January 20, 1992 – 4 years old

The entire Steele family – Remington, Laura, Sophie, Olivia and Holt - piled out of the Explorer in front of the Good Shepherd Catholic School. Remington carried Holt while Laura took a hand of each of the girls in hers.

"Mommy, why we back at school?" Olivia wondered, cocking her head to the side to look at her mother.

"Tonight we're registering Sophie for kindergarten," Laura announced.

"What does 'regtering' mean?" Olivia questioned.

"Reg-i-ster-ing," Laura corrected. "It means we are going to sign Sophie up so she can begin kindergarten."

"I'm going to kindagarden?" the strawberry blond, green eyed girl inquired, those eyes growing remarkably round.

"Kindergarten and not quite yet," Laura answered. "After summer." On the opposite side of her mother, Livvie danced excitedly.

"We're going to kindygarden, Sophie," she announced, positively tickled she'd at last made it to 'big girl school.'

"Not quite, a stór," Remington joined the conversation. "Sophie will be going to kindergarten whereas you'll spend one more year in preschool. I'm afraid you'll still be a bit too young."

Laura found herself at a sudden standstill when both her daughters halted in their tracks.

"I don't want to go to kindagarten without Livvie," Sophie insisted in a stricken voice.

"I want to go to kindygarden with Sophie," Livvie insisted at the same time.

Laura openly grimaced at her partner and husband. She had voiced this very concern to Remington the evening before. While Sophie was infinitely more confident than she'd been nearly a year ago, she was still very reliant on Laura and Livvie when she found herself in situations that made her frightened or insecure. As for Livvie? Their firstborn saw the age difference between she and Sophia as negligible and wanted to do everything her older sister did. Remington had tried to assuage her concerns and now sent her a sheepish look acknowledging her instincts had again been on target.

Releasing the girls' hands, Laura turned around and stooped before them so she would be eye-to-eye. When it came to playing 'tough parent' in the Steele household, the job inevitably fell to Laura.

"When we get home, we will discuss your fears," she looked at Sophie, "And what you want," she looked at Livvie. "But right now, we are going inside, and we will all be on our very best behavior. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Mommy," the girls answered in meek harmony.

The Steele family made it through the twenty-five minute introduction to kindergarten presentation, completed the paperwork, and scheduled Sophie's kindergarten pre-testing for August 7th. That evening as they tucked the girls into bed, Remington sat on Livvie's bed, while Laura sat on Sophie's.

"Alright, Soph, let's have it. Why don't you want to go to kindergarten?" Laura asked, stroking her daughter's head. Sophie stuck her thumb in her mouth and held her silence, a behavior – a concerning one – that had been absent for months now. "You're certainly ready for it," Laura assured. "You know your alphabet—"

"Me too!" Livvie interjected.

"You can count to twenty—" Laura continued, not acknowledging Livvie yet as it was not her turn.

"Me, too!" Livvie burst out.

"You can write your name—" Olivia gave her dad's sleeve a hard tug.

"Da, I can writed my name!" she gave Remington a pleading look.

"Indeed you can, a stór," he agreed, patting her on her leg while looking down at her with a smile full of pride.

This time, Laura did heed Olivia's proclamations. Tilting her head to the side thoughtfully, her fingers stroked the base of her throat.

"Yes, you can," she agreed quietly, slowly. Her eyes met Remington's and he gave a look that inquired what she was thinking. Returning her attention to Sophia, she gently removed the little girl's thumb from her mouth then stroked her head soothingly. "Your Da and I need to talk. For now, I don't want you…" she looked at Livvie "…either of you…" then returned her attention to Sophie, "…to worry about Kindergarten. It's still a long way away and you never know what might happen." Sophie nodded her head. "Goodnight, sweet girl." She leaned down and pressed a kiss to Sophie's forehead then stood and walked to Olivia's bed. "Goodnight, baby."

Remington said his goodnights then followed Laura to their room, where she closed the door behind them.

"What are you thinking, Laura?" he queried.

"Tonight at registration, Father Mahoney said the cut-off date for kindergarten enrollment for next year is September 30th," she reminded him as she paced.

"Yes, he was very clear on that point," he agreed, shoving his hands in his pockets and watching as she wore a path on the floor.

"Olivia only misses that deadline by thirty-two days, Remington. Days. Less than five weeks. Not months or nearly a year, but days." She paused her pacing and crossed her arms, rubbing at them. "And she's not wrong. She's as ready for kindergarten as Sophie, as far as skills are concerned. If they could accept her a little over a month early for pre-school because of how advanced she was, one would think they could make an exception now." He pursed his lips and nodded slowly in agreement.

"One would think, yes." He eyed her, easily assessed what she was thinking. "Should I assume we'll be late to the office in the morning?"

"No," she shook her head slowly. "I think I'll make an appointment with Father Mahoney for tomorrow afternoon. Should we get good news, I'll call Miri and let her know she'll have Hot until after dance class, then you and I can take the girls for pizza before dance class." She gave him a playful smirk. "They'll be thrilled that Da is accompanying them this evening." He shriveled his nose in distaste. While he loved watching his girls at their recitals, watching the actual process of teaching was mind numbing.

"Oh," he harrumphed in a tone approaching a whine. At that, she dropped her arms and approached him. With a wide smile she slowly ran a single finger down his front from the base of his neck to his belt.

"If you don't start complaining, you can join me in the shower," she told him, adding a sultry layer to her tone while widening her eyes at him. Then she turned on her heels and began walking towards the bathroom.

"Dance class, eh?" he commented, while following behind her. "There's nothing quite like watching our daughters committing themselves to the arts, is there?"

January 21, 1992

"Mommy!" Sophie cried out happily as soon as she spotted Laura and Remington waiting outside of her class room. She threw herself at Laura, wrapping her little arms around her and hugging her tightly. Laura stroked her daughter head.

"Hi, sweet girl." Olivia might believe the sun rose and set at her father's command, but Sophie was hers first and foremost, and in truth it felt… really good.

"Da!" Olivia squealed, throwing herself at him as though to prove that very point. Remington easily swung his little doppelganger up into his arms.

"Well, Olivia Elena Steele, as I live and breathe, what are you doing here?" he teased.

"Da, you're silly!" she laughed with glee.

"Girls, we have a couple surprises for you," Laura announced.

"Three, as a matter of fact," Remington added.

"I love surprises!" Livvie exclaimed, bouncing up and down in her father's arms. "What are they? What are they?" Remington thought better of holding his exuberant offspring when they broke the news and set her down on her feet. A silent look at his wife told her the big news should come from her, since it was she who'd come up with the solution.

"First, Da and I are here at school because we just finished registering Livvie for kindergarten next year. So the two of you will be going together." A thousand watt smile lit Sophie's face while Livvie screeched. Dancing on her tiptoes she grabbed her sister's arms.

"We're going to kindygarden, Sophie!" she shouted.

"Together!" Sophie shouted back, and dancing with Livvie.

"Would you like to hear the second surprise?" Remington asked, trying to hold his smile back and adding a bored note to his tone. The girls fell still and stared up at him.

"The four of us are going to pizza before dance class," he informed them.

"And the third surprise," Laura finished, "Is that Da is going to dance class tonight."

The news set Olivia to squealing and dancing again, and her sister joining in.

"Alright girls, inside voices please," Laura directed. "The sooner we get to the car, the sooner we get our pizza."

The girls needed no further convincing turning and skipping towards the school's exit. Taking Laura's hand in his, he hooked her arm through his.

"Enjoy it while it lasts, Laura." She crinkled her nose at him.

"What do you mean?"

"In only a few short years, the excitement of school will have worn thin and we'll find ourselves forever being given the cold shoulder for making them tend to their studies rather than allowing them to enjoy the sand and surf," he reminded her, wryly.

Her laughter followed them out the door.