Janie Tanner ~A Watty's 2019 Submission

Chapter 12

The next morning, Danny was in the kitchen, preparing breakfast for the family as Joey and Jesse came in from their respective rooms.

"Good morning boys." 

"Mornin' Pa, Hoss."  Joey was rubbing his eyes sleepily, looking like he was one of the children, tired and unprepared for school that morning.

"Little Joe." Jesse greeted, messing up his hair, looking more prepared for the morning, and looking quite chipper with himself. 

"How did it go last night?" Joey smiled. He had had a great date last night, and was ready to get into his story.

"Well, I started out great, but right in the middle I-"

"No." Danny immediately interrupted that story at once. "No, I meant in the bathtub with Hoss." Jesse smirked, ready to make some jokes referring to the event with Joey, Michelle, and the bathtub last night with their show tunes.

"Look, I finished Love Me Tender, we did a short medley from Viva Las Vegas, and got the hell out of the tub." Danny chuckled, shaking his head as Janie, DJ, and Stephanie entered the room. They were all dressed up for their first days of school, and Danny couldn't be prouder of them. 

"Dad, we're all ready." DJ told him, but Danny had a surprise for them.

"Girls, I don't want to brag, but Chef Boy-r-dad has made some super great lunches for a super great first day of school." He held his hands behind his back, and looked to his youngest first. "And you know what Stephanie, for you, I've got a brand new lunchbox!" Stephanie squealed when he held out a brand new, metal Jetson's lunchbox for her, making her jump up and down excitedly.

"The Jetsons!" She exclaimed as Joey took the lunchbox, running around the kitchen while imitating the sound of the Jetson's car before giving the box to Stephanie, already imitating George Jetson.

"Hi, I'm home! Hi Jane, hi Elroy, hi Astro!" He pretended to greet each member of the Jetson family, going to each of the others and ending on Danny as he switched to Astro the dog's voice. "Hi George, how was your first day of school?" Danny shook his head, then moved on to his second eldest.

"And DJ, for you, I've got a brand new Barbie lunchbox!" They looked to Joey again, who shrugged, a little embarrassed.

"I don't do Barbie." Jesse snapped his fingers, pretending to look disappointed.

"Oh darn." Danny smiled, then finally went up to Janie.

"And Janie, I know you like to tell me that you don't need a lunchbox, but I know how you like to keep your food warm and your drinks cool, so I took the liberty of getting you this!" He held up a light blue lunch box. It was a padded lunchbox, an insulated one that if warmed would keep the food inside warm and if cold would keep it cool. It even came with a metal water bottle that was the same way. Janie smiled gratefully. She didn't really want a lunchbox, nobody carried them anymore at her age, but she was grateful that her dad went a little out of his way to get her a gift that he loved to get them almost every school year.

"Thanks, Dad." She said honestly, giving a genuine smile, but DJ tried to hand it back. She too was very grateful, but she didn't want to look like a dweeb on her first day of fifth grade.

"Thanks, Dad, but fifth graders don't carry lunchboxes anymore." Danny knew better than to try and argue. He wasn't going to stop, and she would soon learn.

"Try to sell it to a first grader." DJ sighed, but she also knew better than to argue with her father and accepted the Barbie, secretly happy with it. She really did like Barbie.

"Come on Stephanie, we don't want to miss the bus." Stephanie's face went pale, as though she had just realized what was happening.

"I guess not." She mumbled, and Janie patted her shoulder. Her bus was going to come sooner than the younger girls', but she was going to go out there with them to make it a little easier on Stephanie.

"Wait, girls." Danny knew better though. Even Janie wasn't going to be enough for little Stephanie's nerves. "Stephanie honey, are you sure you don't want me to go with you?" Stephanie really wanted to tell him that she did, but DJ stepped up for her, since her voice was caught in her throat.

"Don't worry dad, I'll make sure she's okay." 

"We both will." Janie added, both girls putting their hands on Stephanie's shoulders, Stephanie mumbling again.

"Yeah, it'll be fine." She wanted to be a big girl, and go out by herself with the other big girls.

"You girls are really growing up." Great. Now Danny was tearing up, making Stephanie feel even worse now. "Stephanie's starting school, Janie's going into high school..." Then he jumped up. "Wait here, I'm going to get my video camera!" He ran to the living room, waving his hand at them wildly. "Don't move!" While he was gone, Stephanie tried to pull Janie aside.

"Janie, I don't think-" But Danny was all set with his camera already. 

"You just come in when I tell you to okay? when I say action!" He called and was ready after only a moment. "Okay, now give me love. Action!" The three girls entered the living room, a little reluctant, but Joey and Jesse were right behind them, singing loudly. This song was directed mostly at Stephanie since this was her first time going to school, but it was a song for all three girls.

"Is this the little girl I carried? Is this the little girl at play? I don't remember growing older, when did they?" Danny was nearly crying as he hugged his girls, holding Stephanie the tightest and the longest, Stephanie barely able to let go herself. "Sunrise, sunset! Sunrise, sunset, swiftly flow the years." DJ opened the door for the three of them as Danny joined in for the last chorus. "One season following another, lay down with happiness and tears." He then sniffled a little bit as they all three left the house, unable to bear it.

"My little baby is starting school." 

Suddenly, the door opened again, and Stephanie stood there with Janie in tow, Janie looking helplessly to her father.

"I changed my mind. I'm not going." Stephanie told them.