Once Upon A Time

Chapter 1

"C'mon..." Sean pleaded, tucking the covers around his daughter for what seemed like the tenth time that night. She grinned and quickly burst out of the neatly folded blankets, then sat up straight in bed, much to Sean's chagrin.

"Not sleepy," Kaitlin chirped cheerfully, her eyes indeed wide awake. Sean groaned; he knew he shouldn't have let her eat all those cookies before bed. But, he reasoned, Jesse had eaten the cookies too, and he was sound asleep. There was a knock at the open bedroom door and Sean groaned again, not even needing to turn to see who it was.

"Dad? I'm not sleepy," the small voice behind him said right before Jesse, too, plopped down on the bed in front of him. Sean stared at his two children across from him; he loved them with all his heart, he made no secret of that, but sometimes they could be so infuriating...especially at bedtime. He wondered briefly if his own parents had ever felt the same way with him.

"Why couldn't your mom do this?" He asked softly, shutting his eyes. Earlier his wife had run off quickly to her sister's house- "girl problems" was the only explanation she had given, and realizing that he really didn't even want to know what that meant, Sean told her to go on and he'd watch after the kids for the night. Well, besides the fact they had made a mess of the kitchen by trying to bake cookies, they'd also spilled milk all over the floor, gotten cookie crumbs on the white living room floor, and Sean had all but sealed his fate by letting them stay up past their bedtimes and watching TV. So now he was paying for it; he had two, wide-awake and overly-hyper kids across from him, ready to wreak havoc and cause general hell through the house. He sighed.

"How about I read you guys a book?" Kaitlin perked at this.

"Charlotte's Web?" She asked, eyes glimmering with hope. Sean mentally smacked himself for the suggestion; he should have known she'd bring that up. He'd already read it to her six times, not to mention the other three that Terri had read to her, and now they were in their seventh reading of the classic. He quickly tried to dissuade her.

"Aw, c'mon, Kate, you've heard that one enough...aren't you getting tired of it by now?" Kaitlin shook her head in disagreement.

"Nope. And besides, we're right at the part where Wilbur meets Charlotte...you CAN'T stop now!" Sean smiled softly despite himself.

"But you already know what happens!" Kaitlin decided to pout.

"So? I still like it." Jesse, sitting at the foot of the bed, rolled his eyes.

"Please...that book is so stupid. It's about a pig! It's a stupid book." Kaitlin shot a glare at him.

"Is NOT!" Jesse stuck his tongue out at her.

"Is so."

"Says who?"

"Says ME!" Sean decided to stop it before this got ugly.

"Okay, okay, hold on you two...Jess, is there a book you want me to read?" Jesse glared at his sister.

"Not any of HERS." Sean rolled his eyes and was ready to give up when he felt Jesse tug at his hand. "You could tell us one..."

"That's what I've been trying to get you to decide on!"

"No," Jesse replied, the look on his face that of, 'DUH. Don't you know anything?'. "I don't mean read us one, I mean tell us one."

"Ahhh...I see," Sean replied, thinking perhaps he could actually get the two to settle down. Kaitlin nodded in agreement. "Okay, then, what about....Goldielocks?" Both kids were disgusted with the idea. "Okay, um...the Three Little Pigs?" Again no dice. "Cinderella? Snow White?" Jesse finally let out an exasperated sigh.

"DAD...just TELL us one." Sean looked at him curiously.

"You...you know I'm not very imaginative..."

"So? Make one up anyhow." Sean sighed as Kaitlin curled up underneath her covers again, clutching a teddy bear close to her, as Jesse propped himself up against the wall.

"Well, once upon a time..."

King Bischoff sat in his throne, high above the "commoners" below. He watched with minor amusement as the clown, Jester Disco, made his way from one end of the grand dining room to the other, wreaking havoc with his guests.

"Whoa, hold on a minute," Jesse said suddenly, face puzzled. "Bischoff?" He asked, voice edged with laughter. Sean glared at his son.

"Would you atleast let me get started?" Jesse smiled sheepishly. "Kay."

Suddenly Bischoff clapped his hands to get everyone's attention.
"Excuse me, everyone, but I have an announcement to make." Bischoff stood from his throne and everyone hushed; this had to be big. The king extended his goblet in his hand to the balding man in the first chair at the table on the left side of the room. "I would like to announce that I am raising Sir Hogan's pay from fifty to one hundred gold pieces a week!" The room echoed with groans, whispers, a couple cheers, and Bischoff smiled. He raised the goblet and while looking through the assembly, noticed the scruffy blonde dressed in rags in the doorway. His eyes narrowed in disapproval.

"So you finally decide to join us, Squire Jericho?"

"Chris is kinda cute," Kaitlin remarked bluntly, immediately being scolded by her brother with a loud "Shhh!" Sean rolled his eyes, smiling, then went on.

Jericho bowed slightly, as if forced.
"Sorry, your highness, but I was detained in the stables." Bischoff arched an eyebrow.

"You treated my horses fairly though, right?" Jericho smiled suddenly.

"Considering you give me the same old asses to try to work with time after time, I think I did alright." Bischoff nodded, then gestured towards the table to the right.

"Please, squire, join us for dinner. I was just telling everyone how I'm dipping into the treasury to give to the...er...needy." Jericho's brow creased.

"That wouldn't be my pay, would it, sire?" Bischoff quickly swallowed the wine in his mouth; he saw in the young wildcard talent, but why waste his time with him when he had sir Hogan? EVERYONE wanted to see sir Hogan...or so he thought, anyhow. Plastering a fake, toothy grin across his face, he tried his best to reassure the squire that his payment was safe and secure. Of course, he didn't bother telling him that his pay was dwindling; he just hoped the squire never saw the offer that that OTHER king was offering for his services. Bischoff had decided he'd push Jericho over a cliff before he'd hand him over to the McMahon clan miles away.