Luke's PoV

A while later we had said our goodbyes and finally coaxed Kira to come home. She had clearly had so much fun, the smile on her face larger than I'd seen in a long time. She really didn't want to leave. When I'd told her we needed to, she got sad, asked if she could stay over with Cody which I'd instantly shut down. Not because I didn't like Alyssa and Cody but I still didn't trust anyone with my daughter - a sleepover would be a long time without me there and if Alyssa did have other motives she would have the perfect opportunity to do it within that time. When I'd come to pick her up half a day later, it'd be too late.

I glanced in the rear view mirror at Kira who was sleeping, her head resting against the window which had caused it to steam up. Calum looked behind him at her and then turned to me, letting out a sigh which I knew meant that we were about to have an uncomfortable conversation.

"Please don't-" I began but he just talked over me. He knew that I wasn't going to get mad at him, that wasn't what I was like, so I just breathed out heavily and let him continue.

"Look I'm not saying she should move in with you but come on, man, you can't deny that she would be a great addition into yours and Kira's lives!" I knew he was onto something and to be honest had thought about the same thing myself, but I was never going to admit that to him. The way she so quickly volunteered to help Kira when I was running late, listened to her and understood her allergy, cooking her something suitable and allowing the kids to play and feel connected with someone. Kira had gone such a long time without a proper friend, which I knew was my fault, but I couldn't bear to see her get upset and broken over someone fake. If she didn't have something, it couldn't be taken away, right? "Kira will resent you." Calum's sentence brought me back to earth with a crash. He couldn't be serious could he?

"Excuse me?" I barked, knowing that he was just using my daughter as a scapegoat for his excuses to keep Alyssa around. Knowing him, he probably fancied her.

"Kira will grow up alone, have barely any social or interpersonal skills and it'll all boil down to the fact you were too scared to let her love." My chest tightened at his words, putting fear into me that I was failing as a father. "She will possibly understand why you did it but she'd ask the same thing each time. 'Why?'" Luckily for me, Calum's house was in sight as I sped up, slamming the brakes on when we reached his driveway. I kept my voice low to make sure I didn't wake my daughter up as I spoke to him.

"I'm doing what's best for my daughter whether you like it or not. If you like Alyssa so much then maybe you should date her." It was childish, I knew that, but it got my point across. Seconds later, Calum had left my car and stomped up his driveway without looking back. I scrunched my face up as I gripped the steering wheel, feeling like my mind was working overtime. Life was fine as it was for me and Kira, right?

***
Saturday

I put my coffee cup on the counter and put my hands either side of it, looking down with a sigh as Kira played up and didn't want to get ready. I felt infuriated but I knew I couldn't show it, it was as if I only had one nerve left and she was cutting at it.

"No daddy I don't want to wear that." Another dress, I'd say the third or fourth of the eight outfits she'd refused already this morning, was thrown in my direction, the mess of each outfit littering my otherwise tidy house. This was a nightmare. Our maid, Nigella, was away this weekend and so I was left to fend for myself with the tidying as well as trying to keep myself and Kira happy and fed and well. None of those things were happening right now.

"Then pick your own outfit." I said through gritted teeth, my shoulders tensing as I desperately tried to divert the anger away from my voice.

"No. I want to see Cody." She whined, sitting down on the floor and crossing her arms as if she were protesting. A sigh escaped my lips. I had to get her to forget about him now.

"Not today. You'll see him at school." I said flatly but I heard her whining before I'd even finished my sentence.

"But you never let me see my friends." The last word was dragged out as tears filled her eyes. I could hear her voice warbling from emotion. Shit. I couldn't make her cry.

"Hey baby, no. Don't cry." I scooped her up into my arms and she threw her arms around my neck.

"Every friend I have goes away." Even for her young age, she had a brilliant brain, always managing to cling onto information and remembering things - which could be bad for me. I gripped her protectively.

"No sweetie, they were just not good ones." I soothed as I stroked her hair. She looked up at me and wiped her tears away.

"Is Cody a good friend?" My instant flat response of 'no' was meant to come out, but for some reason I couldn't say it. I did trust them more than I'd trusted anyone else and Kira must have known that. I'd let her go into their house for goodness sake. How could I then say they weren't good people? "And Alyssa is nice. She cooks nice food. And she's pretty." Kira had almost forgotten about being sad. She beamed as she spoke about them. Suddenly, my phone vibrated on the table and I rushed towards it, eyes widened in surprise as I read the message.

Alyssa: I'm so sorry to message you but Cody has not stopped talking about seeing you and Kira again. He even said you could bring your friend. I know you're probably busy but I wondered if you wanted to meet for a play date?

I put Kira down as I grabbed my phone.

"Kira, hunny, will you get dressed so we can go and see Cody?" She squealed in excitement and ran to her room, running back out like a skittish cat as she picked up a few of the outfits she had thrown away previously and ran back to her room once more. Five minutes later she came out fully dressed with a smile so big it nearly brought me to tears. How could I deny her happiness? Maybe Calum was right.

Me: Hey, Kira has been doing the exact same thing! I think you've just saved us both having a breakdown. Did you want to come over to mine?