Flour, eggs, sugar, vanilla extract... After lining out all the ingredients, as well as multiple utensils and bowls, you look down at the little wolf beside you. Sophia straightens her legs in order to more easily scope out everything, diligently looking over a printed copy of the recipe. You smile to yourself seeing the little apron you had picked up for her for the occasion.

You were not expecting her to come up to you with a sudden adamance to bake a cake. The interest in baking seemed to come out of complete nowhere, but you were happy for it nonetheless. You wanted to encourage any sort of interest or hobby she might develop, now that she actually lived in an environment that could cultivate such things for her. She hadn't provided the biggest explanation for it, though. Maybe she was just being experimental. Maybe she thought it'd be fun. Heck, maybe she just wanted cake and an excuse to spend more time with you. Whatever the reason, you were more than happy to set it up and help her with it.

"I think... I think that's everything." Sophia reports after taking one last look at the recipe.

"I think so too. You ready to get started, Sophie?"

"Mm-hm!"

Her eager nod and warm smile fills you with joy. You had to resist the urge to pat her head after washing your hands so recently in preparation. With the oven preheated, your attention turns to the measuring cups.

You decided you'd measure the flour for the batter, and anything that could potentially get too messy going forward. With how eager Sophia seemed, you tried to let her do as much as she could. You carefully oversaw her as she measured different ingredients, inspecting their volume as if she were a chemist mixing chemicals, the measuring cups her flasks. Her references to the recipe were frequent, but that only proved a testament to how serious she was about this.

You even let her mix the ingredients together. She had a particularly fun time with the whisk, but was greatly disappointed in herself after she accidentally swirled a dollop of cake batter out of the bowl and onto the counter. The whole process takes some time, but eventually it's ready for the oven. You take care of that, of course.

At last, with the final smears of frosting, the finishing touches to the cake were applied. The layers may have stacked a bit crooked, there might be a few places where there could be more or less frosting, and the overall result possibly wasn't as picturesque as the one at the end of the recipe, but nobody was going to tell you that that wasn't a cake. ...Well, maybe Sophia was going to, considering her rather crestfallen expression as she stared at the finished product.

"...It doesn't look like the picture..." She puts in after a few seconds, voice slightly deflated and her pointy ears lowered a bit. "I'm sorry...."

"Come on, Sophie. I think it turned out really good for your first try. It never needed to be perfect." You tell her. "You don't need to apologize for anything."

"I was...just hoping it'd be better."

"With practice, it can be. But I'd say this is a very impressive starting point."

You really didn't want Sophia to discourage herself. You knew this kind of stuff was new to her, but if it was really something she'd be happy doing, you couldn't let her be so unfair to herself. You weren't lying, either. You genuinely were proud of the work she had done, and the result her efforts bore. You think she begins to understand that as she peers up at you, and you see her ears gradually shift back up.

"So... You really like it?"

"I do. You did a great job." You say with a smile, finally able to tussle her hair. "...Chef Sophie."

"Hehe...!" She giggles lightly in response. "You helped too... Chef Dad...!"

"I'll see if I can get us some chef hats for next time." You joke. "We've done enough talking about the cake though, you think? Don't you want to try a slice?"

"O-Oh, um...! H-Hold on." She blurts, shaking off all her laughter in a single instant. It almost unnerves you. "I need to get something...."

"Oh? Sure." You say, certainly curious about her sudden change in demeanor.

"Thank you. I-I'll be right back...!" She tells you, before turning around and hurrying out of the kitchen.

You listen to her footsteps after she's out of view, hearing that she was heading upstairs. It didn't take long before you heard her coming back, watching as she turned the corner. She seemed to be holding a piece of paper in her hands. She slows her pace as she returns to your side, and offers you the paper.

"This is for you... A-And the cake, too."

The cake was...for you? The paper, you find, had been cut and folded like a birthday card. Though when you read the colorful words on the cover, you realized that wasn't the correct occasion to describe it....

"Happy father day!" It read.

In a moment, you felt yourself freeze up, before a warmth in your chest gradually reignited yourself.

"Today's...Father's Day?"

"I-I think so." Sophia answers, voice tinged with a slight nervous tone. "I wanted to...do something for it. But I didn't know what I could."

Father's Day....

You could barely speak with how blindsided you felt. It had never been a day that applied to you, and you never could've imagined that it ever would. At least, not until now, right in front of your face. This was the first Father's Day after Sophia had entered your life.

Opening the card, you read the message Sophia had left you, surrounded by her best drawings of balloons, cakes, confetti, and the like. Even though it was supposed to be about you, you couldn't help but feel proud at how much her spelling and handwriting had improved in such a short timeframe.

"Happy father day! Thank you for being my dad even though you didnt have to. You are the best dad ever and I'm so happy I can call you that! You are my hero!
Love Sophia"

The warmth in your chest only grew as you read the message, and the obvious had fully settled in at this point. You're Sophia's dad now, so it only makes sense she'd want to do something on Father's Day. There's no words to describe just how lucky you feel to have such a wonderful daughter. For her to show you she feels the same... It's almost bizarre, receiving the love of a daughter. You, of all people, a father... Regardless, you couldn't be happier how it all turned out.

"Sophie... Thank you." You're finally able to let out, calm and earnestly. "I can't tell you how happy this makes me."

As you turn to look from the card to your daughter, you notice her nervousness had seemingly washed away into a timid smile, which quickly grew into a much wider one after you tussled her hair once more. She leans into it for a second, before essentially magnetizing against you for a hug. That's your daughter. The reason why this day can be so special. The reason any day can be so special.

"...I love you, Dad."

"I love you too, Sophie." You tell her, leaning down to return the hug. "...I couldn't celebrate Father's Day without you. You're the best thing that's ever happened to me."

"...You too." She responds with an earnest tone to match your own.

Of all factors, it's the mutualism that's the best of all. The fact that the both of you have drastically changed each others lives for the better, and that you can confidently call the pair of you a family. Your own happiness is one thing, but seeing that reflected in Sophia only compounds your joy, and you know it's the same for her. She did go through the trouble of baking you a cake, after all.

"So, how about it? Want to give the cake a taste?" You say after the hug is broken.

Sophia looks back at you, with a tad more energy than she usually had, and a precious grin to compliment it. Her tail wagged behind her.

"Mm-hm!" She nods.

"Well then, let's dig in." You say, taking a knife and two sets of forks and plates for the cake that, you'd soon find out, probably used a little too much butter.

***

"I would say it's perfect, but then again, you always find a way to make it better than last year's." You say after sampling a slice of cake, sitting next to your daughter as she does the same.

"You say that like you don't also help." Sophia responds, nonetheless grinning with the subtlest showing of pride at the compliment.

"I'm the one following your lead at this point. You're the true cake mastermind. Might as well open up a bakery at this point."

"Come on, Dad. It's one cake a year, and I've barely even changed the recipe."

"I'd beg to differ. And I was only half joking about the bakery thing. If you really enjoy this, I think you could take it pretty far."

Sophia pauses for a moment, seemingly considering your words. Though, despite that, her expression seems rather resolute.

"Well, maybe... But I think most of my motivation just comes from the Father's Day tradition." She admits after a second.

"Fair enough." You put simply. "Though, that reminds me. Why cake for that, of all things?"

Another pause from Sophia for that question, although her pondering was decidedly more distant.

"...It was simple. My first birthday celebration had cake, so I thought that was just the thing for any occasion." She answers. "I couldn't buy it, so I thought maybe I could make it. ...Of course, you had to buy all the ingredients and ending up doing pretty much all of the work anyway...."

"And you know what? That was one of the best days of my life." You adopt a tone of complete seriousness, because it was undeniably true. "You managed to surprise me with my first Father's Day as a father. I'm never going to forget that. I wouldn't have changed a thing."

Another brief silence fills the room. Sophia still has that grin, but there seems to have been another element added to it. Something you couldn't quite read, with your closest estimation being she generally appeared a little more thoughtful. Before long, Sophia brought something up in her hands. A rather plain looking card.

"I've...got a Father's Day card for you this year." She says a little hesitantly, and as if she hadn't done so every year. "It's a little...uh, cheesy, I guess. Stuff I wanted to say the first time, but...couldn't really articulate it the best. Nothing you don't already know."

"Oh?" You question as she hands you the card.

The card itself was pretty simple. The only thing to note on the cover was a printed "#1 Dad" similar to the kind you'd find on a gift mug, and the neatly written "From: Sophia" in pen. As you open it up, you find that the lack of much printed design left a lot of space for writing, where you see your daughter's handwriting adorning both sides.

"To the man who took me in from a terrible place which was the only thing I had known until that point, and who so deeply contrasted it with love and care as if I was his own. Who accepted my selfish request for him to view me as his daughter because I was so scared of losing what he never had to provide to me.

With all your never-ending support throughout the years, I've actually learned to like myself now, because of you. Written words cannot describe how thankful I am to have you in my life. You are the best dad in the world. My true father, and my true hero. Happy Father's Day.
Love,
Sophia"

...

You need a...moment before you could say anything. It's only when you realize that your eyes had begun to water that you can manage to even find your voice.

"...H-Heh. 'Cheesy', you said? It made your old man tear up." You say.

"..." Sophia doesn't say anything for a moment, and as you glance over at her, it looks as if it's the same for her. "...I meant every word. You are my hero."

Being someone's hero has always been a surreal feeling. Given the circumstances between the two of you, you suppose it would be difficult to argue that it didn't make sense. Yet still, there was a part of you who wanted to argue that regardless. The word implied a certain grandiose, like you did some big, selfless act at the expense of yourself. But the truth was that whatever sacrifices or concessions you might've had to make in adopting Sophia was more than made up for by her presence alone.

"But you got one thing wrong." You tell her.

"The 'selfish' part?" She asks, though the confidence in that answer almost made it sound more like a statement than a guess.

"Exactly." You confirm. "There was nothing selfish about wanting to be cared for, especially when you made that person's life so much better. I never thought I could be a father, much less even a half decent one. It was you who gave me the confidence to accept that role, and I've already told you how that was the best thing that's ever happened to me."

"...I knew you were going to...say something like that...." She says as she wipes at her eyes. She leans against you for a hug, which you gladly return.

"Happy Father's Day, Dad."