Pedro's characters one shots

Girl dad (joel miller)

Joel is a single dad. No outbreak. Ellie is his foster daughter and Sarah is his bio daughter obvi. Ellie switches back and forth from calling Joel "Joel" and "dad" the girls are both 14

Tommy and Joel finished up at the work site late that Friday. Surprise surprise. He had called the girls to let them know he probably wouldn't be home for dinner.
"Hello?" Sarah picked up
"Hey baby is Ellie with ya"
"Yeah, you're on speaker" Ellie shouted from the other side of Sarah's bedroom
"I'm sorry girls I know I said we would go out tonight, but it looks like I'm not going to be home until after 8 or 9. Y'all take some of the cash that's in my bedside table drawer and walk down to the pizza place if you want."
Sarah and Ellie tried to hide their disappointment. They knew how hard Joel worked and everything he did to keep them happy, healthy, clothed and fed, but there had been several late nights the last few weeks and they missed their dad. "It okay Joel we know it's not your fault" Ellie said "yeah dad don't sweat it" Sarah added.
"You call if you need anything I'll have my phone on me."

Sarah and Ellie exchanged looks of disappointment and also a mutual sadness they felt for Joel. "That man works his ass off for clients who don't give a shit about him!" Ellie said jumping to her feet from where she had been sitting in Sarah's room. "Yeah... I know." Sarah just stared at the wall. "I have an idea!" Ellie suddenly exclaimed. Sarah was used to these outbursts from Ellie. It was actually one of her favorite things about having Ellie as a sister. "How much money does dad have in that drawer?" Sarah shrugged. "I'm not sure let's go see." Ellie ran down the hall. "But what's your idea?!" said Sarah following her into their dads room. Ellie picked up the two $20 bills from Joel's bedside table. "We make dinner for dad and surprise him when he comes home!" "But won't he be home super late.." Sarah said. "Yeah but you know he always is starving when he gets off. It doesn't matter what time it is. You've seen how that man pulls shit out of the fridge at 10 o'clock after an especially shitty and long day at the site." Sarah nodded. "True. And we never have anything good in the fridge so he's always eating gross take out leftovers." "Exactly! So we make some gourmet shit to surprise him" Sarah grinned. "I like this plan, but we don't know how to cook" after much debate they decided the best idea was to just go to the store and see what their budget would get them. In the end they came home with some little potato's, a bag of frozen pre-cooked chicken breast, and a bagged salad. "Does dad even eat salad?" Ellie asked as the loaded their bags into the crate Joel had installed on the backs of their bikes. "I don't know. I've never seen him eat it, but there's a first time for everything."

Luckily the chicken came with instructions, and Mrs Atler was able to tell the girls how to smash the little potatoes and bake them in the oven and what seasoning to use. The two little chefs were awfully giggly and it took them over an hour to make everything, but they didn't mind. They knew if Joel were home he would tell them to turn down their music, and accuse them of being the silliest girls in the country. At 8 on the dot the girls observed their masterpiece. Sarah had found two tall candles that looked appropriate for a 5 star dinner and Ellie dug through the cabinet over the stove to find a bottle of red wine. "Why do we even have this. Him and Tommy exclusively drink beer like they're a couple of gray jocks" Sarah laughed and said "I have no idea and who knows how old it is." "Do you think wine goes bad?" Ellie asked. "I don't think so...but I don't know how you would tell if it had gone bad" Ellie gave Sarah a look that didn't need any words. "Should we?" Sarah whispered in a giggle. "I mean just a taste to see if it's still good." Ellie said. With great difficulty the two got the cork out of the bottle and brought it gingerly to their lips. "Euggghhhh!" Ellie gagged dramatically. "That's fucking disgusting" Sarah agreed wordlessly, sticking her tongue under the faucet trying to get rid of the taste. Just then they heard the unmistakable sound of Joel's truck pulling into the driveway. They looked at each other with wide, goofy grins. "Should we hide?" Sarah whispered. "And jump out and scare him" Ellie agreed. The girls ducked behind the sofa, trying to stifle their giggles. The key turned in the lock and the familiar sound of Joel's boots on the hardwood followed by "I'm home...Ellie, Sarah?"
"Surprise!" Ellie and Sarah shouted in unison as they jumped up from behind the sofa. "Jesus Christ!" Joel exclaimed clutching his chest. "Are you trying to give your old man a heart attack?" Suddenly his eyes fell to the kitchen table. "Did y'all cook dinner?" He asked somewhat in disbelief. The girls nodded sheepishly. Joel felt a surge of warmth rush into his chest. "You girls didn't have to do this-you know that." He said giving them each a kiss on the head. "We know!" Ellie said cheerfully. "We haven't eaten yet we were waiting for you." Sarah added. Joel looked at his daughter with those warm, brown eyes. "Thank you baby" the three of them sat down and ate. Joel complimented the girls on their cooking. "Damn little ladies, you might need to cook for your old man more often! This is fuckin amazing" Joel said, shoveling food into his mouth. "Hey watch your language at the table" Ellie teased. Joel playfully kicked her under the table. "This is my house, I can swear at my table if I want." Ellie rolled her eyes.

Joel took the dishes to the skink where he found the opened bottle of wine. "What's this?"he chuckled. "Oh we were going to serve you wine but we tasted it and it definitely went bad like 100 years ago." Joel laughed and got a wine glass from the cabinet. "I forgot we had this. It's actually really good." Ellie mimed throwing up which made Sarah laugh. Joel didn't have to turn around to know what was happening. "Ellie you have the pallet of a 6 year old. I'm still buying you lunchables for school- god knows why I do it for ya" "yeah well lunchables are fuckin amazing" Ellie retorted as the girls wandered into the living room. "Language" Joel called from the kitchen. He settled down on the sofa with his girls, red wine in hand. They were already watching "the price is right" which was somewhat of a routine in the Miller household. A way to wind down after a long day. He sat in between his girls with a loud "dad noise" as they called it. Sarah had always been more snuggly then Ellie. Although that was changing Joel had noticed. She had been going to therapy for the last year and he had seen a shift in her in a lot of different ways. She hugged Joel frequently and allowed him to kiss her goodnight. She didn't flinch anymore when he rested a hand on her shoulder to let her know he was behind her or something like that. Some nights when Joel would pass out on the sofa after work Ellie would tiptoe downstairs and come curl up next to him for a little while. She would always fall asleep within a few minutes and he'd carry her to bed and it would be a good excuse for him to actually go to sleep in his bed after putting Ellie in hers. The way his girls took care of him in so many ways, most of which they didn't even realize... it made him feel soft and gooey on the inside and if he thought on it too long his eyes would get misty. Before long he had two sleeping girls on each side of him. He didn't dare move to take them up to bed for fear of waking one. Joel carefully reached for the remote to turn off the TV and then closed his eyes and met himself drift off with the two things he loved most in the world on either side of him.