Chapter 74. Dance

The moment his senses was triggered by that soft wails of their baby, Yonghwa managed to move to her before Seohyun could even wake up. He cursed to himself once he saw that Euna was one roll away from falling off the bed. With one swift move, he scooped her up and muttered, “How did you get in there?”

“Hmmm...” Seohyun stirred, “What time is it?”

“Around three,” he lied giving her hip a soft pat, “I’ll change her then put her back in. Go back to sleep.”

Seohyun made another sound then settled back to sleep. He smiled giving the baby a gentle kiss to appease her. After moving to the nursery, he placed Euna on her changing table and cooed at her, “Morning, pretty Euna-yang…”

The baby’s only response was a loud yawn that he chuckled and kissed her belly once he opened her pajamas. Yonghwa groaned and frowned when the stench escaped, “Wow, Euna…”

Euna giggled and brushed her fist on her nose.

“See? You can even tell how stinky you are!” He laughed when her lips formed a small O and she babbled some strings of random sounds that amused him even more. Yonghwa could very well tell that this one is going to be a chatterbox. Once he was done cleaning her and changing her diaper, he brushed his nose against hers causing a big laugh from escaping.

“Shhh…” he kissed her cheek whispering, “Not too loud, sweetheart, we don’t want to wake umma just yet because we're having our Appa-Euna early morning date."

Yonghwa placed her on the carrier which he noticed to start getting smaller for Euna’s growing legs. Once she was settled, he carried her to the adjacent room to freshen up. With her pacifier to keep her busy, Yonghwa did a quick wash. He really intended to be up before Seohyun could so he’d be able to spend longer alone time with their baby. The extra load Jonghyun’s absence brought him demanded more time after office hours once the reports got in. Thus, he only had mornings to spend with Euna since she was usually either grumpy or asleep by the time he would be home.

The moment he got out of the bathroom, she was already stretching her back trying to escape but surprisingly not whimpering or crying out loud. When she saw him, she squealed in delight reaching out her arms to him with fingers opening and closing. “I got you,” he chuckled when he took the carrier but she started whimpering, “Oh you want me to carry you?”

Euna did since once he lifted her up, she fidgeted excitedly. Yonghwa couldn’t help but chuckle thinking to himself that his little sweetheart was obviously happy that it was him who would be playing with her this morning. He washed her face in the kitchen bathroom and placed her on her jumper to start preparing breakfast. While Yonghwa worked, he continued talking to the baby who was as eager to reply with her babbles that she kept on with varying tones and volumes. This would be the first time in a while that they were spending this morning by themselves and he was already enjoying himself.

Every few minutes, he would move to where she was bouncing on her little feet contentedly. Dropping on his knees, he would talk to her or just kiss her which she obviously appreciated by cooing back or giggling at him. Once he was done with the scrambled eggs, he lifted her up and sat her on her high chair then offered her milk.

“Here you are,” Yonghwa gently helped her get comfortable as she started feeding. He brushed a finger on her forehead and Euna smiled at him. “Your hair is getting longer, you should always put some ribbons on.”

Euna made a muffled sound as she continued drinking her milk until she pushed his hand away and opened her little mouth, “Ahhh-awww!”

He chuckled as his little girl opened for her bottle again, “You’re getting bigger too, but you still don’t want to hold your bottle.”

She smiled, stopped for a moment and tapped her hand on the tray of her highchair.

“Arasso,” he nodded, “You are the princess of this house…”

She cooed once more in response to her appa then grabbed his wrist that was holding her bottle. Euna finished her milk without taking her hand off but when he stood with her empty bottle she syelled at him. Yonghwa laughed placing the bottle on the sink then walking back to her, “You want more?”

She only grumbled with arms stretched to him waving her fingers vigorously. He carried her before she could unleash her feistiness and laughed when Euna’s head fell on his chest getting ready for her burp. It only took a few taps for her to have that big loud noise that made her appa chuckle. Yonghwa straightened her in his arms and kissed her chubby cheek, “I love you, Euna-yang.”

Euna blinked then sighed that caused him to laugh again. Thinking about it, she was probably the first one to hear that from the adult him. It was crazy but it just came too easily for him to admit and even say this out loud without any hesitations or doubt. But then again, he was declaring this to an infant who most definitely unaware of its meaning.

“You should be proud of that. You’re the only one I said that to and really mean it…” he said softly with that small smile until his baby wrinkled her nose, then giggled.

“Oh, you think I’m kidding?” He asked as he placed her back on her high chair giving the small plastic bowl to play with.

His little one slammed the bowl on the tray of the high chair. Moving to the fridge, he checked the side dishes they would have this morning. However, the little one started whimpering ‘ap-ap-ap’.  Yonghwa tried to carry her but she turned away, “What do you want?”

“Ap… pa…pap…pa…” Euna continued to whine.

A thought crossed his mind that she was hurting somewhere and instinctually leaned over to peck a kiss on her temple but her little fist met his nose before he even got close, “Ya… that hurts…”

Euna giggled and he frowned. Then her arms stretched, fingers curling and the moment he had his face in front of her, her palms flew to his nose once more. The laughter that resounded in the room was too much for him it didn’t matter that his face was hurting. Euna’s belly laugh was so adorable he regretted having to leave later today.

But he was glad he could spend this time, albeit short, with his little love.

And clearly, Euna seemed to be happy about it too.

When he could no longer resist the urge, Yonghwa picked her up, sat by the table and placed her on his lap. He stared at her for a moment while she studied her hands until she put them near . He chuckled as she struggled to fit both inside and when she noticed that her appa was laughing at her, she wrinkled her nose again and giggled. After a short moment of exchanging meaningless laughter, he oaxed her to speak, “Ap-pa… Euna, say ap-pa…”

She squealed probably thinking that her appa was making her laugh again by making face until she caught on by opening mimicking him. Only that she was not making any sound that made it even more amusing for him. When he laughed, Euna did as well even flailing her arms in the air. He chuckled waiting for her to calm down and once she did, he repeated chanting until her soft, little voice started coming out trying her best to copy her daddy.

Although she had been pronouncing appa, Euna seemed to be trying her best to follow him. And once she finally produced the sound that was close enough, Yonghwa stood and playfully threw her in the air as some sort of congratulatory ceremony. Euna’s squeal and laughter fill