Sammy & Ilna, EEEEE it's almost here! Planning the wedding is more fun every day! You are the best of the best in every possible way. Xo

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First Day

Steve and Catherine sat together on the sofa, looking through a grouping of photos that were on her lap while her parents did the same via Skype. They were sorting out a few final pictures for Grace's wedding project.

Looking at the photo her mother was holding up to the Skype window, Catherine smiled. "I remember that dress." She pointed to the image. "First day of school."

"First day of first grade. You insisted on it," Elizabeth said with a grin at the sailor style blue and white dress. "It was the closest thing to a uniform we could find for you to wear."

"Already, huh?" Steve smiled as she shrugged.

"Definitely." Catherine nodded. "I was very disappointed because I was sure I could start the Academy at six."

Steve barked a laugh. "Of course you were."

She elbowed him playfully. "I'd completed kindergarten. I was totally ready to be a Midshipman."

"I thought your father was going to burst, he was so proud." Elizabeth looked over her shoulder at Joseph.

"How could I not be?" he put in. "You looked at me with those brown eyes and said, 'I'm ready to go to the Academy like you, Daddy.' "

Flashback 1984

"Do you want us to come inside with you?" Elizabeth asked with a glance over their daughter's head at Joseph.

Six year old Catherine shook her head. "No, Mommy, I'm brave." She straightened and adjusted her new backpack on her shoulders. "Like you, Daddy."

"Okay then, my brave little sailor," Elizabeth said. "Give us a hug." She kneeled to accept a kiss and a tight embrace before stepping back while Joseph lifted Catherine into his arms and kissed her cheek.

"Knock 'em dead, Midshipman Rollins." He winked as Elizabeth grinned.

"Aye, Aye, sir." Catherine beamed, executed a perfect salute and turned to enter the building with the other first grade students as her mother snapped a few extra photos to send Grandma Ang.

Classroom

"I went to California to see my grandma," a pigtailed, blond girl sitting at the desk next to Catherine said when it was her turn. "And we went to Disneyland!"

"Thank you, Tia, that sounds like it was a lot of fun. Now, let's see." The teacher looked at the roster of names when the oooohs over a trip to Disneyland died down. "Catherine Rollins. Do you prefer Cathy, dear?"

"No, ma'am, I like Catherine, please."

Mrs. Daily dimpled at the child's politeness. "Well, then, Catherine, what did you do this summer?"

"We moved here," she said with a decisive nod. "Mommy and me. My dad got home from sea duty and he's gonna be home a whole thirteen months this time. He'll be home for Christmas and for my birthday in August." A beautiful smile lit her face.

"My dad is stationed here, too." The boy in front of Catherine turned to face her. "He's a Lieutenant J.G. - that stands for -"

"Junior Grade." Catherine grinned, and the boy nodded happily as Mrs. Daily redirected him to pay attention to Catherine as his turn would be coming very soon. More than half her students were children living in nearby base housing, and her husband was stationed locally as well.

"Please continue, Catherine."

"My dad was stationed on the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower. And now he's stateside so we moved here. We took lots of day trips already to get to know all the fun places. Daddy said it's important to know the lay of the land."

"That sounds like you had a very exciting summer. Welcome to first grade and welcome to classroom seven."

"Thank you, Ma'am," Catherine answered and turned to listen to a boy who was telling about his trip to the zoo with his aunt and cousins.

Present day

"You were so adorable." Elizabeth grinned.

Catherine laughed. "You're my mom, you have to think that."

"Yes, I do, but I remember Mrs. Daily," she looked at Steve, "who was all of about twenty five at the time - saying Catherine was one of the most poised students in the class."

"Not to mention the smartest," Joseph added, and Steve grinned.

"I have no doubt." He leaned over to kiss Catherine's temple. "I say that story is enough to make the photo a definite yes. Send it to Gracie, please?"

"Absolutely," Elizabeth agreed. "Oh and I have such a sweet one of Catherine at her christening being held by mom, right, Joseph?"

"Mom, we need to stop Grace from making a Gone with the Wind length video, okay?" Catherine laughed. "Danny was right."

"About what?"

"Me being an only child and you having about ten thousand pictures."

"Because he knows how fast children grow up." Elizabeth waved at the air. "I'll control myself. I'm only sending a few more."

Joseph's eyes caught Catherine's on the screen, and father and daughter snorted simultaneously.

"Oh, shhh you two," Elizabeth said. "Wow." She glanced at the time. "I need to pick Mom up at bingo. We'll talk tomorrow. Love you both." She waved at the screen. "You, too, Cammie." She smiled when the dog's tail crossed the camera as she passed between her humans and the coffee table.

"Bye, we love you. Kiss Gram for us."

The call ended, and Catherine turned to Steve.

"If we're using that picture from my first day of school," she began and pulled a photo of Steve from the little pile on her lap. "We're totally using this one, too. Look at you, so handsome, even then."

"Actually, I remember that day."

She flipped it over and read, "1984 - Stevie's first day of second grade." Happy to see him smiling fondly she asked, "What do you remember about it?"

Flashback 1984

"And what did you do this summer, Steven?"

Seven-year-old Steve sat in his second grade classroom and returned his attention to the teacher from where he'd been wistfully looking out at the bright sunshine until the bell rang.

Squaring his shoulders, he answered, "I visited my dad at his work. He's a policeman." He smiled proudly. "I'm gonna be one, too."

"Well, that sounds exciting."

"Yeah, it was! I mean, yes, Ma'am, it was. I got to ride in the patrol car and make the siren go off. We didn't see any bad guys though, 'cause they were probably all too scared of my dad." He punctuated the statement with a nod.

"Did you do anything else over summer vacation?"

"We didn't go anyplace far because my sister, her name's Mary, she's only one and it's a lot of work to travel off the island on a plane with a baby. But I didn't care cause I got to learn to snorkel with my dad and I got a new surfboard. I really like bein' in the water." His grin was contagious, and the teacher couldn't help but smile along. "And my mom and dad let me and my friends build a fort in our yard and we played Army. I got to be the general first 'cause it was at my house. And I'm good at it."

"That sounds like a pretty great summer to me," Ms. Amanaka said as she turned to the child sitting to Steve's left. "Makana, what did you do this summer?"

The boy grinned and looked at Steve. "I mostly played Army and swam a lot at Steve's house. He makes cool plans - 'cause he's so smart. We built a great fort that his folks let us keep up and my mom made these awesome cookies and I brought 'em over for all the guys." He thought a moment and added, "Oh and my mom had a baby. Again. I got another sister." He held up his fingers. "That's four. I told my dad we gotta order a boy next time." He looked at Steve. "Hey, tell Ms. Amanaka about your arm."

Steve shrugged. "I kinda almost broke it. But it was only sprained." When the teacher raised an eyebrow he continued, "I was sort of commanding my team of guys into battle and jumped off the fort."

"Ahhh, I see. Well, let's maybe learn a lesson from that and not be so quick to rush in, Commander Steven. Looks like you were lucky that time. It doesn't still hurt, does it, Hon?"

Steve grinned, showing his brand new front teeth that had, luckily, remained intact after his fort-leaping incident. "I'm good, Ms. Amanaka, it didn't hurt much." His eyes twinkled. "And we got all the bad guys."

Present day

Catherine's delighted laugh brought him back from the memory. She patted his knee. "Jumped off the fort full steam, but you got all the bad guys? You never change." The little Steve smiling at her from 1984 was wearing an HPD t-shirt and cammo pants.

He pecked her lips and grinned at her. "Part of my charm?"

"Definitely." She kissed him back. "Handsome and smart and you always have a plan. Wouldn't want you any other way."

"Back at ya, Rollins." He took the photo from her hand and put it on top of the pile intended for Grace. "What do you say I show you my plan for the rest of the evening?"

She smiled and pulled him into a longer kiss. "I say full steam ahead, Commander."

#

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