"Elizabeth!" Van yelled, darting across the yard as he registered his two year old daughter trying to climb up the ladder into the tree house.
She was at the same level as his head when Van grabbed hold of her and unclasped her hands from the ladder, pulling her into his tight embrace.
"You can't do that, sweetie! You'll fall and crack your head open and then you'd be gone forever. Don't scare Daddy like that, Elizabeth!" he rebuked her, looking her over to make sure that she wasn't hurt.
He checked her arms and legs. Once he was sure that she was fine, he held her close again, running his hand over her soft blonde curls. He felt weak as the adrenaline rush due to the terror coursing through his veins subsided.
"Don't scare me like that." He repeated softly.
Another idea that I've had hanging around for awhile. My first venture into the Reba category, so feedback would be great. Thanks, everybody! Each of these chapters is going to be inspired by a different part of the song, since you're actually not supposed to post song lyrics.:)