Chapter One: == Play date.

Dave Strider is twenty-seven years old and a single parent to the smartest four year old on Earth. Sometimes he wonders if Rose, his daughter, was really meant for kindergarten or secretly she should be sent off to college early for her psychology degree. Rose, though only four seemed to enjoy playing therapist whenever she got the chance. She did it to the kids at school and even got sent home multiple times for making other children cry. Dave didn't mind however; he thought it was pretty rad to have a smart kid.

Even though it was just the two of them, Dave and Rose learned how to have fun. Dave let Rose play with his turntables (when he was around of course) and they took their cat, Jaspers, to the park every weekend. They watched Disney movies and ate candy while drinking apple juice. They played with plastic swords whenever Dave's brother, Dirk, came over and had battles. They built pillow forts and roasted marshmallows over a small campfire they built in the pit outside of their building. It was a pretty good life, in all honesty.

But there were the nights when Dave missed Her. He hated himself for it, but he did love Her. Maybe he always would. He missed being with Her and lying in bed together. He missed the stupid karaoke bars she would drag him to, and the lame foreign films she would insist on watching.

Sometimes, when the feeling was especially strong for both Dave and Rose, they would go out to get their minds off it. Dave caught Rose a few times in his room, searching old drawers and smelling her mom's old perfume. That was the worst. It was hard to witness and not say anything, because he knew Rose would stone cold deny it.

Dave knew things would get better. At least, he hoped for the best. If it would be the two of them forever, then they would make the most of it. Dave's number one priority was Rose, and nothing would come between that.

"So, who's this John we're meeting today?"

It was a warm Saturday afternoon. Dave and Rose had just left a Starbucks near their apartment and were heading over to a park near Rose's school for a play date. A boy in her class named John had invited her earlier this week and Dave knew she was excited because she kept packing and repacking toys in her purple backpack.

"A friend."

Blunt. Obviously his kid.

"A boy you have a crush on?"

Suddenly Parental Instincts kicked in and Dave wanted to turn around and drag Rose kicking and screaming back home. No one would touch his baby! She was way too cool for some John kid. Of course, if anyone wanted her then they would have to defeat Dave in a basic sword fight. Obviously.

"No," Rose looked up at her dad with a frown. "I'm only four, calm down."

He had to chuckle at that. She may be four, but she acted twenty-four. Sometimes he wondered how he ended up with such a smart kid, but then that thought would hurt his pride so he stopped thinking it.

"How come you've never mentioned him before? Am I not cool enough to talk to about your friends?"

"Obviously."

Ok that was a sick burn. Okay maybe just down right mean. Goddamn.

"Well then…" he stared ahead, trying to think of a good comeback. When he couldn't, he left well enough alone.

They walked hand-in-hand, blocks away from their apartment towards Rose's school. They had been to the park there multiple times when school was over, and it was pretty small. A set of swings, a teeter-totter, slides and a jungle gym. Basic park stuff.

"Who's bringing your friend?" Dave asked, curious if he'd meet his parents or a nanny or something. Nanny's could be the worst, especially if they were old and talkative.

"His mom, probably," Rose shrugged her small shoulders. "He doesn't have a dad as far as I know."

That surprised Dave. He knew the school Rose went to secretly looked down upon single parents, but it was the closest one to their house so he ignored it. He wondered absently if they gave John's mom a hard time during interviews like they did him.

"Well, we're not gonna go mentionin' that out of the blue, right?" Dave knew his daughter was smart, but her bluntness could get her into trouble one day.

"Obviously."

God her teenage years are going to be a pain.

They finished the rest of the walk in companionable silence. Once there, Dave noticed that the park was deserted except for a small black haired boy playing in the sand, and a black haired woman sitting on a wooden bench watching him.

"Go ahead," Dave let go of Rose's hand and gave her a gentle pat on the back. "I'm going to go introduce myself to John's mom."

Rose nodded and jogged off towards her friend. Dave headed in the direction of the dark haired woman. As he approached and her face came into view, he almost stopped.

Whoa.

She was stunning. And not in the 'looks good and knows it, therefore acts too self-important' way or the 'make up makes everything better way' but in the 'wow she's like a model but she dresses like a mom who has no time and has a really cute smile' way.

"Hey you must be John's mom," Dave said as he sat down beside her on the bench. "I'm Dave, Rose's dad."

The woman turned to him and smiled, her face lighting up as she did so. "I'm Jade. It's so nice to meet you!"

Bubbly. Nice.

Now came the hard part. Being married was so much easier because he never had to do much small talk. She would do it for him while he got a beer and sat on someone's couch. But now she was gone and he was left beer-less and couch-less and there was no safety net to fall back on like a bathroom or sports he never really cared about. He was faced head-on with small talk with a woman he had never met before and found totally attractive but couldn't flirt with because his daughter was right there and that was inappropriate. Apparently.

"John has been so excited the past few days," Jade began with a smile as the two sat back and watched their children play in the sand. "He wanted to invite Rose over to our house, but I wasn't sure how comfortable that would make you so we settled here."

"Oh here's good," Dave shrugged. "Rose has been looking forward to this too. She won't admit it, cause she's too damn stubborn but I can see she really likes John."

Just as he said that, Rose pulled a notebook out of her backpack as well as a pen. "Oh no," Dave muttered, knowing the psychoanalysis was about to begin. That poor kid probably had about five minutes before he came crying about all his repressed feelings that he wasn't aware of until now.

"Is she doing that thing where she pretends to be a therapist?" Jade asks, smiling as she watches the two talk.

Dave gaped at her. Wasn't she worried? A little confused or even angry?

"Uh-yeah. I can stop her if it makes you uncomfortable; she's really just too curious for her own good."

Jade smiled warmly at him. "It's okay! I think it's very interesting, actually. She's very smart."

"Y-yeah," Dave nodded.

Stop stuttering man, you sound like an idiot—and Strider's do not sound like idiots!

"I packed a picnic, by the way," Jade said absently. "I figured if they played long enough they would get tired and hungry, and John hates walking home when he's hungry," she let out a soft giggle that sounded faintly reminiscent.

"That's so nice—thank you," when was the last time they had a real home cooked meal? Dave normally threw chicken nuggets in the oven and bought juice in bulk.

"No problem," she smiled again, her green eyes reflecting off the sun.

Shit she was beautiful. And kind. And a single mother. As far as he knew she was single, anyway. She seemed genuinely happy to be out with her kid, while other parents Dave had gotten to know were so tired from running after their kids that they hardly left the house. But Jade…Jade seemed so happy just cause her kid was happy, and she liked Rose.

Of course she would though, Rose was his kid.

Although, he might have to retract that statement because lots of mothers at her school didn't like Rose because she made their kids cry a lot. It wasn't her fault that those kids were weak and had a vast inability to understand their own feelings.

"MOM," John called from the other side of the park. "MOM AM I A LESBIAN? ROSE SAYS LESBIANS ARE PEOPLE WHO LIKE GIRLS—OH WAIT THAT'S GIRLS WHO LIKE GIRLS, NEVERMIND."

Dave and Jade let out a snort each and looked at each other. "He's funny," Dave grinned.

"She's smart! Though you already know that," Jade giggled again.

"MOM I LIKE EVERYBODY DOES THAT MAKE ME GAY SINCE I LIKE BOYS?"

"You can like whoever you want!" Jade called back. "You don't need to put a label on it!"

"Four year olds realizing their sexuality," Dave shook his head and put a hand to his face. "Shouldn't they be playing power rangers or cops and robbers or some shit?"

Jade looked at him curiously. "What's a Power Ranger?"

Dave gaped at her. "Are you serious? You're not serious, right?"

Jade shook her head. "No really, what is it?"

"The shit," Dave said bluntly. "Power Rangers are the bomb, man. Like real childhood nostalgia right now. So sick."

Jade let out another soft giggle. "I still don't quite understand but okay!"

"They were…like they were these kids dressed up in hella rad suits and they fought monsters and the red one was the best okay?"

"Okay," Jade nodded, grinning.

A couple of hours passed and Dave and Jade got more acquainted, telling stories of how they grew up and their different experiences growing up. When they moved to New York and why. What schools they went to after high school and what for. Life as a single parent.

Dave liked her. She understood, which was the best part. Being a single parent was hard especially with a small child. Work was difficult, finding a babysitter was a horrible experience and there was barely enough time for yourself.

"I usually just get my brother to watch Rose," Dave shrugged. "They like each other and she has fun analyzing him."

Jade giggled. "My cousin watches John, but he mostly texts his boyfriend whenever he's over. He's big on adventure though, so John gets to go out and do stuff we wouldn't normally do."

"I once had this babysitter who sat on the couch all night and let Rose run around outside the building by herself," Dave shook his head. "This is why I'm still single, aha."

Jade gasped at him. "That's so irresponsible! She could have been hurt!"

Dave nodded, running a hand through his hair. "Yeah, I know. Imagine my reaction when I come home at two o'clock in the morning and Rose is outside with the cat."

"That's horrible," Jade shook her head in disbelief. "Some people I swear I would never let near John."

"Yeah I know exactly what you mean," Dave sighed. "I only ask my brother or closest friends to watch Rose on the odd occasion when I need them too. I've learned not to trust teenage kids anymore."

Jade nodded in agreement. "I'm exactly the same. I mean I have faith that not all teenagers are like that, but when it comes to John he's just too important."

Before Dave could reply, John and Rose came running up, caked in sand and small bruises and scratches from falling on the pavement or climbing the metal jungle gym.

"Mom we're hungry," John complained. "Can we eat now?"

"Sure hon, wanna help me set up the blanket?" Jade smiled down at her son before reaching beside her and picking up a large picnic basket.

"We can all help!" John grinned widely, his buckteeth that matched his mothers poking out.

The foursome headed over to a grassy field off to the side of the park. Each person took a corner of the checkered blanket and they all brought it down together. Jade laid out food and Dave passed out packs of apple juice he stuffed in his backpack. They all took seats and chowed down on the delicious sandwiches that Jade had prepared.

"These are really good Mrs. Harley!" Rose smiled politely at John's mom. "Thank you very much."

"Yeah thank you," Dave gave a small grin, wiping mustard off of Rose's cheek.

"No problem!" Jade grinned. "It was my pleasure, honestly."

"Thanks for the apple juice, Mr. Strider!" John grinned widely at Dave. "It's my favorite!"

"No problem little man, me too," Dave gave a fist-bump to John.

"It's all we drink," Rose rolled her eyes. "Dad doesn't buy anything else."

"Well if you told me what you wanted when we went grocery shopping instead of playing Sherlock, maybe you would get what you want," Dave said, sticking his tongue out at Rose.

She responded in the like.

Hours passed some more, and the sun started to set. The kids grew tired and soon both were asking to go home. After packing up, Dave and Rose turned towards Jade and John and said their goodbyes.

"Thanks again," Dave smiled at Jade. "I'll have to have you guys over sometime for dinner to pay you back."

"Since when can you cook?" Rose looked up at her father in skepticism.

"There's this wonderful invention called take-out you know," Dave gently elbowed Rose's head.

Jade laughed. "I'd love that, how bout you John?"

"Duh. Ps: I like Chinese the best," John and Dave fist-bumped again. Dave knew this kid was cool.

"See you soon," Dave waved.

"Wait—take my number," Jade pulled out a pad of paper and a pen she kept in her picnic basket (for grocery ideas and the like). "Here, call me when you want to get dinner."

Dave took the paper and smiled again. "Yeah—I will. Definitely."

Jade and John waved and walked off towards the opposite direction of Dave and Rose's apartment. The blonde's headed over towards their apartment, hand-in-hand.

"Soooo," Rose grinned up at her dad slyly. "You took her number pretty fast. Almost desperately. So much for being cool, huh dad?"

Dave looked down at his daughter in surprise. "I thought four-year-olds liked Barbie's, why are you so interested in my love life?"

"I think she's nice," Rose continued as if Dave had never spoken. "And you seem like you really liked her. You need to get back in the game, old man."

"Love ain't a game, kid," Dave shrugged. "And if I'm gonna be with someone, that's for the long run. Are you sure you're ready for something like that?"

"Are you sure you are?"

"Y'know kid, you're too smart for your own good."