I pulled the lyrics off the Internet on January 26, 2008, while working on Butterfly. Figured I needed to tell more about how Carly and Eric met, and thought about this song (All-American Girl by Carrie Underwood)… This is the result.

It's kind of about both Carly and Eric and Fillmore and Ingrid, but…yeah. You can't really discuss a teenage relationship without including the parents' reactions, can you? Plus, the first two verses are about the father's reaction and such, so I had to have at least Fillmore involved!

Since the day they got married
He'd been praying for a little baby boy
Someone he could take fishing
Throw the football and be his pride and joy
He could already see him holding that trophy
Taking his team to state

But when the nurse came in with a little pink blanket
All those big dreams changed

Before Carly had been born, Fillmore hadn't thought much about having children. After Carly had been born, she had stolen his heart, just as Ingrid had. He sometimes joked that it was genetic, and that whoever Carly ended up marrying would be hooked from the second he first talked to her.

And now, he's wrapped around her finger
She's the center of his whole world
And his heart belongs to that sweet, little, beautiful, wonderful, perfect
All American girl

As she grew up, Fillmore had become even more attached to her. Again, he usually attributed this to genetics, but everyone knew better. She had captured his heart from the moment he'd first seen her.

Sixteen short years later
She was falling for the senior football star

When Carly had started high school, she had become obsessed with a senior football player. Fillmore hadn't understood the situation for a while. He just knew that Carly wouldn't stop talking about some guy named Eric who was on the school football team.

Not entirely knowing why his daughter was so obsessed with the boy and finding the age difference a little worrisome, Fillmore had hoped Carly's feelings for the kid would fade with time.

Of course, he'd had no such luck. If anything, her obsession with Eric had increased.

Before you knew it he was dropping passes
Skipping practice just to spend more time with her

When Eric had started skipping football practice and showing up at the house with Carly, Fillmore had been alarmed and suspicious. He'd taken Eric aside one evening after Ingrid had suggested he stay for dinner and asked him flat out what his intentions were. Eric had been sincere and serious, responding that he wasn't surprised at Fillmore's questions but that he wasn't going to intentionally hurt Carly's feelings and was intrigued by her.

That had hit Fillmore quite hard, reminding him of his first thoughts on Ingrid, and he'd backed off, taking Eric's word.


The coach said, "Hey, son, what's your problem?
Tell me, have you lost your mind?"
Daddy said "You'll lose your free ride to college;
boy, you better tell her goodbye."

Eric had been scolded many times by his coach and yelled at quite a few times by his father, and he'd become so fearful of the latter that he had shown up on the Fillmores' front porch one night with a duffel bag in hand. He explained that his father had started to get physical in his quest to get Eric to stop spending time with Carly and that Eric was afraid his father might go so far as to severely injure him.

He had apologized for showing up unannounced and at such a late hour, but had been frantic. He'd asked if Fillmore knew anywhere he could stay until his father cooled off a little. Without hesitation, Fillmore had ushered the boy to the guest bedroom, rattling off a few conditions under which Eric was allowed to stay. Eric had agreed, looking extremely relieved, and Fillmore had promised to keep an eye on Mr. Phillips.

But now, he's wrapped around her finger
She's the center of his whole world
And his heart belongs to that sweet, little, beautiful, wonderful, perfect
All American

Of course, as Fillmore had expected in their situation, Eric and Carly had become even closer since they were under the same roof. They talked all the time, knew everything about each other, and were almost siblings. Keyword being almost.

Ingrid and Fillmore had many discussions about the duo's relationship, debating whether or not letting Eric stay with them had been a good idea. Fillmore tried to reassure Ingrid that Eric wasn't going to be much trouble at all, and teased her about not knowing everything as he was accustomed to thinking she did. She glared at him, and he smiled.

"Ingrid, you're her mother. Aren't mothers supposed to know these things?"

"I'm not that smart," Ingrid retorted, asking, "Just why did you let him stay here, of all places? This would be the first place his father would look for him, don't you think?"

Fillmore smiled almost proudly as he replied, "The man knows I'm a cop, Ingrid. I have a feeling he isn't going to mess with me. Therefore, he won't try anything with his son under my care."

"But couldn't you have brought him to Anza or something?"
Fillmore raised his eyebrows and answered, "Ingrid, the kid's here every afternoon. We may as well keep an eye on him all the time. Of course, we have no reason to worry about him trying anything, but it's nice to be sure."

"How do you know he's that trustworthy?"

Fillmore smiled, replying, "Because, Third, the boy reminds me of somebody we both know."

Ingrid frowned in confusion, and he explained with a smile, "Think of him as a younger, paler version of me."

Ingrid blinked, and Fillmore chuckled. "See the resemblance?"

"That was not quite what I wanted to hear…" Ingrid stuttered, her eyes narrowing as she reminded him, "Remember Auggie?"

"I thought we already talked about that. You still don't believe me?"

"Not entirely."

"Yeah, well, it doesn't really matter now, does it? And really, it didn't matter back then, either…"

"Pardon me?"

Fillmore grinned, explaining, "It doesn't matter that I opened my eyes two seconds earlier than you would have liked me to. It turned out fine, didn't it?"

"By fine, you mean…"

"I figure we were kind of destined to end up together. Everybody at school tried to convince us of it, but we ignored them until high school. They were right, so does it really matter?"

"Are you saying that since Eric is basically you he and Carly will end up together so we shouldn't worry about what they do together?" Ingrid asked, looking at him in disbelief.

"For a genius, you're not catching on very quickly," Fillmore quipped, grinning.

The joke earned him a glare from Ingrid and he laughed.

"What I'm saying is that Eric respects us, and, more importantly, he respects Carly. He's not going to betray her trust or ours by doing something stupid, nor would he want to disappoint us by hurting Carly."

He grinned, continuing, "Plus, he knows I'd throw him in jail in a second if I thought he was going to hurt my daughter in any way, shape or form."

Ingrid sighed, apparently satisfied, and grabbed a pillow from the couch, throwing it at him with a grin.

"Hey! What was that for?"

"What else?"

Fillmore groaned. "You're not still hung up over that, are you? For crying out loud, it was seventh grade! Haven't you ever heard of puberty?"

"Of course. But that still doesn't give you license to—"

Before Ingrid could finish her rant, Fillmore clapped a hand over her mouth, grinning. "Keep ranting and I'll tell Car what really happened to her baby blanket."

Ingrid's gaze narrowed and she pulled his hand away. "That's blackmail. Don't you put people away for that?"

"Mmmm… Guess you'd better stop talking. Unless you'd like me to go to jail…"

Ingrid groaned exasperatedly, giving up. "Okay, well, what do you suggest we do about Eric and Carly?"

"Quit worrying," Fillmore stated simply, smiling.


And when they got married

After he'd graduated and gone off to college, when Carly was twenty, Eric had returned from college one weekend and approached Fillmore rather nervously, asking to speak to him privately. Ingrid and Carly weren't going to be home for a while, so Fillmore had welcomed Eric into the house, leading him to the living room to chat.

"I…you know I'm grateful that you let me stay here for a while, and that you trusted me with Carly. I'm sure you already realized this, but we got really close, and…"

Eric paused warily and Fillmore smiled as he interpreted, "You're in love with her."

"I…" Eric's face turned red, and he couldn't respond.

"I've known that for a long time, man. You've been attached to her since she started high school. I always figured that would happen to whoever Carly ended up with."

Eric looked at him quizzically, and Fillmore explained, "She's just like her mother. Happened to me in middle school, so I figured Carly would catch somebody's attention eventually. I just didn't realize it'd be you. To be honest with you, I wasn't entirely sure about you at first. I didn't really like the age difference, and I know teenage boys. I wasn't sure how trustworthy you were. But when you kept showing up here and gave up football for Carly, I figured you were sincere. When you showed up and asked where you could stay to be safe from your dad, I knew what I had to do. I wasn't too worried about you hurting Carly or betraying my trust. As time went by, you proved me right. On both counts. You're trustworthy, and you fell in love with Carly. Now, you're asking for my permission to marry her."

Fillmore smiled. "How can I say no?"

Eric looked as though a weight had been lifted off his shoulders as Fillmore stood and offered the younger man his hand.

"Congrats, kid. But," he stated, his face serious, "if you so much as think about harming my daughter in any way, shape or form, I'll cuff you so fast your head'll spin for a week."

Eric's eyes widened, his face slightly pale, and Fillmore chuckled. "Relax, son. I know you're too attached to Carly to hurt her."

Eric smiled almost faintly, laughing vaguely as he stood up.

Moments later, the front door flew open and Carly was in the room, hugging Eric as if he had just saved her life.
Eric laughed as Carly released him, her eyes sparkling.

"Why didn't you tell me you were coming back?"

"I wanted to surprise you."

Eric glanced at Fillmore. "And I wanted to talk to your dad."

Carly's expression turned worried, and Fillmore reassured her, "He's not in trouble, Car, really. He just had a question for me."

"Question? What kind of question?" Ingrid asked curiously from the doorway, walking over to stand next to Fillmore.

"Uh…" Eric began, looking to Fillmore.

Fillmore grinned. "Oh, I'm not asking. It's your question. You've probably wanted to ask it for years. Go ahead."

With a deep breath, Eric looked back to Carly and raised a trembling hand to his coat pocket to draw out a small box. "Carly, I… Oh, geez, why can't I ever say anything right?"

He ran a hand through his hair before kneeling and opening the box, its contents eliciting a gasp of surprise from Carly, who hugged him again, this time with tears coursing down her cheeks.

"So I guess that's a yes to the proposal?" Fillmore asked with a laugh, the sound turning to a complaint as Ingrid swatted his shoulder.

"Hey, that's not fair, Third," he chuckled, touching her nose.

Before Ingrid could reply, Carly broke in with, "Mom, Dad, this is kinda my special moment, remember?"

Fillmore grinned. "Oh, right. Your mother's violence distracted me."

"Cornelius—"

Fillmore smiled apologetically at Eric and Carly, silencing Ingrid with a hand to her mouth.

"Third, I'm a cop. You don't mess with cops," he warned her, grinning smugly and receiving a glare from Ingrid.


and decided to have one of their own
She said, "Be honest, tell me what you want"
And he said, "Honey, you outta know"

A few months later, after the wedding and while visiting with both of their parents, Carly announced to all five of them—both sets of parents and Eric—that she had just found out that she was pregnant.

Ingrid and Fillmore were delighted, and Eric's parents were overjoyed, the mothers discussing a baby shower and the fathers grinning at each other and at Eric, who could only stare at Carly.

"Eric? Are you okay?" Carly asked nervously, which snapped Eric out of his trance.

"Of course I'm all right. I'm just a little surprised, is all. A…a baby… I'm gonna be a dad?"

Carly beamed. "Yes. And you'll make a great dad."

"So, are you hoping for a boy or a girl?" Eric's mother, Jean, asked, looking from Carly to Eric for a response.

Carly looked at Eric, who smiled. "I'm thinking a girl…"

Carly's eyes lit up. "Really?"


A sweet, little, beautiful one just like you
I want a beautiful, wonderful, perfect All American

"Of course," Eric smiled. "She'll have your genes, which will make her pretty much perfect."

Carly blushed, lowering her gaze.

Eric chuckled. "You know, you look really cute right now..."

Fillmore laughed. "That's exactly what I used to Ingrid when she'd look away."

"And some lucky guy will tell that to our girl someday, I'm sure. It'll be a tradition!" Eric grinned.

Now, he's wrapped around her finger
She's the center of his whole world
And his heart belongs to that sweet, little, beautiful, wonderful, perfect
All American girl

One year later, on their twins' birthdays, Eric couldn't help but smile. They had wanted a girl, and instead they had gotten a girl and a boy, both healthy and perfect. And Eric and Carly couldn't have been happier.

All American girl

Okay, done and just under 2300 words with lyrics; about 2000 without. Yeah, it's odd, but that's me.

It took me a LONG time to finish. I wasn't quite sure about it, and I started another one that was going to be in place of this, but then I started writing more and went, "Maybe I should add them together." So I will. This one and one based on Hawk Nelson's Every Little Thing are about the same thing, mostly, so I decided I'd post one and add the other as a second chapter/alternate story…

I know it bounces and changes tenses somewhat, but…that's how I ended up writing it.

Sorry for the slight…innuendo with Fillmore and Ingrid. I wanted to include a reference to something in there someplace. I figured that would fit okay, but it could've confused/annoyed some of you. (Then again, it could have made a lot of you happy, which is almost scary to me…)

Anyway, review, don't, doesn't really matter. I may take this down and revise it eventually, and I'll gladly take suggestions for other fics I've already got in progress or ideas you've got for other ones (even though that might be kinda plaigerizing...)

If you know of a song that would allow me to delve deeper into Carly's personality while growing up, feel free to let me know. I'll be on the lookout too, so hopefully you'll get a better idea of her looks and personality. I need to work on that... Like, soon.