The first time she called him a kid out loud, there was gonna be one hell of a discussion. Just because she had a few years on him, didn't make her an expert on anything. She'd been just as new to all this when she'd gotten pregnant. Now she'd had over a year to figure stuff out, and he was sure with time he'd be on par with her.
Realizing she'd been insulted by his offer, he held up a hand to try and keep her from ranting, "I'm not saying you do. I'm saying I have money, and the only use I have for it is to give to the people who are important to me. I've barely spent any of it on myself. Mostly just bought gifts for my friends and such. Don't look at me as though I'm trying to buy Kamea's love."
"Could you try to not dismiss me so quickly?" he asked in a somewhat irritated tone. "I would have given all that up to help you in any way possible, and I still will. If you don't like this school, if you want to leave, then tell me where we're going, and I'll pack up right now." He was committed to this, to Kamea. Yeah, she was still a stranger to him, but he loved her just the same. It was instantaneous from the moment he knew she was his. "I know you've been doing all the work, and I'm not trying to discredit that. I respect it, and you clearly did a good job. Just... let me help from this point on. I only wanna help. Don't push me away."
He worried when Kamea got a little scared, and Starbuck too tried to soothe her, though he realized his efforts probably didn't amount to jack shit. She didn't know him, didn't trust him... didn't love him. That made his chest hurt a little. Lani clearly thought she'd made the right choice in giving him no choice, but she hadn't. She'd been selfish. She'd thought she was doing the best thing for Kamea, but to have a stranger holding the little girl now, with no idea what sort of little person she was, how could anyone think it was in Kamea's best interest? Starbuck wanted to know her, wanted to love her, but even now that she was in his life, he felt like he was being pushed away.
"Everything in the world is dangerous to some degree, Lani. Domesticated animals are responsible for injuring more people than wild creatures. Dogs bite kids all the time, but I'm sure you'd get her a puppy one day if she asked for one. The otter isn't going to bite Kamea. I'd never let that happen. Were you not listening... I can communicate with sea creatures." He sighed, irritated. "But, whatever. Your call." And sadly, it was. He didn't have any say in anything, and it pissed him off. Granted, this was just their first meeting, but he wondered if Lani would ever respect his opinion. She was treating him like a fucking sperm donor.