FOR THE LOVE OF DAHLIA

🌹 Chapter 48 🌹

WRITER'S POV

"Mommy!" Dahlia screamed as she ran into her mom's arms. "I missed you!"

Tori smiled as she carried her daughter in her arms. "I missed you too my baby. Just a few hours without you feels like eternity." Tori said as she deepened the hug and inhaled Dahlia's baby smell.

Ian cleared his throat, causing Tori and Tina to laugh. "I see my baby didn't miss me too." He teased Dahlia who blushed adorably. He opened his arms and she hurriedly hugged him. "So you really did miss me after all."

"Of course daddy, I missed you." Dahlia said with and flashed an adorable smile.

Everyone in the room froze. Did Dahlia just call Ian 'daddy'? She had never called him that way. Ian who was carrying her almost shed a tear as his heart desire was granted out of the blue. He had yearned for Dahlia to finally acknowledge him as her father. He had silently prayed for the day when Dahlia would call him 'daddy' and just when he least expected it, she actually did. Could this day get any better? Earlier, he made peace with his love, and then his daughter finally acknowledged him as her father. Oh, the heavens were working in his favor.

Ian's hold on his daughter increased. He just didn't know how to ask Dahlia to repeat what she said. He looked at Tori to see she also had tears in her eyes. 'Finally', she mouthed.

He smiled back at her and mouthed the same thing. 'Finally'.

Tori smiled and looked at Dahlia who was unaware of what she had just caused. "So how was your day princess?"

Dahlia beamed. "Nice. Aunt Tina and I made cookies after school. We had so much fun."

Tori flashed a smile at her sister. "Thanks a lot."

Tina scoffed and returned the smile. "Dahlia is the most adorable child. Sitting her comes naturally. But, it's already time for her to sleep since she still has school tomorrow."

Dahlia whined. "But I don't want to sleep just yet."

"No baby, you need to..." Tori started

"Or daddy can tell you his interesting childhood stories before you sleep." Ian butted in.

Dahlia went along with Ian's idea. "I wanna hear Ian's stories." She said excitedly causing everyone to stay still. Ian felt a tug in his heart. A few minutes ago, he was ecstatic but hearing Dahlia call him by his name once again broke him. But he put that aside. He was gonna take baby steps when it came to her.

"Let's get you to bed then." He said as he tickled his baby and followed her mom to her room. From how organized the room was, he knew Tori and Dahlia stayed in one while the other was Tina's. He felt guilty because with all the wealth he had, he still couldn't give his family the best they deserved. Not that he didn't want to, Tori didn't let him. When they were in, Ian found a comfortable spot and carried Dahlia. He told her about how boring his life was because his mother was too strict and how lucky she(Dahlia) was to have Tori as her mother. He spent about 20 minutes talking to his baby girl before she fell asleep. "Can I tuck her in?" He asked sheepishly.

Tori flashed him a wide smile. "Of course you can."

Ian smiled in return. "Thanks for the opportunity, sunshine." He said before laying Dahlia in bed. He made sure she was safely tucked in before kissing her forehead. "I love you baby." He said to her.

He was about to turn around when Dahlia spoke up. "I love you too, daddy." She said sleepily.

Ian's heart melted once again as he turned and pulled Tori into a tight hug. "Did you hear that?" He whispered excitedly.

Tori nodded. "I did. I told you she would come along, right? She just needed time to figure out you're a good person." Tori whispered back, then added. "And so did I."

Ian pulled back, stared into her eyes lovingly for a minute before leaning to kiss her. He kissed her slow and nice. Kissed her as if his life depended on it. Kissed her as if he was making love to her mouth. Kissed her so deep that if Dahlia wasn't in the room with them, he would have made sweet passionate love to her. Knowing he could loose control, he pulled away. "I love you so much, Sunshine. But I can't keep kissing you here or I'll be forced to take you right now."

Tori blushed. "And I love you right back. I love you so much Ian."

"Then lets start afresh. Let's start all over once again. But this time, there's an addition. We've got Dahlia. And in order for us to start as one, we've got to start as a family." Ian told her.

Tori looked into his eyes, trying to apprehend what he was saying. "What do you mean?" She asked in a low tone.

"This is not the way I wanted to propose to you because you deserve so much better. But I do not want to waste anymore time. So I'm begging you sunshine, please marry me. Be my wife. Let's raise our baby girl together. I promise to give you all the love I didn't give you all those years we were apart. To make it up to you and our daughter. Let's start afresh."

Tori didn't know when or how tears were rolling down her cheeks, but they were. She searched Ian's eyes for any traces that showed he was joking but all she saw in those beautiful eyes were love and sincerity.

"Please say something, sunshine." Ian begged.

Tori smiled as she wiped her tears. "But you do not even have a ring." She joked.

Ian scratched the back of his head. "That's because I didn't prepare for this. Like I said, this isn't the type of engagement you deserve, but I just don't want to waste anymore time. Dahlia's asleep now, we could rush to the jewelry shop right now and get the best diamond, silver or gold ring you want." Ian said all in a span of seconds.

Tori placed her palms on his cheeks and made him look at her. "Calm down Ian, it's not about diamonds, silver or gold. I don't care about those. And we do not need to go to the shop before I accept to be your wife..."

Ian blinked severally. "Does that mean..."

Tori smiled and nodded. "That with or without the ring, I would love to be your wife."

Ian squealed in excitement waking up Dahlia in the process. He immediately picked up Tori and kissed her passionately. "Finally! Finally!"

"What daddy?" Dahlia asked while rubbing her eyes sleepily.

Ian gently made Tori to stand and rushed to Dahlia, kissing her forehead. "Mommy said yes. She said yes baby. I'm gonna marry your mommy. We're gonna be one wonderful family."

Dahlia smiled and looked at her mom. "Really mommy?"

Tori smiled and walked over to them. "Really baby."

"So we all can go to school together and I can tell everyone that Ian is my daddy?" Dahlia asked excitedly.

Ian answered with a kiss on her forehead. "Definitely princess. Henceforth, everything we do, we do it as a family."

Tori smiled as she knew Dahlia's dreams had finally come through. Because everything aside, Dahlia was her first priority.

Dahlia stood on the bed and hugged Ian. "Thank you daddy. I've always wanted that." She said in her tiny baby voice.

Ian hugged her in return and opened his arms for Tori to join the hug. The group hug. The family hug.

"Since we're a family now, can we all sleep here tonight?" Dahlia asked in excitement, eyes wide as saucers.

Tori looked at Ian. "Only if it's okay by daddy."

Ian scoffed. "Are you kidding me? I've always wanted to sleep with you two. But just a warning, I snore."

Tori and Dahlia laughed although Dahlia didn't understand what Ian meant by snore.

Tori looked into his eyes. "Then that's gonna be our alarm."

Ian smiled. "And you two will be my peace for the night."

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