Seven-year-old Sophie Miller bounced into bed, pulling her Disney princess sheets up to her chin. "Momma," she said sweetly, pushing her unruly brown hair away from her large, blue eyes, "tell us the story about how the prince and princess met."

Jess laughed as she tucked the sheet around her daughter and pulled up a fuzzy blanket. "Not tonight, Sophie, it's getting late." She reached over to give 5-year-old Walt a nudge up into the bed next to his sister's. "I wanna hear the story, too, Mamma," he said.

"Little ones need their rest," Jess said softly, kissing Walt, then Sophie, on the head. She looked at both of them, and her heart melted a little. Tucked into bed were little pieces of her and Nick. The thought always made her smile.

"Pleeeeeese, Momma," Sophie begged. "If you tell us the story, you won't hear a peep out of us the rest of the night."

Jess looked into her daughter's eyes that mirrored her own. She thought of how Nick always told her it was pure revenge that Sophie took after her mother. I haven't been able to say no to those eyes for two years, he told Jess in the hospital as they looked at their newborn. Now you'll know what it's like to try and refuse those baby blues. She looked over at Walt. She had just as tough a time refusing a mini-Nick Miller. She could swear Walt gave her a turtle face before he even cried for the first time. She tried not to giggle at the thought. "All right," she sighed, "but just the short version tonight."

"Whoohoo!" yelped Walt in delight. He snuggled next to his mother as she sat on his bed. She pushed her hand gently through his dark hair. Walt peered up at Jess expectantly with his chocolate-brown eyes.

"Once upon a time," Jess began, "there was a sad princess who was trapped with a giant with enchanted hair. Any time he would shake his head, his enchanted hair would cast a spell and the princess would shrink until felt about thiiiiis big." Jess held her finger and thumb close together. "For years, the princess went around feeling very small and very sad."

"Dumb giant," mumbled Walt. "I wanna punch him in the nose!"

"Walter Nicholas, what have I told you about punching?" Jess admonished slightly, trying to keep the smile from her lips.

"No punching," he grumbled, and crossed his arms tightly.

"That's right," Jess said.

Sophie sighed loudly. "Momma, 'and then one day…,'" she said, motioning for her mother to continue the story.

"And then, one day, the princess realized she did not have to be so small, and she escaped!" Jess declared, and Sophie clapped. "She wandered and wandered, but she had forgotten who she was! With nowhere to go, she stumbled upon a tall tower in a place called FourDee. From the tower, she could see much of the land. Living there was a prince and two brave knights. The prince and the brave knights let the sad princess stay with them."

"Daddy says one of the knights is the Duke of D-bag, and the symbol on his shield is a jar," said Walt. He sat up and looked at Jess. "What does that mean, Momma?"

"It means daddy needs to stop adding to the story," laughed Jess.

As if hearing his name, Nick peered into the room. "Hey guys, you still up?"

"Daddy!" squealed Sophie and launched herself at Nick, wrapping herself around his legs. He scooped his little girl into his arms and walked over to Jess. "Sorry I'm late. Big Bob needed to come in later than usual." He brushed a stray hair from her cheek and tucked it behind her ear.

Sophie looked at Nick. "Daddy, if you own the bar, then why do you have to work late, ever?" she asked.

"Because daddy has a lot of responsibility," said Jess. "He takes care of a lot of people."

"Whoever thought anyone would say that about your old man," Nick said with a laugh and ruffled Walt's hair. "You guys con another story from your mom?"

"The prince and the princess in the land of FourDee," said Sophie as Nick placed her down gently on her bed.

"Again?" he laughed.

"I wanted to punch the giant," scowled Walt.

"That's my boy," said Nick.

"Nicholas!" Jess hissed and flashed her eyes at him.

Nick sat up taller. "That's my boy for NOT punching, because punching is not a cool thing to do."

Jess covered her mouth to hide her smile.

Sophie tapped her father on the leg. "The prince was about to let the princess stay, so she could remember who she was," she said. Then she shook her head. "But it wasn't easy, because…"

"Don't say it!" yelled Walt, before he scampered up the bed and threw the sheet over his head.

Sophie grinned, "The evil sorceress!" Walt squeaked from under the sheet. He yelled, "She breaks grown men in half and makes them cry and drink a lot of albobol, and not want to go outside!"

Jess looked at Nick. "Did you tell him that?" Nick shrugged and lifted his hands up. "No way!" Both parents stopped for a moment and looked slowly at Sophie who was doing her best to whistle nonchalantly. "Sophie?" Jess asked, with a clear warning in her voice.

Sophie sighed. "I may have asked Uncle Winnie and Uncle Schmitty about the evil sorceress once or twice," she said, looking down. She glanced up, repentant. "I only tell Walt he will come for her when he rips the feathers off my feeling stick."

Jess pursed her lips and shook her head. "We'll talk about this later, young lady." She leaned over to Walt, pulling lightly on the sheet to urge him to come out. "It's all right, Walt. You know what stops the evil sorceress, don't you?" The sheet wiggled back and forth as Walt shook his head. "Come on, sweetie, we'll do it together." Slowly the sheet eased down. "Okay," Jess said. "How do we make the evil sorceress go away? One…two…"

"This is really NOT necessary, is it?" Nick sighed.

"Three! Turtle face!" yelled Jess, Sophie and Walt, who whipped the sheet off his head. All three did a perfect impression of Nick in full turtle-face mode. Nick, however, did not have to pretend, as the corners of his mouth were already in a frown. "Very funny, everyone." His little family dissolved into giggles, even Walt, and Nick could only smile.

"So the prince cast off the evil sorceress with his turtle face, but they still were not together," Jess said. Walt crawled out of his bed and held his hands up to his father. Nick picked him up and pulled Walt into the bed beside him as Sophie wrapped her hands around Nick's arm.

"The prince and princess had to battle the Sands of Grumpiness, the Amber Waves of Grain, the Waterfall of Broken Glass, The Doom of Valet Tickets, coyotes, badgers, …."

"The Land of Excessive Singing…" murmured Nick.

"I don't remember that one, daddy," said Sophie. She looked to Jess. "Momma, you are skipping a LOT."

"Short version tonight, sweetie," she reminded her. Sophie sighed. "Okay, okay, so tell the last part, momma."

"After all these trials, the prince and the princess thought it might be better if they stayed apart. That he would go back to ruling his kingdom, and she would return to a land of rainbows and unicorns," said Jess. She looked up and caught Nick's eye. She could tell they were thinking the same thing. We came so close to losing all this. To losing each other. We almost let it slip away. She smiled softly. "But then, the princess remembered who she was! She was a strong, independent woman who fought for what she wanted. And she wanted to be with the prince, no matter what happened." Nick smiled at her and winked.

"And they rode off in a chariot together," Sophie finished with a sigh. "I love that story."

Nick pulled his daughter close. "Me too, kiddo." In one move, he swooped off the bed and grabbed Walt. He tossed him in the air, catching him just before he landed on his bed. Walt erupted in a peel of giggles. "Again, daddy!"

"Not tonight, little man," he ruffled Walt's hair. Jess leaned down and kissed his head before doing the same with Sophie.

"Goodnight Little Millers," said Nick and he and Jess went to the door of their room. Jess turned out the light. "Sleep well, my darlings."

Jess turned to go. "Momma?" came Sophie's voice. Jess looked back into the room, illuminated by the colorful nightlight. "Yes, sweetie?"

"When did the prince and princess fall in love?" Sophie asked.

"Early on, I imagine," said Jess. She felt Nick's hand ease into hers and squeeze softly.

"When did they tell each other? That they loved each other?" Sophie's voice drifted from the darkened room.

"Not soon enough, kiddo," Nick said. "It was, like, a whole season later."

"Okay," Sophie said with a yawn. She rolled over and pulled her blanket up to her chin. "Goodnight momma and daddy."

"Goodnight, baby girl," Nick said. He pulled Jess away from the door and down the hall.

"You had a long day, are you hungry?" she asked quietly.

Nick opened the door to their room. "It's been much too long since I've had my Day – my Ms. Day," whispered Nick as he pulled his wife to him and covered her mouth with his own.

When she finally pulled away, Jess was breathless. "Why, Mr. Miller, you shock me!" she drawled in the over-the-top voice of a Southern belle.

Nick laughed huskily. "Hey doll, I'm new in town. You mind giving Julius Pepperwood a tour of this FourDee place? And, uh doll, maybe we could start with the Land of Nerdy Weird Sex?"

Jess giggled, and Nick once again asked himself how he could be the luckiest son-of-a-gun on the planet. "Right this way, Mr. Pepperwood." Jess led him into the bedroom and closed the door.

Back in bed, Walt yawned. "Our parents are so weird."

Sophie smiled. "Yeah."