Once he had his lovely baby girl safely in his arms he felt a smile creep up on his lips. Gently he started rocking her in his arms.

would tell her stories of Roman and Greek gods and goddesses, like he used to tell her mother under star-filled skies, but he didn’t do that now. Instead he wanted to tell her about love, but where would he begin. “I remember the first time I saw your mummy, we met at a party and I still remember exactly what clothes she wore and what she smelled like. The lovely white, slim dress that accentuated her long legs and made her look angelic. Her perfume was fruity and completely divine.” He paused a moment and looked down into her sweet face and saw her curious blue eyes look up at him. “No doubt you got those eyes from you’re mother,” he said and smiled softly. He walked over to the window and opened the curtains. She had a room overlooking the Thames, just like the living room did, and it looked splendid in the evening with all the lights. A rocking chair stood by the window and he sunk down in it, rocking slightly back and forth. She still hadn’t fallen asleep. “You want to hear more of the story, don’t you?” His voice was lower than a whisper and he saw her opening a little hand of hers. Carefully he placed one of his fingers in her open palm and felt her small fingers clutch around his. “Alright, let’s see. After we met there, we started to meet a lot and go to the movies. No dates, just friendship.” He chuckled slightly before he carried on. “That’s what we did for two years until we both noticed we wanted more than friendship, so there I was, with the most beautiful woman in the world by my side, right after you of course. I’ve never seen anything so pretty as you.” There was no one in the world he adored more than his girls. “After dating her for nearly a year, we decided to take the big step of getting married. I look forward to walking you down the isle some time, love,” he paused and noticed she was still looking at him. As he pulled her in closer, he could feel her tiny heartbeats next to his. Tears started to gather in his eyes but he just blinked them away, eager to continue his story since it seemed his audience liked it. “So, I found myself standing by the altar, watching your mummy slowly walk up the isle with her father next to her. She looked so stunning, in a white elegant dress and I was dressed up in a black tux. Then we spoke our vows and exchanged rings and the priest declared us husband and wife and I kissed her. We were both nearly crying and we kissed a lot and hugged. I don’t think I have ever taken my ring off since then and I doubt she has taken hers off. The night before our honeymoon, we made love, so passionate and loving. I will never forget that night.” He fell silent for a while and then started speaking again. “It was only a short time later, we knew that she was pregnant. We felt so lucky.” Now he had tears running down his cheeks and he smiled brightly and dried them away with the back of his hand. One fell onto her face and he bent down and kissed it away. “The first months, she was pretty sick and feeling ill all of the time. But that changed while her stomach grew larger and larger. I remember the day when you started kicking. I was sitting on a bench in the park while your mummy lay with her head in my knee. All of a sudden she started squealing with delight and we both held our hands over her stomach and felt the small little kicks you made. But you grew stronger and so you kicked harder and harder. The last months she was in an up and down mood. Sometimes happy, sometimes sad. She could start crying for nothing. We liked to be in bed and I would hold her close to me while she had her head on my chest listening to my heartbeats.” He sighed, content when he recalled the memories. She was still listening, it seemed. At least she hadn’t fallen asleep. “I would rub her back when she had a bath and bring her tea and fresh fruits. That’s what she loved to eat most of all during her pregnancy. Then one day, you decided you wanted to come out. So I had to rush your mummy to the hospital. When we got there she got her own room and three hours later she gave birth to you. I was the proudest father ever, holding you and beaming like a sun. Your mummy was very tired, but she was so happy. And now I’m here with you in my arms.” Her eyes started to flutter and within ten minutes she was sleeping. “Sweet dreams, my dearest Kayla.” With that he pressed a feather light kiss to her forehead and rose from his seat to put her back into bed. He pulled the crisp white covers away and gently put her down and wrapped the covers around her. Before leaving he closed the curtains again and walked back to his bedroom to catch a few more hours of sleep. He didn’t even notice that Laura was awake, nor had he noticed how she on quiet feet followed him and listened to the story he told Kayla and he didn’t know she fell asleep with a smile on her face, tears in her eyes of joy and with a heart beating faster because of her love for him.--The end--