As Anon returned home he was in for quite a sight: Dagi was sitting on the couch painting her nails, Aria was wrapped in a big blanket reading a book, and Sonata was getting her hair done by AJ. A new style too, pigtails. He wouldn't say it out loud of course, but it didn't look all that great on her. As the door closed behind him, Sonata yanked her head out off Applejack's hands, causing the pigtails to come completely undone, her hair falling straight down. It was actually not half bad to see her with her fully down.
It was the definition of a lazy day however. Aria, not having an ounce of shame in her body, was wearing nothing but her bra and shorts while Adagio lay in nothing but a tee-shirt and underwear. Sonata runs and hugs his waist.
"Hi daddy!"
"Hey sweetheart."
Both Adagio and Aria pay him little mind, completely absorbed in their activities. Now that the sun was out and he could get a better look at her, Aria seemed to be much thinner than before. Her cheek bones were more pronounced, the color in her cheeks slightly duller, and her hair stiff and fraying. It looked as if this journey took it's toll on her as well. AJ begins to walk towards him.
"How'd it go?" he asked
"It went just dandy. You've got some mighty good mannered girls Anon."
Maybe he hadn't taken back the same Aria after all. Clearly only an impostor Aria would be so well behaved.
"I'm glad to hear it. Thank you for the help."
"My pleasure."
Anon hands her twenty bucks and she's out the door. Sonata goes back to hugging her father's waist.
"Daddy I'm bored."
"I can see that."
"We should do something." Adagio interjected
"Like what?"
Aria slouched over on the couch, her arms hanging over the side.
"I don't know, just something. Anything." she groaned
Sonata clutches his waist even tighter.
"Come onnnnn dad!" she whined "I wanna do something."
Anon thinks to himself for a second
"How about the pool? That sound like fun?"
Sonata gives her cheeky smile
"Yeah! Let's do that!"
Aria, however, doesn't seem nearly as enthusiastic
"Do we have too daddy? I was thinking more along the lines of shopping."
"Yes Ari-bear. We do. You can even take your book."
Aria raises her eyebrow
"Ari-bear? Where'd you get that nickname, the local second graders?"
Yep. He definitely had the right Aria.
"You know you love my nicknames."
"Whatever helps you sleep at night old man."
It was nice to see Aria go back to normal so quickly. She was one resilient girl. They all were.
"Adagio?"
Dagi is blowing on her nails and points one eye to him
"Fine. Fine. Just give my nails a few minutes to dry."
Her toenails were painted a dazzling neon blue with sparkles. It was just the sort of punchy flare Adagio excelled at.
"That's fine, we're in no rush. Go put on your swimsuits alright? We'll meet back in ten."
Aria, realizing that he had caught a glimpse of her growing teenage body, turned a bright crimson color and wrapped a blanket tightly around herself, quickly shuffling upstairs. Adagio, however, didn't seem to care one bit that her butt was on full display through her thong and slowly ventured up after Aria. Once the three had put on their swimwear, they drove to the pool.
It was the perfect day for it. The temperature had only warmed since you got back from his little date with Sunny. It couldn't be a better time for a little break by the pool. Once inside, Anon took of his shirt and started administering sunscreen, then took a nice sit on a lawn chair. Aria takes a seat beside him.
"aren't you going swimming Ari?" he asked, lifting his sunglasses slightly
She shook her head and gave him a sweet smile
"Nah. I wanted to spend some quality time with you daddy. It's been so long since we really got to connect ya know? I've missed you."
Anon smiled back. It had only been about a week that she was trapped in there but it felt like years. It was nice to see that she missed him as much as he missed her. Aria laid down on her belly and untied her bra, trying to get a nice full tan. Just as the two began to relax, Sonata nervously walks over, twiddling her thumbs.
"Hey dad?" she asked nervously
"Yes sweetheart?"
"I um..." she paused "I don't know how to swim."
Aria's face turns from relaxation to that of genuine annoyance, thinking that instead of getting some quality time Anon would be spending him teaching Sonata how to swim. He wanted to teach her, but Aria deserved some father-daughter time.
"One sec Aria. I will be right back. Adagio come with me"
Dagi follows her dad to the counter as he goes to purchase some floaties
"Adagio I hate to ask this of you, but could you help teach Sonata to swim? Aria understandably wants to have some quality time."
Adagio smiles
"Leave it to me dad. Just promise me I'll get some too."
"Sounds like a fair deal to me."
They both walk back out to the pool, Anon giving Sonata the floaties
"Alright lovebug. Big sis is going to teach you how to do it."
Sonata hugged Dagi tight
"Yay! Sister swimming class!"
Perfect. Anon sat back down next to Aria.
"Sorry about that interruption Aria."
"It's alright."
There was a bit of a pause before Aria said
"Thank you daddy. I love you so much. I wish I could do something to repay you."
It took everything in him not to cry right there.
"Don't even mention it. I did it because I would take a speeding bullet to help you three. My greatest wish in life is to see you three happy."
"Not just for this. But for everything. Taking us on, dealing with our antics. I can imagine it can get stressful sometimes."
"Not even for a second. I have never been more fulfilled and happy with my life then when I'm raising you three."
Aria softly smiles
"I'm glad. You're a good dad."
"And you're an amazing daughter."
He and Aria sit there for a while, basking in the sun
"So what book are you reading sweetie pie?"
"A Tale of Two Cities."
Anon had a look of shock on his face. He could barely read a book like that today and Aria was only 12.
"You can really understand all that?"
Of course. We were originally going to read the first few chapters for history class but you know... I thought it was interesting so I kept reading."
"Aria, you do realize that even though I'm 27 years old, I don't understand a lick of that book right? That's amazing you can understand it."
"Seriously? I thought it was no big deal. Are you sure you're not doing this to make me feel better? I'm not Sonata you know, I can take it."
Anon frowns a bit
"I really wish you wouldn't say things like that about your sister. I know you're just joking but she really does care about you."
"I know. She just... get's on my nerves sometimes."
"That's what siblings do sweetheart. But she does care about you. She was devastated when you vanished."
Aria just looks down silently
"But enough about that. We need to focus on happy things right now. Enjoy the time we have."
"Right." she agreed "I was wondering something daddy."
"What's that?"
"Remember when you were telling me about your past and ex-fiance'? I want to know more."
So much for focusing on happy things. But he bared with it.
"Uh sure. What would you like to know?"
Aria hesitates for a moment
"Let's go back to where you left off. You know the part where your daddy and sister were really mean to you and your mom ended up in jail."
"Right..." he said "Well, after that I ran away from home to my grandfather's place and refused to go back. It was just too much for me to handle and he accepted. He knew what they did, but could never prove it."
Aria nods, listening intently and looking at him through her thick sunglasses
"After I told my grandfather everything he went to court with it and won. Basically he was my father now and he wanted me to eventually take over his business."
"What business?"
"A big farm chain. He owned seventy or eighty farms across the country that all worked for him and he wanted to will it to me when I was ready."
"Why didn't you do it?"
"It went out of business. My grandfather had gotten very sick and left the management to someone who wasn't good at it. Before it completely tanked, he sold it for a pretty substantial sum and put it in a trust fund for me, only allowing me to access it once I turned twenty one. hat's how we have the wealth we have now and why I don't need to work constantly. You could say I am set for life."
"That's pretty nice."
"It is. Though I'd rather just have my grandpa. Money can give you a lot of things Aria, but even all the money in the world couldn't bring my grandfather back."
Anon pauses for a while, the memory bringing him some obvious pain.
"Why are you so curious about my past anyway? It's not exactly the most happy story."
"I want to know my daddy." she said "I want to know where he came from and how he became the best father he is today."
"I appreciate that honey."
Aria lifted her sunglasses, peering at something to the side
"What are you looking at Ari?"
"You see that table over there? Let's do some father-daughter crafts."
Anon sucked at crafts. But if it meant spending time With Aria, he'd happily do it. They walk over to the table with a bored looking woman. It was quite an odd place or arts and crafts.
"let's make something together" Aria said "Something that emulates both of us."
She was so mature for her age. Usually it was the parent who would suggest something to the child through it, but it was the other way around this time.
"Alright. What exactly do you have in mind?"
"I'll make the base then you can add something on top. Kind of like a tower."
Instantly Anon can see her creative juices flowing as she begins to construct the base. In no less than ten minutes her base was done. She had glued seven Popsicle sticks at the base, each stick having a different name on it. From right to left it read Dad, Adagio, Sonata, Sunset, Twilight, Rainbow Dash, and Alto.
"Got an idea for the next layer dad?"
Truth was he had been so immersed watching her little girl work her magic, that he wasn't even thinking of what the next layer should be.
"Of course." he lied "Watch this."
After thinking for just a second, her took a four more Popsicle sticks and formed them into a diamond shape. Using some colored markers, he colored each stick with their signature color: purple, orange, green and blue.
"So here's what I was thinking: how about you and I take a picture and put it inside the little gem. We can hang it by your bedside so you can see it every time you wake up."
Aria smiled warmly
"That's a wonderful idea."
Anon pulls out his phone and gets into positing with Aria, hand around her waist and Aria's smile gleaming brightly, and snapped the photo.
"You like it?"
"It looks perfect daddy. Thanks. That was a lot of fun. I've really missed our bonding time."
"I have too Aria."
Anon turns his head back to the water to see Sonata swimming like a pro. Backstroke, diving, she was doing it all. As he and Aria made their way back to the lawn chairs, Sonata swam to the poolside.
"I can swim daddy!"
He smiles brightly
"I saw. You're doing amazing Sonata. I'm so proud of you!"
Dagi walks to the other lawn chair next to him
"Thank you Dagi. You've been a great help. I owe you one."
She smiles
"You know what my price was. Some bonding time."
Anon nods back
"You got the right. As if you need to bribe me into it."
She just winks and lays down on the chair. Anon and the girls spend another three hours at the pool before finally packing up. Once home. Alto greets him with lots of sloppy kisses. As night slowly creeped it's way across the sky and the girls started to wind down for bed, Anon went to Adagio's room and knocked.
"I believe I have a debt to settle."
Adagio giggles and opens the door
"Come on in."
Anon looks around, surprised. Adagio seemed to have done some sprucing up. Across the walls were various pictures and posters, she even made a few collages from various magazines. On the ceiling hung a few ornaments and action figures from his childhood had been placed on the windowsill.
"Wow Adagio? I love what you've done with your room. It looks excellent."
Adagio smiles
"Well thank you. It was getting a little drab in her so I decided to look in the basement and found a few things, mainly the posters."
That really took him back. Back to when he was a really angsty teen and loved death metal and the color black. Luckily those days were behind him. Anon plopped on the bed, Dagi sitting right next to him.
"How have you been holding up Dagio?"
"Better now. I'm just glad Aria is safe. Same with you. I really got depressed back there."
"But you're stronger for it. All of you are, myself included. We can do anything so long as we have each other."
Adagio wrapped her arms around him and pressed her face right against his shoulder.
"That's right. Hopefully that's the last of this. I've had enough super natural mumbo jumbo for an entire lifetime quite frankly."
Anon smiles and puts his arm around her as well
"You and me both sweetheart."
The two of them sat there for a while, snuggling in the quiet. One of the best parts about bonding with Adagio is that few words needed to pass between them. She was the type of girl who was content just being held and looked after. As the hours dragged on Adagio's eyes began to flutter and her head bobbed.
"I think it's time for you to get some sleep honey bunch."
Adagio just hugged him tighter
"Can you stay just a bit longer? Just until I fall asleep."
He smiled and rubbed her back
"Of course I can sweetpea. I'm not going anywhere. You just sleep in my arms."
Adagio gave one of the most content smiles he had ever seen. The type of expression that showed someone was completely and utterly at peace with things. Her eyelids quickly fell shut and with in no more than a minute, she was completely passed out. Anon carefully tucked her in and slowly tip toed out of her room, shutting off the light.
"Goodnight my love. I'll see you in the morning."