The slam of the door alerted David and Mary Margaret from the peaceful conversation they were having. There were only a few people who held a key to the family's apartment and none of them were particularly known for slamming doors, so David made his way into the hallway. There he found the last person he'd expect to be slamming doors; he found his beautiful daughter stood there.
Her hair was wet from the rain but the thing that David noticed first was the tears streaming down his baby girl's face.
"Emma?" The father asked, trying to convince himself that this was not his daughter and she was still on her way home from school, laughing and joking with that boy.
"He's gone Daddy, he left."
David was happy for his fast reflexes as he caught his daughter who fell out of exhaustion into his arms. He scooped her up and carried over to the old rocking chair, placing her on his lap.
As he began to rock her back and forth like he had done so much when she was a child, he began to think over everything. His baby didn't deserve this. She was kind and gentle and so loving. She didn't deserve to be hurt by that douchebag.
Emma was full out sobbing by that point, her tears were completely soaking his t-shirt but David didn't care. He held his daughter and rubbed his palm over her back, holding her close as she cried.
"He's gone Daddy, how could he do that? He- he said he loved me." Her voice was hysterical as she spoke and David swore that he would do anything in that moment to take her pain away.
"I know baby girl, I know. Shh, it's gonna be okay."
Slowly Emma's tears lessened and she lifted her head from her father's shoulder to look at him. "I love you Daddy."
She was still sniffling but David's heart swelled as his daughter spoke. "I love you too Baby Girl. Now why don't you go and snuggle up on the couch and I will get some hot chocolate, ice cream and your mother. Sound good?"
"With cinnamon?" She asked, looking up at her hero.
"Of course Princess and we can even watch Snow White."
David smiled as his daughter's face lit up and she made her way into the living room. He took a minute to sit and just think about his beautiful little girl. She was so grown up. Her first heartbreak. Oh, it took all he had not to go and beat that boy until he couldn't stand on one leg, let alone two. How dare he hurt her? She was only fifteen. But his daughter needed him more than that kid needed to be hospitalized.
"David?" Mary Margaret's voice sounded from behind him and he looked up to see her carrying a tray. Three mugs which he knew would be filled with hot chocolate, two of which would be topped with cinnamon and three bowls of ice cream so full that they seemed like small mountains.
David smiled at his wife and took the tray from her, thanking her with a kiss before the couple joined their teenaged daughter in the living room.
She had changed into a set of warm flannel pyjamas and she wore her favourite Mickey Mouse slippers on her feet. In her hand she held a hairbrush and she attempted to brush the knots the rain had caused out of her hair.
Mary Margaret smiled and made her way over to the couch and sat down next to Emma. She gently eased the brush out of her daughter's hands and took over brushing, gently working the curls out which opposed Emma's method of hacking the brush through her curls.
David smiled and pushed the VHS into the box, switching the TV on.
Emma's face grinned again as the Disney castle appeared and David sat down on the other side of her, smiling at how enthralled she still was by Disney films.
An hour and a half later, David was left with a mess of mugs and bowls, a sleeping wife and a drowsy teenager. Emma had slumped against him throughout the duration of the film with her head finally landing in his lap as the prince kissed his bride awake.
"Daddy?" Emma spoke, looking up from the screen for the first time since the film had started.
"What is it Princess?"
"I've decided I don't need a Prince Charming." She spoke matter of factly, as she always had done.
"Oh yes, why's that?"
"Because I've already met him and his name's Daddy."
She smiled up at him and David was instantly reminded of the day she was born. Mary Margaret had been in pain for months so he had felt it right for her to get to hold their daughter first but the instant that his got to hold his precious girl, he knew.
He knew that he would never be able to deny her anything. He knew that she would have him wrapped very tightly around his little finger. But he also knew that he wouldn't particularly care. This was his little princess.
He remembered her first words. The way she'd grinned up at Mary Margaret as she uttered Mama before looking to him and stuttering out Dada. He'd been so proud of her that day that he'd thrown her up towards the ceiling countless times as she laughed her little head off screaming his new favourite sound. "Dada!"
He remembered her first steps and the way she'd giggled when she fell into his arms. Mary Margaret had spent forever on her knees trying to urge the little girl towards her but the minute David had tried, she was up and tottering towards him at full speed. Emma had bypassed walking and moved straight on to running instead.
Her first day of school had been an emotional experience for David. She looked so pretty in her little floral dress and her hair fashioned into braids by Mary Margaret who took picture after picture whilst Emma bounced up and down, anxious to get there. Before she'd gone running in through the gates, the four year old had turned to David and grinned, giving him a big kiss on the cheek. "I love you Daddy." He replied to the empty air as she whizzed off.
And now they'd reached her first heartbreak and that little princess still had him wrapped tightly around her little finger. He had sworn he would protect her from the dangers of the world and every time a tear rolled down her face, he felt like he'd failed her slightly.
But like she'd said, he was her Prince Charming and he would always rescue her when she needed it. Not only that, but he would always be there to pick up the pieces of her broken heart as well.