Serena

I couldn't believe that I was actually standing outside of Liam's apartment.

After our conversation, I didn't actually expect Liam would contact me. I thought it was just something he said to make Bea happy.

I had told Will about it, telling him I didn't expect Liam would call. However, he was so sure that it would.

Stupidly, I made a bet with him.

I told Will, if he were to win, I'd buy him the new game for his console, since he was basically an overgrown child. If I were to win, he'd have to buy me the new pair of boots I had my eye on. I didn't need it, but I still wanted it anyway.

I didn't hear from Liam for a week and I was so sure that I had won the bet, I even placed the boots in my basket online, only to have my purchase halted, when Will, so smugly, showed me my phone.

Liam had sent me his address, asking me to come over so that we could discuss planning the party.

So here I was, standing in front of the door to Liam's apartment, taking a deep breath before I plucked up the courage to knock.

I was nervous. Since I didn't think Liam and I were completely okay and there was a little bit of tension. But if I was going to be planning, or helping to plan, his daughters' birthday, we were going to have to work through that.

After saying 'you can do this' in my head a couple of times, I knocked on his door, although my mind started wondering immediately, on whether this after would go smoothly.

Suddenly, I heard the door click open.

The door opened and Liam stood there, dressed casually in joggers and t-shirt. I cursed myself for dressing formally, in a dress and heels, as if I was off to work. It was only a mid-length dress, but I looked as if I were off to a meeting in comparison to Liam.

He had the door open, holding onto it with one arm and the other leaning against the doorway,

"Hi," he greeted.

"Hey," I replied and then looked at his arm. "Are you going to let me in?"

"Oh, right," he said and moved back, opening the door wider so that I could walk in.

Before either on of us could say anything else, I heard a little voice call out to me.

"Serena!" Bea yelled and stumbled into my legs.

I quickly bent down to hug her. "Bumblebee!" I said with equal excitement, holding her close, she pulled away to give me a mischievous grin.

"Buzz buzz," she said. I kissed her little button nose in return, causing her to giggle.

Bea then held my hand and tugged, clearly wanting me to come further inside.

"I like that you came," she said.

I noticed that the place was different to Liam's previous home. The last place had more pastel colours, and flowers, whereas now, it was more block colours. A lot more dark blues, whites, browns and blacks. This was more of a man's apartment now, but it still wasn't completely Liam, since Bea's things also filled the room.

There was a red cushion in the middle of the sofa, in the shape of the letter 'B'. A big picture of Liam and Bea was put up, above the coach. Her other toys filled the living room as well, clearly making the place as much as Bea's, as it was Liam's.

"Of course I did. You invited me. How could I not come?" I smiled at Bea, who was beaming up at me.

"Do you want to see my room?" Bea then asked excitedly.

As if I was really going to say no to that question, with the expression she was currently pulling. I wasn't that heartless.

"Let's go," I said, and she pulled me in the direction of her room.

Bea's room reflected the princess that she was. It wasn't overly pink or anything, but there were a few pink accents in the room. The walls of the room were a very light grey, with the bed in the middle of the big wall, white and light pink bed sheets, teddies spread across it. A large decorative wooden name sign was placed on one wall, with Bea's name. Pictures of Liam and Bea were hung on the wall and a picture of Julie holding a baby Bea, placed on the bedside table.

The picture of Julie brought an instant smile to my face. Even just being in a picture, Julie could light up the room.

It was actually sweet to think the amount of effort Liam must've put into decorating this room for his little girl.

Soon enough, Bea pulled me out of her room and back into the living room where Liam was sat in front of the tv.

"Come on, Daddy. You have to help Serena plan my birthday," Bea then told Liam, as I sat down on the far end of the sofa and she sat down next to me. She patted down the spot on the other side of her.

Liam looked at me and then back at Bea. "I'm sure the two of you can do it together," he said.

The little girl wasn't entirely not happy with his words. "You have to help," she pouted, jutting out her bottom lip further to make a point.

Liam sighed, turning off the tv and then moving to the spot Bea kept patting at. "Okay, fine. I'm coming."

I couldn't hold back the snort that escaped me. "Wow, don't look so excited, save some for the rest of us," I muttered, as I pulled out my notebook from my bag, ready to make notes.

Liam looked at me with narrowed eyes, whilst I grinned back.

Bea the moved to sit on Liam's sap, her legs resting across as she leaned against his chest.

"Okay so, tell me Bea, what was your last birthday like?" I asked her.

"Daddy was a Lion," she said.

I was a little taken aback by her words. "Excuse me?"

"Mum planned a whole Lion King themed birthday," Liam clarified, as Bea nodded at his words.

Of course, Emma would plan something like that.

"And you were a Lion?" I asked Liam, who nodded.

"Mufasa," she said, grinning. "I was Simba," she added, proudly.

"I bet you were a cute little lion," I told her and she giggled at my words.

Getting into my serious mode, like I do when brides come to me when they're shopping for their wedding dress, I looked at Bea.

"What would you like this birthday to be like?" I asked her.

Without even blinking, she replied quickly. "Like your shop."

I was prepared for her something like, she wanted her birthday to be some kind of fairytale, or resemble some kind of Disney movie. I wasn't expecting the answer she just gave me, but went along with it anyway.

"My shop?" I asked her, and she smiled back at me.

"The princess one," she answered and I realised she must be talking about the bridal shop, which I had told her was a princess shop.

"So Bea, you'd like your birthday to be like my shop?" I asked her.

"Yeah!" She replied happily, and then looked at me curiously with those big green eyes of hers. "Do you know any princesses that can come?" She asked me.

I guess technically I did know a princess.

Tapping my chin, I put on a thinking face. "Well, now that I think of it, I do know a couple," I told Bea, who looked like she was ready to jump out of Liam's lap.

"Really?" She asked me in awe.

"I'll see what I can do about that," I said and she let out an excited squeal.

"Tell me, what's your favourite colour?" I then asked, thinking I could somehow incorporate this into the theme of the party.

"Red," Bea then replied and I froze for a second, my smile dropping ever so slightly.

Red was Julie's favourite colour too, she used to carry a red backpack in high school as well.

I glanced towards Liam, who looked like he was thinking about the same thing I was.

"What's yours?" Bea then asked, snapping both Liam and I out of our thoughts.

"Purple," I replied and she seemed to love my answer, as she nodded in approval.

"I like purple. It's pretty," she told me and I smiled back at her.

My favourite colour had changed a couple of times since I was younger. The colour Purple seemed to make me happy and it became my favourite. I also love lavenders, so it also stemmed from that.

"Daddy likes blue," Bea then told me.

"I know," I replied.

The words seemed to just have slipped out my mouth, and I could tell Liam heard me, since I saw his eyes widen, but I just cleared my throat, and carried on talking to Bea.

After brainstorming some ideas, I felt as if I got the gist of what Bea would like for her birthday party.

"Okay, I think I have an idea for your birthday, but I want it to be a surprise for you," I told Bea, who seemed more excited about the prospect of a surprise.

"Surprise!?" She squealed in joy and I nodded.

"Yes. All I need you to do, is wear something you love. Can you do that for me?" I asked her,

She jumped up. "Yes!"

Bea then turned around to face Liam. "Daddy, can I buy a new dress?" She asked Liam, holding his face in-between her little hands, squishing his cheeks slightly.

He removed her hands, placing a kiss on them. "For your birthday? Of course you can," he replied, and in an instant Bea jumped up and cheered.

"Let me go tell Clover," she said and then ran out the room.

"Clover?" I asked Liam, after Bea left the room like she was the Flash.

Liam looked back at me. "Her turtle, that's a teddy," he replied.

I nodded my head in understanding. "Right."

There was an awkward silence between us, and I was wishing that Bea would come back from talking to her teddy, but clearly that wasn't happening anytime soon, so I tried to make small talk.

"So, have you any idea what you're getting for her as a present?" I asked Liam.

"Yes," he said. I looked at him, waiting for him to elaborate, until he sighed. "Okay, no. I don't have anything."

"I have an idea for that too," I then commented and Liam looked at me.

"What is it?" He asked.

Just as I was about to reply, Bea then ran back into the room towards me.

"Serena! Come, I want you to meet Clover," she said, taking my hand and I went with her, curious to meet this turtle.

I was prepared to leave after meeting Clover, who was the cutest stuffed turtle toy I had ever seen, but Bea wouldn't let that happen, insisting that I stay for lunch.

Since it was the weekend and I didn't have to be at lunch, with Will also having lunch plans with his friends, I guess I could spend a little more time here.

"Eat your peas, Bea," Liam said from beside her, as we ate our lunch at the table.

She was sitting in between Liam and I and moving her green peas around the plate, with a look of disgust on her face, which nearly had me laughing.

"I don't like them," she pouted, furrowing her brows.

"You know, Bea, Cinderella was never given peas," I told her, and she looked up at me, letting out a gasp.

"Really? She's so lucky," she replied.

Again, I tried my best to keep a straight face, despite wanting to laugh at her words.

"She once told me how her evil stepmother would never let her eat any peas," I carried on with my story, and Bea's expression fell, as if she was feeling sad for Cinderella.

"Why?" She asked, her voice soft.

I let out a breath, giving Bea a saddened expression. "Well, peas make you all strong and healthy. The evil queen wouldn't want that now, would she?"

Bea shook her head. "No, she wouldn't."

"Cinderella never got her peas, but now she's so happy to eat them, with most her meals," I told Bea, who frowned, and then quickly smiled, her eyes sparkling.

"I want to be like her too," she said.

I then pointed at her plate. "Better eat your peas then," I told her.

Taking her fork, I fed her some peas, and she happily chomped away. She looked happy now, and not like they were her sworn enemy.

My eyes drifted towards Liam, who was just watching us, a tiny smile on his face. It wasn't a full-blown grin, but it was still something.

"You can tell her all about how you eat your peas when she comes to the party," I told Bea and she grinned at me.

"Will she come?" She asked.

I nodded. "I'll make sure she does."

"Really?" She asked.

I held out my pinky. "Really, really."

Without even questioning it, Bea linked her pinky with mine and placed a kiss on it. I assumed this was something she did with Liam.

I guess I had to make sure Cinderella comes to the party now.