On that night, Amelia walked down the stairs in a pink dress. Her hair was slightly curled but she was still the spitting image of Lilly all the way. Even John felt saddened to see that his little girl was indeed growing up, but upon arriving at her school he could see her own embarrassment of him being much older than all of the other dads.

"I'm still like every other dad in there", looking into her eyes, "How about we show them that I'm not as old as they think I am".

Amelia sniffled back; as the two walked into the cafeteria which was now a dance hall. Almost immediately one the boys from her class; begun teasing her. Still she made a face almost identical to that of her mothers, as John now saw one of the dads's coming over.

"You her gramps", a man known as Alex now stood there.

John wasn't about to let anything ruin his evening with his daughter," No I'm her dad", looking pretty firmly at the guy. However Alex glanced down at his own child, "Just too bad that you won't be around her sweet sixteen".

His face was one that wasn't kidding around, but knowing that this night was for both him and Amelia; instead John led his daughter onto the dance floor. Much to his own surprise he was able to keep up, but could see the tiny smile forming on her face. That didn't last very long, when Amelia went over to get some punch; one of the kids was still bulling her.

"Your dad dances funny, like an old man", was pushing Amelia against the wall.

"Stop it Mike", before she spat right at Mike, "He's my Daddy not yours".

However when the girl didn't stop, Amelia had ended up pushing her to the floor. At this point, one of the other kids ended up pulling her hair. While that was happening, John was also involved in an argument, over his wife.

"I'd personally screw that pale ghost wife of yours", before seeing his police badge, "What are you a fucking cop"?

John's eyes grew stern" Lietendent", as the other men backed off. They weren't now about to mess with him, but one in fact did; "He's probably retired guys, probably can't even shoot someone the right away; his aims off".

The man was sadly mistaken when John threw him against the wall, "Don't let your daughter, ever by my daughter again", his voice now growling, "And I'm not retired"

Outside Amelia sat down on the swings, shedding some more tears. She felt saddened that she didn't have a younger father, like her other friends. When John came out he also sat down beside her, "Nobody else would ever love you like I do, it doesn't matter how old I am. I'm still going to be here for you ".

Amelia cried softly, "You didn't fight them Daddy, like Uncle Scotty would".

"Uncle Scotty thinks he's a boxer; punching someone out isn't always a thing", wiping a tendril of hair away from her face, "I won't let anyone harm you ever".

"Not even Michelle", she asked thinking of her almost three year old sister.

John nodded softly, "You still want to go back in".

Amelia shook her head, still afraid to be bullied again by her classmates. Even John could understand her own fear of being picked on, "I still have a long time to live, I'm not about to enter heaven anytime soon".

"What if a gunman kills you", her lips slowly quivering in fear. However he gently held her hand, "I wouldn't let him hurt me", knowing that she feared losing him.

Somehow John had found out what exactly the kids at her school her taunting her about; but he knew he had to convince his daughter that things like that weren't true. While the cool air blew down harder, the two then sat on the stairs inside of the building instead.

"Dads come in a lot of different ages Amelia, but even Mommy didn't see my age when she fell in love with me".

Amelia looked up, "Why do I have a sister Mommy's age"?

"Janie is younger than Mommy, but that doesn't matter".

"It does Daddy", looking into his eyes, "Uncle Scotty plays with me more than you do, he even makes Mommy smile", slightly pouting.

John knew that Lilly had a deep friendship with Scotty, but her love for him was pretty strong. The two were just as in love as the day that had first met. It didn't matter anymore about his age, since love proved to be the strongest thing between them. However he could tell that Amelia wasn't convinced by just his words.

"Only I can get you tickets to both football and baseball games, I'll bet the other dads can't", which in fact was the truth, "How many of them go as much as we do".

Amelia's lips curled into a smile, "You have connections", sounding just like her mother. In fact it made John chuckle a bit from her response, "We don't have to stay here", understand about the whole thing.

Just as he was getting up, Amelia stood up in front of him, "Dance with me Daddy".

With the music playing from inside of the doors, the two danced together. Not once did John even care about actually going inside, for now he was happy with just being with his daughter. That moment was then ruined once again but the same two dads.

"Leave us alone", yelled Amelia, "He's my Daddy".

The men laughed in amusement, "You sure that you are the dad pops, she sure doesn't look like you".

John looked up, "I was there the moment she was conceived", before taking a hold of Amelia's hand. As the two walked out to his car, he continued ignoring the harassment from the fellow men. However while driving around; his eyes glanced up into the rearview mirror seeing how disappointed his daughter had become.

Even when they had returned home, Amelia avoided him and ran up to her room. However Lilly had noticed how worried her husband was; "What happened there tonight"?

"Got harassed due to my age, I think Amelia's embarrassed about having an older dad", sighed John as he removed his sports jacket, "Tried to help her, but I let her down".

She took his hand, "She know s you love her; can't picture anyone else being her dad but you", before heading upstairs to kiss both of his daughter's goodnight. After tucking in Michelle, he then moved over to Amelia whom was still lying there awake.

"I still wanted to dance with you", his voice now extremely soft.

"Why did you marry Mommy", she asked.

John sat down, "Cause I love her, still do", stroking her cheek, "I remember the day that you were born, first holding you in my arms".

Amelia blushed, before feeling him kissing her. Just as he was about to leave her then whispered, "I love you Daddy".

This made him turn back and look right at her, before hearing Michelle also saying that. Being a father meant the whole world to him; but had no idea how one parent teacher conference could led them both into having a series talk with their daughter.