Scott, Age 5

"Do I have'ta go, Daddy?" Chris knelt down and took Scott's hands in his.

"School is extremely important, son."

"Alex doesn't have to go."

"Alex is two. You're five, Scotty. Five year olds go to school."

"But…"

"But what?"

"What if the other kids make fun of me?" Chris brought Scott into a hug.

"Then you tell the teacher, son. And never, ever try to handle it with fighting. I can promise you that if I get a call saying you were fighting in school, not only will I spank you when we get home with Mommy's hairbrush, but I'll spank you before bed, too. Do you understand?"

"Yes Daddy."

"You know I love hearing you call me 'daddy,' Scott, but you're getting older now. What did we talk about?"

"Sorry. Yes sir." Chris nodded and kissed Scott's forehead.

"I love you. I know kindergarten seems scary, but I promise it'll be ok. Would you like me to go with you?" Scott nodded. "Alright. Let's let Mommy know." He picked Scott up and carried him down the stairs to the kitchen.

"Good morning! Scott, are you excited for school?" Scott shook his head and hid his face in Chris' neck.

"Pre-school jitters," Chris told Katherine. "He's asked if I'll go with him."

"Chris… We talked about this. We said I shouldn't go because I wouldn't leave, so he'd just take the bus-"

"And I stand by that. The first part, at least. But Kat… How many more first days of school will I be here for? This… This is probably it until I retire, and by then-"

"So why do you get to go?"

"I'm 'Daddy,'" Chris grinned. "And I'll be able to walk away after dropping him off."

"Scott, can Alex and I walk with you and Daddy to school?" Scott nodded into Chris' neck. "There you go. You get him fed and I'll get Alex ready. And my camera." Katherine kissed Chris' cheek and walked out of the kitchen.

"You ready to sit and eat?"

"Daddy, I don't want to go to school. Can't Mommy teach me?" Chris sighed and sat Scott on the floor.

"Sometimes we have to do things we don't want to do, Scott. Like cleaning your room. You don't like doing that, do you?"

"No sir."

"But when Mommy and Daddy tell you you have to, you do it, right?" Scott looked at the floor and scuffed his shoe across the linoleum. "Scott?"

"Yes sir."

"School is like that, son. And I'll bet you're so good at it that by the time you're my age, you don't have to go back."

"Really?!"

"Really. I'll bet you… Hm. I'll bet you only do this for thirteen years."

"That's not long."

"Nope! But you're smart enough that I don't see you needing to stay longer than that. Unless you want to go to a special school to get a good job."

"I wanna be just like you, Daddy. I wanna fly planes." Chris gave him a small smile.

"You can fly planes without joining the Air Force- or any branch, son. But I'd be happy to have you as my co-pilot any day." Scott nodded and hugged Chris. "Now how about we eat so you have plenty of energy to learn as much as you can today, hm?"

"Ok Daddy." Chris plated up the breakfast Katherine had already made and put it in front of his son.

"Make sure you clean your plate, son."

"Yes sir." Scott picked up his fork and started eating. Chris made himself a plate as well before sitting beside Scott and eating.

"Chris! Do you see Alex's shirt?!" Chris looked around the kitchen and then stepped into the living room.

"It's on the couch!" he called up before going back to the kitchen. Scott was putting his last bite in his mouth and Chris put his hand on his head. "Once you're done, go brush your teeth." Scott put his fork on the plate and started heading out. Chris cleared his throat and Scott came back, blushing, as he put his plate in the sink.

"Sorry Daddy."

"Go on, son." Scott hurried away and Chris heard him heading upstairs. Katherine came down and finished getting Alex ready to go.

"Can you make him a small plate?"

"Of course, love. Can I make you something as well?"

"I'm not feeling well." Chris dropped the eggs back into the pan and turned, eyes wide. Katherine started laughing and she shook her head. "Not like that, babe. Definitely no babies coming anytime soon. I'm just… Scott's starting school. I'm not ready." Chris tried to mask his relief as he went to hug her.

"He's growing up, Kat. This is what he needs to do. To keep him from school would be-"

"I'm not saying he shouldn't go. I'm just not ready for my baby to grow up." Chris rested his chin on her head and sighed.

"I'm not either. But I'm also excited to see where life takes him. He's already so much better than me, love. He's going to be the first Summers to go to college. I know it."

"You still could-"

"I'm doing well enough, and not having the loans against us helps. I've got another eight months, and then I can start working towards being a major. That'll… If I can do that for a few years and then retire as a major, we'll be set."

"Would you be against me going?" Chris gently pushed Katherine from him.

"I think you going would be an amazing idea. You were always more studious than me. It'd make more sense for you to go. Do you know what you'd like to study?"

"I've just been playing with the idea. I didn't think you'd be for it…" Chris smirked and leaned into her ear.

"I'm sure we can come up with some way for you to thank me. Maybe college professor and student?" Katherine grinned and gently smacked Chris' shoulder.

"You find me an outfit and maybe I'll consider it." She laughed at Chris' look of surprise.

"I know what I'm doing today."

"Are we ready?" Scott asked, coming into the kitchen. Chris blinked and barely stopped a curse before getting a plate for Alex.

"Just a second, kiddo. Mommy and I were talking. Mommy is thinking of going to that special school I told you about. What do you think of that?" Scott cocked his head to the side and looked at his mother.

"You WANT to go to school?"

"I do," she replied. "School is somewhere we learn things, and I don't want to be done learning." Chris started wiping Alex's face as Katherine and Scott talked.

"Babe, we've got to go if Scott's going to be on time," he gently reminded her. Katherine nodded and got Alex strapped in a stroller as Chris helped Scott put his backpack on. They left the house and began walking to the nearby elementary school, Chris wincing every few steps with the tight hold Scott had on his hand. When they arrived, Scott hid behind Chris' legs.

"Do I have'ta?" he whispered. Chris turned and knelt in front of him, holding his hands again.

"I promise, Scott. It's not so bad, ok? I went to school, Mommy went to school, and when Alex is old enough, he'll go to school, too. But this is part of growing up, kiddo."

"But I'm scared," he sniffed.

"I'll make you a deal. You go to school this week, and on Saturday, I'll take you flying." Scott's eyes lit up. "I take it you agree?"

"Just us?"

"Just us."

"Can you teach me to fly, Daddy?" Chris blinked and smiled.

"Eventually, but to understand a lot of what you'll need to know to fly, you'll have to go to school. Ok?"

"Ok, Daddy."

"So let's go meet your teacher and get working on this week." Scott nodded and Chris stood, taking his son's hand again.

"Ready?" Katherine asked. Scott nodded into Chris' leg.

"Scott."

"Yes ma'am." Chris squeezed Scott's hand and led him inside to his class.

"Hi! You must be Scott Summers. I'm Ms. Higgins, and I'm your teacher. We're going to have so much fun this year." Scott turned and looked at Chris.

"Daddy?"

"She's the nice lady who will start teaching you things you need to learn to fly planes, Scott. You will listen to her and be respectful, ok?"

"Yes sir." Ms. Higgins led Scott away to a table and Chris pulled his wife, whose hands were on the stroller, out of the classroom.

"Now what?" Katherine asked as they started walking home.

"Now, you look into schools and programs and see what you're interested in. You should enroll for the spring semester wherever you'd like to go." Katherine nodded.

Several hours later, Chris looked at the time and frowned. They had to get leaving to pick up Scott from school, but Alex was still sleeping.

"Do you want to go get him?"

"That obvious?"

"Go, Chris," she said with a smile. He kissed her cheek and hurried out the door to walk to the school. He heard the bell ring as he got to the gates and saw a swarm of children exiting the building. The small children were led to the buses by teachers and Chris let out a relieved breath when he saw Scott in one of those groups.

"Daddy!" Scott tugged his teacher's arm and pointed to Chris. Chris waved to her and then Scott was running to him. Chris bent down and caught his son in a hug.

"So?" he asked. "How was it?"

"I LOVED it, Daddy! We had snacks and played and Ms. Higgins read us stories and-"

"So you're happy to come back tomorrow?"

"Yes sir!" Chris chuckled and took Scott's hand to start walking home, listening as his son gave him an almost moment-by-moment explanation of his day. Chris understood next to nothing Scott was saying, but couldn't help but smile at the excitement on Scott's face.