A/N: This is my entry for the Jameson Rook Challenge. When I first received my prompt (no, I won't tell you yet!), I had no idea how to deal with it. Then, fic happened. I warn you, this is sappy. Maybe it will make you feel better if you still have the post-finale blues. I hope you enjoy! :D

He had never felt so lost his entire life. He was a writer, for god's sake, but now he was out of words. She was going to get married. His little girl would get married today and he wanted to cry and jump and scream and sigh all at once. He did the latter, because it took up less energy than his other options.
He would cry later. Whether out of joy or pain, he wasn't sure. The combination of the two would surely do him in.

He sensed a motion next to him and felt his wife's hand on his shoulder only a second later.
"Stop thinking so loud, Rick" she told him. "I can almost see the steam coming out of your ears."
He sighed once more as he turned to face her. The sound died half way on his parted lips the moment he laid eyes on her. She had changed into her dress while he had tried not to stand in the way of the buzzing electricians as they put up the lights in the big dance hall. He had pretended to help them at first, but in reality he was entirely useless right now.

What was left of his brain capacity melted away at the sight of Kate's long, silky green dress. He had seen it before of course, but only in a garment bag and never on her luscious body. The low cut back revealed her soft, beautiful skin as she turned in a slow circle in front of him. The skirt was so long that its hemline swept the floor and he could only catch glimpses of her high silver heels. One hand rested flirtatiously on her hip, the other held a metallic clutch. Her face was glowing with love and joy. She had her long hair artfully pulled up, highlighted with glimmering pins to emphasize the sharp, beautiful lines of her cheekbones and the long exposed curve of her neck.

"Uhh...you…" he stammered when she had completed her little fashion show and he found her teasing gaze behind her long, thick lashes. Even after almost 8 years of marriage, she still had him wrapped around her little finger.

She was just about to lean up to kiss the astonishment off his face when a small hand tugged on the fabric of her skirt.
Kate smiled and looked at the six year old that was hiding behind the mass of brown hair that fell in pretty waves around her face.

"What are you doing here, Jo?" she asked and her daughter looked up at her with her father's pleading blue eyes.
"Lexi says she needs you, Momma" little Johanna answered and tugged at her mother's dress again for good measure. Kate brushed the girl's hair out of her face and nodded her head. Turning back to Rick, she gave him a quick peck on the lips before sympathetically patting his cheek.

Then she was gone again, just as quickly as she had appeared.

Johanna was left staring at her dad. "You look sad, daddy" she told him. He held his hand out for her and she stepped into his embrace.
"Promise me you won't get married" he whispered down at her.
"Ever?" Jo questioned and pulled slightly away from him. Rick smiled a sad and melancholic smile.
"Not in the near future" he sighed.

Jo giggled into his embrace. "I'm not old enough to get married yet, daddy" she scolded and her voice sounded so much like Kate's that he had to grip her closer.
"I know, sweetie. But trust me, time passes faster than you can blink."

Jo looked up at him and purposefully squeezed her eyes shut. She opened them again. "See, I blinked! I'm still not old enough to marry, dad!"
He laughed heartily. "Oh Jo, you are too smart for your own good" he mused and picked up her giggling form. "Let's go help your big sister, won't we?"

Jo vehemently shook her head, the long brown curls flinging around joyfully and brushing his cheek.
"No?" Rick wanted to know. Jo shook her head again.

"Lexi said you're no good today" she told him and he could swear that her forehead crinkled exactly the same way Kate's always did.
"Alexis said that? My daughter?" he asked, playfully emphasizing the 'my' to make his point. Jo nodded.

"She said something else, too, but it's a secret." Her blue eyes were shining so brightly that he could see his own reflection smiling back at him.
"Will you tell me what it is?" he asked and she snuggled closer to his chest.
"It's a secret, daddy!" she fake-whispered and Rick knew right there and then that if he ever had another child, it would have to be a boy or he'd be eternally screwed.

A/N: See? Sappy, I told you! How'd you like it? Do you want me to continue?

If you want to take part in the challenge, just send Jameson Rook (.net/u/2885474/) a PM saying:

1) What pairings you can write about/would like to write about.
2) The rating (K-M) you would be comfortable writing at, and
3) What genre you would like the song to apply to.

It's really a lot of fun and a great way to challenge yourself and broaden your horizons as an author!
Have a great week everyone!
Lina