A/N: I own nothing. I also do not own Sandra. Sandra is from Louise Rennison, but I thought it was hilarious and decided to use it for this story, and IT IS NOT MINE! This spans a couple years. The green eyes bit is taken off the old McDonalds commercial, and is also not mine. But the commercial was so cute.
So fathers be good to your daughters
Daughters will love like you do
-John Mayer
Eric sighed. He felt old. Really old.
His daughter wanted to walk.
She was nearly there, too. Only she kept falling back down as soon as she'd move one of her feet forward.
It was scaring the shit out of him.
He was currently sitting in the kitchen, eating cereal and keeping a watchful eye on her while she crawled around in the living room.
Suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere, she stood up, put her tiny foot forward, and fell on her butt.
He felt his eye twitch, and he out his finger to the skin below his eye to make it stop, because his mother did that, and it bugged the crap out of him.
"Chloe!" He called, and his baby daughter looks up at him. "Don't do that. You're scaring daddy."
She grinned her semi-toothy smile and crawled of to where he couldn't see her, He leapt up from the table and stampeded into the living room, sloshing milk all over the place, the bowl clanging to the ground and breaking into a thousand pieces.
"CHLOE!" He shouted, flying around the corner.
She had her hands on the couch and was standing up, looking at Eric, lip jutted out farther than normal in a pout.
He hated when she did that. She was like her mother; she could get him to do anything.
"Don't look at me like that." He commanded, scooping her up so he wouldn't have to look at her pouting face.
Calleigh was in the kitchen, sorting through the mail.
"You broke a bowl." She stated, glancing towards the milk splattered on the cabinets.
"Yeah, sorry."
"That's ok."
She took a look at Chloe.
"What's wrong with her?"
"She-uh, she was standing up."
Calleigh looked at him with an undecipherable look.
"She was right by the coffee table!" He said, "She could've fallen and impaled herself on the corner of it."
She shook her head and sighed.
"Eric, you've got to loosen up."
She grabbed a dishrag and bent down to wipe the milk off the side of the counter.
"What?" He asked, forehead wrinkling as he frowned.
"She's a baby- of course she's going to want to try stuff."
He looked at her blankly.
"I- I don't think I like the sound of that." He said finally, shakily.
She looked at him incredulously, grabbing her gun and strapping it to her hip, along with her gun.
"What are you going to do when she starts dating and driving and sleeping with boys?"
His brain fizzed out and he went numb.
"What do you mean?" He asked with a swallow, tightening his hold on Chloe.
"Well, I mean, she's not going to be a virgin forever, plus she's got your genes, she's a good looking kid. You can't go around killing every guy she dates."
"Why not?" He asked, blank faced.
"Eric!" She snapped, exasperated. "Seriously, you're overprotective now, and she's not even a toddler yet. So how bad is it going to be, then?"
"I….I think we should go to church." He said finally.
"What?" Calleigh asked, surprised.
"We should go to church."
"Eric. We are not going to turn our daughter into a nun."
"I'm not going for nun. I'm going for vestal virgin."
Calleigh scoffed and shook her head.
"You can't control her forever." She said, shaking her head.
"Yes, I can." He said moodily.
She grinned and kissed him on the corner of his mouth.
"I have to go to the office." She said, grabbing her keys and heading for the door.
"It's Saturday." He said, leaning against the counter.
"I know, but a new lead came up. I'll only be gone a few hours."
"Ok." He said, feeling like a petulant child.
She had her hand on the front door when he called out to her.
"Cal!" He said, placing Chloe on the ground.
"Yeah?" She asked, turning around.
"How old were you?" He asked.
"What?" She asked, confused.
"When you lost your virginity." He clarified.
She grinned.
"Sixteen."
His heart stopped, and he looked at Chloe.
Like mother like daughter, they always said.
Lord help him.
Eric was glad he and Calleigh had kids. Really. He was. Calleigh had gotten pregnant with Chloe before they were married, and he thanked God; because that finally gave her the extra little shove to marry him. He was surprised that her dad didn't kill him.
Chloe was sitting on the floor, at the tender age of three. Playing dress up and dolls.
With Eric.
Calleigh had played for a little bit, but then the new baby had started crying, so she had to go take care of that.
Diego Anthony had been born three days before, and he was a screamer.
Chloe liked the new baby.
Sort of.
Ok, she actually didn't want anything to do with him.
Eric was so tired. He hadn't shaved since the day before, and he was in desperate need of a shower, but Calleigh needed his help with the kids.
He had kids.
Plural.
As in more than one.
He was a family man.
And he felt old.
Too old.
Early thirties, but feeling like three hundred.
He was sitting cross-legged on the floor, wearing a tiara and a "pretty ballerina outfit." According to Chloe. Only, it was way too small for his waist, so he had the pink tutu around hi neck. Chloe was doling him out his share of the dolls.
She put a Barbie doll with a shaved head in front of him, named "Kim." Kim looked like a transvestite dominatrix, to him. Then she handed him "Sandra." Sandra was a little marble statue of Jesus in a green sparkly number.
Then she made Kim and Sandra do kissing, which would have been quite funny if Sandra wasn't, in fact, our Lord in a dress.
He looked on, mildly amused before clearing his throat.
"Chloe." He said, and she looked up.
"Do you like baby Diego?" He asked with a small grin.
"No."
"Why not?"
She stuck her lip out.
"I had green eyes first."
He grinned widely.
"Me and mommy love you just the same." He said.
"You love Diego better."
"No we don't. We love you equal." He said, restraining from correcting her grammar.
"You got Diego presents and not me."
"It……was Diego's birthday."
"Oh." She said, but the lip was still pouting.
"How about I take you to the beach tomorrow?" He asked. "I'll get you a hotdog."
Her eyes brightened.
"Can we play sand princesses?" She asked, smiling widly.
He forced himself not to grimace, settling for a slightly insane looking smile.
"Yep. Sure. Absolutely." He said, nodding.
"Okay." She said, nodding.
She pulled a decapitated cabbage patch kids doll from the toy bin and presented "Janelle." To Eric.
"Where do babies come from?" She asked suddenly, causing him to drop "Sandra." On the ground.
He didn't even do the sign of the cross for dropping their Lord on the hardwood floor.
"What?" He asked, voice cracking, hoping he'd heard wrong.
"Where do babies come from?" She asked again, combing Kim's shaved head.
Think fast. He commanded himself. He was sure he looked like a deer caught in the headlights.
"Mommies and daddys." He squeaked out, finally, eyes huge, watching her.
She nodded, considering.
"How?" She asked, crinkling her freckle-splattered nose.
He considered jumping up and running out, but she was quite speedy for a small child.
"Um…" He stammered, knowing he sounded less than intelligent.
"CALLEIGH!" He shouted, "I NEED YOU NOW!"
Eric was waiting with Chloe by the bus stop, holding her tiny hand in his own, more nervous than she was. Calleigh was holding a squirming Diego, his dark hair splayed out everywhere.
It was Chloe's first day of school.
He'd packed her lunch up in a little orange lunch box, Calleigh telling him that he'd packed enough food for the entire class.
And it was an exceptional amount of food for a little kid. But he didn't want her to be hungry.
He'd be at the lab all day, worrying about what could go wrong.
Calleigh shifted Diego on her hip.
Chloe squinted into the early morning sunlight and stomped her foot on the ground to watch her new shoes light up. Diego looked on interestedly, and Chloe saw him, so she did it again.
Eric saw the yellow school bus round the corner and he felt his stomach knot up.
Well, this was it.
Chloe hugged her mother, and Calleigh bent down and gave her a kiss on the cheek, telling her she loved her, to be good, and she'd pick her up at after school care.
Chloe nodded and moved towards Eric.
Eric knelt down to her level and hugged her tightly; hisface in her curly hair.
"I love you, Chloe." He said, choking back emotions.
"I love you too, Daddy." She said, before she pulled away.
"I'll, uh, see you tonight." He said with a nod.
She grinned toothily and climbed up the steps and onto the bus.
Eric swallowed throatily and watched as the bus pulled away.
His vision got blurry and he coughed roughly, blinking rapidly.
"That was intense." Calleigh murmered, also a bit teary.
He turned and hugged her tightly, careful not to smash Diego.
"I'm so proud of her. She's so smart." He said.
Calleigh nodded into his chest, sniffled,and pulled away, grabbing Eric' hand and walking into the house, together.
Eric spared one last glance down the road where Chloe had left.
He felt old.
A/N: I got a bit teary, there. And I don't know why. This was so sweet. Please review!