Dominic Granger was an odd man, some people thought. Of course, he'd been a widower for five years, and his job hadn't exactly allowed him much time to cultivate friendships outside his own family in that time. But something even odder was happening now. In the space of barely a month, he had rescued a young woman and her daughter, dealt with their tormentors, and moved into a cottage on Maple Grove with them. There was no mistaking the adoration he felt for Elle, or her daughter, Daisy, and despite certain members of the family prodding at him, he was determined to do this romance thing his own way, and in his own time. The next step on his journey included borrowing Daisy for an afternoon and swearing the little girl to secrecy about their errand, after promising faithfully not to go above a certain speed limit on his bike.

With the six-year-old tucked securely in front of him on the seat, he drove from the Grove into the heart of New Haven in the city, parking up easily by the curb. One hand knocked on the custom-made helmet in front of him. "We're here, sweetheart," he told the little girl. "Off it comes."

Needless to say, the six-year-old had never been on a motorcycle before and was having the time of her life. It wasn't like her life hadn't been full of excitement and adventure, but this was a different kind of excitement - a good kind of excitement. Being on the run from bad guys was not what Daisy had considered fun, no matter how much her mother had tried to make light of it. Now that they had settled down in Rhy'Din, the little girl couldn't be happier, and she knew the same could be said for her mother. "Are you really gonna be my Daddy?" Daisy asked as she unsnapped the chin strap and let Dom pull the helmet off her head to shake out her curls.

"If your Mum says yes," he told her with a grin, liberating that head full of curls before pulling his own helmet off. Both went onto his handlebars before he set his hands about her waist, helping her scramble off the bike and onto the sidewalk. "And if you really want me to be. But first things first ....you and me are going to find the perfect ring to give your mom when I ask her, because no one knows your mom better than you do."

Once she was on her feet, she automatically extended her hand to him, expecting him to take it, a tiny frown on her face at her reply. "Why would you buy her a ring if you thought she might say no?" she asked him, solemnly. "You already know I want you for my Daddy, silly, but you shouldn't ask her just because of that."

"Well, I'm hoping she'll say yes," he tried to explain to the little girl as he took her hand, tucking his keys into his pocket as he drew her toward the jeweler's close by. "And I'm almost certain she will say yes, but there's always the chance she might change her mind." He chuckled at her admonishment, crouching down beside her. "I'm not just asking her because I want to be your Daddy, little miss," he laughed, tickling her tummy just because he could. "I'm asking her because I love her, and I would very much like to spend the rest of my life as her husband, as well as your Daddy."

He didn't really need to ask her permission to marry her mother. The only one whose opinion really mattered was Elle's, but Daisy had made her feeling clear nearly from the beginning. It was no big secret that she was fond of Dom and wanted him for her Daddy, and she knew her mother well enough to know she wouldn't say no. She looked back at him solemnly as he crouched down beside her. "She loves you, too. Can't you tell?" she asked, with a child's honesty and curiosity.

He smiled at her gently. "I can tell, most of the time," he assured the little girl he was growing ever more fond of as the weeks and months went by. "And that's another reason I want to ask her to marry me. I wouldn't ask her if I thought she didn't love me. And the ring is so that people will know without needing to ask her that she is already spoken for, so she doesn't get bothered by other men who might want to get to know her all the way better. When a lady wears an engagement ring on her left ring finger, it's a sign for everyone else that she's already decided who she's going to marry."

She took that all in, understanding it well enough, but it left her wondering something else. "What about you? How will other ladies know that you are spoken for?" she asked, turning the tables on him. It seemed only fair, after all, and he was a handsome man - even at six, she knew that much. If she'd been older, she might have even claimed him for herself.

"Because I'll tell them," he promised her faithfully. "It's a tradition from when it was impolite to just come out and ask someone whether or not they were dating; nobody actually asked, and ladies in particular were less likely to be molested if they were wearing an engagement ring. These days, people come out and ask, and I will very proudly tell them that I am engaged to be married to the most beautiful woman I've ever met, and that I'm going to be an adorable little girl's dad, too." He tweaked her nose fondly. "That help?"

"Mo-les-ted?" she echoed, not quite sure what that word meant, though she didn't like the sound of it very much. It sounded like a word that meant something bad. "That's stupid. I think you should wear a ring, too, so you don't get mo-les-ted either." She wriggled her nose at his tweaking and batted his hand away. "People who are married wear rings. Hump'ty wears a ring, and so does Jonathan. Why do you wear a ring when you're married, but not when you're engaged" That's just silly."

Dom stared at her for a moment, and gave in. "You know what? It is silly," he agreed with her. "But it gives us an excuse to buy your mom a really pretty ring for her to wear all the time, and I think your mom should have a really pretty ring to wear, don't you? And you should have something pretty and sparkly for being an amazing help in finding that ring, too."

"Mummy likes sparklies," Daisy agreed, eyes widening when he suggested getting something for her. "But we aren't getting married," she told him, a little confused, though it was doubtful she'd deny such a present once offered.

"No, we're not," he agreed with a chuckle. "But that doesn't mean I can't buy you something special, does it?" He rose onto his feet, offering her his hand again. "C'mon, sweetheart. You have to stop me from buying something Mama really wouldn't like. I'm a boy, we're not very good at this sort of thing."

"Dom?" she asked as he moved to his feet and retook her hand, dark doe eyes looking up at him worriedly. "Are you going to go away again? I heard Jon and Vicki talking and they said you go away all the time but you haven't gone away since Mummy got here."

"Yes, sweetie?" He paused just outside the jeweler's, looking down at her, and felt a faint pang of guilt cross his heart for the worry on her face as she spoke. Bending, he hiked her up onto his hip, strong arms more than capable of carrying her comfortably even at seven years old. "I used to go away a lot because I didn't have anything to stay for," he told her. "But now I have you, and Mummy, and I'm not planning on going anywhere without you guys ever again. You're stuck with me, kid." He winked at her, pushing open the door to finally get inside.

She beamed a smile back at him, the worry in her eyes disappearing instantly. It had taken Elle a little while to trust him, but Daisy had trusted him right from the start. "We would miss you if you went away," she told him, little arms going around his neck to hold on tightly, speaking for both her mother and herself. They had grown very attached to him these past months and couldn't imagine their lives without him anymore.

"I'd miss you, too, munchkin," he promised her, squeezing her warmly for a moment. "But now ....we have something to do." The shop he'd taken her into sparkled with everything on display. Knowing that Elle's tastes ran to the expensive - not that money was an issue - Dom had deliberately chosen one of the independently run jewelers here in New Haven, knowing they'd be able to find something here that the woman in his life might like. He caught the eye of the sales rep, who lit up at the thought of a possible commission. "Hi," Dom smiled at the girl, who blushed almost instantly. "The little lady and I would like to take a look at your engagement rings, please."

"No, I'm going to wrap you up with ribbons and hang you from the ceiling to distract your mother when she starts hunting around for this little box," Dom informed her, his eyes twinkling with amusement as the girl tidied up, moving away to make a selection from the necklaces they had for sale. She'd worked out how to handle these two interesting customers by now.

She giggled again at the thought of that, trusting he wasn't really going to do that, or if he did, he'd make sure to let her down again. "You'll have to put it in a really safe place. Mummy always finds everything," she said with an emphasis on everything, as if she knew that from experience. As far as Daisy was concerned, her mother had eyes in the back of her head, as she'd never been able to get away with anything without her knowing about it.

"Might get Ash to hide it for me," Dom suggested then with a chuckle. "She might wrap it up tight and safe, and drop it in one of her fish tanks. Would that stop Mummy from finding it, do you think?" His little sister was always up for a bit of silliness, and had taken to Elle and Daisy like a fish to water, always happy to distract one or the other if the need arose.

That brought forth another burst of giggles. "She'd never find it there!" Though Daisy would likely develop a sudden interest in fish, which Elle might find suspicious, it was unlikely she'd suspect the fishtank to be hiding an engagement ring.

"Especially if she put it in the shark tank!" Dom laughed. Daisy's giggles were always infectious, and if he was honest, he enjoyed her company a lot more than he'd ever have thought he would. "Should we stop off at Ash's on the way home and make sure it's kept very safe until I need it, then?"

If she'd been standing on the floor, Daisy might have bounced up and down with excitement, but instead, she just beamed up an infectious smile up at him. "Oh, yes, can we?" she asked, clapping her hands in delight. She had grown pretty fond of his sister and couldn't wait until she could officially dub her an aunt.

Chuckling, he gently flicked on of those bouncing curls back off her face. "Of course we can," he promised her warmly. A quiet cough drew his attention to the girl behind the counter, who had laid out a selection of necklaces onto her piece of black velvet for them to look at. Dom grinned, his eyes flickering to Daisy once again. "Aren't they pretty, munchkin?"

She smiled fondly up at him, happy to know their day together wasn't going to end too soon, before turning to the array of sparklies laid out for her to choose from. A thought occurred to her, though, that stole the smile from her face. "Do I have to wait until you give Mummy her ring to wear it?" she asked. She didn't really mind if she did; the wait would be worth it to see the look on her mother's face.

"Would I do that to you?" he asked, effecting a truly terrible expression of shock that was utterly ruined by the chuckle in his voice. "You can wear it home, sweetheart. See if Mummy notices it before you have to point it out." Despite the fairly enormous clue this would give Elle as to their activities, if Ashlynn was going to be keeping the ring safe, he didn't have to worry about the former thief he lived with finding it anytime soon. "Which one would you like?"

"Really?" she asked, unable to hide her astonishment. "What are we going to tell her?" she asked as she looked again to the array of pretties on display. She thought all of them were lovely, but she knew she couldn't have them all. Besides, this was a special gift from her future Daddy to her and nobody else. There was one that drew her eyes in particular - a sparkly flower made of pink and purple crystal hanging from a delicate gold chain. It wasn't the kind of thing she could wear to the playground; it was made for special occasions, and that was just fine with her. "That one, please," she said, pointing a finger at the one she'd chosen.

"We will tell her a little bit of the truth, mixed up with a little bit of a little white lie," Dom told the little girl, watching as she picked out a lovely little necklace that put him in mind of the Rose Window in Notre Dame Cathedral, on Earth. He nodded to the girl behind the counter, who picked it up to fasten the delicate chain about Daisy's neck for the little girl. "We'll tell her that we went to look at rings, and I got you this for being such wonderfully good company."

"Okay," she said, unsure if her mother would believe that little white lie, but it didn't much matter. She would be getting the ring soon enough, along with a proposal, while Daisy got to share a special secret with her future Daddy. She looked down at the necklace hanging from her neck and touched it, as if to make sure it was real, tears suddenly spilling over onto her cheeks. "It's so pretty," she said, sniffling back her tears.

"She'll know what we've been up to, but she'll play along," he assured her, handing over his card to the girl behind the counter. Hearing Daisy sniffle, Dom looked down at the little girl worriedly, one hand gently tipping her head up so he could look at her face. "What is it, sweetheart' Did I say something wrong again?"

Forced to meet his gaze, she shook her head, her chin trembling as she tried to hold back her tears. "No," she said, sniffling again. "It's just ....I-I don't remember my real Daddy, and ....I wanted one for so long ..." She sniffled again, before flinging her arms around his neck to hug him tight.

He wrapped his arms around her, lifting her up off the glass case to hug her close. "Well, you've got one now," he promised her. "And I have no plans on going anywhere without you and Mummy." He kissed her hair gently, rocking her as he hugged her, grateful for the sales girl's patience in waiting for him to comfort his little companion before finishing the sale itself.

"Really?" she asked, unafraid to show him a hint of her inner fears and worries, trusting him not to laugh or her or think she was being silly, like some adults did. "Promise?" she asked, eyes shining with tears.

He drew his head back, making sure she could see the absolute sincerity in his eyes as he answered her. "I promise, Daisy. I have no intention of disappearing on you, ever."

She met his gaze, deciding to believe him, and nodded her head. She had no reason not to trust him, after all, especially after he'd just bought her mother such an expensive present. "Okay," she said, sniffling again and rubbing the tears from her face. "I really want you for my Daddy," she told him, afraid to tell him the three little words she was longing to say.

"And I really want you for my daughter," he promised her affectionately, pulling a tissue from his pocket to dry her eyes with. "You know why' Because I love you, munchkin. I love you like you were my very own, and with your permission, I would like to adopt you when I marry your Mummy."

"Adopt me?" she echoed, eyes wide even as he tried her tears. It wasn't those three little words that surprised her so much, though she was happy to hear it from him - it was the fact that he wanted to officially make her his daughter, just as he wanted to make her Mummy his wife. "Then I would be ..." Her chin trembled a little again as she realized she'd be a Granger then, just like him and Ash and Hump'ty and Jon and Vicki and everyone else who lived at Maple Grove and even some who didn't. "Are you asking my permission?"

He smiled at her surprise, wondering if she and Elle had discussed this at all. After all, it had been Elle who had originally asked him if, when the time came, he would make it official with both of them. "Yes, I am asking for your permission, little lady," he assured Daisy with a nod, pausing to sign the credit slip in front of him before looking back to the little girl on his hip. "Would you like that' To be a Granger, like all of us on the Grove?"