i'm back. Surprise.

Also...IT'S SCHOOL TIME! (For them)

When Dan and Phil first discussed adopting a child, a lot of things crossed their minds. Expenses, moving, and whether they were even ready to have a kid.

Somehow, though it had come up once or twice, school had never really seemed that important. After all, they had to have a kid first in order to actually send them to school. Sure, they had called lots of school and they both did their research once they had adopted Catherine, and they'd gone shopping for things for her to be ready when the day did come.

So how it had managed to sneak up on them like it did, neither of them could work out.

"Daddy! Papa! Wake up, wake up! It's time for schoooool!"

Dan groaned, nuzzling his head closer into the pillow in a vain attempt to escape from having to actually get out of bed. It didn't work.

Phil just smiled, pushing his hair off his bed, his fringe turning into the morning quiff it usually made.

"Okay sweetie, we're getting up. Are you ready?"

"…no."

Phil looked at the blurry form that was his daughter, absently making a mental reminder to either slip his glasses on or face the struggle in the mirror for five minutes that was putting his contact lenses in.

"How about you go and put on the outfit we picked out yesterday, and by the time you're dressed Daddy and I will be up, okay? And then we can have a nice little breakfast as a family before we have to leave."

"Okay." Catherine said, rushing away, her little slippered feet making soft, pattering sounds on the floor.

"I thought, when I dropped out of uni, that I wouldn't have to do the whole 'waking up early for school' thing again." Dan complained as he practically dragged his half-asleep body out of the comfort of his nice, warm bed. The struggle was real.

"Our child is going to have a good education. And you are not going to prevent that, because you want to sleep in. You can have a nap or something when we get back."

"If I didn't love her, I wouldn't be making this sacrifice." Dan replied, slipping on a pair of jeans from his cupboard. He was going with the whole 'cool, trendy young parent' look. Attempting to, at the very least.

"Yes. Because this is such a hard thing for you, isn't it?" Phil smirked. He was dressed, and was currently occupied tying his shoes up. His readiness was only annoying Dan a little bit.

Just a bit.

"When did you learn sarcasm, and can we please build a time machine to prevent it?"

Phil just laughed, as though Dan's comment was just oh so amusing.

Okay, so maybe Dan was more than just a little bit annoyed that Phil was so awake.

"Just, hurry up. I know we have an hour, but the school is ten minutes away and we still have to make breakfast."

Dan groaned overdramatically.

"Fine," He huffed.

"I thought it was Catherine's first day, not yours."

Dan stuck his tongue out, and Phil blew a kiss, before walking off in the direction of the kitchen.

"Smart-ass." Dan muttered. "Lucky thing I love him, little shit."

Dan really needed coffee.

They ate jam on toast, with hot chocolate for Catherine and coffee for Dan and Phil. Catherine double-checked her bag three times, and Dan and Phil watched with adoring eyes. The weight of the day was bearing down on them all, and no one, not even Catherine, could escape it.

"Cat, love, what's wrong?" Phil asked.

Catherine had been zipping up her bag, a cute little pink one with lady bugs all over it, when she stopped, and they had both watched her for a few seconds, waiting for her to move, but she didn't.

"Nothing. It's just…this is a new school. And there's going to be new people, who I don't know."

"But you'll have Alice," Dan said, kneeling next to her, so he was closer to her height. "And I'm sure you'll make new friends too."

"But you're not going to be there. You and Papa aren't coming with me." Catherine said, her voice getting slightly shaky as tears threatened to fall.

"It's okay, sweet. We'll be picking you up in the afternoon, and you'll have so much fun, you won't even notice that we're not there."

"You can't know that." Catherine replied.

"Yes I can." Dan said, hugging Catherine gently, a smile playing on his lips.

"But, how?" Catherine asked.

"Well, I'm an adult, and adults know everything. You'll know everything too, one day, but you have to go to school first. Okay?"

Catherine nodded. "Okay."

Though neither Catherine nor Dan had taken notice, Phil had walked over, and was now kneeling next to Dan.

"Are you ready now?" He asked, his tone soft and gentle.

"Yeah." Catherine replied, opening her arms for a hug from Phil too, just because she could.

Dan stood up, taking the keys off the hook, and checking that he had everything he needed too. He went outside to start the car, and warm it up – spring was approaching slowly, but winter was still holding on, trying to last as long as possible, so the mornings were still a little chilly.

Phil and Catherine joined him soon after, Catherine settling into the back, her bag on the seat right next to her.

"Does it feel real yet?" Phil whispered to Dan as he clicked his seatbelt on.

"Not yet," Dan said. "But I can feel it coming."

I promise, it'll get more interesting from now on. There's likely to be time-jumps, but I will specify at the start of the chapters.

REVIEW-REPLY THINGY!

NeverlandNat: They are my favourite family in the fan-fictional world. (Is it weird to say I love them...if I created them (kind of created them)? (I love you too)