Disclaimer: I own nothing :'( if I did Jeremy would NEVER have proposed to that annoying Tanya girl in the finale.
Author's Note: I'm uploading this right before a suuuppperr long flight to Moscow…I hate flying! :O And… is it wrong that I hope that evil redheaded Tanya gets blown up next? Seriously what soldier applies shimmery pink lipgloss right before sewing up burned victims? HATE HER! Get real Lifetime! On the brightside though Molly was adorable and Frank as always was hilarious! But on with the story….
Lieutenant Jeremy Sherwood could feel his heart tearing through his chest. It wasn't supposed to be like this. He wasn't supposed to be an emotional wreck, no that should have been his wife's job.
There was no need for him to feel like he was going to have an anxiety attack while driving. No reason for him to feel like turning the car around as fast as he could. And there was absolutely no reason why he should feel like curling up into a ball and crying. He was a man for God sake, and grown men do not (especially not Soldiers) feel like crying when they drop their baby girl off for her first day of pre-school.
Today was Annie Sherwood's first day of pre-school and her daddy almost couldn't stand to see the happy, excited look that lit up her face. Didn't she realize that she was abandoning him? That she was a big girl now and probably wouldn't look at her Daddy as her hero anymore. Jeremy almost had to force himself not to put the car in reverse and speed on home, where he could lock his little girl up forever.
Glancing over in the passenger seat at his wife, he noticed the same look of anxiety on her face. Emmalin Sherwood wound her hands nervously in her lap, only half listening to Annie talk about how amazing her first day of school was going to be. Wordlessly, Jeremy reached over and grabbed her petite hand in his large, warm one. Emmalin squeezed his hand gently in response and brought their intertwined fingers to her mouth to lay a soft kiss on each of his knuckles. She knew how hard this was for him, this was their baby and Jeremy had a tendency to get a little overprotective.
Annie was their youngest child at four years old, with an older brother and sister who always seemed to be leaving her in the dust. She was clumsy and sweet, and had the cutest laugh in the whole world. The youngest Sherwood looked just like her Mommy with her wide almond-shaped eyes and long dark hair. It was heart wrenching to think that if he came home during the day, his precious baby girl wouldn't be there to smile at him.
They wouldn't watch Blue's Clues on the couch together during his day's off from work anymore, or go take the dog for a walk. Who would make him go to tea parties and then force-feed him stale cookies and bittersweet tea? Nobody, that's who. And it killed him.
Pulling into an empty parking space, Jeremy reluctantly killed the engine. He opened the car door in time with Emmalin, and stepped out, lifting his four-year-old daughter out gently since she couldn't quite reach the ground yet.
Annie grabbed both her Mommy and Daddy's hands and nearly dragged them to the open door of Fort Marshall's Preschool. She could barely contain herself as they climbed the steps and walked into the school.
"Here we are, Annie. You excited?" Emmalin cooed to the little girl, smoothing one of her long braids lovingly.
"Yeah Mommy! I'm finally starting school!" the four year old jumped up and down happily. Jeremy's tummy clenched so hard that he wouldn't have been surprised if his stomach was trying to eat itself.
Kneeling he kissed his baby girl on the forehead, "Hey sweetie, you know if you're nervous or something you can tell us." Jeremy promised, grabbing her hand.
"I'm not Daddy." Annie shook her head to assure the soldier.
"You're sure…because you don't have to go to school this year if you don't want to. We can wait another year?" Jeremy suggested, hopefully. It wasn't over until that fat lady sung, right?
"No Daddy! This year, I wanna start this year!" Annie swore, enthusiastically. She glanced toward her Mommy, silently asking for help with her overprotective father.
He wrapped his arms tightly around the little girl, pulling her closely to his broad chest. Jeremy kissed her forehead a few times before he whispered, "Does it have to be this year?" His deep baritone voice pleaded, almost desperately. This was too hard, he wasn't ready to say goodbye yet. He wanted to keep her a little girl forever.
"Yup." Annie nodded, her dark braids and yellow dress bouncing up and down at the movement.
"Alright, I guess I'll let you go then. But do you remember all our phone numbers is case of an emergency?" Jeremy questioned while still squeezing the four year old tightly, "And all that other stuff I told you?"
"Ah huh. I remember that boys only want one thing, Daddy. And that I'm suppos' to play nice with others. And I promise to say the Pledge of Allegiance the loudest Daddy, just for you!" Annie Sherwood promised, leaning up on tippy toes to give her Daddy a kiss on the chin.
"I love you baby girl. Be good and have a great day." Jeremy told her, kissing both her little cheeks.
"Bye, Annie." Emmalin told her daughter, leaning over to kiss her forehead. The Army Wife smiled sadly.
"Bye Mommy, bye Daddy." Annie said, squirming to get out of the Lieutenants grasp to no avail.
"We'll be here to pick you up right when school gets out." Jeremy promised, rocking the little girl in his arms gently. He wasn't quite ready to let go yet.
"…Daddy, you can let me go now. Preschool's about to start." Annie whispered her voice muffled by Jeremy's ACUs.
"I…I…okay, Princess." Jeremy struggled, forcing himself to release his tight grip on the four year old.
Jeremy and Emmalin watched together as Annie ran off to look at the class turtle Patches with a few of her new classmates. They watched her talk to a little girl with light blonde hair and a little boy carrying a stuffed animal. The three four year olds watched the turtle before starting a game of tag together.
"I'm proud of you, Jeremy." Emmalin whispered as she wrapped her arms loosely around her husband from behind. She pressed a soft, loving kiss against the hallow behind his ear.
"I miss her already, baby." Jeremy sighed as he relaxed into his wife's embrace, "It wasn't this hard when Carson and Caroline started school." He quickly reminisced on his older two children's first day of school.
"That's because they weren't our last one." Emmalin giggled, stroking her soldier's dark buzz cut soothingly.
"What if she doesn't need me anymore? She's a big girl now, and…and I don't want to loose her." Jeremy struggled, turning around to kiss Emmalin's soft rosy cheek as he voiced his biggest fear for the first time.
"Ohhh, Jeremy. You're her Daddy; she's always going to need you. And it's not like our baby's going anywhere. Annie's not moving out, she just started school. There's tons of stuff she need you for." Emmalin assured the Lieutenant as they walked hand-in-hand to their car.
"Like what?" Jeremy raised an eyebrow in question. His wife always seemed to have the answers; he would be pretty lost without her. His apricot-colored lips brushed against her rose-colored ones gently.
"Honey, she's four. You need to teach her how to tie her shoes and check under her bed for monsters. You'll scare away all her boyfriends, ground her when she breaks curfew, and teach her how to drive… And since Annie's only four feet tall, my guess is that she's gonna need you to reach high things for a few more years. And then one day, when she's ready, you get to walk her down the aisle." Emmalin laughed, giving her husband an assuring smile.
"Oh, God no. Baby, I can barely let her go to pre-school. I'm never gonna give her away." Jeremy's eyes suddenly filled with fright at the idea of either of his daughters getting married.
"That's what my Dad used to say." Emmalin teased, giving Jeremy's butt a gentle pat as he escorted her to the passenger side of the car.
"And suddenly I get why he hates me…" the Soldier chuckled thoughtfully.
"He doesn't hate you!" Emmalin gasped. This had been a long-standing argument between her and her husband. It seems like her husband and father would just never be able to peacefully co-exist.
"Emmalin we've been married seven years and he still makes me call him 'General Holden'…and he goes 'Great, she brought him again.' every year at Thanksgiving." Jeremy chuckled, jogging over to the driver's side.
"Okay, so he's slowly warming up to you. I say give it another seven years and he'll love you almost as much as I do." Emmalin let out a laugh as she teased her husband.
"No he won't…I'm no better than that pre-school teacher. I stole his baby girl away, part of me thinks I deserve to be shot." The Lieutenant said truthfully. If he was perfectly honest he'd have to admit that he felt a little bit guilty after today, stealing General Michael Holden's baby girl forever must've been even worse than Annie's first day of school.
"Ha ha ha. He could never shoot you, because he knows just how happy you make me." Emmalin leaned over the armrest to peck the soldier's cheek, "I love you, Jeremy Lee Sherwood." She whispered against his ear as he buckled his seatbelt.
"Love you too, baby." Jeremy chuckled while he started the ignition.
"Hey…I've been thinking about what Annie said earlier, and when did you tell her that 'boys only want one thing'?" The Army Wife questioned after a moment of comfortable silence as Jeremy drove out of the crowded parking lot.
"Last week." Jeremy admitted. You could never start to early. And just so you know, he would be watching that little boy at Annie's pre-school very, very carefully. Sure, he looked all innocent with his furry panda stuffed animal but Jeremy knew he'd been giving his little girl "the eye". And he didn't like it one bit.
"Don't you think it's a bit early for that?" Emmalin teased, knowing there was no stopping Jeremy. He was the same way with his little sister Molly. Molly, Caroline, and Annie Sherwood would never be able to find a boyfriend if Jeremy had anything to do with it.
"Hell no, I told you I wasn't ever giving her away. If I start training her now, I won't have to when she hit puberty." Jeremy grimaced. He was a teenage boy once…and now he wasn't letting a single one of those hormone filled teens near his daughters, or sister.
And with that Emmalin Sherwood rolled her eyes at her husband and laughingly kissed his cheek. God, he was hopeless sometimes. But there was no denying what a great father he was. And he looked pretty cute in his ACUs too.
Author's Note: I'd loveee to thank my terrific old BETA (Anya) and my terrific new BETA (sarahberah) for all the time they've spent helping me lately and the incredible patience they have with me we've done a lot of requested fics and have even more coming out soon! Woo hoo!