Alexandra's first day of Pre-K was fast approaching. John had gotten the supply list from the preschool and had picked up everything the teacher had requested the parents to provide. His little girl was getting more excited as each day went by that she was finally going to be able to go to 'big kid' school. Ellie, naturally, had been around for much of this and had offered to take Alexandra clothes shopping in preparation of the little girl's first year of school. John had hesitated a bit at the suggestion, it wasn't that he didn't trust the Doc, he did with his life – and his daughter's life; it was more he didn't want to take advantage of her. His mother had quickly dispelled him of the thought.
" If you are really concerned about taking advantage of her, just give her your credit card and ask her to stick to a certain price point," Helen had suggested when she had caught her son brooding and demanded to know the reason. " If you'd prefer, I could also go with them to make sure Ellie doesn't over do it."
John had rolled his eyes at this, " You think I don't know what you're up to? You just want an opportunity to spoil her and think you can get away with it if Ellie is with you rather than me."
"It was worth a shot," Helen smirked at him with a shrug, " The offer still stands, though."
It didn't take long for John to eventually give in. All it had taken was a trip to the Exchange with his daughter and seeing the frown on her face at the nth outfit he'd picked out for her. "Alright, alright, I get it," He grunted, "I'll call your Nana and Miss Ellie to do this stuff with you."
Clearly that had been the right call as Alexandra's face had lit up. It was now the weekend, and they were waiting for Ellie and Helen to come pick the girl up for their girls' shopping day. Alexandra was skipping excitedly around the living room, no matter how many times he tried to get her to sit or just get a bit of lunch in her.
He couldn't help but laugh at the excited yell of "They're here!" That rang out from his daughter and echoed through the house at the sound of the doorbell, "I wanna get the door!"
"Ask who it is before you open the door," He instructed as he entered the living room and made his way to the front door as his daughter reached it.
"Who is it?" She called out.
"It's Ellie," Came the Doc's voice.
"…And Nana," Came Helen's.
"Yay!" Alexandra cheered, turning the knob and tugging on the door unsuccessfully until her father unlatched the deadbolt and helped her open the heavy front door. As soon as the door was opened wide enough, Alexandra ran out throwing herself, bodily, at the legs of her favorite women.
"Are you ready to go shopping?" Helen asked, running her hand over the little girl's dark hair.
"Yeah!" The girl nodded vigorously.
"Then let's go!" Ellie grinned down at Alexandra.
"Just a sec," John interjected, reaching for his wallet and pulling out a card, "Here."
Ellie accepted the card and looked at it then up at him curiously.
"She's my kid, I should at least be contributing to the cost of her clothes," John shrugged.
"I promise to not do too much damage," Ellie assured him, stepping forward and pressing a soft kiss to his lip.
"Don't do as much damage to your own account, either." John advised, "I don't want you to spend your hard-earned money, especially with all those student loans you're going to have to start paying off."
"Medical school isn't cheap," Ellie agreed.
"Yeah, but it's your dream," John reminded her gently, "And you're a great doctor. Once you get that fellowship, you'll only get better."
"If I get it," Ellie sighed.
"Nah, it's when," John shook his head, "Believe that."
"God, I love you," Ellie smiled at him softly.
"I love you too, Doc," John leaned down for one more kiss, "Now you probably should get going before the kid explodes from excitement."
Ellie giggled, "You're probably right." She turned to Alexandra, "You ready to go."
"Yeah, I've been waiting for you and daddy to stop kissing," Alexandra told her, "He really likes kissing you."
"I really like kissing him," Ellie gave John a wink before reaching out her hand to take Alexandra's, "C'mon let's go shopping."
"We'll have her home before supper," Helen assured him.
"Sounds good," John nodded, "Just let me know when you're on your way back and I'll start cooking, for all of us then."
"You don't have to," Ellie protested.
"I want to," John insisted, "You are going out of your way to do this for her, for us, it's the least I can do to feed ya."
With a nod, Ellie led Alexandra down to her car which now had a booster seat for the times Alexandra would ride in her car.
John watched as the ladies loaded up in Ellie's car and drove off before heading back inside. While the ladies were out, he took the day to catch up on some things that had fallen behind around the house. He mowed the lawn, caught up on laundry, and tidied up the house. Even after all that, he found himself at a loss of things to do. It was a nice day out, so he eventually opted to change into his PT gear and take a jog.
Ellie, Helen, and Alexandra were having a great time shopping. Ellie and Helen enjoyed picking out cute outfits for the little girl, and even let her pick out some things she liked from the rack to try on. Alexandra loved ducking into the changing room with either Ellie or her Nana then coming out to model for the other who was waiting outside of the changing rooms.
Ellie and Helen had agreed to limit themselves to no more than 8 outfits, most of which could be mixed and matched, knowing she would likely grow out of much of it before the end of the school year. John's credit card got a bit of a work-out but was only used slightly more than Ellie and Helen's own cards during the shopping trip. Once all their shopping was done, they still had a little over an hour before supper time, so the women decided to treat Alexandra to a manicure and pedicure.
Alexandra was super excited when she saw that the salon had little girl sized pedicure stations. Ellie and Helen couldn't help but chuckle along with the salon owner at the girl's delighted squeal when she found out she got to sit in one of the smaller chairs to get her toenails painted.
The owner called over a few of her technicians and the trio were directed to pick out their nail polish while their stations were prepped. Eventually the three ladies were seated, feet submerged in warm water in preparation of their pedicures. An hour later, their toes and fingers decorated in an array of new color, Helen paid for their treatment, insisting she wanted to spoil her girls, and they headed back to Camp Pendleton.
Just before pulling out of the salon's parking lot, Ellie called John to let him know they were heading back. By the time they'd arrived, John already had dinner on the table, which had been set in preparation of their arrival. His eyes widened at the bags that were carried in and put in the laundry room for a cursory wash before being put away in Alexandra's room.
"What did you do, buy out the whole store?" He teased.
"Nah," Ellie shook her head, lifting up on her toes to press a kiss to his lips, "Only half."
"Like that makes it better," He grunted.
"We honestly didn't spend all that much," Ellie assured him, "We hit the back-to-school sales so there were a lot of cute clothes on sale. We got her some outfits for school, a couple pairs of shoes, as well as panties, and socks. She should be set for a while."
"Thanks," John pulled her into his side and pressed a kiss to her temple, "I love that you are so good to my girl."
"She's a great kid, how could I not?" Ellie shrugged, "Besides the two of you are a package deal, I can't have you in my life without having her." She smiled up at him, "And I rather like having you both in my life, I can't imagine it any other way."
"Do you have any idea how much I love you?" John whispered in her ear.
"If it's anywhere near as much as I love the two of you, it's an awful lot," She whispered back.
"Are you two going to keep canoodling in the kitchen or are we actually going to eat before the food gets cold?" Helen demanded, teasingly, causing the couple to loosen their embrace and head into the dining room to take their seats at the table for dinner.
Since Ellie had work the next day, and also had to drop Helen off at her condo on the way home, they left just before it was time for Alexandra to start getting ready for bed. Hugs and kisses were exchanged, and the women exited the house and the base.
"You are really good for my Johnny," Helen remarked as they cleared the exit gate, "It's been a long time since I've seen him as happy as you make him. Not even Kathleen made him smile as much as you do."
"He's good for me too," Ellie smiled softly, "They both are. I never thought I'd be with a man who had a kid, always thought that kids would come later, but there's just something so… right about being with him."
"Well, for the record, I approve," Helen smiled, "He loved Kathleen, and I'm glad she gave us our sweet Alexandra, but if I had to choose anyone to be my daughter-in-law, it would be you."
"It's a little soon for that, isn't it?" Ellie asked, giving the older woman a curious look.
"Love doesn't operate on a timetable," Helen shrugged, "I knew the day I met my husband that he was it for me, took him a little longer to realize it, but I can see that same spark my James and I had when I watch you and John together. If he hasn't figured it out yet, he will."
"I'm in no hurry," Ellie shrugged, trying to not let the woman's words affect her too much as the pulled into Helen's retirement community, "I'm happy with the way we are, but I do hope that some day we might get there. I wouldn't still be with John if I didn't see a future with him. That wouldn't be fair to him, or Alexandra… or me."
"You have a good head on your shoulders," Helen nodded, "One of the many reasons I like you, Dear."
"Thank you," Ellie replied softly, pulling up to Helen's building. "I appreciate you going shopping with Alexandra and me today, it was fun."
"I enjoyed myself too," Helen smiled at her, reaching over to give Ellie's hand an affectionate squeeze. "Get home safe, Ellie."
"Yes, Ma'am," She nodded and smiled at the older woman, "Good night."
"Good night, Dear," Helen nodded and exited the car, looking back to wave at Ellie before heading inside the building.
It was finally the first day of Pre-K for Alexandra, and much to John's surprise, Ellie came by the house early enough to join him in dropping the girl off.
"The first day of school is important, John," Ellie insisted, "A kid's first, first day of school, is especially important."
John couldn't help but grin at how excited his girlfriend was, nearly as excited at Alexandra was. The preschool was only a few blocks away from the house and John had been given the morning off to drop Alexandra off. After this, the girl would be picked up and dropped off at daycare by a small shuttle van, but as Ellie pointed out, this was Alex's first, first day of school and deserved a little more pomp and circumstance than it would in the future. After a breakfast of pancakes, the three of them walked over to the preschool where Alexandra and her grownups met the teacher and were shown around the room. Alexandra was especially excited to find out she got her own cubby for her things. One good thing about her having been in daycare for a while now, she didn't have as strong of a reaction to being left there as some of the other children when it came time for John and Ellie to leave.
"Alright, Kid, we've got to get going," John knelt down, Ellie doing the same beside him, and gave his daughter a hug, "You're going to do great."
Alexandra nodded as she stepped back from her daddy and got a hug from Ellie.
"You got this, Sweetie," Ellie assured her, "No go be the smart little girl we know you are."
"Yes ma'am," Alexandra nodded, "I love you."
"I love you too," Ellie smiled, her eyes misting over, although not so much that she didn't notice John having a similar reaction.
One more round of hugs were exchanged before Alexandra skipped off to join the rest of her class on the story carpet to start their day.