Deaky's Daughter

Becoming a Dad

When Sally dropped John, Lilliana and Tiger home, he gives his daughter a tour of the flat including her new bedroom. She loves it instantly, specifically the large giraffe in the corner.

He helps her unpack the things she has into her new wardrobe and drawers, she noticed the new clothes in there, "Who's are these?"

"They belong to you. I'm a member of a band and my bandmates, you meet them before, are also my good friends, you'll meet them tomorrow I think. One of them, Freddie, brought these clothes for you since your old clothes are still at your old house. We can't go and get them until the police say we can."

She doesn't say anything but looks through the clothes, smiling John checks his watch, "You hungry?"

Lilliana nods again, removing Tiger's service vest and following her dad to the kitchen, Tiger sticks to her side like glue.

John opens the fridge and realises that he's waiting for Veronica to come back from the shop, "Great start Deaky," He mutters to himself, checking the cupboards and having a bit more luck, "Cheese on toast okay?"

Nodding again she wonders about the flat looking at the things he has, Tiger makes himself comfortable in his new dog bed. John watches her while the food is under the grill, she picks up three photos and brings them other to him, "Who are they?"

John looks closer at the photos, there is a Polaroid of him and Veronica in a small frame, a picture of him with his mum, dad and sister before his dad passed away, and the third photo is of Queen.

He points to the Queen one first, "These are the people I was telling you about, you've met these three but the blonde is Roger, the tall one is Brian and the other is Freddie. As I said you should meet them properly tomorrow. This one is of my family, my mum, my dad and my younger sister, Julie."

"My auntie and grandparents?" John nods, "Can I meet them?" Lilliana asks curiously, she never met her other grandparents.

It occurs to John that his family don't know about Lilliana, he'll have to make time for a visit in the next few weeks, "Yes, you can meet your Grandma and Aunt Julie but I'm afraid your grandpa passed away a few years ago when I was younger."

"Oh sorry."

"It's okay, it was a long time ago," He moves on to the last photo, "Then this is me with my girlfriend, Veronica. You will get to meet her in a bit."

She doesn't reply and just puts the photos back, John frowns wondering if he said something wrong but turns to the cheese on toast before it burns.

He dishes it up and puts Lilliana's meds by her placemat and they sit at the table eating in silence until John finished, "What's the wrong, Lily?"

"Do I have to call Veronica, mum?"

Now he understands, "No, of course not. Your mum will always be your mum, I know you miss her. Veronica is my girlfriend and very special to me, I do hope one day that she will be my wife but even then you do not have to call her mum. If you decide over time that you want to call her mum then that's okay too, I don't think she would mind but you'd have to ask her first."

Her shoulders relax and she nods, "Can I go to the bathroom?"

"Of course, you can, this is your home now you can go where you like," She slips off the chair and heads down the hall Tiger gets up and follows her sitting outside the toilet door.

John is left only with his thoughts and he can help but wonder what Lilliana's life was like at home or what Katie was like as a mother.

His thoughts are interrupted when the door to the flat opens, Veronica pushes it, holding it with her foot while she grabs one of the bags she put down to find her key.

John rushes over to hold the door for her, "You're a lifesaver thank you," He pecks her lips and then helps her with the bags, "Did you get dog food?"

"Of course," Veronica pulls out the box of dog food and puts a sachet in Tiger's new bowl, "Tiger," She calls him, he's still sitting by the bathroom dog but comes when she calls him, eating his food happily, "Good boy," She pats his back.

"Is she in the bathroom?" Veronica is curious to meet Lilliana.

"Yeah, she should be out in a minute," And as if on cue, the bathroom door opens.

Lilliana comes back to the kitchen and stops realising that her dad is not alone, she waves unsure of this new person.

Veronica crouches giving a friendly smile, "Hi Lilliana, it's lovely to meet you. I'm Veronica but you can call me Ronnie or V."

"You can call me Lily," She smiles shyly, "It's nice to meet you too, your daddy's girlfriend right? Your very pretty."

"Thank you, yes, I am his girlfriend. You are very beautiful yourself," That's no lie. Looking over her head to toe, Veronica can see a lot of John in Lilliana, same eyes colour and shape, same smile, same long thick brown hair and similar face shape though slightly more slender given that Lilliana is female. The rest though she'd guess comes from her mum.

Veronica takes her to the living room and they sit on the sofa, "Your daddy hasn't been able to tell me much about you, so can you tell me all about you?"

John joins them on the sofa, Lilliana between them, wanting to be a part of this conversation. He wants to know everything about her.

"My favourite colour is purple. I like to draw and paint."

"An artist?" John hadn't expected that, "You any good?"

"Mummy said I am, but all my drawings are at my old home so I can't show you them."

"Then you'll have to show me once we can go to the house and get your things," He makes a mental note to ring one of the boys before going to bed and ask them to pick up some paper, pencils and paint before they come over tomorrow.

She continues to tell them things about herself, fears, foods she hates etc... eventually, she becomes tired, a big yawn giving it away.

Veronica helps her into her pyjamas and brushes Lilliana's soft hair shoulder-length hair, tying it in two plates while John lets Tiger out into the garden to pee, the perk of having a ground-floor flat is having a garden to boot.

As Lilliana climbs into bed under the covers, John comes back in with Tiger. The retriever makes himself on the end of her bed and John sits against the headboard to read her a story.

Once he's finished the book, Lilliana isn't quite asleep so after putting the book away, he sits on the edge of her bed facing her. "If you need me, Lil, I'll either be down the hall in the living room or in my bedroom. Don't be afraid to come and get me or Ronnie."

She nods tiredly, he takes a leap of faith and leans over to kiss her forehead, "I love you."

"Love you too, daddy," She then snuggles into the covers and falls asleep.

Pulling her bedroom door till there is only a sliver of light entering the room, John feels a lot more relaxed rejoining his girlfriend than he did earlier, it's only been a few hours, but maybe he can be a good dad to Lilliana.

Quick question, guys. How would you feel if I made you hate Paul more than we already do? This is me thinking ahead to future chapters, it would take this story down a very dark route though. Let me know your thoughts.

Also, there will be an extra chapter on Friday for John Deacon's birthday.