Hello, readers!
This story is a prompt from Rick and Maggie.
Disclaimer: I do not, nor will I ever, own Full House.
"Good luck, Stephanie!" Jesse called, waving goodbye to his niece as she followed DJ out the front door.
"Have fun!" Pam added.
The door shut behind the two girls, and Jesse and Pam turned around to face Joey.
"I'm glad that's over," Pam breathed.
"I still remember DJ's first day of school. She was fine, but you and Danny had identical breakdowns," Jesse laughed.
"At least Stephanie didn't freak out. When I had my first day of school, I clung to my mom's leg for an hour!" Joey exclaimed.
As if on cue, the door opened, and Stephanie Tanner stepped inside.
"I've changed my mind!" she yelled, her voice thick with apprehension and unshed tears. "I'm not going!"
Jesse and Joey blinked in surprise, but Pam had almost expected this. She'd actually been surprised when Stephanie had walked out the door without a fight.
Stephanie plopped herself down on the steps leading away from the door, and Jesse raised an eyebrow.
"Why don't you want to go?" He asked.
"I'm sick," Stephanie lied.
"You don't look sick," Joey pointed out.
"But I am," Stephanie said before giving a weak and obviously fake cough.
"Come on," Joey chuckled. "If you're going to fake being sick, at least do it right," he said before turning his lips in and hacking into his fist. Stephanie mimicked him. "Yeah, really hack. Now, you're getting it!"
DJ rushed back inside and said, "Steph, we're going to miss the- are you okay?" She exclaimed upon seeing her sister's imitation of a sick person.
"Now, you're tricking people!" Joey laughed, although he was still worried about Stephanie's anxiety about school and her refusal to go to Kindergarten.
"You go ahead, Deej," Pam said before she nodded at Jesse and Joey, who picked up on her message and walked out of the room to give the mother and daughter some alone time.
DJ, sensing some tension in the air, nodded and walked back outside, shutting the door behind her.
Pam seated herself beside Stephanie and intertwined her fingers with her daughter's.
"All right, Steph. Why don't you want to go to school?" Pam asked.
"I'm scared," Stephanie answered. "I don't remember the last time I've been around strangers without someone I knew with me. What if they don't like me?"
Pam barked a laugh. "Seriously? How could they not like you? You're sweet, funny, playful, easy going. You're nice. What's there not to like?"
Stephanie blinked, unsure of how to answer. Her mother's words helped, but the fear did not vanish, although Stephanie wished it would.
"And if they don't like you, it's their loss," Pam added. "Did I ever tell you the story of my first day of school?"
Stephanie shook her head.
"Well, I was a lot like you. I didn't want to go. I was scared people wouldn't like me. My parents thought about homeschooling me for Kindergarten, but I did end up going, and the best thing happened to me," Pam said with a smile.
"What?" Stephanie asked, her eyes sparkling with curiosity.
"I met your father. If I didn't go to school that year, I may never have met him, and you, DJ, and Michelle may never have happened. That thought breaks my heart.
"So there are bad parts about school. I'm not going to lie about that. There are times when you'll want to throw the towel in, when you won't see the point in going. But there are also good parts about school. I met some of my best friends; I discovered my passion; and I met your father. School isn't all bad."
Stephanie smiled, feeling the heavy weight of anxiety lift off of her chest at her mother's story.
"You could go to school and risk all of your fears coming true, but knowing that there is a possibility of gaining more than you lose. Or you cannot go to school and never know."
Stephanie stared at her lap, still unsure of what she wanted. Although the fear had eased up, and the panic had dwindled into nothing but nerves, the fear of the unknown was still all too present, closing up her throat and zipping her lips. She didn't know the answer, and that scared her.
Pam grinned. "I'll tell you what. I'll make a deal with you. I'll let you stay home this week, but next week, you have to start going to school, no exceptions. Do we have a deal?" Pam offered her daughter her pinky.
Stephanie smiled and wrapped her littlest finger around her mother's. "Deal!" she agreed.
One tiny change always leads to big outcomes. In a twist of fate, Danny Tanner died in the car accident instead of his wife Pam. August 10th of that year rolled around, and if Danny had been the one to survive, it would have been Stephanie's first day of school. Alas, Pam was the one to survive, and Stephanie's first day of school was delayed one week. One change lead to a different outcome, which you could also call the butterfly affect.
I don't think it ever revealed when Pam and Danny met. If it does, and they didn't meet in Kindergarten... well, this is an AU for a reason!
Thanks for reading! Goodbye, everyone, and please leave a review!