Ten Years of Yearning. My Love, Let Me Protect You.

It was only 7 pm. of the night...

The door before the man opened wide. Even before he could step inside, a girl jumped on him. With his long hands, he caught the girl in his arms and hugged her tightly.

"Daddy, welcome home~ I was waiting for you~" The four years old little girl's cheery voice rang throughout the area. Unlike the elevator, where she had spoken in English, this time she was talking in Chinese. Also, her face was identical to that of that man's but she had phoenix eyes, unlike her father who had ocean blue eyes.

"Thanks baby." He closed the door and went inside. 

The little girl wore a red dress, her hair was done in two cute braids while two rubber bands with white rabbit design were attached at the ends of the two braids. She was swinging her legs while her father was going inside.

"Daddy, today mommy has made a lot of dishes. There is also the white cheese pasta you like." The man stopped in his tracks towards the bedroom and focused on the girl.

"Sarah, is today any special day? I forgot…" The man was a little nervous when he asked her. 

The girl heavily shook her head. 

"I don't know." Then she seemed to have remembered something. "Daddy~ Mommy has also cooked other dishes I don't know. You should tell me the names of them later." The girl demanded with a loud voice. 

"Of course, my baby." He gave a soft smooch on her cheek. At that, the girl giggled out loud.

The man walked before the water basin and put down the girl. Sarah ran away somewhere but his concentration wasn't on her. He turned on the water tap and took a lot of hand wash. Vigorously, he washed his hands to clean. 

After three times, he brought his hands before his nose and checked if the smell of blood went away or not. 

When he turned around, the little girl was waiting for him with a white towel in her little hands. He took it and gently wiped his wet hands.

"Thanks, baby." After that, he turned around to go to his room but the girl ran towards his legs and wrapped a hand around his leg.

"What's wrong? I have to go to our room to change clothes..."

"Daddy, mommy has told me to bring you to her when you return." 

'Did I forget some important occasion?' The man thought as he gave her his right hand. The little girl took his pinky finger and held it as they walked towards the kitchen. When they came before the kitchen, the aroma of various foods was floating in the air. At that he was damn sure today should be an important day.

'Is it our marriage anniversary? That can't be… Not my or her or Sarah's birthday. Then…' He was puzzled but didn't show it on the surface. Also when he shot a glance towards the dining table, he saw five big bowls and plates of food were covered there. 

When both of them had entered the kitchen, the woman was cooking something on the gas stove. 

The woman turned behind her when she heard their footsteps. She was testing the taste of the chicken soup to see if the amount of salt was okay. Then she placed the spoon down in a little bowl and took off her apron.

"Welcome back, Han." The lady gave him a quick hug but suddenly she stopped. She sniffed at his face and at that his face turned unusual. 

The woman narrowed her eyes as she made a little distance from him.

"Your friend from China has already arrived today. I saw a couple going to the 20th floor when we came back from the kindergarten. I called you many times to confirm but your phone was unreachable."

The woman turned towards the stove and took another aluminium spoon to stir the soup.

"Make sure to be presentable before you go and take Sarah with you. Invite them for dinner." 

Now he had understood why his wife made so much food. All their relatives were in China and barely anyone came to their place. Sometimes, Sarah also became sad as her friends had relatives to visit their home but she had no one. Her wife might have intended to invite them for dinner as they were from China as well as his friends. 

"Hurry up. It's already 7 pm. It would be embarrassing if they eat their dinner before you go."

He nodded his head and hurriedly walked towards his room.

The little girl quietly listened to their conversation. Her mother walked towards the freezer, she took out a bottle of red wine and another bottle of blueberry juice. She followed her mother as the woman went to the dining table and placed the bottles down.

"Mommy, they are from China so… do they speak Chinese?" The curious girl asked her mother as she followed her mother's steps.

"Yes. Remember to be a girl and greet them properly. Now go to the sofa or watch cartoons until your father comes." The girl nodded as she ran towards the living room and jumped on the sofa. She sat in a lotus position and turned on the TV with the remote control, she started to watch her favourite cartoon.

Her mother went to the showcase and took out some wine glasses. After she had washed them, she went back to the dining table and placed the glasses beside the bottles and checked on her daughter from the side. The girl was heavily invested in her cartoon.

"I should make some more dishes…" She muttered as she took out more vegetables from the freezer and started to make more dishes.

After ten minutes Sarah's father came to the living room. He was wiping his head. After that, he went before the basin and brushed his hairs. He wore comfortable clothes people wear in their home. Unlike the time when he wore black and looked sinister. But this time he had put on a white shirt and light blue pants; looking like an angel. Because he had just had a bath, his body was giving a fresh vibe and gentle vibe.

"Sarah, let's go." 

He had already walked at the doorstep and was wearing his shoes. 

"Ah! Daddy, wait for me!" The girl slipped down from the sofa and ran towards her father.

"Baby, turn off the TV before you go!" Her mother's voice came from the kitchen. 

"Aiya! I nearly forgot!" The girl ran back and turned off the TV. Then she ran to her father very fast.

"Slow down or you will fall down." 

At the shoe cabinet, there were ten different colours already and designs of shoes for her. He had already taken out the red one.

When Sarah saw those she hurriedly went before the shoe cabinet.

"Daddy, I want to wear this one. Not the red sandals." She took out a pair of white sports shoes.

"We are going for only some minutes. Why do you want to wear them? It's so troublesome..." He shot a look at the shoelaces.

"My boyfriend told me I look good in white shoe…"

He raised his eyes at that.

"Your boyfriend?! You mean 'boy' friend, don't you?" His face changed when he heard the term 'boyfriend'. He felt like his little baby was being stolen by some pig.

"But he told me he was my boyfriend." The girl was confused when her father spelled the words. For her 'boyfriend' and 'boy friend', these words sounded the same.

"You don't need to add 'boy' before the 'friend' from next time. Just 'friend' will do. How can a little girl like you have a boyfriend?" He explained to her patiently and got down.

"Okay. I will tell him tomorrow he is only my friend, not a boyfriend."

"Good girl~" He was pleased by her satisfying answer. "Let daddy help you."

His baby was too young. She didn't know how to properly bind the shoelaces. He helped her to put on the shoes.

"Baby, let father show some beautiful things to you." He removed the white laces and took out another pair of red sport shoes. He took out the red laces and slowly bound the laces in her white shoes. Sarah's eyes were glued to her legs but the little girl's eyes brightened when he turned the remaining red laces into small beautiful Chinese three petal knots.

"Pretty~" She squealed in delight when he finished them. Her giggles intensified when she lifted her dress a little and carefully looked at her shoes.

"Let's go." Both of them walked out and entered the lift. She insisted to tap the 20th floor's button so he let her. The little girl's already smiling face turned serious when the lift started to go upstairs.

"Why are you making this face, like an old woman?" He teased her. The girl was clenching her fists tightly and her little cute face had a serious expression. She would make this kind of expression only when she had to go to the dentist to check her growing teeth. 

"Mommy told me to be a good girl and to greet them properly. I am preparing for it."

He turned away his head from her side when he heard her cute lines. When he saw her serious face, he was reminded of his face but the cute words and the sweet face made his heart flutter.

'How can my little baby be so cute! ~'