Author's Note: This one-shot got weirdly difficult to write towards the end for some reason, but at least it's finished so I don't need to keep looking at it. Also, Generic Made-Up Videogame is generic and made-up (and inspired by the first Dragon Age game).

Virtual Matrimony

"Daddy, can you help me get married?"

Upon hearing the first word, Neil looked up from the paperwork he and Eva were filling out in the dining room, happy that Grace had given him the perfect excuse to ignore job-related crap. When he heard the rest of what she said, however, his heart just about stopped.

"What?!" Neil jumped out of his chair as though someone had lit a fire under it, his pen falling out of his hand and onto the table with a clatter. He heard Eva exasperatedly say his name, but all he could do was stare, completely flabbergasted, at Grace, who was standing in the room's threshold and flinching in surprise at his outburst.

"What do you mean, get married?" he demanded, blood pounding in his ears. "You're sixteen—that's way too young to get married!"

"Daddy, I'm—" Grace began.

"You are not getting married under my roof, young lady!"

"Neil—" Eva started to say.

He interrupted her as a horrible thought suddenly occurred to him. "Wait a minute, do you have a boyfriend?! Are you pregnant!?"

"Good grief, no!" a now red-faced, wide-eyed Grace exclaimed, holding her hands up in protest. "No, no, no, no, no, no, no! Daddy, I'm not pregnant! And I don't have a boyfriend!"

Neil was on the verge of saying something derogatory about whoever the punk that had dared to impregnate his little girl was before Grace had even finished, but a second later, his brain fully registered what she'd said.

"Wait, what?" Neil gaped at his daughter. "You're not? You don't?"

"Remember to breathe, Neil," Eva said (when did she get up?), patting him on the shoulder.

Immense relief seeped into his veins as he dragged some air into his lungs. He let out a shaky laugh. "Sorry, Grace. Gut reaction."

Grace lowered her hands, her face returning to its natural color. "That was some gut reaction," she commented.

"Well, now that Daddy's recovered from his near heart attack, do you mind elaborating on what you meant by getting married?" Eva asked, turning her attention to Grace.

"I meant getting married in a game," Grace said. "I've been romancing Sir Alexander in Griffin Age, and I thought I did everything to get us married, but the wedding scene won't trigger. I figured Daddy would know if I missed something."

"Uh..." Neil paused, adjusting his glasses just to give himself something to do. "Do you mind waiting a bit, princess? Mama and I've still got paperwork that needs filling."

Eva rolled her eyes, the look on her face blatantly saying, Yeah, as if you weren't whining about the paperwork five minutes ago.

Grace shrugged. "Okay, that's fine. Just come into my room when you're done."

Eva's annoyed expression didn't soften after Grace left the room. "You do realize there are far worse things she could be doing than romancing a character in a videogame, right?"

"Fictional boyfriends are still boyfriends, Eva," Neil countered.

"Boyfriends who you never have to worry about impregnating Grace."

"Why must you have a good point?" He sighed and sat back down, staring without really seeing the papers spread out on the table. After a moment of silence, he said, "Wish we could go back to the days when boys had cooties."

"I'm afraid our daughter was never going to stay little forever." Eva took Neil's hand in hers and gave it a small squeeze. "No matter how much we might've wanted her to."

He looked up at her. "So you miss those days, too, huh?"

"Yeah, sometimes," she admitted, smiling wistfully. "It doesn't seem that long ago that Grace was asking us for a bedtime story."

"Do you ever wish we'd had more?"

"More kids, you mean?"

Neil nodded.

Eva frowned. "Well, I can't say I miss changing diapers, colic, or the terrible twos, but...yeah, sometimes," she repeated with a soft exhale. "It's all right, though. I wouldn't change a day."

She squeezed his hand again, then continued before Neil could say anything else. "Well, on that sentimental note, why don't we get back to that paperwork?"

He grimaced as she let go. "You're joking."

"You're stalling," Eva responded, a teasing smile tugging at her lips. "The sooner we finish, the sooner you can help Grace marry her first boyfriend."

"Do you think I could use the 'I forgot because I'm old' excuse to get out of it?"

Her answer, still accompanied by that small smile, was only one word and not very helpful. "Nope."