A/N: It's been awhile since I wrote something so fluffily sweet it gave you a cavity so I apologize for that, but the muse came up with this one day on the way to work. Ya'll enjoy! Until next time-ya'll are the best-PCGirl.

John walked into the house and smiled at Natalie standing at the top of the steps. He always tried to get home before dinner, but hadn't been successful tonight. So much so he'd missed bedtime by a full thirty minutes, "Are they asleep?"

"Liam is. But someone won't go to sleep until daddy reads her a bedtime story," she smiled, speaking of their 5 year old daughter Sara.

"Does she still have a fever?" he asked as he made it to the top of the stairs and greeted Natalie with a kiss.

"It finally broke," she said, having stayed home with her daughter and probably watched the entire Disney library over the past few days.

"Daddy," smiled the redhead that was lying in the bed waiting patiently for her nightly ritual.

"Hey princess," he said as he gave her a kiss. "You feel better today?" he asked and got a nod. "Good—so what story should we pick out tonight," he said as he went towards the bookshelf.

"No," she said very defiantly. "I want you to make up a story?"

"Make up one?" he asked, trying to mask the gulp with a cough. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah."

"Ok—what should it be about?"

"A princess of course!"

"Of course," he said as he sat on the bed and looked towards the door—where was Natalie when you needed her. "So—this princess, she, uhm."

"Did she have red hair like me?"

"Yeah, she did," he said glancing back to the door.

"Was she married to a prince?"

"Well, no. See—they were going to get married and then someone cast a spell on them. Made the Prince think that the Princess was keeping something from him."

"Was it a witch? If it's a female it's always a witch, daddy."

John laughed, "Well, yes then, I guess it was a witch. So the prince was upset and did some stupid stuff. But the princess—she wouldn't give up and she snuck into the witch's place to find out what she did."

"Did she find it?"

"Yeah, and she confronted the witch—and then the witch tried to get rid of her."

"But the prince saved her—right?" she asked worriedly.

"Always," he smiled. "But when the princess came to she didn't remember what the witch had told her, and the witch had disappeared."

"Did she remember?"

"Eventually, but first someone else found out the truth. And he didn't want the prince or princess to know the truth so he kept it all to himself.

"Like Rumplestilsken wouldn't tell his name?"

"Sort of. And though he kept acting odd the prince didn't realize he was keeping something from him."

"I bet if you were the prince you would have figured it out, daddy. You always catch the bad guy."

"Thanks, sweetheart. So eventually the prince put the pieces together and realized what was going on, but before he could get to the princess he kidnapped her."

"Oh no!"

"So the prince searched for her and found her. And while the princess was held captive—."

"Was she in a castle tower? That's where the princess is held in Sleeping Beauty. And Rapunzel. And Shrek."

"Ok—a castle tower it is. So the princess remembered what the witch had told her while she was in the tower. And when the prince defeated the bad man and rescued the princess she told him the truth and they were happy once again."

"Did they get married finally?"

"Yes," he smiled. "And then they lived happily ever after," he said as he watched her finally get settled in the bed.

"You tell the best stories. Goodnight, daddy—I love you."

"I love you too princess," he said as he kissed her goodnight and left the room—smiling at seeing Natalie standing there. "Did you hear all of it?"

Natalie nodded, "I especially loved the part where you called Marty a witch. But really, McBain? You couldn't come up with a better fairy tale then how we thought Liam wasn't yours?"

"It's the best story I could think of. I love you, Natalie."

"I love you too, John."