Today was my only daughter's first birthday. How was it that she was one already? How had time flown by so fast? It made tears come to my eyes how fast she grew. Even now, it's hard to believe that she's 23. Today, we had several guests coming. We had my parents, Tim's mom, Marty/Nancy/the twins, Wilson, Al, Ilene and Heidi that were coming. That made sixteen people! Hannah doesn't remember her first birthday but the rest of us do.

"Hey, Marty. Nancy. Come on in!" I smiled as Nancy let the twins and Hannah play together on the floor.

Marty and Tim went to go in the garage. The boys (except Randy who was busily repainting the murals for Hannah's birthday) were in the garage. It was a boy zone to avoid talking to women. Wilson was already in there since he lived next door. My dad was in there too.

"I'm guessing they're avoiding talking to the women by being in the garage?" Nancy guessed with a laugh as Hannah plopped herself by Gracie. Claire had her mouth on one of Hannah's toys and Hannah didn't like that.

I laughed with a nod. "They have to come out and talk eventually. Tim's doing a father-daughter dance for Hannah in the basement later. He's just dressing up and I dress Hannah up and they dance in the garage."

"That's an adorable idea!" Nancy grinned with a laugh. "Hard to believe she's one already!"

"I know! I feel so old!" I laughed as the doorbell rang again.

My mom and Tim's mom were standing by Nancy and talking while my dad was in the garage with the rest of the boys. I opened it and Heidi came in with a present and walked towards Hannah.

"She's so cute! Jill, I love your shirt! Did you get Tim to wear the Daddy one?" Heidi asked as Al walked into the garage to see Tim.

I laughed and nodded. "For Hannah, he'll pretty much do anything. Marty does too and Nancy can confirm that."

Nancy laughed with a nod. "I sure can. He melts over our daughters and Hannah. It's actually adorable to see."

I laughed with a nod as I grabbed some fruit and let Hannah eat it. "Tim was just gushing when Hannah was born."

Nancy laughed and I thought about how I felt when Hannah was born. She was and is my only daughter. How could I not love her? She had the cutest hair and the cutest eyes in my opinion. I wasn't the kind of parent that always boasted. I loved my kids and was proud of them.

When she was born, I felt that my family was complete. I didn't need or want any more kids since I had Hannah. I don't know, I just felt a burst of pride in me. There was something about a daughter that made a mother melt. I had someone's hair to do and someone to doll up.

Flashback to Hannah's birth.

"Hi, sweetheart," I smiled as her eyes met mine. "It's Mommy. Mommy loves you more than anything, honey. You look so cute. You don't ever have to worry about being scared or hurt. You have your daddy and brothers to protect you, but Mommy's here too, baby doll."

Tim smiled. "She's beautiful."

"We have a baby girl," I smiled up at him.

Hannah's hand reached and she gripped my finger. Her tiny hand was small enough to grasp my finger and I kissed her head.

"Hey, Jill, is it time to play games now?" Tim asked as he walked in.

Randy was still busy painting, but last time he came down, he told me he was just about finished with them. It was Hannah's birthday present so he was trying to take his time and both Tim and I understood. We left him alone to let him do that and he'd present them later.

"Randy! Are you about done?" I called.

"Yeah, Mom, I'm coming down now," Randy answered and walked down with his Brother of the Birthday Princess shirt on.

Heidi awed. "What was Randy doing up there?"

"Wait and see," I laughed.

I handed a thing of bubbles to each of the boys and they started blowing them. Eagerly, Hannah and the twins started trying to catch them. It was adorable how they were inseparable. If the twins went somewhere, then Hannah followed. Now, they called each other every day and usually hung out.

"Aww, they're so cute," Heidi laughed.

We next went outside and put the babies in their bathing suits. With a laugh, I let them slide down the wet slide while everyone took pictures. Tim and Marty had a nice conversation and so did Nancy and I.

"She looks so cute, Jill! She's a bit small for her age," Mom commented.

I nodded at her. "The doctor isn't worried and said I shouldn't be either. She's in the normal age bracket for her so I'm not concerned."

Seriously? That's what you say, Mom?

Tim, Marty and Al were laughing in the conversation and seemed to be talking about Hannah and the twins.

We let the kids (yes even the boys) slide down the inflatable slide. The adults kept having their conversation. It was fun to watch the kids play. The boys weren't saying that it was too babyish or that it was too girly. So I was happy that they had kept quiet for Hannah's sake and for mine.

"Can she open presents now, Mom?" Mark asked with a big grin on his face.

I laughed with a nod. "Yes, she can, Mark. Relax."

We dried off the babies and walked in. Taking Hannah upstairs, I took her and got her back in her birthday dress and dried her hair.

"No, Mama. No dryer," Hannah pouted.

I quickly dried her hair and put it in pigtails. "Are you excited to open presents, baby doll?"

She nodded eagerly and squealed. "Pwesent!"

I laughed and carried her downstairs since she wasn't so good on the stairs yet. Normally, I let her walk but when it involved the stairs, that was a no. She wasn't too good on the stairs yet and I didn't want her to fall. Anyways, we walked down and I handed her to Tim.

"Ready to open your presents, baby doll?"

Hannah nodded eagerly. "Pwesent."

We sat her on the couch and handed her a present. I helped her open one. It was from my parents.

"Dwess!"

"Yes, that's a dress. It's pink."

Tim laughed softly and I put the dress aside. The next present was from Tim's mom and I let Randy help her open it.

"What is it, Hannie?"

"Doll!" Hannah chimed as she hugged it. "Doll."

Randy put it in the present pile and I grabbed Wilson's present.

"It's a dream-catcher. It helps catch bad dreams."

Hannah seemed happy either way and grinned.

Heidi got Hannah a new swim toy and Al got her a stuffed animal. Marty got her a tea pot set and a ring stacking set.

"Time to open your brothers' presents. Brad's first."

With a laugh, she ripped open the present and squealed at seeing the princess dress and wand. She loved dress up stuff. Brad also got her a toy purse with stuff to put in it and look like Mommy.

"Bubba!" Hannah hugged him and Brad smiled.

Hannah started opening Randy's present. She squealed at seeing a baby doll with a bassinet that was her age group.

Mark gave her a toy lion and a ball.

"Mommy's presents next," Tim smiled.

I let her open a Wonder Woman dress up kit and she squealed happily. She also got a ballet leotard with a tutu, tights and slippers. She also got a grocery cart set. Tim got her a picnic set, a toy stroller and an educational puppy.

"Let's give the birthday girl her cake," I smiled and had her in just a diaper.

I set her in her highchair and started singing Happy Birthday.

"Someone loves her cake," Lucille smiled as Hannah smashed into it and got cake all over her.

I laughed and let her dig into her cake. Soon, she'd lay down for a nap.

We started eating and talking. Sitting on the floor, the boys sat with the babies and helped them eat while eating their cake themselves. We let them get messy since it was Hannah's birthday plus it could be easily cleaned up. It wasn't something that usually concerned me.

"So, are you excited to have a toddler?" Heidi asked as she, Ilene and Nancy sat by me and we ate on the couch. Tim, Wilson, Al and Marty ate in the kitchen.

I laughed and shook my head. "It means she'll be harder to keep up after, but that's okay since it'll be fun."

They laughed and looked at me. "Well, she has playmates."

I laughed with a nod and kept eating. "It also means that I no longer have any babies which makes me sad."

We kept eating and talking and I laughed with a smile. Tim took Hannah up to give her a bath to let her play again. Bath time with Daddy aka Tim was one of her favorite things to do. I let that be a "daddy" activity so that he could bond with her and he kept doing it until she was seven.

"Look who's back," Tim smiled at me.

He set Hannah down in the play yard with the twins who were looking sleepy. I had a feeling that both would take a nap sooner or later.

"Aww, Jill, look," Tim pointed.

The twins and Hannah were fast asleep in the playpen.

My baby girl was one…

….

After everyone left (and Hannah was cleaned up) I wanted to show the family my murals for Hannah as my other present for her. It was something that I didn't want to be a big deal so we decided to do it once it was just the six of us, Mom and Dad understood and actually agreed since we didn't want Hannah to get overwhelmed. I didn't want her to cry.

"Are you guys ready to see the mural?" I asked.

They nodded and I opened the door to Hannah's room. Mom gasped with a smile and Dad grinned widely.

The first one was of all six of us. I changed it to make us look like we did now and it looked absolutely adorable (biased opinion). I changed Dad's hair to look like the 80's hairstyle he had now. I shortened Mom's hair and changed Brad's. I made mine look a little longer. I put pigtails on Hannah and made her look older.

"I love that one," Mom smiled in tears.

She looked at the next one. I had painted Mom in a pink tutu dress. She held a girl's (toddler—Hannah's) hand and Hannah had a matching dress. Both had tights and slippers on. I put a ballerina bun on each of them and they looked like real ballerinas now which was the point.

"Randy, it's amazing," Mom smiled in tears.

I smiled. "Look at the next one, Dad."

The next one had Dad, Hannah and the red hotrod. I painted Dad sitting on top of the hot rod, in his gray shirt with jeans. Hannah was wearing a gray shirt with overalls and looked just like a tomboy. Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail and she wore a gray hat backwards like a tomboy.

"Bud, I love that, it looks really cute!" Dad smiled at me.

I showed them the last one. It was of the four of us kids. Brad was on the left with a Detroit Lions' jersey on him with a football in his hand. Mark was on the right with the same thing and also had a football. I was in the middle, holding Hannah and helped her hold a football.

"You did an amazing job, Randy!" Dad smiled at me.

….

I prepared for my "dance" with Hannah by getting in a suit and combing my hair. Though it seemed silly to do all this prep, I wanted to do it for Hannah. As she grew, she loved it and even as a teen, she did. I was sad that she was already one, but I knew that she had to grow up. I just hated that my baby girl was growing fast. It seemed like yesterday that she was a tiny baby.

I remembered when she was born. She was only five pounds or so and completely helpless and now she was twenty. It felt like yesterday that she was born and now she was graduated from college and a veterinarian with a daughter. How was it that she had grown so fast?

Flashback to Hannah's birth.

I held my baby girl in my arms and my smile widened when her reflex smile came. With a laugh, I kissed her head and looked at my little bundle. She had Jill's dark brown hair, but my bright blue eyes. That was an odd combination, but she looked beautiful nonetheless.

"Hi, princess, it's Daddy. You're daddy's one and only princess, do you know that? Daddy loves you more than any other little girl in the world. Even your cousins.

You're as beautiful as your mommy. Just know that I'll make any big bad go away and so will your brothers. My princess."

I kissed her head and looked at my tiny bundle in my arms. Whenever I looked at her, my heart warmed with love.

I (and her brothers) was the first man she'd experience in her life. When she grew up, I wanted her to see and pick a man that was worthy of her. To me, no man was worthy of getting my princess. I wanted her to see that not all men were dumb and rude (if they were, they'd meet my wrath).

I was also her protector. I protected Jill and Hannah in a different way than I protected my boys. While they needed protecting at times, I saw that my daughter and wife needed more of it.

I was still awestruck that I had a daughter. I had someone who'd call me Daddy from when she started talking to the day I died. I had a human who'd greet me at the door and her smile would just brighten my day.

The tiny being had grabbed my hand and fallen asleep. Her breathing went up and down and I kissed her head.

"You love having a daughter, don't you Tim?" Jill asked and I kissed her head.

"More than anything. I love you, baby doll."

"Tim," Jill's voice snapped me to attention and I smiled at Hannah. She was in a beautiful pink dress with tights and Mary Janes.

My daughter looked absolutely beautiful. No matter what, I always thought she was beautiful since I was biased.

"Daddy loves you, Hannah," I smiled.

She babbled and I carried her downstairs. I cuddled her in my arms. She was one and I was feeling sad.