Cinderella 신데렐라

She spins and she sways to whatever song plays
Without a care in the world
And I'm sitting here wearing
The weight of the world on my shoulders

It's been a long day and there's still work to do
She's pulling at me saying, "Dad, I need you
There's a ball at the castle and I've been invited
And I need to practice my dancing, oh please, daddy, please"

So I will dance with Cinderella while she is here in my arms
'Cause I know something the prince never knew
Oh, I will dance with Cinderella, I don't want to miss even one song
'Cause all too soon the clock will strike midnight and she'll be gone    

    "Baba! Baba! Help me put this on," 3 year-old Zhang Yihan yelled while running over to Lay holding her Cinderella costume. Lay sighed and took the dress away from his daughter's hands.
    "I can't. Besides, your babysister is coming over soon and mama and I have to go to work. But you'll behave for baba right?" Lay asked as he kissed his daughter's forehead. 
    "But baba! You always have to go to work! I can never play with you anymore!" Yihan screamed and ran towards her bedroom, tears streaming down her face. Seconds later, the door to her bedroom slammed shut. Lay groaned, sank down in a chair and buried his head in his arms. He knew it wasn't the right thing to say but it came out before he could stop. A cool hand brushed over his cheek and hand a moment later. Lay looked up into a pair of warm brown eyes staring at him. 
    "What happened Yixing?" Luhan asked even though he knew what the answer was as he sat down opposite of Lay. This event had already repeated itself many times and it had always ended the same way.
    "Yihan asked me if I could help her put on her dress and I said it again that we had to leave for work and it resulted in her crying and slamming her door," Lay sighed and looked to the ground. He wanted more than nothing in the world to spend as much time as possible with his daughter. His daughter was the most precious thing in the world to him, next to Luhan. Luhan gently lifted Lay's head so their eyes met again. 
    "If you do want to spend time with our daughter, go do something. Make it right. Make her feel that you want to spend time with her and that she's the most important thing in her world. Make her feel that your work is not as important as her because soon, she'll be grown up and you'll never be able to turn back time and experience this again. So go. I'll take care of everything else." Luhan gently placed a kiss on Lay's lips, stood up and walked away, leaving Lay to think about Luhan's words. Luhan's soft voice flowed through the house from the next room, talking to their manager to cancel their schedules and to cancel the babysitter. Turning his head, Lay took one look at the Cinderella dress on the table and knew immediately what to do. Taking the dress in his hands, he walked across the house and gently knocked on his daughter's door.
    "Yihan, are you okay? Can you open the door for baba?" Lay asked while waiting for a noise. The door clicked opened  and Yihan stood there with puffy eyes and a red noise. Lay's heart broke at the sight. He never meant to upset his daughter but he always managed to do it. Crouching down, he held out the dress.
    "Do you want me to help you put on the dress?" Yihan's eyes lit up and nodded eagerly. Lay helped his daughter into the dress, wiped away her tears and placed a crown on her head. Yihan pulled at Lay's arm and pulled him to the living room. 
    "There's a ball at the castle and I've been invited. I need to practice my dancing. Can you please help me daddy?" Yihan asked. Lay smiled at the sight. Plugging in his Ipod, he pushed the play button and soft classical music flowed through the air. Taking his daughter in his arms, Lay guided his daughter in an impromptu waltz. Not wanting to stop, he spun his daughter while dodging all the furniture in the living room. Lay heard the soft clicks of a camera and saw Luhan taking pictures of this moment, laughing along with Yihan. His smile grew wider at the sight of his family being happy and he never wanted this moment to end. Yihan grabbed the air in front of her, signaling that she was tired and wanted to rest in her father's arms. Lay picked her up and swayed back and forth as Yihan fell asleep.

She says he's a nice guy and I'd be impressed
She wants to know if I approve of the dress
She says, "Dad the prom is just one week away
And I need to practice my dancing, oh please, daddy, please"

So I will dance with Cinderella while she is here in my arms
'Cause I know something the prince never knew
Oh, I will dance with Cinderella, I don't want to miss even one song
'Cause all too soon the clock will strike midnight and she'll be gone
She will be gone

    "Baba. He's a really nice guy. I've known him for who knows how long. He won't do anything stupid. I promise," Yihan explained. It was almost prom and Yihan was explaining to Lay about the guy that had asked Yihan. 
    "Alright. I trust you but I still have to meet him before you go," Lay said. Yihan groaned. It was no use convincing her father. 
    "Yihan! Come on. We have to go get your dress. Would you like to come along Yixing?" Luhan asked. Lay nodded, seeing this as a good time to approve of his daughter's choice of dress or reject it. Not that he didn't like his daughter's choice of clothing it's just that well, during big dances like this, the girls tended to buy some crazy dress with weird cutouts. They arrived at a small shopping area where no one would recognize them. Stepping inside the shop, Lay immediately shuffled to the changing rooms, disgusted by the vibrant colors popping before him. Luhan and Yihan were shocked by the different kinds of dresses and began searching for the right one. After searching rack after rack, the two slipped into the changring rooms to try on the dress they had chosen. 
    "How do I look baba?" Yihan asked as she came out of the changing rooms. Lay slowly looked up. in his breath, he had never seen his daughter look so beautiful. It reminded him of the first time he had met Luhan and his daughter looks exactly like Luhan, save for the fact that her daughter has longer and has more feminine features and that Luhan wasn't in a dress when they met. Lay made a circular motion with his finger and Yihan slowly turned in a circle. Lay took on final look and made his decision.
    "I like it. I really like it. You and your mother have really good taste." And Lay wasn't joking. The dress was a soft light blue color that was sleeveless and had a glittering ribbon around the waist. It poofed out a little below the waist and then flowed downwards. 'She looks like Cinderella in that dress,' Lay thought. Luhan quickly paid for the dress and herded Lay and Yihan out of the store and back home. Tired, Lay staggered into the living room and plopped down on the couch. 
    "Daddy. Are you still awake?" Yihan quietly asked. Lay hmm'ed in response.
    "I know that prom is still one week away but I need to practice my dancing. Can you help me?" Yihan asked as she ventured into the living room and plugged in Lay's ipod. Soft classical music flowed through the house as Lay stood up and waltzed around the room with his daughter. He felt like it was deja vu to him when he heard camera clicks again. Looking to his side, he saw the camera flash and then Luhan's face when he lowered the camera, smiling. Suddenly memories came flashing back and Lay suddenly remembered the day when Luhan was taking a picture of the two of them back when Yihan was 3. Even though Yihan was 17 now, he still didn't want this moment to end. Not at all.

But she came home today with a ring on her hand
Just glowing and telling us all they had planned
She says, "Dad, the wedding's still six months away
And I need to practice my dancing, oh please, daddy, please"

So I will dance with Cinderella while she is here in my arms
'Cause I know something the prince never knew
Oh, I will dance with Cinderella, I don't want to miss even one song
'Cause all too soon the clock will strike midnight and she'll be gone

    "Baba! He proposed! He proposed to me!" Yihan shouted as she raced through the house to find her father. Lay opened his bedroom door and swept his daughter into a hug.
    "That's great! Have you started preparing for the wedding yet?"
    "We started on it but I want to talk to Mama about it. Where is she?" Lay lead his daughter into his bedroom, where Luhan was currently reclining on the bed reading a book. Yihan ran towards her mother and hugged him. Luhan jumped up in surprise but nonetheless hugged his daughter back.
    "What are you doing back here Yihan?" Luhan asked.
    "Didn't you hear me yelling outside, mama?" Luhan shook his head. "He proposed to me!" Luhan's hands flew up in happiness and he hugged his daughter once again while tears streamed down his face. "My baby's getting married," Luhan murmured as he rocked his daughter from side to side. After Luhan had calmed down, he took his daughter's hands in his and led them to the family room.
     "Have you started preparing yet?" Yihan nodded her head.
     "We've started but we haven't done much yet. The wedding is in six months, so we're not in any rush."
     "Stay here. I need  to go get something." Luhan stood up and walked back into his room. Yihan stood up and walked over to her father.
     "Dad, the even though the wedding's six months away, I really need to practice my dancing. Oh please, daddy, please." Lay nodded and pressed the play button on his ipod, waltzing music flowing through the room once again. Holding his daughter in his arms, they danced around the room again. Looking around the room he saw pictures of Yihan and tears came to his eyes, thinking about how he'll have to let go of his daughter soon.

Six Months Later,

The bride and groom walked into the reception room, hand in hand while smiling. Yihan nodded towards the DJ and walked towards her father. Reaching out a hand, she took her father's hand and guided him to the middle of the floor. Turning around, she placed his hand on her waist and took the other hand in hers. They took the first step together and waltzed around the room. In a loud and clear voice, Yihan spoke.
     "I want to dedicate my first dance to my father who has taught me so much. No matter how busy he was, he always made time for me and always helped me practice my dancing. So I just want to say thank you daddy. I love you." With tears streaming down his face, Lay embraced his daughter and whispered back, "I love you too."

Done! This story was based on a song called "Cinderella" by Stevis Curtis Chapman. I recommend you listening to the song while reading this story. It gave me such an inspiration and I thought that Lay would be the perfect character for this. I also just had to add Luhan in here. They both have this really gentle and kind personality about them that just went along great with this story. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed the story. :)
~HelloKitty10755