Is it really so bad to love your daughter too much? That was the thought going through Arthur Kirkland's mind as he watched his daughter twirl around in her white ballroom dress that she chose to wear for her wedding. Today was his only child's big day, and she was clearly excited about it; Although Arthur could tell how nervous she actually was, as well.

"Daddy, do you think I look good enough?" Arthur's daughter, Kat, asked with a nervous smile "What if I'm not pretty enough for Mattie? I'm just not his type!" Kat said, her eyes filling up with tears

"Of course, sweetheart, you look absolutely beautiful," Arthur smiled, already in the process of bringing out tissues and walking over to her "I always think you look beautiful." He added, gently dabbing the tissue to the corners of her eyes "You always did cry too easily."

"B-Be quiet…" She stuttered, though her thin lips were still quivering "I'm scared, Daddy, I love Mattie but I don't know if I can do this…"

"No, hush, and listen to me." The blond man said, placing a pale hand onto his daughter's shoulder "Matthew loves you, and that's why he asked you to marry him. I can understand that you're scared, and that's perfectly natural. This is a big step, love, and it's scary and seems like you're stepping into a whole new world. You can do this, Kat, I believe in you." He said, pulling the girl into his arms

Truthfully, Arthur did not want to let his little girl go; he didn't want her to grow up and leave him. Kat was all Arthur had left in the world, after all, so he didn't want to lose her. His parents were dead, his wife had run off and left him to deal with Kat when she was just a baby, and Kat was his only child. So in other words, Kat really was all the man had left. Arthur could still remember when his girl was little and she would ask "Daddy, where's Mommy?" and the only answer Arthur could give was that she had to move away for work purposes. That was a complete lie; she left Arthur because she didn't want to raise a child, and threw her wedding ring right at the man's disappointed face.

That was twenty-two years ago, and now here was Arthur's twenty-six year old baby girl, getting married to the man that she had been dating since their high school years. Matthew and Kat were lucky, as most people's relationships did not last even half that long. Arthur still remembered the day that Kat brought this man home, several years ago.

"H-Hello, sir," stuttered the sixteen-year-old version of Matthew, his blue eyes hiding behind his thin framed glasses as he stared down at the floor, the wavy blond hair on his head sliding down in front of his eyes from looking down like that. He took Kat's hand in his, and stood beside Arthur's fourteen-year-old daughter "My name is Matthew Bonnefoy, I've been dating your daughter for quite some time and I thought it was about time I introduced myself."

"Well, it's about time I finally met the boy who's been keeping my girl up all night talking on the phone," Arthur teased, his emerald eyes twinkling in amusement "Glad to finally meet you! Now, wait, did you say your last name was Bonnefoy?"

"Er, yes, I did, why are you asking?'

Arthur paused for a few moments, his lips turning down into a scowl "Because someone I'm not on the best terms with has that last name. Francis Bonnefoy is his name, actually," he said, before noticing Matthew's eyes opening a little "What? What is it?'

"Well you see, Mr. Kirkland, Francis is my Papa." Matthew explained with a nervous smile

"…I want this boy out of my house. Now."

Things had not gone very well that day, as he and Francis never really did get along. And with Matthew being Francis' son that just made it worse. To think his daughter had been dating the son of one of his sort of enemies? Arthur had also recalled other events about his past, all of them involving his pride and joy.

"Daddy, I had a nightmare…!" An eight year old Kat whined, walking into Arthur's room, holding her stuffed cow and rubbing at one of her teary eyes

"Mm? Oh, sweetie, come here and let daddy make it all better." Arthur said, voice slurred from sleep

The blond man picked his girl into his arms, and wiped away the tears from her deep blue eyes. He let her cry against his night shirt as he comforted her, whispering calming words to her as he held the small child close to him. Once she calmed down, Arthur leaned down and kissed Kat's forehead.

"There, are you done crying now?" Arthur asked, receiving a small whimper and nod in response

"I, I had a bad dream. I dreamed that you were taken away from me, Daddy!" Kat wailed, only to have Arthur 'shh' her and calm her down once again

"I'm not going anywhere, honey, so don't you worry. I won't leave you." He smiled, before kissing her head "Now let's go to sleep, alright? You have a play date with Michelle tomorrow, right? So just hush and lay your sleepy head back, so you can go to sleep."

The blond man kept thinking of all the things he and Kat did when she was growing up. Dress up, play games, go trick-or-treating, birthdays, Christmas, rainy days, you name it. He was really going to miss Kat, but knew that she needed to take this large step and finally settle down. Arthur has seen how Matthew and Kat act together, he's seen how romantic and gushy they are with each other and how they make each other happy; which in turn made Arthur happy. He knew he was leaving his only daughter in good hands, despite Matthew being the son of his sort of enemy.

"Daddy, are you okay?" Kat asked him in concern "You kind of zoned out there for a while."

"Oh! Yes, Kat, I'm fine," Arthur smiled "Don't worry about me at all, Pumpkin. Now, let's change you from Kat Kirkland to Kat Bonnefoy, shall we?" he asked her, holding out his arm for her to take

Yes, he could do this; they could do this. Once Arthur reached the beaming Matthew at the end of the isle, he passed his daughter's hand into the other man's and smiled, telling him to take care of her. Yes, by the end of the ceremony, Arthur did indeed have tears in his eyes. His only daughter was now happily married, which made Arthur grin with joy. He really was happy for the two of them, and now the man was glad that he had given Matthew his blessing when he had asked him if he could have Kat's hand in holy matrimony. He was hesitant at first, but eventually agreed. Now that he looked at the now married couple, Arthur smiled at the memory. He didn't regret a thing; he really was glad he had given Matthew his blessing. When Kat turned from Matthew and smiled brightly at Arthur, who returned the smile, he knew he had made the right choice.

FIN