Title: The Magic Mailbox
Author: Cassandra Mulder
Rating: G
Classification: The Lake House; Kate/Alex; family; total fluff
Spoilers: Many. I'd see the movie first if I were you.
Disclaimer: Not mine. Don't sue. Please send Keanu!
Written: October 17, 2006
Word Count: 1320
Summary: Kate tells her daughter a bedtime story.
A/N: This is the schmoopiest, schmaltziest piece of fluffy fluff I could have ever done, but the plot bunny attacked me and wouldn't let it go. So this is my personal disclaimer: If you can't stand the cute, turn back now! If you like future family fic and lame bedtime stories exactly like the ones I'm terrible at making up, stick around. lol Feedback is love.

Every night when Kate put her daughter, Lexi, to bed, she was forced to tell the story of The Magic Mailbox.

Alexandra Wyler was four years old with long, dark hair and her father's eyes. She had her mother's smile and stubborness, mixed with her father's sensitivity and charm. It was a lethal combination when it came to her parents because she could con them into almost anything without ever having to be a brat about it.

"Forcing" Kate into telling her special story usually involved sweetly begging with a lot of "please" and "pretty please with cherries on top" thrown in to make it a completely irresistible request. If that didn't seem to work, little fingers would tickle her mommy until she surrendered, tucked her in, and began the story.

"Once upon a time," Kate started, smiling as she thought it didn't seem all that long ago, "there was a girl named Katerina who lived in a house on a lake."

"Kinda like our house on the lake?" Lexi asked, as she almost always did.

"Just like that. One day, Katerina had to leave the house and move to the city. She was very sad because she loved living on the lake, because it wasn't busy and noisy like the big city. But she had to go, so she left a note of welcome in the mailbox for the next person that lived in the house. When she came back to visit, she found that someone had answered her letter, but she didn't know how, since no one else had moved into the house yet."

"Who was the letter from, Mommy?" the little girl asked, wrapped up in her story.

"The letter was from a boy named Alexander -"

"Almost like my name," Lexi interrupted, smiling.

"Almost," Kate replied patiently and went on. "Anyway, Alexander told her that he had moved into the house and that the date on her letter was wrong. He thought it was two years earlier than the time Katerina was in." Kate knew Lexi couldn't understand a time warp anymore than she could, and she had lived it, but that never seemed to bother her daughter.

"That's why the mailbox was magic," Lexi said wisely.

"Yes, it was. So Katerina wrote him back, all confused about their situation, but soon all they could do was accept that it was true. They were both at the lake house, but they were in different times. They kept writing to each other and exchanging things through the magic mailbox. They explored the city together through their letters and talked about their lives, their joys, and their troubles.

"In Alexander's time, he went to Katerina's birthday party and they met."

Lexi clapped her little hands and Kate laughed. She could kick herself for turning her daughter into a hopeless romantic at such a young age.

"They shared a dance and a kiss, but then Alexander had to leave."

Lexi frowned. "Oh, no."

"But he sent Katerina a letter and said he wanted to meet her in the future, so she agreed to meet him the next day in her time. They were supposed to meet at a fancy restaurant, but Alexander didn't come."

"Why not?"

"Neither of them knew why. All Katerina knew was that he hadn't come to meet her, and it was so far in the future Alexander didn't know why he wouldn't have shown up, because he wanted to be with her very much."

"Did she want to be with him, Mommy?"

Kate looked at her sadly. "Yes, she did. But Katerina didn't think they would ever be able to meet, because it just wasn't working out. So she told him not to write her anymore, and she didn't go back to the lake house because she was afraid she would want to look in the mailbox and she wanted to let him go."

"And he was very sad, wasn't he?" Lexi asked, frowning.

"The saddest," Kate answered with a sigh. "You see, he loved her very much and he never stopped thinking about her. When Katerina finally realized why he hadn't been able to meet her that night, it had been almost two years since the last time she wrote to him. Something terrible had happened in Alexander's future, and Katerina knew she had to prevent it if she wanted to be with him." Kate thought it was adorable how in suspense Lexi always looked, even though she knew how the story ended.

"So Katerina rushed back to the lake house and left a letter for him, hoping he would see if before it was too late and wait for her."

"And he did!" Lexi exclaimed happily.

Kate laughed. "He did. He waited two years in his time, even though it was only a matter of minutes for Katerina. He came to the lake house, and Katerina was amazed that he loved her so much that he had waited another two years to be with her. They kissed and..."

"They lived happily ever after!" Lexi giggled.

"They sure did, kiddo," Kate said, tickling her lightly. She stopped when she looked up and saw Alex leaning in the doorway.

Lexi had spotted him, too. "Daddy!" She threw her arms out.

Alex came into the room, and Kate stood, letting him take her place on the edge of the bed. Lexi flung herself at him, wrapping her tiny arms around his neck.

"And there goes the tuck-in," Kate deadpanned, but she was smiling.

Alex smiled back over Lexi's head. "Sorry. Henry and I had a little work to catch up on tonight. I didn't mean to be late."

"It's okay. She just likes to see you before she goes to sleep."

Lexi sat back in bed, her sheets scattered around her. "Mommy told me the mailbox story."

"Did she? Don't you know that one by now?" Alex laughed.

Lexi nodded firmly. "I like it when she tells it."

He ruffled her hair. "It's a good story," he said, looking at Kate.

"I still don't know how the mailbox is magic. Do you know, Daddy?" His little girl was looking up at him expectantly.

Alex shook his head. "If we knew how it worked, it wouldn't be magic, would it?"

That seemed to satisfy her. "Guess not. I like magic."

"I do, too," he said, tucking her back in. "Night, Lexi." He kissed her on the forehead.

"Night, Daddy. Night, Mommy," she said, starting to rub her eyes.

Kate leaned over and kissed her cheek. "Night, babydoll. Sleep tight, don't let the bedbugs bite." She turned off her bedside lamp and took Alex by the hand.

When they got to the living room, he kissed her deeply. They had been married for five years, but the honeymoon still wasn't over. They never took for granted the fact that they were together. It so easily could have been different.

"When do you think she's going to figure out who that story is really about?" Alex asked, sitting down on the couch and pulling Kate down beside him.

She laughed. "In the next five minutes, possibly. That child is too bright for her own good sometimes."

"Good genes," Alex smirked.

"Funny. Right now she's a little hung up on the magic aspect. I think it'll be a little while longer before she even cares it's a condensed version of how her parents met."

"You should have kept up with how many times you've told it to her," he said.

"Can you count to three million?" she teased. "I had no idea she would get so addicted to something I came up with in a desperate attempt to make her go to sleep."

"She'll get tired of it eventually. Kids do that."

Kate shrugged and laid her head on his shoulder. "I don't really mind. Like you said, it's a good story," she said with a smile.

Finis