"Wake up mama - school!" Sif yelled next Tamsin's side of the bed, pushing the flesh of her cheek with a pointed finger as my wife's brows furrowed into a confused frown from the unexpected wake up call. I took a moment to step back and let Tamsin come around, unsure of whether she'd react badly to Sif's first day of preschool.

"What have I told you about growing up so damn quick?" Tamsin tiredly sighed at our daughter, grabbing her under the arms and pulling her under the sheets as Sif giggled, wrapping her arms around her mama and kissing her cheek. "Why don't we just stay here today? We can watch Nemo and I'll make pancakes?" Tamsin tried to bribe her, not quite prepared for her first day of school.

"I'm three and a half now mama, pancakes are for babies." she explained, wrinkling her nose into a smile - a quality she clearly picked up from her mama. "Mommy you get in bed too." Sif chirped, turning to hold her hand out to me.

"Yeah mommy, you get in bed too." Tamsin smirked, lifting the sheets back to let me in whilst Sif snuggled in between the two of us.

"Me and mama like pancakes, and we're big girls." I announced, pulling Sif closer to my body. "Are you sure you don't want pancakes with us before school?" I tempted her again.

"Okay, but only if mama has pancakes." she whispered through a pout, wriggling closer to Tamsin's half asleep figure and curling up in her arms.

"That's not very kind to mommy." Tamsin quickly corrected her, always cautious when Sif shown preference to her over me - like it was painful for me to watch, when in actual fact the moments were some of my most cherished.

Sif worships the ground her mama walks on, Tamsin is her idol, even at three you can see the careful consideration in her eyes every time she tries to do something to make her mama proud - but no one, and I mean no one can hold a candle to mommy when it comes to kissing away bruises, reading goodnight stories or making secret midnight milkshakes. It was a fine balance, it was our family unit.

"Mommy knows I love her but her pancakes suck-ass." she explained empathetically as Tamsin and I both paused in thought at how to address the bad word, trying not to break into giggles at how funny it sounded coming from her sweet voice as she placed her hand against my cheek and stared at me, her face softening as if she was concerned that I might not know just how much she loves me. "Mommy, I love you and it's okay if your pancakes suck-ass. Some people are good at some things and bad at other things, so it's okay that you're bad at pancakes because you're good at other things - like making Netflix work." she considerately explained, looking up to her mama for approval as I melted at how adorable she was.

"We don't say 'suck-ass' baby, that's a bad word and it makes mommy's heart hurt." I replied, exaggerating a frown as Tamsin bit her tongue.

"Maybe if you were a little more careful with your language around her Bo." Tamsin quietly mouthed to me as I narrowed my gaze back at her.

"But, but mama says 'suck-ass' all the time - and 'fuck' too, but she said I'm not allowed to use that word in front of you, isn't that right mama?" she unwittingly ratted out Tamsin as her mama's cheeks burnt a flushed shade of pink.

"Well, er, would you look at the time? Why don't we go grab some of mommy's suck-ass pancakes." she coughed, quickly jumping out of the sheets as she threw our three year old over her shoulder. "Dude, so not cool." I heard her whisper to our daughter as she carried her out the room.

"Sorry mama." I heard a defeated whisper from the corridor.

. . . . . . . . .

"Is everybody ready for school?" I called upstairs as my two blondes came bounding downstairs and into the kitchen in similar outfits, Tamsin in jeans and a black Barbour jacket whilst Sif rocked leggings and a tiny replica of her mama's choice of coat.

"Yes mommy." Sif grinned, bouncing around excitedly wearing a backpack that was far too big for her little frame.

"No." Tamsin muttered. "Can't we just go back to the days when she slept on your chest all day?" Tamsin reminisced in my ear, kissing my neck as she grabbed the coffee off of the counter.

"They'll be more babies, don't worry." I smiled, pulling her in for a kiss.

"I guess some siblings for Sif would be nice." Tamsin whispered out of earshot of our daughter, a grin plastered on her face as she wrapped her arms around my waist.

"Shit." I muttered under my breath as I caught a glimpse of the clock over her shoulder. "We're late, come on we need to hurry up - both of you." I hurried, ushering them towards the car.

. . . . . . .

"Mama, you're not allowed to cry remember?" Sif rolled her eyes at Tamsin as the older blonde's eyes watered.

"I know dude." she laughed, sniffing away the threat of tears. "You'll understand one day when you have a little princess too." Tamsin smiled as our daughter wrapped herself into a hug around both our legs.

"I have a little princess, her name is Chi-Chi." Sif happily replied.

"Your pet fish doesn't count baby." I countered, running my hand over her white blonde locks as she pulled away from her hug.

"Ah! You must be Sif's moms! I'm Miss Hall." the woman came to great us, peculiarly dressed in a long skirt and blouse that screamed school teacher before nervously adjusting the glasses on her young freckled face. "We've heard so much about Sif already, we're very happy to have her here." she grinned.

"What have you heard?" Tamsin asked with perplexion.

"Oh you know, daughter of the Unaligned Succubus and Valkyrja Princess - word gets around fast. It's a pleasure to meet you by the way, your highness?" she tested, unsure on how to address my wife as I couldn't help but break into a snigger.

"It's okay, you don't have to call me your highness, not unless you're from Asgard which I'm guessing you're not - you're a Siren right?" Tamsin asked.

"Wow, you valkyries really do have a keen eye - how did you know?" she asked, slightly in awe.

"It actually came up on the system when I searched your details to make sure you had no priors. I'm a Detective Inspector." she explained with a smile as if what she'd done wasn't completely inappropriate or invasive whilst I glared at her.

"Glad to hear it." Miss Hall nodded her head, bending down to speak to our daughter who now nervously hid behind our legs.

"Hi, my name is Miss Hall, what's your name?" the tall woman asked our daughter.

"Sif." she quietly replied, hiding back behind Tamsin.

"Sif is a pretty name, do you speak Norwegian Sif?" Miss Hall inquired with a broad smile etched onto her kind features as she gained a little more of Sif's interest.

"Ja." Sif answered, looking for Tamsin's reaction knowing how happy it made her when she said her Norwegian words. "Mama er Norsk, høyre Mama?"

"Yes, that's right baby." Tamsin grinned.

"Well that's funny, because I have another little girl in my class who speaks Norwegian - maybe you two could be friends?" Miss Hall tempted her, offering her hand as Sif stepped from behind Tamsin's leg and took the freckled hand offered to her.

"Does she like Netflix? I like Netflix." Sif whispered.

"I'm sure you could show her Netflix?" Miss Hall whispered back, her answer clearly enough for Sif as she stepped towards Miss Hall gladly.

"Bye mommy." she grinned at me.

"Bye baby, be good!" I choked as I tried not to cry before she turned back to Tamsin who was somehow keeping it together, "Bye mama, and remember if you get sad mommy will give you hugs to make you feel better." she sweetly advised, walking towards the classroom with Miss Hall.

"Are you sure you're going to be okay to go to work? We can stay home today if you need to?" I whispered in Tamsin's ear, pressing my head against her temple as she stared at our daughter's skipping shape grow further and further away towards the classroom, without turning back to us once. Tears threatening to bloom in her eyes.

"I-I'm fine. I've got this." she whispered back. "My baby's growing up. I've got this." she choked, wrapping her arm around my waist as we walked back to the car "I've got this." she whispered a little quieter.