*Be sure to thank Favorite Daughter of Hades for this chapter. This was her idea, I just wrote it out.

~Chapter 25~

Preschool day…already… The twins were three, they were old enough…and Sam was forcing him to say goodbye to his little babies. And they weren't babies anymore…! They were already out of the car, already standing by their parents' sides waiting to be encouraged and sent off to preschool. Where did the time go…

"Mommy, I don't wanna go!" Junior cried, burying his head into his mother's leg.

She bent down to console him.

Lilith, on the other hand, was curious as heck and was more than ready to burst through those doors and explore the place. She was a handful, this little one. She kept pacing around her parents, just dying to be set free. Danny didn't want to let them go…not yet. Junior and Lilith were his little babies, his little girl and little boy. He swore to protect them and that's what he wanted to do. There were always mean teachers at schools, and this was a school. What if they bumped into a teacher who was mean, who didn't like kids and only taught for the money? No, he didn't want them to be taught by someone like that! But according to Sam, he had to 'shut up and help see them off'.

He sighed as he watched his baby girl circle him, keeping a very excited eye on the door. She wasn't even looking at him… She was growing up, as was her brother. They were still in the horsey ride phase, but this just proved to him that they would grow out of it. And he was nervous right now, probably more nervous than Junior, who was still clinging tightly to Mommy.

He didn't want them to go…but…it had to be done…

"I don't want her to be around any boys," Danny said. "Is there like an all-girls classroom or something?"

Sam all but laughed hysterically. "Danny! She's three! Who cares if she's around boys right now? That comes a lot later, trust me. Right now it'll be all yuck and cooties. I wasn't interested in boys until I was twelve-"

"TWELVE?!" he screeched. "SHE'S NOT DATING AT TWELVE!"

The goth rolled her eyes and turned back to Junior. Danny, on the other hand, kept an even more watchful eye on his daughter and inwardly frowned at the thought of her twelfth birthday. Junior was very dependent and wouldn't leave his mother's, or his father's, side for a long time to come, but Lilith was already raring to go. She was independent, bold, brave… Basically, she was everything her mother was. That was bad news for him…

"Daddy, I wanna go now!" She looked up at him and pouted, folding her arms as if to prove a point.

"No, not yet," he said. "Not until your brother's calm enough to go with you."

At this comment, she quickly turned and pulled Junior off of Sam.

"Come on, we have to go to the big building!" she told him excitedly. Looking back up at Danny, she asked, "Can I go now?"

At first he wanted to protest, to make up some excuse as to why she couldn't leave yet, but he shut his mouth as soon as he saw Sam's warning glare. Junior was calm now, ironically enough, and Lilith was still eager to get going. She was excited to meet her new teacher and she was very excited to make new friends. The only other child she had ever been around was her brother, and although they got along very well, they still had that sibling rivalry that was all too familiar to Danny. Sam couldn't understand it because she was an only child, but Danny had been fighting with his sister since he was old enough to talk. As he and Jazz grew up, though, they grew out of the constant bickering. They still butted heads, but not nearly as much as they used to. The twins weren't like that. They had their squabbles, just like every sibling did, but Junior was more submissive toward his sister and Lilith was usually the one taking charge of things. Danny couldn't help but wonder if he was teaching Junior to be shy. Lilith definitely got her attitude from her mother. Just what he needed…a mini Sam.

He shuffled nervously and knelt down to the twins' level.

"Alright, but before you go, you have some rules to follow," he said.

"Daddy!" Lilith groaned.

"Don't 'Daddy' me, you do what I tell you. Don't eat in class unless the teacher says it's okay, don't be mean to anyone, share your toys, and stay away from boys!"

The girl quickly looked at her bother and pulled her hand back, releasing him from her grasp.

"No, your brother's fine. I mean the other boys. Oh, and make sure you do what the teacher says. That means taking a nap when it's time to take a-"

Sam flicked the back of his head and he frowned. "Okay, okay. I'm done with the rules…" He held his arms out. "Before you go, you have to give Mommy and Daddy a hug." Sam knelt down with him and held her arms out.

Lilith excitedly jumped into her dad's arms and gave him a quick hug and kiss before taking off, dashing for that door like there was no tomorrow. Junior didn't do that. He gave them both their hugs and kisses but still lingered around. Sam had to coax him into going in with his sister. Danny quickly whispered, right before he left, to make sure Lilith stayed away from boys. After that, Junior reluctantly walked through the door. They were both gone, just like that, in the blink of an eye. And Danny hated it. For someone who had been raising them every day, with no daycare or separation other than high school, it was like seeing your favorite flower wilt. It was painful and hard to watch…

The goth put a hand on his shoulder. "They'll be fine, Danny."

"I don't like this," he admitted. "I don't want them to go just yet."

"Well, they'll have to sometime," she replied, chuckling lightheartedly. "How are they going to function in the real world if they never even get through preschool?"

"I don't want them to go to the real world yet!"

"Danny. They're three," she reminded him.

He looked at her with sad eyes. "Yeah. They're already three."

"Look at it this way, would you rather change diapers or get to see them learning new things at school?"

"I would rather change diapers," he answered. "They're our kids, Sam; we're their parents. We're perfectly capable of teaching them ourselves."

She sighed. "How will we do that? You're still in high school, have yet to go to college, and even without school, you fight ghosts. I had to drop out of high school; I'm not qualified to teach them anything beyond their ABCs."

"My parents could help. They both went to and graduated college, they have a job-"

"And they told us they wouldn't parent the twins. That's us, Danny, that's all us. I know you hate seeing them on their own for the first time and I know it hard for you to let them go, even if it's just preschool. It's hard for me too. You think I want them gone for a whole day? We are their parents, Danny, but do you know what parents are there to do?"

He only looked at her.

She continued, "Parents are there to help their kids grow up, prepare them for what's coming. We can still teach them things, but not completely academic. Think about the good things when they're older."

"Like what, watching Lilith date?" he muttered.

"Okay, first of all, you have a very long time before that happens. But, Danny, think about it for a second. Who's gonna teach the kids how to ride their bikes? Who's gonna teach them how to use cookie cutters? The little things like that can add up to a lot in the future. I don't like seeing them go any more than you do, but this is our job. If we're going to do it, we need to do it right."

He kicked at the ground and sighed in defeat. "Yeah…"

The goth gently took his arm. "Lancer's not gonna give you much more time to get to class. You better go."

Oh, that's right… He'd told Lancer to start class later because there was something he had to do. He didn't bother to tell him about the twins' first day in preschool because he was already on his way there, but his teacher agreed, keeping up his promise about 'letting it slide' whenever he acted like a father. Sam was right though, acting like a father wasn't an excuse for being late. Plus, he needed to keep good attendance. With all the ghosts around, being on time was difficult. The sooner the better.

He got in the car and drove Sam home first before getting to school. School…filled with hallways upon hallways of Mosquitoes. How very fun.

He parked, got out of the car, and entered Mr. Lancer's classroom, taking his usual seat beside Tucker. This school wasn't the preschool and he didn't like it. For the first time, his kids weren't in a familiar environment. Now he knew why Sam wouldn't let them attend a daycare center. Back when they were baby babies, still in diapers and not undergoing any form of potty training, she was extremely protective of them and refused to let anyone but people who were close to her touch them. She probably didn't like seeing them off either, but she was right in the fact that they needed to learn and grow. Their parents couldn't take care of them forever, and they would eventually have to start doing things on their own. It didn't mean Mommy and Daddy couldn't be there for them, but they would become more independent as time passed and he just wasn't ready for that.

The geek leaned over and tapped his shoulder. "Dude, you okay?"

He hung his head. "My baby's growing up… I hate this…"

Lancer approached them and eyed Danny for a moment before saying, "I'm assuming a family matter came up in the time you were gone?"

The halfa didn't answer, but let his head drop onto his desk.

Tucker answered for him. "First day of preschool."

"Did something happen at preschool?" the teacher continued, obviously confused.

"He's just nervous, Mr. Lancer," Tucker said.

Lancer took another quick look at Danny. He did seem tense and uneasy. He was, even if he didn't know it, acting like a father again. From the way it sounded, his children had never been to a place he was unfamiliar with, and he wasn't very likely to be familiar with a preschool. Of course, it might not be just the new place that bothered him. These were his babies, and he loved them. They were three now, and growing up. When they had talked about the twins, Daniel told him he missed the days when he could hold one of the twins without the other almost tripping him. He'd said that it was hard watching them grow up so fast. That must've made preschool all the harder for him. Lancer assumed he would be down like this for the next few days.

Maybe adoption wouldn't be such a good idea after all. Lancer was single and worked all day. He had considered adoption nevertheless. But upon seeing young Daniel now, on the day his twins first set foot on the preschool grounds, it made him realize that having a child was a rollercoaster of events that he would be unable to control. There were obviously good times as well, though, or else Daniel wouldn't have mentioned all the games he played with his kids.

It sounded fun and relaxing when he thought about the playful part of it, being able to hear the joyous laughter of a happy child. However, he had taken into account that it was much more work than he had first thought. Daniel certainly knew the responsibilities to his family, and he had performed them without fail. It would be easy to think that if a teenager could do it, a teacher could too. But seeing how drastically Daniel's behavior had changed since he became a parent proved otherwise. Raising a child forced a change in a parent, as demonstrated quite well in the young boy. Lancer wasn't sure he was ready for that.

However, he understood that there were good and bad moments that came with rearing children. Now he saw clearly what it was and what it really meant.

"Will you be alright, Mr. Fenton?" the teacher asked, in all solemnity.

The boy weakly nodded his head. "Once I see my child again…"

Lancer noticed that Daniel had, again, said 'my child' and not 'my children'. He also refused to reveal the genders, or gender as far as everyone else knew. This had to be the reason they all kept pestering him and his friend during lunch. It was the perfect revenge, driving the other students mad like that. Ms. Manson had been unbearably miserable here and who's to say what could've happened to her if her friends weren't there to comfort and support her? From the way things seemed, she had taken on the role of motherhood. The teacher wondered if she was a good mother to those two children. Having been so badly treated while pregnant with them, it was possible that she could have negative feelings towards them.

Well, whatever the case with their mother, their father did his level best to raise them. He was so young, this boy, yet he still stayed by Ms. Manson's side and fulfilled every duty to his family. His efforts, and successes in those efforts, were honorable. He did well as a father if what he said about it being the hardest thing he'd ever done was true.

Young Daniel's friend, Tucker Foley, reached an arm over to him and grasped his shoulder. "Hey, man. It'll be okay."

Danny's head shot up, but his downcast expression remained the same. "I don't even know the teacher! Do you have any idea what it's like to send your kid off alone into a place you've never been to before?! I don't know what it's like in there! I don't get to know until preschool ends!"

"Dude, calm down. It's just preschool. And since it's the first day, it ends at like 1:00pm," Tucker said.

The boy groaned. "That's almost four hours away…"

The techno-geek patted his friend on the back. "Everything's gonna be fine, just take it second by second. Time will fly by and you can see your kid again."

"Says Uncle Tucker… You're not a dad, you wouldn't know."

"I'm not a dad, but I care about the tw-" Tucker halted when he realized what he had been about to say. He corrected himself before continuing, "I care about the kid. I'm a little nervous too, but you gotta be strong."

A few people around the classroom snickered, causing one angry Danny to snap around and scan the class. Most of the students moved their eyes away from him. In the hallways, if the halfa thought someone was talking badly about the 'child', he would literally start lashing out at them. After the first three times of what was considered far beyond an earful and a few threats here and there, everyone got the message and an unspoken agreement was made among them never to tick him off again. Especially when it came down to his 'child'. He really did frighten them and he knew it. So snickering around the room, in his presence no less, wasn't a good idea.

He heard that one more time, they were all gonna get theirs. He wouldn't stand idle while someone belittled his 'child'.

He gave a very special glare to Paulina, the witch who pushed Sam's misery forward, before turning back to his friend and teacher. Even his teacher knew not to upset him when it was about his children. Everyone kept a distance from the matter and most were careful not to let one word stray from their lips.

If only they knew that Danny had much more capability than just yelling or threatening. Of course, he would never use his ghost powers against those who were more vulnerable than him. He had defenses and they didn't. Simple as that. So he shared his defenses, using his powers to protect them despite the impact their harshness had on Sam. He really didn't see much reason to protect them anymore. And thinking back only made him angry enough to begin wondering why he even tried to do anything for them. Bullying him, now that was one thing. But bullying Sam? Doing everything in their power to make her suffer everywhere she went? Then having the gall to be nice just to get information on the twins? Unforgivable. Disgusting. Infuriating.

Danny had to refrain from speeding. He had already picked up Sam and was now heading to the preschool. He accidentally ran two red lights, and almost ran a third. He came to a rolling stop at one stop sign, kept tailgating other cars, nearly overshot a left turn, and almost made a car behind him crash into him by braking so hard at an intersection. In the end Sam was left shaking and clinging to just about anything she could. Her breathing was unstable and her eyes were wide with fear. It was a good thing no cops were around at the time…

"If you want to kill me, do it after we meet the teacher," she breathed shakily, her face already drained of all color.

Danny let out a breath and pried his fingers from the wheel. "Sorry. I just… I really wanted to get here."

"Well don't total the car!" she hissed at him as he put the car in park and turned the ignition off.

"I wasn't going to total the car," he assured.

"You almost did!"

"But I didn't."

The both of them took their seatbelts off before Danny locked the car. They went inside to meet the twins' new teacher for the first time.

A few other parents had already arrived and were standing around the classroom, their kids greeting them. What Danny assumed to be the teacher was busy talking to one of the mothers. She nodded her head every now and then and as their conversation closed, she smiled and nodded her head.

As the teacher went around talking to different couples, the twins came bounding up to Sam and Danny. Junior was still clingy even after his first day, but seemed less tense than before. Lilith was excited, but obviously tired. They both were, but she was the only one yawning. The pair assumed she'd gotten too hyper from all the excitement and new experiences.

The teacher finally noticed them and came up to introduce herself.

"Hello." She smiled and reached out to shake both their hands. "Are these little ones yours?"

"Yes," Sam said with a smile. "Both of them, Lilith and Junior."

"Ah, Lilith," the teacher laughed. "She's a handful. Such a sweet little girl though. She got along very well with the other children."

Danny smiled at his daughter. "That's good. We thought she might be a little overwhelmed."

The woman nodded and replied, "She was at first, but she quickly got over it. Her brother, on the other hand…"

The pair frowned.

"The poor thing was so shy, and he would hardly interact with anyone besides Lilith," she sighed. "I'm hoping that'll go away in time."

Smirking, the halfa answered, "It will. I think he takes after me that way; I've always been kind of shy."

The teacher smiled warmly. "Well, you both have beautiful children, shy or not."

Danny beamed.

"Oh, by the way, I'm curious to know what Junior's first name is. He wouldn't speak much so I never really got him to tell me," the woman said.

"It's Danny," Sam responded. "It's his father's name. We just call him Junior though. It avoids the confusion."

"Oh, I see now!" The woman turned to Danny. "I assume you're Danny?"

The halfa nodded. "I don't believe we caught your name yet."

"Oh, I'm sorry. You can call me Mrs. Lauren."

He shook her hand again. "Nice to meet you, Mrs. Lauren."

She smiled. "The same to you. Forgive me if I overstep my boundaries, but you both seem a little…young to be raising kids."

Sam looked up at her boyfriend, who was already looking back at her, and bit her lip.

"Well…" the goth started. "We are a little young, but we…" Her voice trailed off and she faltered for a moment, finding herself unable to continue on with the sentence. "With all due respect, Mrs. Lauren, we both feel extremely uncomfortable about the subject. It's very personal."

Danny knew it was ten times more personal for Sam than it was for him, despite all they'd been through together. Now, if they were talking about it amongst themselves and themselves only, it wouldn't be tense at all. Especially now that they were raising kids together, they could both talk freely about pretty much anything, so long as it was the two of them and they were alone. Other than in one of those times, it wasn't something anyone else needed to know about, minus his family, who he was sure already knew. Sam never told him that anyone in his family knew, but once he escaped the base of the Guys In White and was sure they weren't following him, something about the atmosphere of the house had changed. His mother tended to act slightly differently toward Sam, almost sympathetic. He wasn't entirely sure about Jazz, but she was continually on Sam's case about the twins. He'd overheard her once tell Sam something about the twins 'needing to grow up a different way because of the circumstances'. He didn't know what went on there because he was away at school most of the week, but it was a lot of psychological talk even for Jazz.

But if Sam told them, then that was her choice and he would support her on that. Besides, this was one of the things he didn't have a say in. It was solely her decision.

Danny picked Lilith up, who yawned and leaned into his shoulder.

"Alright," he said, "it looks like someone's getting a little tired, so we should probably get going."

Likewise, Sam picked up Junior and agreed, "Yeah, Junior's getting tired too."

Mrs. Lauren nodded and said, "I understand. It was a pleasure meeting you." She shook both their hands before moving on to another set of parents.

A/N

Time to vote on the poll is RUNNING OUT. You may want to do it NOW, because the next chapter (or the chapter after) will display the results. Plus...it's still a tie between three options. :l So seriously, someone please break that tie because it's killing me and I can't do anything until I have an answer. Unless you want me to put up a different poll with those three options and have me pester you by PM to vote for one, BREAK THE DARN TIE ALREADY.

I was planning to put the other half of this into one chapter, but I couldn't cram it all in there. So technically, this is half a chapter. The next half, aka the next chapter, is basically the other half of Favorite Daughter of Hades' idea. Again, I can't take credit for any of this, it's all her. :) So thank you, Favorite Daughter of Hades, for sharing this with everyone.

Sorry for the slow update. I'm also working on a new story called The Halfa Factory. I think it'll be really interesting and so far people seem to love it. And , if you've already read it but didn't read my A/N, please stop asking so many questions. The story will explain everything. There will be little hints, snippets, and literal explanations throughout it so relax. :/ I'm not kidding. Relax because chapter 4 will make you scream. Oh, and people PLEASE stop asking when Danny's going to come in. The characters are marked as "Sam M. and Danny F." so obviously Danny will come in at one point or another. Just be patient and go with the flow. And no matter how mad you get, please don't kill me after reading chapter 4...

Anyway, yeah, I'm working on The Halfa Factory and many other stories. I'm also busy with life outside of fanfiction, so forgive any slow updates to any other of my stories you're watching (if you're keeping an eye for them). Oh, and those who are wondering about A Rose Without Petals, it won't be updated for a while to come. This story here is my first and foremost priority on my story list. Next to that is FWBR, and third place is THF (The Halfa Factory).

No review quota, just review if you want.

Review replies, though? Well deserved, so here you go:

xLa Reyna Phantasmax- :) So sorry for the slow update. And thanks, I'm glad you liked it.

princessbinas- X3 Of course he does, he's Danny. Well, if I told you what happens, it won't be much of a surprise, now would it? ;)

HeroAce- XD I'm EXACTLY like that. Only I don't turn the alarm off, I stuff the clock under my pillow. Then I reach under it a hundred times every time the alarm goes off to press the snooze button. Hrm...how many clocks, huh? You know, I don't really know, but I'd say about twenty or so? Just considering it's been three years and he has the amazing power to blow up the alarm on that thing.

Alisi Thorndyke- He's busy destroying his newest alarm clock. :D Meh, I'm not proud in the slightest, I just needed Tucker to find out. Now I can have both blackmail, and something to make things awkward between them. :)

Looka'sMagicHell- Oh yes, he's so discreet. XP

AJ- lol I didn't even think about what the rest of the school would be looking at. :P But yeah, now that you mention it, they'll probably notice. But keep in mind that they still think Danny's the biological dad, so they probably weren't shocked or anything to see a hickey on her.

Favorite Daughter of Hades- :) This 'next one' has come, and I must say, you've given a perfect setup for two chapters (that just so happens to be two half-chapters). Anyway, it's a lovely set for transition.

ShadowDragon357- XD Yeah, I made him do that just so Danny would get all embarrassed. I was planning on making him find out a different way: walking in on Danny and Sam one day. Better to have found out through a hickey than through THAT. Besides, it would've been too much embarrassment for them all.

Inuyuke- *lowers tranquilizer* Okay, okay. XD How's it cute? I'd imagine you would feel bad for Danny if nothing else. lol! 'Big lump of fluff'. XP lol THAT is cute.

sammansonrepilica- I don't use ghost rays, I just shove my alarm clock under my pillow to keep hitting the snooze button. :) Glad you liked that chapter.

LittleBoomBoom- Sorry! Sorry! Geez, that sounds like a lot. lol I was originally planning to make him walk in on Danny and Sam one day but after a very long self-argument, I decided against it.

TheNinjaKitty13- :D That's great! And thanks!

REMEMBER THE POLL, GUYS! IT'S COMING TO AN END AND I'M SO SICK OF THE TIE! SOMEONE PLEASE BE THE OFFICIAL AND MUCH LOVED TIEBREAKER!