James POV
"Daddy can you tell me one of your stories" Zoey asked coming over to the sofa, I took my eyes off of my laptop in front of me offering my 4 year old a small smile before nodding
"Of course I can princess" I answered picking her up placing her on the sofa watching as she started to cuddle up closer to me making herself comfortable
"Which one did you want this time?" I asked but she shook her head
"I want a brand new one!" She giggled poking me earning a chuckle
Zoey had been obsessed with any story I could tell her from the moment she was able to understand what I would say to her, it was honestly my favourite part of the day. Work could wait for another time, there will be a day when she'll never ask for a story again. I was going to treasure every last one until then
"A brand new one? Oh I don't know if I have any left" I explained making her pout slightly before seeing my expression change to a smile. It was then that she realised I was joking
"Daddy! Stop playingggg" She said, I chuckled leaning back against the sofa put my feet up so that the pair of us were comfortable
"Strap in pumpkin, this one is a good one" I smiled watching the same excitement creep up onto her face again
--
It was the middle of July, Riley had just finished at business school for the year, I'd taken a break from touring. It was the first time in a long time the pair of us had been in the same city for longer then 24 hours together
I was on my way to the airport to pick her up, everything I needed to set up had been set up long before Riley was ready to land
Tonight needed to be perfect, nothing could ruin it
It was even to the point my phone had been blocked from any other notification unless they were updated from Ri
The moment I got the notification that her plane had landed, my heart instantly started to pick up. I was never a nervous person but this alone was enough to send me rocketing
--
"Daddy you were scared? What was the matter?" Zoey asked making me chuckled
"I had something very very scary to do and it was a lot Princess" I smiled earning a nod while she continued to watch me with intrigue on her face
--
"James!" Riley called the moment she got out of her gate. It didn't take this girl even 3 seconds to pounce
She ran over jumping straight into my arms.
This whole long distance situation took it's toll on both of us, but this time we both knew we would drop everything if the other needed us
It should have been that way the entire time
"I missed you Ri" I whispered holding her as tight as I could, her legs were wrapped around my torso as she cling to me like a monkey to a tree
"I missed you too" She said, I could feel the smile on her face from how tightly her head was buried into my neck
"Let's go home yeah?" I chuckled earning nothing but a nod from Riley
During the drive home, the only thing I could think about was what was waiting at home for us. I knew that I had this all planned in my head for the longest time but now that I know it was the happening it was the scariest thing at that point I'd ever experienced
--
"At that point Daddy? What does that mean?" Zoey asked
"It means that when it happened that was the scariest but now something easily took over" I said earning her famous head tilt encouraging me to continue explain further
"The day you were born Princess was the scariest moment of my life. I was so excited to meet you that when you did make your grand entrance I was so scared that if I held you I would hurt you" I explained
"You could never hurt me Daddy, you're hugs make everything better" She giggled coming over stealing a hug for herself
