Please review! James is 5 in this chapter.

"How bad is the damage?" Claire asked as she carried James out to the car, trying to be quick and avoid the rain that was still pouring down. "Did the water just get into the back room? Do we need to replace the carpet?"

"Claire, we could go swimming in the basement." Francis sighed as he and Doug both maneuvered through the water to start pumping it out. "The whole window busted. The water is up to my waist. Everything is trashed. Luckily, we can turn off the power down here without shutting off the rest of the house."

"Your waist?" Claire's eyes widened before Steve opened up the car door for her and allowing her to climb inside. She let James slide off her lap to get into her carseat, knowing how to snap herself into it. "Francis, we'll have to rip out the dry wall. Redo the wiring."

Francis made his way into the family room, pushing aside the Barbie dolls his daughter played with most. His gut dropped though when he saw something of hers even more special to her. "I've already called someone to landscape the backyard so this doesn't happen again." He picked up the drenched and dirty stuffed shark, the object weighing about ten times more than it did the last time he saw it. "Don't tell James yet. I just found her shark down here, and I'm afraid it's going to be swimming in the garbage."

Claire glanced at her daughter, seemingly distracted by the rain that pelted against her window. "She'll be heartbroken."

"We can get her another one. We just need to keep her mind off of it." Francis determined before helping Doug toss the water hose outside. He nodded his head to Doug, silently telling him to go outside to move the hose into position. "Just have her help with dinner or something. I can take over after we eat."

Claire closed her eyes, leaning her head back against the seat. "And, what about when she goes to bed tonight?"

Francis cringed before cursing under his breath. He knew she never settled if she didn't have her shark with her. "I'll figure that out."

"It finally stopped raining." Claire huffed out as she and James walked inside the house, wiping off their feet on the rug just inside. She set her purse aside and reached down to help James out of her jacket, chuckling when she noticed James's teeth chattering from the damp collar of her shirt. "Sweetheart, you didn't tell me your shirt got wet."

"I-I'm o-o-okay." James stuttered, her entire body shaking. She grinned though hearing a knife on the kitchen counter. "Is Daddy home?"

Claire grinned, forgetting that James hadn't really seen Francis since the weekend before. Even then, he was busy working in the basement and tried to spend some time with her. "I guess he couldn't wait to see you. You better go say hi, but then you need to change. I don't want you getting sick."

James nodded quickly before darting for the kitchen, smiling when she rounded the corner to see Francis cutting up apples. "Daddy!"

Francis chuckled, setting down the knife as his five year old ran around the counter towards him. He was quick to pick her up and welcome the bear hug she offered. He cupped the back of her head, kissing her cheek as he leaned forward, nearly tipping her upside down, before standing back up. "Oh my darlin', do know how good it is to see you?" She shrugged in his arms before pressing her nose to his. "Well, guess what. You have me all day tomorrow. I promise. No work."

"You promise?" Claire raised an eyebrow as she walked into the room, pecking his lips when he turned to greet her. "Are you finally caught up on the bill?"

"Luckily, the President pulled the plug on it. He's asking for a redraft of it starting Monday. So, I'll be back at it come Monday morning." Francis explained before noticing James's wet shirt collar. "Besides, there were more pressing matters here. And, it looks like I'm holding one of them. We need to get you into different clothes, darlin'. Let's get you into your pjs. We'll have a movie night."

James frowned. "Movie night?" She rested her hand on Francis's forehead. "Daddy, are you feeling okay?"

Claire laughed, opening cabinets to start getting dinner ready. "I was just thinking the same thing."

"Can you blame a man for wanting to spend some time with his girls?" Francis asked before moving James to his side and carrying her under his arm like a suitcase. She giggled as her hands gripped onto his shirt for some sort of purchase. "I'll go help her change and get dry. If you want to check out what we discussed on the phone, just wear shoes."

Francis's head snapped up from the headboard, trying to fight off sleep. He glanced over to see Claire had lost the battle beside him, but James was fighting off sleep just like he was. Her heavy eyes peered up at the television screen hanging on the wall across from their bed. Since the basement was their normal spot to watch anything, he had to divert his daughter's attention to their room. Luckily, she usually loved the idea of hanging out with them in the 'big' bed, but he could see that the movie was keeping her awake.

He slid down so he was laying on his back and turned onto his side, resting his hand on James's tiny belly. "Hey darlin', let's go to sleep."

"I'll go get Bruce." James yawned, referring to her stuffed shark. She moved to crawl towards the edge of the bed, but Francis held her back.

"You're okay. Just go to sleep." Francis breathed, grabbing the blanket to pull over her. "He's all the way in the basement anyway. I don't want you going down there in the dark. You can sleep in here tonight."

James sat for a moment, staring at the door before her eyes turned to Francis. "But, Bruce sleeps with me every night. He'll get scared down in the basement by himself." She tried to move his hand from her torso, but her fingers slipped when he wouldn't move it. "Daddy?"

Francis kissed her head. "Darlin', you don't need him. And, he's a shark. I'm sure he loves the dark." He sighed when he noticed Claire had woken up, rubbing her eyes and squinting at the bright light still shining down from the television. "We'll see him in the morning."

"Francis," Claire warned, sitting up herself and running her fingers through James's hair. "We need to tell her. We're just pushing off the inevitable, and we promised we'd never lie to her." She stood from the bed, quickly pulling on her robe, and holding out her hands for James. "C'mere, baby."

Francis watched as James scrambled over to Claire, letting her pick her up and sit her on her hip. He pinched the bridge of his nose and stood as well. "Okay. So, do you remember how it was raining all day?" He asked as he followed Claire out of their bedroom and down the stairs. James looked back at him, nodding. "Well, some of the water got into the basement, and Bruce got caught in it."

James turned in Claire's arms when Francis walked ahead of them, leading them out to the back courtyard. "Is he okay, Daddy?"

Francis paused at the trash can, hearing the concern in his daughter's voice. He knew it was just a stuffed animal, and with any other child the question would annoy him. But, this was his daughter. His bull-headed, courageous daughter who was never afraid to speak her mind. And, he knew showing her would be the best way even if it hurt her. "No, he's not." He lifted up the lid to the plastic garbage bin and found her stuffed shark resting on top, drooping and still dripping out water onto the black trash bags underneath. Grabbing the top fin, he lifted it up to show James.

James's little eyes clouded over when she saw the water trickling out. The stuffed shark's gray and white fuzz was spotted brown from dirt and grime that had filtered in with the water, and the teeth were almost black. Her cheek pressed to Claire's as she spoke with a shaking voice. "Can I hold him?"

"I'm pretty sure he's growing mold." Francis stated before closing the lid and setting Bruce on top of it. "And, he's soaked through. I don't want you touching him." He saw her lower lip tremble and held out his hands for her, holding her tightly against him when Claire slid her into his arms. "We'll get you another one."

"But, I want Bruce." James sniffled against his shoulder.

Francis rubbed her back soothingly. "What's so special about Bruce? There's probably a million others just like him."

"Daddy, you got Bruce for me." James stated, pulling back and wiping at her eyes. Her gaze turned back to her shark, her chest trembling as she huffed out a breath. "Bye Bruce." She wiped at her eyes again before curling into Francis's shoulder, not daring to look back at her favorite stuffed animal.

Claire sucked in her own breath, not sad about the shark, but upset that their daughter was heartbroken over it. She reached out to Francis, nodding her head towards the door. "Let's go back to bed."

Francis rested his head against James's, feeling her controlled labored breathing hit his chest. He could feel her little body fighting to keep in her emotions, and he felt his heart break more. His daughter still had her innocence, never having lost anything. So once they were inside, he set her down on her feet and kissed her forehead. "Why don't you go up to our bed and get comfy? I want to talk to Mommy for a moment."

Claire frowned but cupped James's head. "Go grab another stuffed animal from your room to sleep with tonight. I'll be up in a minute." She waited until James sulked out of the room and out of earshot before turning back to Francis. "Don't tell me there's more bad news."

"No," he shook his head, resting his hands on his hips. "But, where do we keep the bleach?"

"By the washing machine in the basement." Claire stated simply before gaping. "Francis, you can't clean that shark. Like you said, the stuffing on the inside is probably growing mold."

Francis moved to the back door. "I need to try, Claire. We will expose her to loss in our own way, but I will not let it be over something as trivial as washing a stuffed animal." He saw her disapproving glare. "She's five. All her other favorite toys were completely destroyed by the water downstairs. I can at least see what we have to work with."

Claire exhaled slowly before walking over to him and pecking his lips. "Then, I'll see you in a few hours." She smirked, patting his cheek. "You are so wrapped around her little fingers. I never expected this side of you."

"Don't get used to it." Francis chuckled before opening up the back door. "Goodnight."

But, Claire didn't see him a few hours later. After calming James down and falling asleep herself, she woke up around seven the next morning to find James still deep in sleep and Francis's side empty. Adjusting the covers over James, she grabbed her robe again and headed down the stairs, seeing the kitchen light still on. As she padded down the hallway, she saw a gray tail, proud and tall, dangling off the edge of the small breakfast nook table they rarely used. She grinned as she moved further, seeing clean gray and white fur and straight, white teeth with a pink tongue tucked inside. Bruce looked brand new other than some stitches by his left fin that Francis had clearly done.

Then, her eyes landed on Francis. His head was resting on his arms, hunched over the table. She chuckled hearing him snore softly from the odd position he had fallen asleep in. Moving over to him, she slid her hand underneath his shirt collar, rubbing his back in small circles. "Francis," he twitched before his head lifted up, "morning. You fixed him."

"I did." Francis nodded tiredly, bags under his eyes. "I finished closing him up around four."

"Francis, you spent five hours fixing him." Claire chuckled before leaning down and kissing his temple. "How did you fix him? The washer and dryer are in the basement, and you turned off the power down there."

Francis rubbed his eyes. "Well, I threw away all the original stuffing. It wasn't salvageable. If I had just washed and dried it, I'm sure James would've gotten sick from it still. I took the skin and bleached the white and teeth to get rid of those stains. I grabbed the laundry detergent and went over the whole thing with that. That got the stains out pretty fast. The teeth were the hardest though. Whatever material those are made of is very absorbent." He lifted the shark up slightly to view it from the side. "I rung it out with my hands and used your hair dryer to dry it out. Thank God the fur is short. I didn't have to comb it out."

Claire chuckled. "What did you use to stuff him then? You said you got rid of the original stuffing."

"I took the cushions from the leather couch downstairs and cut those open. The framework for the couch is soaked and ruined anyway, so I cut those open and used about a cushion and a half to make him all plush again. A few stitches with the only gray thread I could find, and I was done. Unfortunately, I was too tired to make it up the stairs and sleep in my own bed."

"Oh, but it'll be worth it when you see how happy you've made your daughter." Claire smirked, kissing his cheek. "That's why you did it. So, why don't you go take this up to her and spend an hour or two with her. She was wiped last night, so I'm sure she'll be in bed until nine."

Francis nodded, standing up and tucking the shark under his arm. "Alright," he squeezed her hand as he walked by, heading for the hallway towards the stairs, "I used the kitchen sink to wash it, so you might want to give the sink a scrub before you wash any dishes."

Claire grinned watching her husband zombie walk towards the stairs. "I can't believe you hand washed that thing."

Francis groaned as he sat down on his side of the bed, making the bed dip and waking James. "Daddy?"

"Hey darlin'," he peered at her over his shoulder, caressing her cheek, "it's okay. You can go back to sleep, but I did bring someone up for you." He picked up Bruce from the floor between his feet and grinned seeing the shock that washed over James's face. "I got him all cleaned up for you. He's practically brand new."

"He's better." James gasped, quickly taking the shark and hugging it against her chest. She stood up and managed to get her arms around Francis's neck, hugging him. "Thank you, Daddy. I love you."

"I love you too, James." Francis smiled before laying down on his side, helping her lay back down beside him. "I'm glad you have him back. You know I'd do anything for you, right?" He watched as she stared at Bruce, mesmerized by the difference Francis had managed to do overnight.

James nodded with a face-splitting grin. "Because, you love me more than sharks love blood."

Francis chuckled. "That's right." He pressed his forehead to hers, holding her against him. "Let's go back to sleep though. I think Bruce and I need it." He could tell she needed it too. Her eyes were already starting to get heavy. Reaching up to her face, he let his hand glide down her face so her eyes closed. "Sweet dreams, darlin'."

Please review! I had to write this since it reminded me of my dad. When my car got flooded a few years ago, he told me at first to just start looking at new cars. But since I was so upset over it (it still being my first car and one I still really love), he called around and found a garage that pulled out all the carpeting and power-washed the entire thing. They dried out all the carpet and cleaned out all the mud and gunk that got in the doors, and I still have the car now. So, hopefully you all liked this.