Disclaimer: Ah okay here we go same old same old.. I don't own them, just well need to flex my imagination.

A/N: I got bored writing in the current time frame so I thought that I would branch out and try something that I hadn't done before. This one is set a few years in the future. But give it a read and please let me know what you think so I know if I should continue on with it, or put it in the ahh well I tried file.

Fairy tales, every girl grows up dreaming of being that princess from the stories that she's read. Once upon a time, coming from your father sounds as if it really could happen. When he leans over and kisses you goodnight and wishes his princess sweet dreams. Now if those could only really come true your life would be set.

I stood there watching for a few minutes, just watching. I had my mother's unruly curly hair, but it was not as dark as hers was. I had my father's stature and had been told several times that I was the one that inherited his personality. Of the two of us, I was the more "difficult" child. Yet I was the older one, guess I started out stubborn.

My younger sister was more into sports, while I was more into the books and being smarter than everyone around me. There was only one person who I could never truly outsmart and I think that was because of who he was and how well he knew me. I was closer to him than I would have ever been to my mom. It wasn't that I didn't like my mother or get alone with her. As they said, I had his spitfire and I had determination. I had to do everything that I possibly could before everyone else. See I had my sister and with her talents for sports and winning praise I had to come up with something else to get their attention for I had no talent when it came to playing sports. Dad's gene seemed to have missed me in that department. I threw myself into school, reading whatever I could get my hands on and excelling as fast as a humanly could.

By the time I was in first grade I was reading at a 5th grade level and doing a lot more than they thought someone my age could be doing. As the years went by I was able to skip a couple of grades, and worked hard to everyone around me to prove that I was mature enough to handle it. I graduated from high school when I was 16 two years before my sister did. I took classes at the college while staying at home with mom and dad, and by the time my sister graduated from high school I was done with bachelor's degree and ready, more than ready to start graduate school. Even I had to admit that I was young cocky and ready to take on the world now that I was finally 18. Mom and Dad didn't seem to thrilled that I was busting at the seams to escape from under their wings, but dad knew that I was more than ready to fly. How many grad students still lived at home with their mom and dad, but then there weren't many grad students who were only 18.

As I stood there almost afraid to go inside, my mind wandered back to Dad taking me to the airport, we both knew mom would get too teary eyed and that she might not let me on that plane.

"You sure this is what you want to do?"

"Yeah Dad, no turning back." I replied with a smile.

"You know if you need anything, anything at all, you can call me and I'll do what I can for you."

"You worry to much." I said looking over at the man sitting next to me, leaving was going to be harder than I thought but this is really what I wanted to do.

"Father's prerogative."

"You know I love you dad." I said softly.

"I know you do kiddo." I heard him say back to me. "You're going to do fine, just fine. Your mom and I are really proud of you."

I look down, fighting not to cry. I was about ready to put over a thousand miles between me and my dad, I'd never been more than a twenty minute drive from him. "I know you are."

I could feel the car stop as he had found a place to park. "Hey now no crying." He said. "That's for you mother to do not you."

"I'm going to miss you dad."

"I know kiddo." He pulled me into a really big hug as he slung one of my bags over his shoulder, "I'll miss you too. But come on you have a plane to catch to take you back east."

"Kate's pretty pissed at me." I said as we walked towards the ticket counter.

"I know honey; it's just going to have to take some time to get used to you not being around."

"You think she'll be mad at me long?"

"No, knowing your sister in a day or two of not having to share the car with you, and once she gets the picture that your guys room is now pretty much hers, she'll be okay."

"I'm going to miss her too."

"I know you are you two are pretty close."

"We didn't have much of a choice there." I said with a soft smirk. "You made us be nice to each other or you'd give us that look and then someone usually ended up with an ear getting flicked."

"Yeah but you turned out pretty good."

"Only pretty good dad?"

"No Tess, you turned out wonderful, a dad couldn't ask for a better daughter."

"Is it to late to change my mind?" I found myself asking.

"Why would you want to do that, you've been looking forward to this. I know you have kiddo."

"I've never been that far away from you Dad," I said looking up at him; I didn't get his height either. My sister was a great deal taller than I was; it's how you could tell us apart.

He stopped walking for just a brief second as if to catch my full attention, "Tess, you've worked hard for this and I'm only a phone call away if you need me. You know I would drop everything and be on the first flight to Chicago if you needed me to be." He put his hand under my chin, "you are always going to be my baby girl no matter how far away you are."

Somehow those words made it just a little bit easier to keep going. "I know you would dad." I hugged him just a little tighter as we got me checked in for my flight.

Dad walked with me to the security check point, he couldn't go any further than that. "I'll see you soon okay. You call me when you get in or if you need anything, anything at all."

"I will dad, I promise." I said knowing that I needed to let go of him to move into the line but I just didn't want to just yet.

"Go on baby girl." He said with a gentle nudge and when I had taken a couple of steps away, "Tess honey here." He called out to me.

I turned back around, "what dad?"

"JIC." He said with a soft sad smile. "You never know and I can't have you eating that sodium in a cup. Be safe Tessie."

I nod and take it from him, "thanks dad." I am starting to back up again but run for him throwing my arms around his neck and giving him one last hug, "I'll call you in a few hours."

As I walked away I threw a glance over my shoulder, and for the first time in as many years as I could remember I saw tears in my father's eyes.

I stood now looking at those big glass doors that said ER Entrance on them and wondered if this was really what I wanted to do. I was still young enough that changing my mind wouldn't be a life altering decision. My earliest memories however were of going down to the ER taking dad dinner when he worked nights, or on summer days taking a picnic lunch down to the hospital and sitting on the grass with mom on her lunch break. You could almost say that my sister and I grew up in the hospital almost. We were there a lot thankfully never as patients, but more of parent handoffs. Mom going on shift handing us off to dad coming off shift only to have it repeat again when they changed. It was actually kind of funny the trouble that I managed to get into when I wasn't being carefully watched.

It was late one night and they were both working, the babysitter had an emergency and had to drop us off, they had only an hour left on their shifts, but by the time I was done, they wished that they hadn't had us dropped off there. Kate was sleeping on the couch in the lounge, but I was more curious than anything to see what my parents did on a daily basis when they were at the ER. Dad was a great pediatrician that much I knew, and I knew he took care of sick kids, mom had told us that when we asked her what he did. And he explained it once when we had bring a parent to class day at school. But that hadn't fully fulfilled my curiosity. So I pulled myself out of the lounge where I was supposed to stay and watch TV and starting peaking around putting my nose into various rooms.

There was one that caught my attention though, it had big swinging double doors and people where rushing in and out of there. I climbed up on a gurney so that I could peak inside the window that was there and what I saw was something that changed my life forever. My dad had his arm inside this kid's chest and you could tell from the look on his face that he was worried; it wasn't a look of being scared, but one of complete concentration. My mom was right there by his side and was handing him things helping him as I wasn't sure what they were trying to do. All I knew was there was lots and lots of blood and tons of people, all of them wearing these yellow gowns.

I stayed there watching from my perch until one of the nurses noticed that I wasn't where I was supposed to be and pulled me away. It was later when my parents got off shift and we were headed home that I asked them what they were doing and they more or less tried to explain it to me. I knew right then and there that's what I wanted to do. I wanted to be just like my dad and save kids lives.

"You're going to be late."

I turned around to see whose voice was talking to me. "I have a few minutes, I wouldn't want to be late today of all days."

"Yeah, you know I wish your Dad could see you today."

"So do I." I gave her a soft smile.

"I know I'm proud of you." I can feel a soft hug now.

"I know, I'm happy about it all really I am, I think that I am just a little nervous." I find myself saying. "Like I thought this day would never come and now here I am standing here of all places."

"Well come on, you need to get inside, standing out here you won't learn anything and you're hear to learn aren't you. Be just like your Dad."

"Yeah I am."

"Although your not going to be just like your dad." She smiled at me. Her arm was still around me as we headed for the door now. "Cause he broke every rule he ever could and step on so many toes."

"You probably shouldn't be telling me this Aunt Lizzie." I said smiling up at her.

"Ah, you know your dad, you can see him in you, and it will be nice to have another Dr. Ross working here." She said with another light hug. "Now knock them dead, and if you get a chance we can maybe have lunch together."

"Sounds nice. Gives me something to look forward to." I smile again but this one is much more nervous than any of the ones that came before.

I took a deep breath and walked inside the ER. On my way to being the next Dr. Ross to grace County General.