Eric would need to work on cooking lessons with Lily. If a peanut butter & jelly sandwich, celery, and crackers could be considered cooking, that is. But letting her spread peanut butter and jelly on the bread after she begged him to was a bad call. He was all about giving her a reasonable amount of independence. He usually let her pick out what she wanted to wear as long as it was weather appropriate and didn’t try to influence her too much when it came to her feelings and interests. So when she said she wanted to make her own lunch because she wanted to learn how to cook, he had been all for it. He directed her to an easier meal to make that didn’t involve the stove and wouldn’t let her touch anything sharper than a children’s butter knife but other than that he tried not to interfere too much, even when she decided she wanted to put crushed up crackers on her sandwich. She insisted that it was MUCH better that way. Bullshit. He never put crushed up Goldfish Crackers on a sandwich in his life, for her or for anyone else.

The fact she made that decision should have been a good indicator that he shouldn’t leave her alone for thirty seconds to get her favorite cup. Because when he came back, she had decided that her sandwich needed even more peanut butter and got it all over the counter, her face, her hair, and a few spoonfuls of jelly on the floor. They really should look into getting a maid again.

“You,” Eric says sternly, “Don’t move a muscle and eat your sandwich. Then I am taking you upstairs for a bath.”

Lily purses her lips, “I’m going to have to move to eat! Do you think the food is just gonna come up to my mouth so I can bite it?!”

Eric manages not to laugh at her sarcastic inquiry, “Don’t pretend like you don’t know what I’m saying. Eat your food. You know better than to make a mess like this. Or I thought you did. You did say you were a big girl. Maybe that just isn’t the case.”

Lily gasps, completely offended, “I am! I am a big girl!”

Lily starts to get up in an attempt to convince him that he’s wrong but he stops her.

“Ah! Get back in your seat right now. You eat your sandwich and celery. Then you can prove to me that you’re a big girl by helping me clean up your mess after you’re done.”

Lily pouts as she takes a bite into her sandwich before pulling a strange face.

“Papa, I don’t really like it.”

“I don’t care. You didn’t crumble those crackers on there by accident. You made it for yourself so you have to eat it. I don’t want you wasting any food.”

“But-”

“No buts, Lily.”

“You are being really mean today. Mean Papa!” Lily fumes.

Eric snorts, “Yeah, I’m just awful. Hurry up with your food.”

He is surprised that Lily ends up eating her sandwich. She leaves the crusts and looks at him defiantly.

“I won’t eat the crusts. I won’t!”

“You never do. I’m telling you, you’re missing out,” Eric tells her as he hands her a wet rag, “Here. Clean the mess and crumbs off the floor while I clean the table.”

Lily does what she’s told with a scowl on her face. Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed, Jesus Fucking Christ.

“All done, Papa.”

Eric gets the last of the crumbs in the wastebasket before picking her up and holding her away from him so peanut butter doesn’t get on his clothes.

“I’m not having you track peanut butter through the house. Up the stairs we go.”

He tries to get her to lighten up by jiggling her a little and making plane sounds but to no avail. He knows she’s just being a little kid and pouting is part of the norm. It probably isn’t anything but the fact that she is such a downer today concerns him.

She stays quiet as he runs the bath water. She takes off her clothes and gets in only to silently look down at the water while he tries to get the peanut butter out of her hair.

“What’s the matter with you, huh?” Eric asks her quietly as he gently scrubs her scalp.

“Nothing,” Lily pouts.

“Come on, you can tell me.”

Lily pouts for a few more seconds before muttering, “You said we could get a pet when we moved here. I don’t see a pet.”

Eric raises an eyebrow, “That’s it?”

“I’m by myself all the time, Papa. There’s no one to play with,” Lily mumbles, lightly splashing the water.

“You’ve made friends at preschool. I can talk to their parents to see if you can meet with them after school or on the weekends once in a while.”

“I play with some of them but they made friends with each other before I came here. They have best friends there. I don’t have a best friend there. When the Miss Thompson says ‘Pick a partner!’ no one wants to be my partner. They made friends when they started school before me. Since there are no extra people left, Miss Thompson puts me in with two other people.”

Eric feels a spike of sadness for her, “Oh, honey…,” he comforts as he rubs her back, “What about Duncan? Duncan is your best friend. You get to see him practically every week, sometimes more.”

But Lily shakes her head, “It’s not the same. I don’t see him all the time. I don’t go to school with him and he doesn’t live with me either.”

“Daddy and I live here with you.”

Lily looks at him with sympathy, “Yes, you do. And I like that you and Daddy live with me very much. But you are both very old and you just aren’t up for playing all the time.”

Eric looks away to laugh. She says the funniest things sometimes. He wishes Brian could have heard that first hand.

“Papa, it isn’t funny. I have no one to play with here.”

“I’m sorry, baby. I shouldn’t laugh. Things are still hectic with work. Daddy just got the Coke campaign and I’m picking up new projects and working in Bensonhurst all the time. We always make sure one of us is here on the evenings and weekends but I don’t want to put any extra stress on Jess with a pet around until fall comes along and things have calmed down. Summer will be over so the vacation, sunglasses, and back to school advertising campaigns will be as well. Daddy will have more time to stay at home with you and my company will be more settled as well. I think that will be a good time to get a pet, don’t you?”

Lily sniffles and lets out a whine before putting her knees to her chest to cry. And it may be over something as trivial as getting a pet but fuck, it breaks his heart. He knows that this move has affected his happy girl. He and Brian make sure she has fun most of the time but he knows she misses Cynthia and the weekend trips to Toronto they haven’t been able to take due to work. He knows she misses Olivia, Tori, and Quinn from her old nursery school and, while she has always been a social little girl, it has been hard for her to find a close friendship at school like she had with those three girls. Duncan had been a savior. They both were a little out of place in their new preschools due to being the new kids and they have really relied on each other for companionship.

“M-maybe…,” Lily cries, “Maybe you and daddy can give me a little sister? Lots of kids at my school have a little brother or sister. I would be a really good big sister. I would take good care of her.”

Eric freezes at the request. It’s a request that hasn’t been made by Lily before but it is something he has actually given some thought in the last year or so. He had hinted the prospect to Brian a few times in Chicago but Brian managed to dodge it very subtly. He wasn’t set on having another kid, per say but he wasn’t against it either. He was really open to having another one and if it did happen, he wanted the baby to be born before he and Brian were too old. Brian would be turning 44 in May and he would be turning 39 in July. They could probably go a couple more years and then have a kid if they did decide to but he wanted Lily and a potential sibling to be close enough in age so that they could enjoy each other. Age-wise, now would be a perfect time. Lily was in preschool so it wasn’t like they would be taking care of two kids all day everyday but she would still be young enough where she could be close to him or her as they got older.

But fuck, the prospect was scary. He hated that she was so lonely and upset but that was a lot to ask for out of the blue. However, he knew he had to do something to placate her. It may be
spoiling her, especially when she made a mess in the kitchen, but she had a lot of changes happen in the last few months that she didn’t necessarily want but went with most of it in stride. It was sort of a dick move not to reward her in some way.

“Papa? Are you thinking about it? Are you thinking about a baby sister?” Lily asks cautiously.

Eric shakes himself out of his thoughts.

“Come on. Out of the tub. Let’s get you dried off so I can do your hair.”

“I can do it myself,” Lily pouts as she splashes.

Eric puts a towel around her regardless and she dries herself off. He takes her to her room and sits her on the vanity stool to do her hair as she complains about wanting to do it her way.

“Papa, I want to do my hair myself.”

“Honey, if your hair was straight I would let you try but your hair is curlier than mine. It’s hard to tame and you know that. Daddy and I have to do it for you until you’re a little older or it will tangle all up.”

“Maybe you can straighten it for me and I will do it then. I don’t need these stupid curls anyway.”

Eric kisses her on top of her head, “I love your curls. They’re beautiful and they’re you. I’m going to dry it and braid it, how does that sound?”

“I want to do it.”

“It’ll be quicker if I do it. You don’t even know how to braid.”

“So?”

Eric sighs, “So, you’ll have more time to play before we go to Justin and Nathan’s if I do it. Plus we’ll be able to walk to the pet store down the street so you can pick out a pet. A caged pet.”

Lily lets out the most excited gasp he’s ever heard from her before she starts squealing jumping up and down.

“PAPA!!!!! REALLY?!?!?! I’M SO EXCITED!!!!!!!”

Lily throws herself at his legs as she giggles almost maniacally.

“Only if you sit down and let me get you ready. No running around and putting things off. We’ll run out of time and I might change my mind if that happens.

Lily sits back down and practically vibrates in her seat he as dries and french braids her hair. Those YouTube tutorials have come in handy because he would never be able to do this as a beginner with the way she is wiggling. But he does get it done and she gets up to zoom around the room in excitement.

“What do you want to wear?”

“I have to wear something beautiful because I’m meeting my new pet today! Hmm, let’s see...no, not that. Not that. Maybe that but not that-”

“How about this maroon top and a pair of jeans?”

Lily thinks on it for a few seconds then says, “I think that will look good.”

Eric smiles at her, “Me too. Now go get dressed.”

Lily puts on her clothes in record time before rushing down the stairs to grab her coat off the hanger as well as his own.

“Here, Papa! I got your coat for you. Put it on, put it on!”

Eric takes the coat from her hands and gets Lily’s shoes on her feet.

“I expect you to be good. No running around and no whining if I say no to something. We both have to be in agreement. I want you to listen to the employees at the store about every pet we look at and remember what they say when it comes to how to take care of it. You are going to have to take care of it, you understand? This is your responsibility. I’ll help you but all the heavy duty work will be left to you.”

Lily nods enthusiastically, “Yes, Papa. I will I will. I promise.”

Eric gives her one serious nod, “Out the door with you, then.”

The two of them walk into the garage. He doesn’t know what they are going to end up needing so even though he has barely driven the car since they moved, he takes it down the street in case what they buy ends up being too much to carry. In hindsight, he really should have asked Brian before he went through with this. He knows it would have been harder to convince the man that Lily really needed a companion at home. He also knows that once he did convince him, he would have wanted to be there for it to experience seeing Lily’s happiness.

Fuck, he’s a dick. He knows it’s too late to back out now but really needs to keep himself in check. He gets Lily in her car seat and drives to the pet store that’s close to their apartment. It seems like such a waste in gas but Eric has a feeling that he will be thankful he drove here.

“Honey, stop for one second,” Eric tells her as he holds onto her hand with one hand and gets his phone out with another.

“One! Okay, let’s go!” Lily exclaims as she tries to pull Eric closer to their destination.

Eric gives her a playful glare and clicks on Brian’s name in his contact list.

“Brian Kinney speaking,”

Eric snorts, “Shut up, you know it’s me.”

“He senses Brian’s smile even though the man isn’t there.

“What are you and the spawn up to on this lovely Sunday afternoon?”

“Not working like a maniac, unlike some people.”

Brian laughs, “I’ll be home in a couple of hours. I just had to take care of some paperwork.”

“And you made sure that you would be free from the 18th to the 28th?”

“Of this month? I think it’s too late for that.”

“Of April, smartass,” Eric smiles.

“Yes, my dearest husband-to-be,” Brian says sarcastically, “Malia is getting insulted because she thinks I assume she’s incompetent of remembering that she can’t schedule me for anything on those dates. Don’t worry. It’s set. Any big corporate heads that demand a meeting during that time will just have to wait. We’ll be free to fuck and suck and-”

“Sightsee?” Eric suggests.

“If there’s time. And all will be done without a care in the world since Emmett and Drew agreed to take Lily until we get back.”

Eric freezes as he and Lily enter the store. Shit. He thought this through even less than he originally realized.

“Uh...Brian? How mad do you think Emmett and Drew would be if they watched Lily and maybe...I don’t know, a guinea pig? Or a hamster?”

“A snake!” Lily squeals as she runs over to the glass display.

Brian is silent for a few beats and Eric closes his eyes, anticipating the man’s anger.

“What did you do?”

“Nothing yet. I know I should have told you. It was a horrible move not only as a partner but also as a co-parent not to talk to you about it before saying yes. You didn’t hear her today though. She’s so sad, Brian. The idea of this is making her so happy.”

“You should have waited until after the wedding,” Brian mutters, “It’s not fair to Emmett and Drew to throw a fucking pet at them while we’re off honeymooning.”

“I know that now. I didn’t think about the honeymoon,” Eric confesses, “I was too focused on Lily and how she was feeling. She’s so lonely, Brian,”

Brian lets out a sigh, “I know. I get it. I may have given in too.”

Eric huffs out a breath, “No, you wouldn’t. Not as easily as I did.”

“Don’t make it out like you did a bad thing. Listen, don’t get anything until you get a hold of Emmett or Drew to make sure it’s okay. Stella is good with the kids but who knows how she would be around another animal. Call them and if they are okay with having the pet stay then it’s okay with me if she gets one. But not a fucking snake. I heard her in the background.”

Eric looks over to see Lily absolutely mesmerized by the slithering creature.

“Yeah, I’ll pull her away as soon as I call Emmett. Thanks, Brian. I’m sorry for saying yes to her without discussing it first. I just felt so bad.”

“We’ll talk about it when I get home, alright? You can tell me what she said and we’ll figure it out. Now go call Emmett before she gets too excited.”

“Alright. Love you. Sorry again.”

Brian huffs, “Eric, chill out and hang up. But you too.”

Eric hears a click on the line and he stands closer to Lily so that she doesn’t wander off before calling Emmett.

“Hello?”

“Hey, Emmett. It’s Eric. I hate to spring this on you and it’s completely my fault that I have to, but I was wondering if I can ask for a favor.”

“Of course, baby! Ask away! Duncan, sweetie! Go eat your lunch! You can play with Stella after you’re done. Sorry, Eric. Go on.”

“Right...so I sort of gave into one of Lily’s requests earlier. She’s been feeling down about moving and has been asking for a pet for months. We’re not getting a dog or anything. We want to start her out with something small and easy to take care of. To be honest, it is to get Brian more used to an animal in the house rather than Lily. Anyway, she was having a bad day today. I’m not sure what brought it on. She wasn’t on her best behavior and she had a temper. I knew something was driving her to act out. I got her to talk to me and she just got so upset because she missed Chicago and is feeling lonely here. I told her we could get a pet when we moved into the house and she brought it back up today. I don’t know...I know I shouldn’t reward her when she was sassing me earlier but I think getting her a small pet might help a lot so I am giving in.”

“And you are on your way to the pet store as we speak, aren’t you?” Emmett says knowingly.

“We’re actually already there.”

“Have you told Brian?”

“I just did. He’s pissed but he’s not going to deny her of it when I said yes already.”

“Well, I think it will be good for her. She’s a sweet little girl and she deserves a pet. I don’t think it is spoiling her when she’s gone through a move and several changes in the last few months. Duncan is crazy about Stella but we had her first, of course.”

“I’m glad you agree. So...I was just wondering if I could ask you to watch the pet while Brian and I go on our honeymoon? I would pay you of course and give you everything you need to take care of it. It’ll be a caged pet and we could bring it in the day before the wedding so that you don’t have to stop at the house afterwards. But if you don’t want to that is completely fine. We can probably hire someone to come feed it and interact with it while Lily stays with you-”

Emmett laughs, “Eric, it’s fine. We can put the cage in Duncan’s room and if Stella seems like she might be getting too excited when the kids get it out, we can put her in the parlor for a little bit until it’s back in its cage. What have you decided on getting?”

“Papa, a snake!” Lily exclaims, pointing out the obvious.

“Um...Did I hear her say snake? About agreeing to take care of Lily’s pet for the week-”

“She’s not getting a snake,” Eric says pointedly.

“But-” Lily starts to protest but Eric puts a finger to his lips.

“Oh, thank god. I don’t think I could handle feeding one. As long as I don’t have to feed your pet something alive, I can handle it with no problem. I know Lily’s taste tend to be a little eccentric but I lived on a farm and I’m good with all different sorts of animals. Good luck finding your new addition!”

“Thanks Emmett. It will be something easy, I swear.”

The two say their goodbyes and Eric hangs up. He feels Lily’s head brush against his leg as she looks up at him.

“Who was that?” she asks.

“Emmett. I wanted to make sure he would take care of a pet when you go and stay with him for the week after the wedding.”

“Or my pet and I can go with you and Daddy,” Lily suggests.

“Daddy and I need alone time,” Eric tells her because, as much as he loves his daughter, she is not coming on their honeymoon with them.

“I would be good,” Lily says, trying to tempt him.

“No. Besides, Duncan would be upset that you didn’t come stay with him.”

“True,” Lily concedes, “Now, come on! We have to find my new pet!”

They look at all the animal displays and Lily oohs and ahs over every single animal. Every. Single. One.

“So what do you think about a goldfish?” Eric suggests when they get to the feeder tank. They were twenty cents and it would be easy enough to replace in case it ended up dying. His older brother George had a fish that lived for thirteen years. His parents ended up installing a pond to put in their backyard. Felipe spent the last five years of his life in that pond and grew exponentially as soon as they gave him the bigger space. His parents bought a couple of Koi fish to keep it company. If Felipe would have died peacefully, he would have looked back at that fish and thought he lived a good long life for a preschool carnival fish. But Felipe didn’t die peacefully. Felipe was eaten by a bobcat that climbed over their fence. It was totally fucked. It was even more fucked that every goldfish Eric had as a kid, no matter how well he took care of it, died within a month. George forgot to feed Felipe several days at a time. Such bullshit.

“I don’t know if that’s such a good idea,” Lily answers as she presses her nose against the glass.

“How come?”

“Becaussseee,” Lily starts before pausing to think of the reasons, “I can’t cuddle with a goldfish. If I play with him he would die because he needs water. So he would have no one to play with and I wouldn’t have anyone to play with. I would have to get two so he could have a friend. But there are so many. What if I take him away from his family? We don’t know. I don’t want a goldfish, Papa. Not right now.”

Her reasoning is actually pretty sound, despite her overthinking some of it. He’s surprised by it though so he nods in agreement.

“You’re right. A pet rock it is.”

Lily giggles, “Papa! You can’t have a rock as a pet!”

“They exist, I kid you not.”

Lily shakes her head, “That’s just silly. A rock can’t play with you and a rock can’t love you. They can’t eat or drink. They’re not pets!”

“I suppose you’re right. What do you think would be a better pet?”

“Hmmm...maybe this one,” Lily says as she approaches a tarantula tank.

Eric immediately turns Lily around and directs her elsewhere.

“What about some of these fluffier animals? They’re awfully cute, aren’t they?”

“Yeah, they’re really cute!” Lily exclaims as she sits on the floor to look at the rats.

Eric can’t help but sigh.

“But what about these guinea pigs? Or these teddy bear hamsters? I think this one likes you!”

Lily looks up at the hamsters and the one standing up on his hind legs to press his face against the glass does get her attention.

“He’s so cute! But he doesn’t have a pretty tail like the ones down here do,” Lily informs him as she sits back down.

“You two need any help today?” an associate asks as he approaches them.

“My daughter here is here to pick out her first pet. We have some differences when it comes to what we want though.”

“I want the one with the red eyes!” Lily exclaims as she looks up at the employee.

“Oh, I know him. He’s a sweetheart,” the man says to her.

“I was thinking she should get a teddy bear hamster. They do well alone, don’t they?” Eric asks.

“You’re right there. It isn’t advised for two Syrian hamsters to share a cage. Dwarfs are fine together but Syrians tend to get aggressive if they have to share their home.”

“But what about these? I want a rat. They are so cute!” Lily squeals as she giggles at two of the rats tumbling around.

Eric looks down at them, “I don’t know, Lily…”

“Rats actually make great pets. They’re fantastic companion animals and very smart. They like humans more than hamsters generally do. They’re very loyal. We’re not like other pet stores. We get all our pets from independent breeders and affiliated rescues so they are healthier than the mill rats and we also have papers on them that explain any history that we were given. Rats do tend to have health problems as they get older and they only live for 2 to 3 years but they are fun while you have them. There are a couple of rescue rats in there that we don’t know the full history of but they’re both females. I think my co-worker is considering taking them home. But we have papers on the albino. He came from a breeder in Staten Island.”

Damn. He hadn’t been expecting the guy to push the rats. Probably because no one really wanted them.

“Papa? Papa Papa Papa? I want a rat. They are so beautiful.”

“Uh-”

Luckily the employee senses his discomfort, “Why don’t I get a hamster out then one of the rats so you can hold them and see which you like better?”

Lily gasps, “I want to do that. Papa, do you want to do that?”

“Sure. We can do that. Why don’t we see the hamster first?”

Lily nods, “Okay. And then we’ll see the rats.”

Eric suppresses a groan, “Fine.”

The employee gets the most social hamster out and squats down to hold it in front of Lily so that she can pet it.

“Now Lily, be gentle. Don’t get loud or excited around it. That might scare it.”

“I won’t,” Lily whispers loudly, “He’s really cute. Is he a he?”

“She’s a she, actually,” the man says, amused, before looking up at Eric, “You okay with your daughter holding her?”

Eric looks down at Lily’s pleading eyes, “You have to be really careful. Don’t drop her.”

“I would never do something like that,” Lily whispers as she gently takes the hamster in her hands.

The hamster crawls from hand to hand and Lily softly giggles as the hamster sniffs her.

“Wanna hold her, Papa?” she asks as she holds her hands up in offering.

Since Eric wants to make his child happy, he gently takes the hamster from her hands. He holds the rodent up to eye level, tries to judge its character, and promptly gets shat on.

“That’s hamsters for you,” the associate says as he takes the hamster and hands him a wipe and some disinfectant.

Eric wipes his hands and looks down to see Lily hiding a laugh behind her hands. When she sees that she’s been spotted, she looks around the store aimlessly and innocently as though the fit of giggles never happened.

“Time for the rats now, Papa!” Lily reminds him as she bends back down.

“Lily, I don’t know-”

“Papa, please?” Lily asks, eyes big.

Eric looks over to the associate and nods.

“You said you wanted to hold the albino rat, right?”

“Uh huh! He’s really cute.”

“Okay. Hold out your hands. He might try to crawl up your arm.”

Lily hold her hands out and the rat immediately starts sniffing Lily and crawling up her arm to perch on her shoulder. He sniffs her face and hair as Lily giggles in delight. And then it curls up against her neck, paws holding onto her shirt so he won’t fall off her small shoulders.

“Papa, he is the the best pet I could ever ask for,” Lily says in awe.

“Now the thing about rats is that they are very social. It’s recommended you get two. They can be relatively happy as a single rat if they get a lot of attention but they are companion animals. It’s best to get a cage mate.”

Lily gasps, “Papa, that means I can have TWO pets! That’s good!”

“Is it?” he asks her without humor.

“Uh huh. I can watch them play and they can play with me and we’ll be best friends.”

Eric lets out a groan. He already knows what his answer is going to be. Brian is going to kill him. Literally kill him. His blood will be splattered throughout their home as the rats feed on his body.

“Is there another rat in there that this one is attached to?” Eric finally asks, accepting his fate.

Lily holds back a squeal and vibrates with excitement as the associate points out one of his brothers, who is a reddish cream colored rat. She visits with that one as well. He seems to be sweet and inquisitive as well, although more active and a little less cuddly. Lily promptly starts giving him the puppy eyes and Eric finally agrees then lets the associate direct them to everything they need to get. After they buy the cage, travel carrier, a smaller but more size appropriate cage than the travel cage to take to Emmett’s in April, food, supplies, and toys, he is definitely glad that he brought the car. He signs some papers, agreeing to keep the rats as his own and to not give them away as well as also agreeing that he will bring the rats back if they die within a week to get a refund or an exchange.

The associate helps them get their purchases to the car and they load them in the trunk after he puts Lily in her car seat and the travel carrier beside her.

“No getting the rats out until we get home. Sit tight,” he orders before he goes to make sure everything fits in the back.

“‘Kay, Papa.”

They manage to get everything in and he slips the man a tip, even though the associate originally insists on not taking it. After the man goes back inside, Eric goes to the other side of the car and gets into the driver’s seat.

“Papa?”

“Yes, Lily?”

“Thank you.”

Eric smiles, “You’re welcome. Your daddy is going to kill me but you’re welcome.”

Lily shakes her head, “I don’t think he’ll do that. He won’t when he sees how cute they are. I’m gonna let him name one and I think he’ll like that.”

“We’ll see, I guess.”

Eric drives around the block to go back to the apartment. He and Lily lug the stuff in after she takes the rat’s carrier to her room. Then they clear out the corner of her room and get to work on the cage. When the rats go in the cage to play around and investigate, Eric can admit that they are maybe a little cute. And when Lily gets them out and he sees that they are actually very sweet and well behaved pets, he can admit that maybe it was a good choice on Lily’s part.

He can only hope that Brian thinks so too.