Alexis watched her mother out of the corner of her eye as they put the puzzle together. It was the biggest one she had ever tried, but they were doing well – she was always doing puzzles with her parents, and she knew that 250 pieces wasn't going to be that difficult.

"Momma?" she finally asked.

"Yeah, Lexi?"

"How did you and Daddy get together?"

Michelle smiled. "Why do you want to know?"

The little girl shrugged. "Aunt Stella was telling me about how her and Uncle Don got together. It was very pretty, with a ball and everything."

"Yes it was."

Lexi's eyes widened. "Were you there?"

"Yep. I got to watch the whole thing happen."

"Wow," she breathed. "Did Daddy take you to the ball?"

"No. I went alone."

"But a princess never goes alone!"

"Cinderella did."

Lexi thought about that for a second. "Well, I guess she did. But why did you go alone? Where was Daddy?"

"He was chasing bad guys."

"So how did you get together?"

Michelle smiled, putting another piece into place. "He saved me."

"From a dragon?" the little girl whispered.

"No, not a dragon," she laughed. "From an evil warlord."

Lexi gasped. "Why did the warlord take you?"

"A long time ago, Mommy used to work for the king. Doing my job, I made a lot of people mad because I caught them doing bad things. And I caught this warlord's brother."

"Did he get thrown in a dungeon?"

Michelle nodded. "And the king won't ever let him out."

"So his brother was mad?"

"Very mad. He kidnapped me. He wanted the king to free his brother, and he told me he was going to kill me if the king didn't give him what he wanted."

"Oh no!"

"He was very mean."

"Were you scared?" Lexi asked, her voice small.

She nodded again. "Very. But I couldn't let him see it. So I sat there and kept my mouth shut, and tried to think of a way to escape."

"Did you get out?"

"Almost. But then he caught me and brought me back. And then he was even angrier."

"But Daddy saved you, right?" she asked, her eyes as big as saucers. "He beat the bad man?"

Michelle reached out and ran her fingers through her daughter's dark hair. "Yes," she said gently. "Your Daddy saved me. He came in with all of his knights, and they killed the evil warlord."

"Then what?"

"Then I untied her hands and brought her to her feet and we shared true love's kiss."

Lexi smiled at the sound of her father's voice. "Daddy!!"

Mac laughed as he bent down and caught her, whisking her up into his arms. "Hello, princess. Are you and Mommy having story time?"

She nodded. "Mommy was telling me about the evil warlord that took her and tried to hurt her!" Reaching out, she played with his tie. "But then you came and saved her."

Mac kissed her on her forehead. "Of course I did. Just like someday a prince will save you."

Lexi's mouth dropped open. "Really?"

"Yes, really. Not for a long time, though. You're still my little princess, okay?"

She hugged him. "Okay, Daddy. I colored a new picture. You wanna see?"

"Of course."

Putting her down, Mac watched as Lexi ran to her room. Then he smiled at his wife and pulled her to her feet and into his arms.

"An evil warlord, huh?"

Michelle shrugged. "She liked it."

"So did I. Besides, she doesn't need to know about mob bosses and terrorists trying to negotiate with the US government. She's a little young."

"You just want her to stay young forever."

"Don't you?"

She sighed, resting her head on his chest. "Yeah. But she's going to grow up to be a beautiful princess, Mac."

He smiled, kissing the top of her head. "Just like her mother," he whispered.