Harry's eyes slowly widened as the rays of sunshine penetrated the thin curtains pulled shut over the lone window in Karrin's bedroom. He noticed rather quickly the absence of two other warm bodies in the bed, pawing around the bed with his right hand while his left covered his eyes in a poor attempt to shield them from the god awfully bright sun. Rolling over to his side, Harry could see the imprint of Maggie and Karrin's bodies on the bed.

Groaning in grogginess and wiping his hand over his face, Harry swung his legs off the bed and stood up. Stretching out, he could feel how physically exhausted he was from last night's terrifying festivities. That being said, his mantle was just about jittering with energy as if the physical act of pushing through chaotic magic was just the prologue to a larger battle.

"Jesus Christ!", exclaimed Harry as the events of the night hammered its way into his sleep-addled mind. His daughter had a nightmare which resulted in the rather traumatic activation of her magic, pulsing energy had shaken the house with unbridled force and it took Harry a not-insignificant amount of effort to push through it all. And to think, all of that came out of a Lion King-inspired nightmare consisting of Thomas effectively killing Harry ala Scar murdering Mufasa.

Shivering with just the thought of his half-brother turning to the Dark side, Harry removed his shirt and shrugged on a fresh one from the closet. There were still times where Harry had to pinch himself to just make sure that his current life wasn't just a dream, as though some wicked fairy would pop out only to reveal that his daughter and living with Karrin was just some twisted illusion. While Harry wasn't one to start thanking some higher being for what he had, he certainly was thankful that under the circumstances, his life was pretty damn sweet.

Slipping on a pair of flipflops, Harry made his way out of the bedroom, barely a few steps out into the living room and he could smell the divine aroma of freshly cooked pancakes. His stomach grumbled as if it were reacting to the flavours in the air, but it was more likely that using magic and falling sleep didn't replenish as much energy as he would've liked.

A few giggles filtered out of the kitchen, whether it was Karrin or Maggie, it was anyone's guess. Harry let himself smile as he imagined his two favourite girls spending time together, especially now that Maggie had begun to call Karrin - mom. Ah then, Mouse just had to interrupt his ponderance of life with a big doggy hug as the Foo dog curled his massive body around Harry's legs. As far as dog hugs went, Harry thought that was a pretty solid dog hug. Bending down to pat the dog on the head, Harry heard a squeal of delight and was swayed a bit as a smaller impact hit him side on.

"Daddy's awake! Good morning Dad!", cried Maggie as she hugged her father who was now sitting on the floor after being taken down by the combination of a Foo dog and a little girl.

"Good morning munchkin, what've you been up to?" asked Harry as he lifted up Maggie and walked over to the kitchen. He crept up behind Karrin, used his free hand to curl it over her waist and pull her to him. He dipped his head to kiss her which resulted in Maggie turning her head away and saying, "ewwwwy".

Pulling her head away, Karrin replied, "Maggie why don't you tell Daddy what we made?"

Taking the cue from Murphy, the little girl hopped out of Harry's arms and trotted over to the kitchen counter where at her height, she could just barely get her arms over to reach for the serving plate. "Look, Daddy! We made choco-chip pancakes!", exclaimed a very excited Maggie as she rushed to show off the breakfast goods.

Harry nodded with equal enthusiasm as he folded his hand onto Karrin's as he steered her towards the rickety wooden table she labelled her 'dining' table even though most of its uses were for cleaning her weapons or patching up wounds. As Karrin took her seat, Harry helped Maggie place the overburdened plate of pancakes onto the table and drew his own seat out.

While sliding down onto the seat, Harry noticed his favourite mug had something new on it. He turned the mug to get a better view of the hand-scrawled word that was newly emblazoned on the side of his cup, first a D then an A followed by two more Ds and finally a Y crept into view. Harry's mind was slow to connect the crooked letters but as he opened his mouth to verbally connect each letter, it quickly dawned on him that the word was, "DADDY".

Eyes widening and his jaw dropping into a wide O, Harry turned to Karrin as she lifted her own mug in solidarity and twisted it to showcase the brand new addition of "MOMMY" adorned on her plain coloured mug. Harry could just feel how happy Karrin was, from just showing off her newly decorated mug and from spending the morning cooking with Maggie. The joy radiated around her which frankly, was rather intoxicating.

Suddenly a smaller mug thrust into his view, "Look, Mom gave me my own mug for when I sleep over here!", explained Maggie as she waved her orange juice-filled mug under his gaze as she too, proudly showed off who the mug belonged to. Harry ruffled her hair and replied, "so I think that means you'll be sleeping here more often huh?"

"Of course! Mommy says I can stay here whenever she's home", cried an indignant Maggie as she struggled to grapple with Harry's sarcastic question. For a moment it seemed like the glorious breakfast mood would be broken by a temper tantrum.

With a glare shot at a shocked Harry, Karrin cut off Maggie before she could say more by saying, "Alright sweetie, you know your dad was just saying that you can have more sleepovers here, let's dig into those choco-chip pancakes we made before it gets too cold."

Maggie's pout morphed into a sheepish grin as she nodded and hopped onto her chair. Behind her, Mouse padded over to the space between her and Harry's chair and promptly sat patiently waiting for his own breakfast.

"Mom, can we give a pancake to Mouse?", asked Maggie as she began to pet Mouse's head and then pointed to him as his stomach grumbled audibly as if to reinforce the question.

Laughing a bit, Harry couldn't help but explain to his daughter that dogs couldn't eat chocolate chip pancakes because chocolate wasn't good for them. That did not go over well with the little girl as she began to ask why and all Harry could say was, "Well, I'm not sure exactly why but I think chocolate can kill dogs."

The horrified look on Maggie's face was all the incentive for Karrin to get up, pinch Harry's ear for his insensitivity then take a plate of plain pancakes from the kitchen counter for Mouse to eat. Karrin sat back down with a huff and turned to Maggie to gently say, "Dogs can't digest all that sweet stuff in chocolate so that's why you can't give Mouse any choco-chip pancakes."

You could almost see the little gears in Maggie's brain as she mulled what Karrin had explained and then like a ship righting itself from a tilt, the little girl just nodded thoughtfully and bounced back to focusing on eating her pancakes.

Harry shook his head at the seemingly natural maternal instinct that just magically kicked in after Maggie adopted Karrin as her mom. About time it happened, he thought as he curled his hand over Karrin's while they both dug into the pancakes.

"You know Maggie, now that you have your own mug here, why don't we go shopping for new bedroom things for you too?", asked Karrin in between bites.

The poor girl had just put another bite into her mouth and so she let her eyes express the absolute delight of buying new things, she chewed faster in order to answer Murphy quicker as though the offer would disappear.

Unfortunately for Maggie, she was once again interrupted mid-sentence as the front door thudded several times and a muffled shout came from behind the door, "Harry! Open up! I know you're in there!"

Harry's face paled as he recognized the voice, he grumbled as he stood from the dining table to open the door. Dreading the end of a peaceful morning, Harry reluctantly opened the front door, revealing the rather overdressed figure of the Winter Lady otherwise known as

"MOLLY!", cried Maggie as she hopped off her chair by the kitchen table to greet her foster sister which had Mouse wagging his tail in delight as he saw the little girl run to the front door.

"Hey there Lil Mags!", greeted Molly as she pulled the little girl towards her in a remarkably warm embrace, or at least as warm an embrace as the Winter Lady could muster up.

"What brings you by Grasshopper?", asked Harry as he ushered Molly into the house and shut the door.

Wary of the little girl in her arms, Molly turns her head where she knows Maggie wouldn't be able to see her face and locked eyes with Harry to let him know that Mab needs them both for something. She could see the sincere hope in Harry's eyes fade, his expression slowly morphing from the upbeat father figure to the more serious and frankly chilling look of his Winter Knight mantle.

Harry nervously swallowed and tamped down the Mantle, he walked over to Karrin who was now standing by the closet, ready to retrieve his coat in preparation for his abrupt departure. He leans down and kisses her on the lips then the forehead. With a solemn look, Harry simply says "Duty calls."

Murph nods and understands immediately, she pulls away from him to retrieve the new revolver for Harry from her bedroom gun safe. Harry follows her to the bedroom to change into more suitable clothing as well as retrieving his belt along with the holsters for his blasting rod and revolver.

Meanwhile, Molly had sat down on the newly vacated kitchen table chairs and dug into the choco-chip pancakes as she patiently listened to Maggie's excited retelling of the Lion King.

Like the dutiful older sister that she is, Molly nods along as Maggie animatedly talks about the talking animals and the song Hakuna Matata. At some point, Molly notices in the corner of her eye, Harry and Karrin's favourite mugs now proudly adorned with DADDY and MOMMY on their exteriors.

Back in the bedroom, Murph is enveloped in a deep embrace with Harry and before letting him go, she whispers to him, "Be safe, and make sure you come back to us."

"Hells bells, Karrin. I can't tell you how much I don't want to leave. But, Mab.", Harry exclaims as he curls his hand into her golden hair.

All Murphy can do is sigh in exasperation with that name, and she guides Harry out of the room holding onto his hand. She walks over and stands near the front door, silently hoping Harry just changes his mind and stays in. But, she also knows that would never happen, as a former cop she knows the call of duty is one that cannot be ignored.

Harry crosses the room towards the coat closet, donning his leather coat and then taking his carved staff from the closet.

Maggie giggles as she watches her parents quietly getting ready, and she remarks, "Daddy, you look like a really tall Rafiki, you know the monkey with a stick like yours in the Lion King."

Letting out a guffaw, Harry leans down and kisses Maggie on the forehead, "Be good for Daddy alright. I need to go with Molly to do my job. When I get back we can sing Hakuna Matata."

"Don't worry! I'll be good. I'm sure Mommy and I can find things to do while you're away."

Karrin grinned as she agreed with Maggie in an effort to ease the sad tension in the room, "That's right Magpie, we are gonna get you Star Wars pillowcases and bedspreads!"

Clapping her hands in excitement, Maggie squealed in delight and let herself be carried by Karrin as she ushered Harry towards the front door.

"Alright munchkin, Daddy's gonna see you soon. Love you, Murph!", Harry waved as he stepped through the open door and reluctantly walked out of the house. Turning back towards the awning, all he could see was Murphy, Maggie and Mouse watching him leave.

A rather amused Molly waited by the car and she nodded to Harry while smirking, "So, it seems like you had a productive weekend."

Harry grinned back at her and said, "Let's get this show on the road Grasshopper, before I turn heel and run back to my two favourite girls."