Cinderella

This is a very late Happy Father's Day special… thingy, so enjoy! Cinderella by Stevin Curtis Chapman. Chase and Molly kinda.

Chase was exhausted. Actually, exhausted didn't even cover it. His day was hard. He woke up early to get Andrea, his six year old daughter ready for school, made lunches for everyone, water the plants, harvest them, plant the new crops, and then fertilized them. And that had all been done in the morning. After Chase walked Andrea home from school he went and did a 6 hour shift at the Brass Bar.

Now, as he trudged home he realized that he forgot to pick up medicine for Molly. Sighing, he turned back to make the walk back to town, just in time to see the Clinic's lights shut off. Groaning, he continued his way home, hoping his wife would be alright for one night.

As he made a shortcut through the crop field, he noticed that the animals were already put away, making him feel worse. Either Andrea had managed to ring the bell on her own, or Molly had, against his wishes, gotten out of bed and done it herself. He silently prayed that she was at least feeling a little better, so that he wouldn't have to feel even guiltier.

The scene in the house though, was completely unexpected. Molly was in the kitchen cleaning up the dinner dishes, while Andrea danced around the room singing one of her favorite songs.

Molly smiled at him as he walked into the kitchen. "Welcome home sweetie. How was work?"

"Fine," Chase untied his apron and laid it over the back of a chair and kissed her. "But what are you doing up? You were sick this morning."

"Miss Anissa visited Mama today." Andrea chirped. "Mama has a surprise for you."

"Oh really?" He caught his daughter while she was twirling around him. "What surprise?" He asked, tickling her.

"I'm not supposed to tell." She giggled and pressed a finger to her lips. "Unless I can." She looked hopefully up at her mother.

Molly laughed. "I don't see why not. You weren't here last time to tell."

"Hurray!" Andy squealed and threw her arms around Chase's neck. "I'm going to be a big sister." She whispered in his ear.

"Really?" Chase looked up at Molly who smiled and pressed a hand to her belly.

"Yep. We visited the Clinic and Irene confirmed it." Her smile faded and was replaced by a frown. "You're okay with this, aren't you?"

"Of course I'm okay." Chase moved and wrapped his arms around his wife and kissed her.

Andrea giggled and started to dance with her invisible partner again. All of a sudden she stopped and grabbed Chase's hand. "Come dance with me Daddy!"

He wanted to say no; work had been hard today and he needed to get up early tomorrow again to help Molly with the farm. But unfortunately for him, it was hard to say no to his daughter, when Andy used those wide violet eyes.

"Please, Daddy?... Please?" She begs.

"Fine." He says giving in.

Andrea squeals happily and grabs her daddy's hand and they spin in a circle.

**()**

Chase had enough of the 'apprentice'. Hayden went to the mainland, so Kathy had convinced her son to come work at the bar. Roy certainly didn't get his Mother's gracefulness. Or her smarts.

"I'm so sorry!" Roy yelped as Chase cleaned up his latest mess.

"Just go." The chef sighed, shaking his head.

The boy shouted with glee and ran for the entrance and freedom. The door had barely shut behind him, before 16 year old Andrea sailed in.

"What do you think?" She asks, twirling once in her dark purple dress.

"You look so cute!" Kathy squeals from behind the bar.

"Looks good." Chase grunts.

His daughter pouts. "You didn't even look!" She whined, skipping to his side. "Be honest!"

He finally glanced up at his daughter. "Looks great." He corrected. "So what's the occasion?"

"Oh, ummm…" Andy tugged at her peach-blonde hair nervously. "I'm going to the Moon Festival with Matt and Mama said I should look my best."

"What?" Now she had Chase's full attention. "Like on a date?" Slowly, Kathy backed out of the room, knowing from plenty of Father-Daughter experiences of her own, when to run.

"Yes." Andrea folded her arms and put on the famous 'Molly Stare'. "Is there a problem?"

"Since when do you date?"

"Oh please." The girl rolled her eyes. "I've been going on dates since I was 13. What have you been doing?"

"Obviously, not paying attention." He muttered. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Alright. You can go."

Andrea's head shot up. "Seriously?"

Chase groaned; he was going to regret this decision later. "You better be back by ten." He warned.

"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" She squealed. She turned to run out the door before spinning in a full circle back to Chase. "Almost forgot. I don't know how to dance. What do I do if Matt asks me to dance?"

"Knee him and call for help."

"I'm being serious!" Andy whined and stomped her foot, something that Chase though she grew out of.

It was his turn to roll his eyes. "You danced all the time at the house."

"But that was a long time ago." She got an idea. "I know! Why don't you dance with me now?"

"Can't, I'm busy." He starts to wipe down a table.

"No you're not. There's not anyone here!" She tugged on his arm. "Please Daddy? Please? It's just one teensy-weensy little dance."

Chase sighed and glanced over at his daughter and instantly regretted it. She had the puppy dog look again and had even managed a large crocodile tear in the corner of her eye. Eventually he caved. "Alright."

**()**

Matt didn't deserve Andrea; no one on the island did. Chase knew that, but he'd rather she married and stayed close to home then her move to the mainland. So he had given the boy his permission to marry his daughter.

Now, 6 months later he was wanting a little more time. He spun in a slow circle with Molly while trying to keep an eye on Andrea with Matt and his son as well. Tyler was dancing with Lucy and while Chase knows that the boy would be on his best behavior, Luke didn't and he was the one who owned the ax. Meanwhile, a small part of his heart was being torn apart, as he watched Andrea laugh and smile at her new husband and his son-in-law.

"She'll be fine." Molly murmured, waking Chase from his daze.

"I can't help but worry." He admitted.

His wife smiled at him. "I know."

There was a soft tap on his shoulder and Chase turned to see Andrea smiling sheepishly at him. "One last dance Daddy? Please?"

This time, he didn't even try to get out of it. He took his daughter's hand and smiled. "Of course."

And they danced.