It had been a few days since my parents came over and since then, I decided Kiara needed a break from people. That day was difficult for her. She enjoyed it, but it was stressful, she needed a break.

I delayed her meeting with Uncle Rico and in that time I allowed her to call Aunt Sophie, Momma or Dad over to visit whenever she wanted. She was very upset when I told her she shouldn't meet anyone else for a little while. So, I had to allow something and that something was baking cakes with Aunt Sophie and having Mom and Dad over.

Kiara was a little upset with me about the delay. I understood she wanted to just meet everyone and finally move on. She was excited. But she was too excited and the excitement was interfering with her ability to make a reasonable decision. To her, it was ok to have panic attacks all the time if she could just be happy after them. But to me, I wanted her to have the smoothest transition into the family.

"Kiara." I said softly, hoping she was a little less upset with me now. She was in the kitchen with Aunt Sophie.

"Go away, Vivi." She said, standing beside Aunt Sophie in front of the stove.

Aunt Sophie turned to me and gave me a sympathetic smile. She knew I was just trying to do what was right for my Kiwi. I sighed and I walked over to Kiara, wrapping my arms around her and pulling her closer to me.

"You're being unreasonable, Kiwi." I said.

"Stop it. I explained this to you already. You don't want to listen to me." She said, trying to push me away.

"Vidal... leave her." Aunt Soph said to me.

I sighed and left, feeling very upset about this argument with Kiara. She was being unreasonable, but I definitely understood why she was so upset. She didn't care what sacrifices she had to make as long as she met everyone. I cared about those sacrifices though. I didn't want this to be more difficult than it needed to be for her.

I heard Aunt Sophie talking to her in the kitchen while I sat in our bed, feeling down.

"You know he just wants what's best for you, right?" Aunt Sophie asked her.

"I know... but he's not listening to me. This is what's helping me get better, I told him that. But he's delaying it." Kiara sighed.

"Sweetheart. It's hard on you. You may not realize that. It might feel super easy, but it subconsciously affects you. He can see that but you probably can't. He's trying to protect you." Aunt Sophie said.

"That's not fair. I told him I was ready, he should trust that I know that. I know I freak out sometimes, and I panic. But that's just part of my life." Kiara said.

"No. It isn't normal to get through things by allowing yourself to panic. You can't do that to yourself, Sweetheart." Aunt Soph told Kiwi.

"It's not like I'm meeting anyone new. I already met him." Kiara said.

"Who?" Sophie asked.

"Uncle Rico." Kiara said.

"Ah.... I see." Aunt Sophie said. "I think Vidal has a point."

"Why?" Kiara asked.

"My husband is... he's not the easiest to talk to. He can look a little angry at times." Aunt Sophie said.

"I know he doesn't show emotion a lot. But I still want to meet him. I know it'll be a little hard, but I still want to meet him. I was perfectly ok and ready to meet more people when Momma and Daddy left, then Vivi ruined it." Kiara said.

"Go talk to him, and listen. He's just worried about you." Aunt Sophie said.

I heard Kiwi put something down and her soft footsteps started getting closer to me.

"Hi." I said, when she walked through the door.

"I'm ready to meet Rico. Why do I have to wait?" She asked.

"I just don't want you to panic, I don't want you to overwhelm yourself and you had just gotten close with lots of people in a short period of time. I just wanted you to wait." I told her.

"Ok. I waited. I want to meet him. Now." She said to me.

"Come here." I said, patting the bed beside me.

As soon as she got close enough, I scooped her up into my arms and hugged her tightly.

"I'm sorry, ok? Even if I was right, I admit maybe it wasn't my place to stop you from meeting anyone. I just... I care about you, Kiwi. I don't want to upset you, I just want you to be safe and comfortable. I don't like to see you panic, that's it." I said to her.

She sighed and wrapped her arms around me, hugging me back.

"I'm sorry. I've never wanted to be controlling with you. I've always wanted to give you all the freedom in the world. But that panic attack when Momma got her the first time, it scared me, baby.... I didn't want anything like that to happen again." I said to her.

"I know. I understand you're worried. But I can't get better without any problems." She sighed.

"I understand that. But I want it to go smoothly and I don't want you to think it's ok for you to just panic like that. If you overwhelm yourself, you're going to panic. If we take things slower, you're going to get through it all smoothly." I tried to explain to her.

"I know.... but like.... what's a few panic attacks compared to getting so much better and finally being comfortable around everyone?" She asked me.

"It means a lot. But it's not my decision, ok? I've told you what I think, now you decide." I told her.

"When do you think I should meet Uncle Rico?" She asked me.

"Now if you want. You've waited long enough. But I think there should be at least a day or two between him and the next new person." I said to her.

"Fine.... but what about Remi... he's not new." She agreed.

"He's new." I insisted.

"Ok, ok. But only one day between them." Kiara bargained.

"Ok." I agreed.

"Call Uncle Rico." She demanded.

"He's probably at work." I said.

"Just call him." She said to me.

"Ok." I chuckled, seeing how eager she was to meet him.

I never thought things would be this way, Kiara telling me she wanted to meet people and me requesting that she slows down. I would've guessed that it would be the other way around. But my little kiwi is incredibly unpredictable.

The phone rang once and then Uncle Rico picked up.

"Is she ready?!" He asked, not even giving me a chance to say anything.

"Yes." I laughed. "I'm the one who made her wait, she wanted to meet you a few days ago."

"What? I'm coming now." He said, and I heard him grab what sounded like keys.

"Ok." I laughed, letting him hang up on me.

"What happened?" Kiara asked me.

"He's coming." I told her.

"Yay! Thank you, Vivi." She giggled, hugging me tightly.

"No need to thank me, baby. I'm sorry, Sweetheart." I said to her. "I shouldn't have argued. It's not fair of me to try and decide things for you."

"Stop it, Vivi. Just... let's go out to the kitchen, Fifi is waiting for us." She told me.

I nodded and took her hand, letting her drag me out to the kitchen.

"I love you, Vivi." She said softly, kissing me on my cheek and making my heart ache. She was so sweet and I kept messing up. Maybe I was right, I'm still convinced I was. But it's not fair for me to take away the freedom of those kinds of decisions from her.

Uncle Rico came over in a matter of minutes and he was very determined to show more emotion. I was glad that Aunt Sophie was there.

"Hi, Uncle Rico." Kiwi said softly from behind me when he walked in.

"Hi, Little one. I brought you something." He said to her.

"You did?" She asked in confusion.

"Yup. Here." He said, handing her a little box. She opened it and she saw a necklace with a bunny pendant on it.

Kiara gasped and looked down at the necklace like it was something out of this world.

"This is.... it's.... Thank you!" She said, her eyes tearing up.

"I just... I know I can be hard to understand because I don't show emotions. I just tend to be a more private person. But once I get used to you, I'll be better." He smiled at her.

All of a sudden, Kiwi flung herself at my uncle, hugging him tightly.

"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! It's so beautiful!" She said.

Uncle Rico was very surprised by how well she was handling meeting him. He smiled though and he hugged her back.

"Turn around. Let me help you put it on." He said to her.

"Is that Fede!" Aunt Sophie squealed. "Baby!"

She came running into her husbands arms and kissed him happily.

"Hi, Princess." He smiled, kissing her on her forehead, tucking her hair behind her ear.

The way he looked at Aunt Sophie was so different. Just like the way Dad looked at Mom, the way Uncle Killian looked at Em and the way my grandfathers looked at my grandmothers. It's really like they can't see anyone else when their woman is in their arms. That's love. That's how I feel about Kiara.

I just can't tell her how I feel yet and escalate the feelings between us. We need to take this slow. The second I tell her I love her, I'll want to kiss her even more and then things will unravel too quickly. In order for that to be legal, she has to be in someone else's care, at least on paper. And I wasn't prepared to go through that paperwork just yet.

It was hard to conceal my feelings though. I just get lost in those beautiful green eyes. Honestly, I've resorted to trying not to look at her too often and that distracted me from those alluring lips of hers.

I just couldn't help it sometimes. It's like she demanded my attention by existing. She didn't say or do anything, but my entire body was ready to tend to her constantly.

"Fifi! Look!" Kiara giggled, showing Aunt Sophie the necklace.

It was a very simple necklace with a tiny bunny pendant. It was adorable how happy she was over something so tiny and simple.

"You really didn't have to get me anything Uncle Rico." She said.

"I wanted to. And you don't have to address me so formally, Little One." He said to her.

"Can I call you Coco then?" She asked him.

He chuckled and smiled.

"Nana Lucie also calls me that, did you know that?" He said to her.

"Really?" She cheered.

"Yup." He laughed. "Of course you can call me that."

"Can you tell me about yourself?" She asked him, tugging him alongside her and heading back to the kitchen.

"I'm a doctor.... I used to be a soccer player." He told her.

"What else? What do you like?" She asked him.

"Food." He chuckled.

"Is that why you stole Daddy's chicken wrap in high school?" She asked him.

"Oh my God." Uncle Rico said, sighing.

"I like food. Always have. And I didn't even steal his chicken wrap. He's twisting facts." Rico said.

"What happened?" Kiwi asked curiously.

"I was just late for practice and I needed something to eat since I wouldn't be home for another few hours, I also forgot my lunch, so I took his sandwich. He was going home anyway because he didn't have any other classes. It was perfectly fair." Rico argued.

"It was still a little mean." Kiara said.

"Maybe. But it was fair don't you think?" Uncle Rico said.

"Yeah. Probably." She smiled. "But Daddy really wanted that chicken wrap."

Uncle Rico groaned.

"Fede... can I talk to you for a second?" Aunt Sophie said, tugging him towards the bedroom.

"No! No! Go to the bathroom!" I said.

My parents were uncontrollable, but not as uncontrollable as Uncle Rico and Aunt Sophie. At least they actually looked for privacy though. They didn't just openly make out in front of us or anything, which was definitely appreciated.

"We're just talking, shut up!" Aunt Sophie said.

A few minutes after they went into the bedroom, Aunt Sophie came out of the bedroom and Uncle Rico gestured for me to go talk to him.

I was suddenly nervous. He looked very serious and I didn't know what it was about. I hoped it was nothing too serious or scary. I didn't really know what to expect when Uncle Rico gave me that stone cold look. I didn't think I did anything wrong, but he looked upset.