Love in the Time of Vanity Fair

SPECIAL CHAPTER: 1

ONE WHERE HE IS WRAPPED AROUND HER LITTLE FINGER

"Daddy?" the little girl called out as she looked up from the paper she was coloring

"Yes, cariño?" the man beside her, adorning a pink tutu and a paper crown his daughter insisted he wear, answered

"How much do you love me?" she asked innocently, her eyes swirling with curiosity

The man smiled softly at the little girl in front of him. She is the spitting image of her mother.

The day he was told they were having another baby, he was beyond the moon, nothing would have made him happier than knowing little Sam was becoming a Kuya.

And then he was told they were having a girl. He thought he was going to have a heart attack. His wife, laughed at him, as his face blanched while he was staring at the sonogram, completely not comprehending what the OBGYN was saying.

"Ian are you okay? You look like you're going to faint" his wife snapped him out of his thoughts

"Lea?"

"Hmm?"

"I think I'm going to faint," he said monotonously and the room was filled with Lea's laughter

He had no idea what to do with a little girl. Mistake it not. Little girls are great. He'd go to tea parties and play dolls if he has to. He probably won't even complain. But then they grow up and boys, like him, come around. Just the thoughts of boys coming near his precious girl make his blood boil.

Their baby girl, who will be out in a little less than five months, will be perfect. But he found himself polishing his hunting gun.
When Lea saw what he was doing, she couldn't help but ask why. He stared at her earnestly and answered without any hint of humour.

"For boys who will come near the peanut" He uttered as his eyes drifted towards Lea's baby bump, he insisted on calling "peanut"

They didn't have a name yet. Or rather, he has not chosen a name yet. Lea thought that it was only fitting that he names the baby since she was the one who named Sam. And it's a job he took seriously (he has probably raided all the bookstores for baby books).

But nothing seemed to fit. So he searched and searched.

"Dad, you are being overprotective and peanut is not even here yet. I don't want to know how you'll be like when she finally brings home a boyfriend" Lea teased as his eyes grew wide in panic.

His wife could only laugh at him.

And then the months flew by and one fateful morning as they were strolling through the sands of Pico Mares, Lea was startled by a shooting pain on her lower back. She was in labor.

She clutched his palm tight and looked at him with a pained smile, "She's coming"

He carried her and ran towards the Cessna despite her protestations that she can walk on her own.

His mind was in a jumble. Why did he even think it was a good idea to go to the island when Lea is set to go into labor anytime.

He was masking his panic as he tried to calm down, doing breathing exercises with her. The moment they landed in the hangar, a helicopter was waiting for them.

Lea only shook her head at him

"We could have just driven, you know" she admonished but he wasn't taking any of it. Not when her contractions were barely five minutes apart.

Yes, he was timing them.

They arrived at the hospital with a team waiting for them.

It was the longest ten hours of his life. He was pretty sure Lea broke his hand during the labor with all the squeezing.

But nothing could have prepared him for the boisterous cries from a tiny bundle. The doctors had him cut the umbilical cord. And then, he was offered to hold his daughter for the very first time. He looked at his wife as if asking for permission and she nodded her head in encouragement.

He delicately cradled the tiny baby within his arms and he found himself short of breath. She has her mother's eyes. He was staring at her with awestruck wonder, not realizing the tear that has trailed down his cheek.

Sam came bustling in excitement to see his little sister.

"She's pink... and wrinkly" he exclaimed with his nose all scrunched up

"Just like you were, bub" Lea told him gently as she showed Sam the little baby.

Ian's breath hitched and a lump formed in his throat. Upon that hospital bed, are the people he holds most dearly in his heart.

After everything they have gone through, here they were. Happy, contented, and safe.

Maybe great things really do come to those who wait.

Right then and there, he knew what the baby girl was going to be named.

"What's her name?" Sam asked curiously and Lea gestured towards him to ask his Dada

He went and carried Sam in his arms and said with utmost reverence, "Sabrina, her name is Sabrina bub"

Sam hummed in response

"Which means Patience if I'm not mistaken" his wife interjected, with a face painted with wonder

He nodded and his lips stretched into a smile  "She is worth the wait"

His trip down memory lane was interrupted when he felt an impatient nudging.

"Daddddyyyyy" she whined, wanting to know the answer to her question

The man pulled her gently into his lap and lovingly clipped her nose which made her giggle.

"I love you in a way that words can never suffice to describe"

And she smiled.

An image he wanted to capture and keep forever.

Daddy will always be here to protect you Sab. No harm will ever come to you as long as I am here.

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