I watch as I see my little girl, laughing at something he says, beaming at him as he tells a probably stupid joke. She looks at him adoringly with her mother's eyes, her hazel orbs glittering with happiness as she looks at him the same way she used to look at me back in the days when all she wanted was to be a princess. I wish she still though I was the only boy who doesn't have "cooties." He leans over to whisper something in her ear, to which she bursts into giggles.
A wave of dread envelopes m: they remind me so much of her mother and I when we were their age. I groan and lean back in my chair. I glare at the boy who is slowly stealing my daughter's heart, and am pleasantly surprised when a familiar pair of arms snake around my shoulders.
"You know," she whispers. "You seem to have learned from my dad quite well; you've got the overprotective father thing down." She kissed my shoulder softly, and I could feel her smiling as she remembers when we were that age.
I frown and turn to face her "But I'm not a cop like your father." She came around and sat on the floor in front of me, looking deep into my eyes as she chuckled.
"No, you're just a big, bad military man." I couldn't help but smile at her; even after all these years, she is one of the few people that can make me smile when I'm supposed to be mad or upset.
"Mads, she's too young." It sounded weak even to my own ears. He was good for her, and I knew it.
She put her hand on my face and looked at me lovingly. "We were their age, Mark, and you were older than me. You should be thankful that it's not one of your recruits- you would make their lives a living hell." To this I knew I had no argument. However, just because I have to accept it doesn't mean I have to like it.
A brilliant idea popped into my head, and I smirked as I stood up and walked outside to where my daughter and her boyfriend still sat. Lizzie looked up at me, and her face quickly had a horrified expression as she knew instantly what I was going to do. I put my hand on his shoulder and smiled. "John, it's time you met Lizzie's grandpa."