The Buenavista Manor sits at an eerie standstill as Nicholas and Lindsey cry their eyes out. Sitting before them, Lucario glares down at them with a steady breath but furious thoughts.
"Billy, bring me my whip," Lucario orders as he holds his hand out.
Walking over to the wall nearby, Billy carefully removes the rolled up whip and slowly unfolds it before handing it to Lucario. "Please do wear your gloves, Father Lucario. Lily wouldn't like it if your hands got hurt," Billy advises while he slips out a pair of leather gloves from his back pocket.
Lucario takes the whip and gloves without removing his eyes off of the two pests in front of him. After he gets his gloves on, Lucario stands up and tightly grips onto the whip's handle. "Your family has been a thorn on my side for way too long. Now, it's just the two of you left with that snake's blood, so I'm going to take my time and enjoy watching you cry for help that won't come."
Watching in horror, the pair fearfully look up at Lucario who has a grin that can make a lion back down. With nothing behind his midnight eyes but rage, Lucario cracks his whip against the masses of flesh below him. Not even the blood that starts to run down their bodies is enough for him to feel satisfied. After half an hour of letting out his anger, Lucario finally stops.
With a handkerchief in his hand, Billy takes the blood soaked whip from his boss and wipes Lucario's sweaty forehead. "Father Lucario, you're going to be late to your adoption court meeting if you don't start getting ready now. You got a lot more blood on you than I had anticipated."
"It's weird seeing you treat me like how you're supposed to," Lucario comments as he takes Billy's handkerchief.
"I only act like this when I have to properly do my job, you know that," Billy laughs, dropping the whip into a solvent to clean the blood off. "What do you want me to do with the bodies?"
"Feed them to the dogs in the back. Even in death, they are going to stay useful to me."
—
"Do you like your new dress?" Ryan asks after clipping the last button.
Lily runs over the mirror and twirls around to see her outfit. "I really really like it!" Lily giggles as she hops up and down in excitement. "Thank you, Ryan!"
"I should be the one to thank you, Miss Lily." Ryan kneels down in front of Lily and fixes her hair. "If it wasn't for you yesterday, I think Mr. Lucario would have killed me. You really saved my life."
"Mr. Luca is such a meany for trying to kill you yesterday," Lily pouts, stomping her foot on the ground. "Ryan is supposed to be my protector like Mr. Luca said. How could he kill you?"
Ryan chuckles at Lily's comment as he stands back up. "Miss Lily, it's not 'Mr. Luca' anymore. You have to call him 'Father' or 'Dad' now because after today, he's going to be your father."
Lily glances at herself in the mirror. She has already been told about her grandfather's death and that it was Lucario that killed him, but she didn't react much. She understands that she doesn't have any family members anymore, but that doesn't mean that she's not excited at the thought of having a new family.
"Will Mr. Luca be happy that I call him 'Daddy'?" Lily asks as she hesitantly plays with her fingers. "Will Mr. Luca be happy that Lily is his daughter?"
Holding out his hand, Ryan brightly smiles down at the little girl by his feet. "I believe that Mr. Lucario will be very happy that Miss Lily is his daughter and that he will be more than happy to hear you call him 'Daddy'."
Encouraged by Ryan's words, Lily grabs onto Ryan's hand, and the pair head out of the bedroom to the living room where Lucario and Billy are anxiously waiting.
—
Walking into the court building, Lucario, Billy, Ryan, and Lily head straight for the receptionist. Noticing the group approaching her, the receptionist finishes what she is doing and faces them.
"Good morning, gentlemen and young lady. Is there anything I can help you with?" the receptionist asks as she gives a small wave to Lily.
Billy slips out an envelope from his blazer pocket and hands it to the receptionist. "We have a scheduled court hearing for adoption at 10AM, but we arrived a bit early in case there were any documents that needed to be completed."
The receptionist opens the envelope then verifies the information on her computer. "Just to confirm, I'm going to read out what is in the court's system to make sure that it is what you are scheduled for. Adoption court hearing scheduled for Saturday, July 25 at 10AM. Adopter is a Mr. Lucario Buenavista, the CEO of Buenavista Manufacturing. Adoptee is a Miss Lillith Flynn, a seven year old girl who recently lost her grandfather and has no remaining family to take her. Is this correct?"
"Yes, that is correct," Billy promptly replies.
"Alright, well, since there aren't any documents for you to complete, I will contact the judge to see if he will agree to seeing you early," the receptionist offers after handing the envelope back to Billy. "In the meantime, you four can sit in the waiting area until I call for you."
"Thank you very much," Billy concludes before guiding Lucario in the direction of the waiting area.
"Mr. Luca, what's a CEO?" Lily asks after Lucario gently places her on his lap.
"A CEO is the person who is the boss of everyone in a company. Nobody can boss the CEO around because the CEO is the most important person."
Lily glances over at Billy and Ryan to see if it is true to which they nod their heads. "Can Lily become a CEO one day like you?!"
Lucario laughs as he takes Lily's peanut sized hand into his. "That's my plan," he cheekily responds with a small smile.
"I must be dying soon!" laughs a voice from behind the group. A man of a similar stature as Lucario walks over in front of the group and places his hands on his hips. "Did I really just see the infamously notorious beast of the Buenavista family smile sweetly?"
"Judge Ramson! What are you doing here?" Billy asks, immediately standing to shake the man's hand. "I thought you were taking a few weeks off to recover from the car ambush last week?"
The man chuckles as he stretches his arm around. "I'm a Buenavista! Did you really think a car ambush was going to take me out of commission for long?!"
"I see my cousin still has a death wish with the way you are confidently annoying me," Lucario mutters as he glares up at the judge.
"Don't be like that, cuz! I will be the judge for your adoption hearing, so I'll get to decide the outcome," Ramson teases before catching Lily in his sights. Intrigued by the child that changed his cousin, the judge squats down to Lily's eye level. "Why, hello there, little one! Are you excited for today?"
Swatting his cousin's face away like a fly, Lucario slides Lily closer to him. "Lily, don't get too close to him. He has a deadly virus that will make you go stupid if you're around him for too long."
Amidst the cousins fighting with each other, Billy steps forward with a confused look. "You're going to be the judge for Lily's adoption hearing? Wouldn't your affiliation with the Buenavista family deem you unfit due to potential bias?"
"None of the other judges wanted to fuck with Luca because of who he is, and I'm the only one here who can look at him in the eyes long enough, so I got chosen to deal with this." Ramson lightly chuckles to himself while still looking down at Lily. "I will still remain partial as per my oath as a judge; however, everything will depend on this little girl's answer later."
Everyone turns their attention to Lily who simply sits quietly on Lucario's lap. She clutches onto Lucario's blazer due to the sudden change in atmosphere then hides her face in his shirt which makes everyone back away.
"Well, since I'm free now, I don't see a reason to delay this adoption hearing." Ramson adjusts his ruffled robe before clearing his throat and becoming serious. "Let me get the courtroom ready, then I'll have someone come get you."
—
"Lillith Flynn, do you swear to tell the truth and only the truth?"
"I swear."
"Lucario Buenavista, do you swear to tell the truth and only the truth?"
"I swear."
"For those who have sworn to tell the truth, may your lies that you tell today in this courtroom follow you until you die. You may be seated."
Separated due to legal processions, Lucario sits at the table to the left with Billy while Lily sits at the table to the right with Ryan. Because Lily is too small, she has to be propped up by a couple of pillows in order to see over the table.
"Lucario Buenavista, you have no blood ties with Lillith Flynn. Is this correct?" Ramson begins as he picks up the stapled stack of papers in front of him.
"Yes, that is correct, Your Honor."
"What makes you think that you will be able to provide a loving and caring home that will enhance and enforce the growth of a child?"
Glancing over at the emerald eyes that anxiously wait for his answer, Lucario hesitates for a second. "I have the financial ability to ensure that Lillith Flynn will be able to get everything she wants and needs and then some. However, I am aware that I may lack the emotional aspect of caring for a child, but that will not stop me from being able to learn and adapt."
Stunned by his cousin's response, Ramson blankly stares at Lucario as he is seeing a different side to him.
"Your Honor, your statement," the security guard reminds as he taps on Ramson's podium.
"Ah, right." Ramson clears his throat then redirects his attention to Lily. "Lillith Flynn, are you aware that Lucario Buenavista is not related to you in any way?"
"Yes," Lily answers.
"Make sure you add 'Your Honor' at the end," Ryan whispers to Lily.
Scared that she might have made a mistake, Lily shrinks in her seat. "Yes, Your Honor," she hushly respeats.
Ramson waves his hand and gives Lily a gentle smile. "Do not be scared, child. It's okay." After seeing Lily relax a bit in her chair, Ramson continues. "Even though you understand that Lucario Buenavista is not related to you in any way, will you accept him as your father and become his daughter?"
Lily opens her mouth to answer but stops when she feels Lucario's eyes on her. Slowly turning her head, Lily watches as a man, who can kill a bear, sits holding his breath with the most fearful eyes. She's never seen an adult so incredibly scared before so it shocks her for a second until Ryan sets a hand on her shoulder to get her attention.
"You have to give your answer to the judge, Miss Lily," Ryan reminds as he points to Ramson.
Taking a deep breath, Lily stares straight into the judge's eye with great determination. "I have no memory of my real daddy. My grandpa is the only person in my family that I can remember. I would like to have Mr. Lucario as my daddy because he treats me like his daughter already." Lily turns her attention to Lucario and gives him a big smile with slight tears in her eyes. "He is my real daddy, so I want to be his real daughter so that we can be a family."
Excited by the outcome before him, Ramson stands from his desk and heads over to Lily's table. As soon as he is in front of her, he holds out his hand to her. "In order to make Lucario Buenavista your real father, you must hit this gavel on that brown coaster over there. Would you like to be the one to hit the gavel?"
"Yes!" Lily shouts as she leaps out of her chair and grabs Ramson's hand.
As soon as the pair make it to the judge's podium, Ramson gives Lily the gavel and holds her hand to support the weight. "As of Saturday, July 25 at 10:18AM, I hereby approve of Lucario Buenavista's adoption of Lillith Flynn."
With a loud bang, Lily drives down the gavel onto the podium, concluding the adoption hearing.
"From this day forward, your name is now Lillith Buenavista. Welcome to the family, sweet child," Ramson congratulates as he gives Lily a hug. "You can call me Uncle Ramson."
Snatching Lily from Ramson's arms, Lucario swings Lily around then gives her the biggest of bear hugs. "Lily! My precious daughter!"
Fueled by the love and warmth that radiates from Lucario, Lily tightly hugs him back. "I'm Daddy's daughter," she whispers to herself.
However, Lucario hears it then pulls her away. "What did you just call me?"
"...Daddy… Because I'm your daughter now…"
Lucario's eyes widen as his mouth gapes open. He never thought in a million years that he would hear a child call him "Daddy", but here is a seven year old little girl in his arms looking back at him not with fear but with love.
"That's right," he laughs in disbelief. "That's right! I'm your father now."