He had been up all night and now at the critical moment, Jung Daehyun was curled in bed. His wife looked over at him and rolled her eyes. Ridiculous. What terrible timing this man had. She tapped his shoulder. He grunted and then she shook him, pushing him off the bed. Daehyun groaned.

            “Wha that fo?” his words were slurred.

            She pointed at the clock. “It’s almost seven. In exactly twenty minutes, your daughter will be attending her first day of school. You were so nervous you couldn’t sleep last night. What happened?”

            It couldn’t have worked better than an electrical prod. Daehyun jumped from the floor and skidded and slid his way down the stairs. “Jaylie? Princess?” he called out.

            He found her swinging her legs, eating cereal. “Daddy! Are you taking me to school today?” As she talked, some of the cereal dropped out and landed on her shirt.

            Daehyun wiped it off for her and smoothed her hair. “Mommy’s going to get you dressed while daddy gets ready okay?”

            She nodded and bent her head over the bowl, slurping from it. Daehyun’s heart squeezed a little as he went upstairs. As he brushed his teeth, he stared at his reflection. Were those wrinkles around his eyes? Did he have white hair admist his bushy mane? DDaehyun combed through his hair and rubbed his chin. Well he still looked pretty young.

            Daehyun spritzed some cologne and changed. He slapped a baseball cap over his hair and walked out to the bedroom. His wife’s eyes popped open. She was changing as well and raised an eyebrow. “Take that ridiculous hat off.”

            He held onto it even more protectively. “Why? I think I look quite dandy with it on.”

            She pressed her lips together. “You are taking your daughter to school. Don’t embarrass her.”

            “Why?” He was defensive.

            She glared at him. “Okay. Let me tell it to you. I don’t want the other moms staring at you.” She crossed her arms and gave him a defiant look as if daring Daehyun to defy her.

            He grinned slyly at her as she tried to stare him down. “So baby’s jealous, huh?” He smiled and kissed her. “Don’t worry, you’re too beautiful for me to want to look at other women.” Then he pulled away and a worried look crossed his features.

            “Wait. Speaking of beautiful girls, Jaylie!” he ran down the stairs. She followed him curiously and saw her husband walk up to Jaylie. He smoothed her hair and tightened her two pigtails. “Jaylie, remember, in the schoolyard, you need to stay away from the boys, alright?”

            His wife looked down and bit her bottom lip. Of course Daehyun’s worries would start manifesting now. She hid her face behind her hand and watched as Jaylie impatiently shook Daehyun’s hand away.

            “Daddy! The bus should be here soon. Can we go?”

            He sighed and knelt down, brushing her hair away from her face. “Baby girl, daddy’s going to drive you today. Wait until your lunch is packed okay?”

            Jaylie clapped her hands happily and hugged her father. “Okay daddy. Jaylie will sit here and wait for you.”

            Daehyun coughed and stood up. “Daddy will be right back.”

            He walked to the kitchen and she followed him discreetly. Daehyun coughed a couple of times and sniffed. He wiped his eyes a little and turned around. He startled when he saw his wife. “Whoa, I’m going to make my baby girl’s lunchbox. School starts at eight right?”

            He opened the refrigerator and started to pack the juice and sandwich. She walked up to him and rubbed his shoulders soothingly. “She’ll be okay. The only thing is, I heard that the school has a lot of boys.”

            Daehyun whirled around, almost knocking over the entire lunchbox. He stuck his neck out and looked for a second, like an incredulous giraffe. “Are you serious?” he shouted the words.

            His wife pursed her lips. “Don’t tell me you plan on keeping her under lock and key until age thirty? That is so old-fashioned.”

            Daehyun stomped his foot. “I will take care of my daughter as I see fit. Excuse me, I need to get her her lunch.”     Daehyun packed everything neatly and walked out. “Come on, JayJay,” he said.

            Daehyun strapped her to the backseat and placed the lunchbox on her lap. “Sit tight okay? When you get to school, make sure you’re polite to your teacher and also talk to your classmates. There are a lot of girls out there that you can talk to.”

            “Daddy, would Youngsuk be there?” There was a pause and Daehyun’s hands gripped the steering wheel just a little tighter. “Daddy?”

            “Ah, but he’ll have his friends too. You talk to the other good girls and study hard in school. Play well and share your lunch only if they’re really hungry. Otherwise, daddy made you his special sandwich so don’t waste it okay?”

            Jaylie clapped her hands and nodded. Daehyun pulled up to the school. He got out and opened her door. “Princess, if you please.”

            She giggled and hopped out. Daehyun grabbed her hand and kissed her forehead. “Be good okay?” She nodded and ran off. When she got to the lawn, she turned around and blew her father a kiss.

            Daehyun caught it and waved back. His eyes clouded over and he wiped the tears away. She would be fine. She’s a big girl now. He’ll wait until she gets home to coddle her. For now, when she opens her lunchbox, she’ll find his heart-shaped sandwich.

this is for iamcarrie1

jadkghadjkha Daedaddy ;;