise."

A soft nod is Rarity's only response as she traces your hand down to the trunk of her car. You can tell she's uneasy as she holds her hands together in front of her and sways slightly. You take in a long, deep breath, hoping this isn't something serious. Judging by her pursing lips and nervous glances, it's not going to be a fun conversation. Time to bite the bullet; you clear your throat to get her attention and start.

"So, what's on your mind, Rares?"

She gives you a soft smile for a moment at the nickname before her eyes trace back down to the concrete. "Well... my parents won't be spending the holidays in town."

You raise an eyebrow. "You know you're always welcome to come by tomorrow after... you know, anyone else you need to spend it with."

"Sweetie Belle has her own plans and I don't really want to intrude on anyone else's," she says, uneasiness still on her face.

"What's the issue? You can come over here early if you really want." You look her over for a moment, wondering what exactly is eating at her as she still nervously sways in place.

She takes in a deep breath of her own and lets it out with a sigh. "How long have we been dating now?"

"Uh..." you look up into the sky, counting the wonderful dates you've been on so far. "Five or six weeks, I'd guess. What's that got to do with Christmas?"

Rarity almost lets out a little huff of frustration, but looks back into your eyes with an almost pleading look. "And it's been a wonderful time, darling, please don't get me wrong, but..."

"But?" you ask, taking a step closer to her.

"Buuut... we've yet to... I've yet to... you know." She leans in close to give you an exaggerated whisper. "Stay the night."

Your breath catches in your throat at the realization. You have to look away from those concerned diamond eyes for a moment to try to handle the sudden pit in your stomach as well. Your mouth opens and closes a few times to try to give her an explanation, but none of the convenient ones seem to want to come out anymore.

"Is... is there something wrong with me?" Rarity asks, a deep sadness in her eyes. "I know I'm not exactly model material any longer but I thought we'd, well you know... that things wouldn't be so slow with us being together."

You clench your eyes shut and shake your head, finally managing to look Rarity in the eye. "Please, don't think that. You're the most beautiful woman in the state, the country, the world even... by far."

Rarity takes a step forward, letting her hips rest up against your as her hands find their way to your back and she gives you those big, puppy dog eyes she had to have picked up from Fluttershy. "Then what could it be? Is this not working out for you?"

"No, no, it's nothing like that."

She gives you a light squeeze as your eyes drift away to jerk your attention back. "Then what is it, darling? I can respect the deep, mysterious act but eventually our lives have to be more connected than they are now."

You give her a shallow nod. You try to push the memory of Cheerilee out of your mind, but the sting from that night still somehow left a wound that didn't seem to want to heal. Even as you let your arms fall around Rarity's torso, something still feels wrong inside you. As much as you want to give her everything she wants, something inside you flooded you with guilt and apprehension every time this topic would come up.

You finally snap yourself out of it and look back down to her before you leave her waiting too long. "I will, Rarity. I just... Let's just..."

"Daaaad!" you hear Aria yell from the front door. Both of you wince and instinctively take a step back from each other before facing her. "Adagio won't share the cookie dough! She told me you said I wasn't allowed to have any yet but I know she's lying!"

You let out a soft chuckle and shake your head. "I'll be right there, honey. Just wait on the stool until I get back alright?"

Aria lets out a frustrated groan, then stomps back inside once she doesn't immediately get her way. Rarity crosses her arms over her chest with an amused grin. "Never a dull moment with that one, is there?"

"You know better than most now," you say, doing your best to share her smile. An awkward silence hangs in the air for a moment, both of you knowing you had to resolve things before you could move. With a sudden burst of bravery, you push past the apprehension building up in your gut and pull Rarity into a light hug. "Tonight."

"Hmm?" she lets off as she nuzzles herself into your shoulder.

"You should stay over tonight," you say as you lean back to look down into her eyes. You can't help but smile as you see the excitement light up her face.

"Really? Tonight? Oh, that's wonderful!" In her excitement, Rarity leans up to steal a kiss, but you instinctively pull away and look back over to the door. Once you see it's all clear, you lean down to plant that kiss on Rarity's lips, though you can feel the passion immediately dry out and it's only you that's doing the kissing. You lean back to see an angered glare pointed up at you. "That's something we need to talk about as well."

"Look, I'm sorry, but..."

"You haven't told your daughters yet," she says with a deadpan expression before rolling her eyes. "You can't keep this a secret forever, especially if I end up staying the night."

"I know, I know. I mean, Adagio knows at least. She's smart enough to see through anything I give her, but..."

Rarity shakes her head and lets out a sigh. "Aria has enough problems as it is, dear. Do you really think her not being able to trust you once she finds out is something else you need to add to the list?"

Your breath catches in your throat and suddenly you can't bring yourself to look Rarity in the eye. This definitely wouldn't be the worst lie you've told her. You gulp and do your best to steel your resolve before looking back over to her. "Look, she's just... well you know what happened with Cheerilee. Aria isn't going to take it well and I don't want to make things harder for her."

"Your misguided—agh..." Rarity takes a step away from you, doing her best to temper her frustrations with a shake of your head and a clench of her fists. "We can deal with this after Christmas, I suppose, but I can't sneak around with you about this. I'd like to be a proper part of your family if we're going to get more serious," she says with an overdramatic stance and crossing her arms over her chest. You almost want to laugh, considering how normal that is for her, but now's definitely not the time.

"I'd like that too. We'll deal with it soon, I promise."

"Well I certainly hope so." She taps her foot a few times on the concrete before finally letting go of her stern expression. She nods her head over to the front door as she uncrosses her arms. "Let's get back inside before we face a fully-fledged cookie crisis."

"Yeah, that's probably a good idea."

"Hey! Why are you messing with my ornaments?" you hear Aria scold from the living room. Sonata gives her a quick glare before returning to her self-appointed job of straightening the ornaments you told Aria to put up.

You let out a tired sigh and lean up against the wall between the kitchen and the living room, crossing your arms and waiting for the show. Playing referee is as good as an excuse as any to get out of cooking with Rarity and Adagio. With the dough and flour caking your hands and the batter splashed up against your apron, you have plenty of evidence that it has gone on for too long already.

Aria clenches her fists and grimaces at Sonata before starting again. "So? Why are you messing up my hard work?"

"Cause you didn't do it right," Sonata says matter-of-factly before turning back to adjust another ornament.

"What? I did everything fine. Dad said it looked good."

"Well daddy didn't look hard enough."

Aria's eye twitches in frustration, but glances over to you before she acts on it. "They look fine to me."

"They're all crooked! You just threw them in the tree without hanging them on the branches. Look, the gold part is supposed to face upwards and the little toys need to be this way up!"

Aria crosses her arms and scrunches her face. "That's always how I've done it. Nobody complained about it before, so just leave them alone, doofus."

"No you're the doofus! Miss Rari is going to be mad if she sees the tree all messed up. We need to make it better!" Sonata shot back with a glare of her own.

The tamed arguing of your girls slowly fades into the background as you feel a hand slide its way across your shoulder. You look over to see Rarity in the same mess you left her in—little bits of batter clung to her cheeks and splattered against her apron, but at least she tied her hair up before there were any disasters there.

"Anything urgent, dear?" she asks with a loving smile as she leans up against you.

You shrug and look back over to the girls as they exchange their frustrations. "Nothing too serious yet. Sonata seems like she wants to impress you."

"I will admit the tree looks a lot less... disorganized now. Maybe we should've put Aria on a less delicate job."

"She asks to do it every year. Her and Sunset always put the ornaments on the tree while I handled Sonata, so I don't want to be the one to tell her no," you say.

Rarity puts a hand over her mouth and looks over at Aria to adopt a more sympathetic expression. "Oh... oh that poor dear. I suppose it's a good thing then. I can't imagine what it must be like spending the holiday without her like this if they spent so much time together."

Your eyes trace down to the floor. "Yeah... Sunset always had a way with her that kept her out of trouble. She's the only one that could ever brighten her mood to the point where she's actually nice to Sonata once in a while."

Rarity leans in closer to you, letting her hand slip off your shoulder and loop under your arm with a sweet snuggle. "Hopefully we can make this year just as good for them." A moment of silence hangs in the air before you feel Rarity nudge you. You look over to see a curious look in her eye. "Have you ever considered therapy for them? I know Adagio is handling it well, but maybe Aria's behavioral problems from dealing with her mother's death could be rectified by a more professional touch?"

Your breath catches in your throat at that. You want to tell her that you haven't broken that news yet, but all that your mouth can manage is opening and closing a few times. Rarity gives you a raised eyebrow at the sudden silence, but thankfully Sonata comes in to save the day by running over to Rarity with her arms outstretched.

"Rari! Rari! Can I put this ornament on the tree?" she says, a little, painted piece of cardboard in her hands. A flash of panic sparks in your gut when you look over to see the glued construction paper and glitter all over it and you can't help but wince at the thought of what her room looks like now.

"Oh...? Why are you asking me instead of your father, darling?" Rarity's shocked expression softens into a surprised smile as she leans down to get closer to your daughter.

"Cause daddy isn't good with colors like you are," Sonata says, not a hint of awareness in her voice.

Rarity breaks away to give you a quick smirk before looking back down to her. "Well that's very thoughtful, dear, but I'm not sure if I'm the one to tell you if you can or not."

Sonata's face scrunches up in confusion for a moment. "Huh? But you're our new mommy aren't you?"

Rarity has to blink a few times at that one. You want to let out a quick chuckle of amusement, but out of the corner of your eye you catch Aria's hair flying through the air as she jerks her head over. Your heart sinks once you see the look on her face. She wasn't far enough away to miss what Sonata said, so her expression immediately turns to an intense anger at her sister, but when she glances over to Rarity, that anger suddenly turns to fear. You almost go over and hug her right there as the gentle sadness seizes her and she looks more and more scared and confused. Before you can manage to do anything about it, Aria jogs out of the room and up the stairs, creating another problem you've been trying to avoid for months.

"Oh... well, that certainly is what I'd like to be if I can. You know what? Absolutely, darling. You put that ornament wherever you'd like."

Sonata's face immediately lights up like you just gave her a plate full of cookies. "Yay! It's gonna look super good where I want to put it, I promise!" she says as she lunges forward to give Rarity a heartfelt hug. Rarity blinks a few times yet again in surprise before she wraps her arms around your daughter as well, nuzzling in to return the sweet gesture.

"I haven't a doubt in my mind, Sonata."

Sonata scurries off over to the tree, her excitement knowing no bounds. You, however, didn't feel so upbeat. You tap your foot on the ground and grind your teeth as you think about how you're going to handle all this with Aria. Your first thought is to tell her that's not what's going on, but more lies aren't going to help if Rarity is going to keep being around as much as she is. You let out a frustrated sigh and shake your head.

Rarity on the other hand doesn't seem so worried. You can't help but smile at the sappy grin on her face as she lovingly gazes over to Sonata. As she puts her hand over her mouth, you can almost see tears starting to well up in her eyes.

"You alright?" you ask.

Rarity gives a quick clear of her throat before looking over to you. "Um... yes, yes of course. I just... I, well... I never really thought I'd get to feel that. You spend so much time focusing on one thing and you forget the beauty in a life like this."

You do your best to keep the negative emotions with Aria away for a moment to let her enjoy this. As much as you don't want to worry your girls with a new relationship, you can't help but want more and more moments like these. A pang of guilt hits you at the thought though and you have to clear your throat right back.

"Yeah... well, I'd definitely want you to have more of this... if you'd like. We can, uh... we'll figure it out." You let an awkward silence hang in the air for a moment before looking back over to her. "Why don't you help Sonata with the organizing? I'll help Adagio finish up in the kitchen."

Rarity only gives you a nod before barely containing an excited skip over to your daughter. You do your best to smile for both of them, but it can't manage to stay on your face very long. As much as you want the girls to grow up with a loving mother in their lives, you can't shake the sinking feeling you get when you see them interact like that. You have to clench your eyes shut for a moment and fight with yourself against the irrational sensation, but it really doesn't seem to want to go away. Your eyes trace down to the floor; you know exactly what this is about, but the last thing you want to do is make Christmas depressing for everyone else as well. With a quick huff you turn and make your way into the kitchen.

The wonderful smell of freshly-baked snickerdoodles fills the air and the sight of Adagio happily kneading at more of the dough managed to lift your spirits. You do her the favor of checking the ones still in the oven, then lean over on the counter, pensively glance over at her as you try to formulate your words.

"Something up, dad?" Adagio asks, snapping you out of your trance as she looks over at you with a raised eyebrow. You let off a smile; not getting anything past her.

"Yeah, something is kind of up. I know I haven't really been up front with you about things, but I figure you're old enough at this point that you kind of know."

Her expression grows a little more apprehensive and she tilts her head. "About what?"

"That Rarity and I are—"

"Dating?" she finishes for you. She gives you a knowing smile. "Yeah, I figured that one out pretty quick. You know I can see you two kissing in the driveway, right?"

You have to blink a few times in shock at that one. Apparently you weren't as sneaky as you thought. "Well, couldn't hide it forever..." you let the air grow tense with silence for a moment as your expression hardens. "Are you going to be alright with that?"

Adagio casts a glance down to the floor for a moment before looking back up to you with a pensive nod. "I... I think so. I mean if someone was going to replace mom, it might as well be her best friend, right?"

"No one is replacing her," you say, both you and Adagio wincing at how intensely you said that. "I mean, that's not what I'm trying to do, but... you're just thirteen, Adagio; you can't be what Sunset was for our family."

Adagio's eyes trace around the room for a moment, her expression turning somber. She finally looks up to you with apprehension in her eyes. "So someone needs to be?"

"Maybe. I don't want you to spend your youth having to help me raise your sisters, Adagio, but I also don't want you spending it hating whoever else becomes a part of the family."

Adagio raises an eyebrow. "So... it might not be Rarity?"

You shake your head. "Of course it's Rarity. I'm just making things clear. She's going to be staying the night to night and I'd rather not have any of those shenanigans you pulled with Cheerilee."

Adagio adopts an amused smile and puts her hands in the air innocently. "Alright, I promise. I mean, I've known for a while and... well, I think it's okay as long as it's Aunt Rarity."

"Good."

Adagio clears her throat and taps her finger on the cutting board a few times. "This is... uh... weird Christmas conversation, don't you think?"

You take in a deep breath before adopting your stern expression again. "I'm also going to need your help."

"Oh? With what?"

"If Rarity is over here more, I have to tell Aria what happened with your mother," you say, your tone dropping low and serious.

Adagio looks away again, biting her lip as her mind seemingly plays out how that one is going to go. "I... I'm not sure if I can help with that one."

"I'll be the one to tell her. I just need you to help me make sure she... well, make sure she doesn't freak out too badly. Just do what you can to make sure she has someone there for her. I'm sure she's not going to be the happiest with me for a while."

Adagio gives you a solemn nod before looking back to the dough before her. You do your best to change the mood with a bright smile as you turn around and grab the oven door. "Well, enough of that—let's get back to these cookies."

The shower of blisteringly-cold shards sprays across your face. You can barely see as the force from the impact knocks you back and you have to stumble behind one of the lawn chairs. Blinking barely clears your vision enough to see Adagio cowering behind a nearby chair as well.

"This is going well," she says, trying to brush off some of the snow clinging to her blue jacket.

You wipe the rest from your face with a grimace as the melted snow clings to your face in little freezing droplets. "I assume we're not winning."

A blast of snow sprays across the top of the chair Adagio is hiding behind, making her wince and duck down even further. "Yeah I think that'd be a safe assumption to make."

You dare to peak out of your hiding spot and toss a snowball of your own at your aggressors. To your dismay, the projectile only glances off of Aria's jacket before she can lob another one directly at you. You only barely manage to duck back behind the chair as another snowball crashes against the back and sprays you with snow as well.

As much as you're getting thrashed, you can't help but let a warm feeling fill your chest. Every time you dare to look over the top you can see the wide smile on Aria's face as she grabs more ammo from Sonata. Gleeful violence isn't exactly your first choice for family activities, but seeing Aria and Sonata working together and having this much fun with each other makes you feel like things are actually going to be alright. Just have to find the right activities and they can act like they actually like each other.

You wince as another peak earns you a quick blast of snow down your neck. Maybe not the best time for fatherly appreciation. "I think we may need a different strategy," you tell Adagio as you tug on your collar to try to shake out the frozen specs.

Adagio ducks, just barely avoiding another spray of snow. "You think?"

"Got any ideas?"

Adagio purses her lips for a moment before thoughtfully shooting glares between Aria and the snow beneath her. "I think I have one. I saw it in a movie once." Her hands shoot up to her zipper and she pulls off her jacket, leaving you with a raised eyebrow. Before you can ask any questions, she hands it over to you. "Here, take this. When I give the signal, toss it up into the air and let's both run out to the right," she says as her hands move down to scrape up some more snow to build your arsenal.

"You really think that'll work?"

Adagio shrugs. "Maybe. I saw it in a movie once and it worked pretty well for them."

Before you can question her about the kind of movies she's been watching, she hands you a half dozen packed balls of snow and gives you an expectant look. You give her a nod in return, then ready her jacket for throwing. With a sharp "now!" Adagio readies a snowball. You toss her jacket into the air and watch as Aria's eyes reflexively move toward it, her hand following with another harsh blast of snow. Out of the corner of your eye you see the jacket get nailed—Aria's throwing arm is a force to be reckoned with—but your daughters don't stand a chance as you both run off in the other direction, pelting them with snow as you go.

Aria can barely manage to get a hand up before her entire front half is coated in white powder. Sonata lets out a mighty shriek and quickly abandons her sister in the torrent, like a frightened sailor jumping ship at the beginning of an attack. Without her loader, Aria is left defenseless as she scrambles to ball up some snow before she gets buried completely.

Just as you think you've finally gotten the upper hand, Sonata runs in from the side and shovels an armful of snow she scooped up directly at Adagio. The distraction gives Aria enough time to bolster her reserves, and you pay for looking away with a light smack of snow exploding on your chest. Chaos erupts on the battlefield as you all scramble out in the open for more snowballs and toss them at each other, so much so you don't even notice when Rarity opens the door to call out to everyone.

"The last of the cookies are ready if you'd like to—" her eyes go wide as the errant snowball you threw a little too hard splatters against her bare chest. Even though she brought a massive fur coat this morning, her top now left her chest a little more open. You have to wince for her sake as you see her instinctively bring both her hands up to try to wipe away the freezing drops before they melt down her bra. The girls don't seem to share your grimace as Rarity does her little dance, especially Aria who is cracking up at the sight.

"Let's go ahead and get inside before we have any more incidents," you say, still grimacing as you walk over to Rarity to assess the damage.

Aria lets out another chuckle. "That one's on you, dad."

You nod and put a hand on Aria's back to lead her inside. "It is, so let's go inside before I get in any more trouble."

You usher the girls inside and can't help but wince as Rarity gives you a harsh glare. A laugh manages to make it through your lips as she turns her attention back to her freezing chest. "Come on, it's not that cold."

"Do not presume that I'll forget about this, dear. I'll have you know I picked up a thing or two from Rainbow and Pinkie and their incessant pranking," she says, point a stern finger at you.

You rub the back of your neck with a sheepish grin. "Well, how about I plan something special for New Years and we leave the pranks for April?"

"Hmm... I suppose I can take a bribe," she says, wiping her chest off one last time with a shiver.

"Well good. You alright at least?"

She gives you a wave of her hand and ushers you back inside yourself, trading the harsh cold for the warm indoors. "I suppose. Just a little... perkier than usual. Are you ready to open presents with the girls?"

You do one last shake in the doorway to get the snow off of you, then slip out of your jacket as you shut the door behind you. "Yeah. Did you want to give them something tonight too?"

A warm smile comes over Rarity's face. "Oh, of course. Though, I'm still not certain why you do it like this. Our family just did everything on Christmas day."

"Well, Sunset and I didn't want the holiday to be nothing but opening presents from Santa, so we make sure everyone's giving something at least, even if the things the girls give each other aren't always... the best."

Rarity's face quickly turns half-amused and half-horrified. "Should I even ask?"

"Well the least concerning present was a dead mouse Aria gave me two years ago. Might be better to leave it at that."

Rarity shakes her head. "Yes, lets. I'll get the hot chocolate, darling."

You finally shake off the cold and settle in on the couch, doing your best not to laugh as Aria and Sonata shake their gifts and guess their contents. Adagio is settled in beside you, but you can see her eyeing the two boxes for her under the tree as well. Twice as many this year thanks to Rarity, and you can see already that the girls are more excited because of it. Your eyes trace over to the pile of gifts the girls had made. A couple of pieces of paper and a handful of tiny boxes sat on the fireplace, and you're thankful none of them look big enough to contain any pranks this year, at least you hoped so.

Rarity walks back into the room with a smile and five steaming cups of cocoa. Adagio happily takes hers, but since Rarity can't manage to break Aria and Sonata out of their guessing match she just sets the cups on the fireplace beside them. Once she's settled in beside you sipping on her own mug, you snap the girls back to attention so you can actually start.

"Why don't you guys exchange gifts first?" you say, nodding over to the pile of things on the fireplace.

Adagio leaps up and picks up hers first, handing a fabric bow her and Rarity made over to Sonata and a pair of fingerless biker gloves to her sister, no doubt something they'd play with later. Aria reluctantly hands over some cardboard weapons she made out of an old box, and Sonata was quick to hand out her drawings to her sisters. You give them the go-ahead to tear into their own presents and sit back with Rarity to enjoy the smiles and surprises. Before they ran off upstairs though, you stopped them and reminded them they had to give back to both of you as well.

Rarity raises an eyebrow at that. "Oh, us as well then?"

"Yeah, it's about giving to all of your family, right girls?" Sonata and Adagio give you a nod, but Aria looks away with a huff.

Some nice necklaces from Sonata and a couple of interesting books Adagio picked out of the discount bin later, Aria hands you a whittled little spear that elicits a bit of concern as to how she managed to sharpen it and what she might've done with her wooden shank had she not given it to you, but something more concerning comes up. Instead of handing anything to Rarity, she turns away and crosses her arms. You furrow your brow immediately as you can feel some attitude coming on.

"Aria? Did you make something for Rarity too?" you say, your voice getting a little sterner.

Aria gives you a harsh glance before looking away again. "No..."

"And why not?"

She gives you another huff before taking a step away. "This is supposed to be for family! She's not family."

Rarity has to blink a few times in surprise at that, making you a little bit angrier. "Aria, she's been a big part of this family for a long time. I know you remember how often she was there with your mother before."

Aria's huffs turn into a growl. "And she's not mom! She's not gonna be our mom. When mom comes back what is she gonna think about her being around so much? She's gonna think you're replacing her! She's not family and she shouldn't be here!"

"Aria!" you say, raising your voice high enough to make the other girls wince.

Rarity wraps both of her hands around your arm to cool you down, earning an even harsher scowl from Aria. "Dear, it's quite alright. If she doesn't want to partake that's certainly fine by me."

You open your mouth to start laying down the law, but Rarity squeezes your arm again and you let out a sigh instead. "Alright. We can deal with this later."

Aria lets out another grunt and instead of accepting her victory, she decides to storm off up to her room instead. You have to blink a few times in surprise as well, knowing that she just left all of her presents down here. You feel a pang of guilt hit you before you can let out your own frustrated grunt. You look over to Rarity, whose expression is oscillating between concern and a tinge of shock as she looks you over and processes what she just heard. The guilt just grows worse as the mess you made piles on and you can finally feel just how much it's affecting Aria. You grind your teeth for a moment as you try to think through the silence of your living room.

Rarity cuts through the silence and finally looks away from you to put a smile on her face for the girls. Both of your daughters are still uneasy at the display, but the tension finally eases once Rarity moves over to them. "So, girls. Would you like to put some cookies out for Santa? I have a few left over for you as well if you'd like."

Sonata's face immediately lights up and she completely forgets about the display as she shoots her arms into the air and yells her glee into the room. Adagio is a little slower to ease up and you both exchange a few concerned looks. Once Rarity gets up off the couch though, they both follow her into the kitchen and things seem to go back to normal, at least for now.

Your head hits the pillow and you immediately close your eyes. This was one of the most exhausting Christmas Eve's you've had so far and for all the wrong reasons. You take a little delight in the cookies sitting in your stomach and the decent memories you made today, but a sinking feeling refuses to let go of your stomach. You open your eyes again to see Rarity walking out of your bathroom in one of her silk bathrobes, looking confused and concerned all at the same time. Not exactly how you want to end the night.

Finally her eyes focus on you, and you can already tell what this is about from the slight irritation in her gaze. "So... I suppose I must ask why exactly you haven't told Aria where her mother is. As I recall you brought her to the funeral, did you not?"

You let out a disappointed sigh and let your eyes fall away from her. "I did, but... her and Sonata were too young to understand. When they asked I just told them that it was a kind of... going away party, I guess. I never had the heart to tell them," you say, awkwardly fidgeting your hands together and avoiding her gaze.

Her eyebrows furrow. "Darling, it's been over four years now. You can't hide the truth from them forever."

"I know, alright," you say, a little more frustration in your voice than you would've liked. Rarity takes a step back, looking hurt for a moment before she steels her gaze and walks over to the bed.

"With all the trouble that poor girl is going through, don't you think it might be because she thinks her mother abandoned her? That she might be acting out because of a void she's never processed?" Rarity says, her voice stern.

You sit upright in the bed and turn towards the wall. Another sigh escapes your lips and you shake your head, trying to ignore the growing pang of guilt at that possibility. "I don't know. She's always been kind of... difficult. I guess it's gotten worse since then but..." you look back over at Rarity. "How am I supposed to tell her that her mom's never coming back? How am I supposed to put that hurt on her and feel okay about everything?"

Rarity's expression becomes even more irritated. "I'm quite surprised that you feel okay about this at all. You've lied to her and Sonata for years now. How is that okay?"

You just shake your head and look away. "I don't know," you let out in a defeated tone.

The sudden silence sends a spike of anxiety through your system and you almost expect her to start yelling at you. Instead, Rarity eases herself down onto the bed beside you and runs a comforting hand up your shoulder, her eyes softening into concern.

"She deserves to know, don't you think? The poor girl won't get anywhere until she can start grieving and accepting things properly. Put yourself in her shoes, dear. How would you feel if you thought Sunset just disappeared one day without a trace?"

You have to blink a few times at the prospect. Your heart sinks just imagining her disappearing one day without a trace, never telling you where she went or if she was coming back. Your stomach twists at the imagined emotion and guilt overwhelms you as you realize what you're actually doing to your daughter.

"I... I... I just..." you let out a frustrated grunt and let your forehead fall into your hand. "I didn't want her to have to feel the pain I felt. The pain we felt. Losing her... it almost broke me. I couldn't put that on her knowing what she'd feel like."

You feel a gentle kiss on your shoulder before Rarity rests her cheek up against you. The warm gesture eases the growing pain and guilt building inside you, but not by much. "You know, I may not have experienced her loss quite in the same way as you, but I know the hurt just the same." She settles against you and lets out a slow sigh. "I suppose I can understand, but Aria is going to have to go through this eventually, don't you think? How long could you really hide this from her?"

You shake your head. "You're definitely right. I should've done this a long time ago. I'm just... I don't know. I don't want to see how badly it would go, but each day I wait it just seems to get worse." You pinch the bridge of your nose and let out a frustrated sigh. "Probably shouldn't have dug this hole for myself in the first place, huh?"

"You probably shouldn't have, no. The only thing you can do now is the right thing, darling. Soon."

You give her a solemn nod. "Yeah. Before her birthday for sure."

You almost have to laugh once you look over and see that cross look and her glaring eyes. You put your hands up with a quick chuckle instead. "Alright, alright. Soon, I promise."

Rarity lets out a quick huff and shakes her head. "Well, it's a small reassurance at the very least. I know it'll be for the best. Now..."

Before you know what's going on, Rarity shifts onto her knees, her hands sliding down to the knot holding her bathrobe closed. "Why don't we do away with the more serious conversation and enjoy Christmas ourselves, hmm?"

You smile and lean in until your lips are just barely touching, enjoying the sudden warmth that being so close affords. "I thought you'd never ask."