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An alarm clock was not needed when you have a 3-year-old daughter. An excited 3-year-old daughter. A blonde little girl stormed into her parents’ room and jumped into the mattress, waking them up.
“Mummy, wake up!” Hope sat between her still asleep parents and shook her mum’s arm. Slowly, Emma opened her eyes and moved so she could face her daughter.
“What happens, bug?” she mumbled with a yawn, calling her the pet name she’s grown to call her little girl. Killian was already full awake, of course he was, the sailor inside him woke him quickly. However, Emma wasn’t a morning person and she hated when her sleep was disturbed the way her daughter did. But her Hope was her baby girl, and when she looked at her with the big blue eyes she inherited from her dad she couldn’t be mad at her, not when her little face was so bright with excitement.
Emma scooped Hope in her arms, hugging her and pampering her face with so many kisses it made her laugh.
“Can my baby explain why she woke mummy and daddy?” she asked, stopping her affections to look at her daughter.
“Because today’s my fiwst day at preschool!” she shouted with her cute voice, still not pronouncing right the ‘r’, excitement evident in her voice. Emma looked at Killian, faking confusion to mess with Hope.
“That can’t be true. Are you saying that my little bug is not that little anymore and she’s going to school?” Emma was smiling, but in the inside, she was a little sad, thinking that her baby was growing up so fast. She still remembered when Hope was a tiny baby who fit in her arms and who needed to hold her hands to walk. Now, she was a young little girl with so much energy in her. Her precious daughter.
“Yes, siwy” Emma and Killian suppressed a laugh. She was adorable. Hope jumped from her mother’s arms to the floor and run to the door “You need to get up. Can’t be late to my fiwst day” and with that, she disappeared.
Emma turned her head to Killian, who was already staring at her with a sad smile on his lips. She sighed and fell into his arms.
“Time flies” he murmured against her hair. They stayed like that for a couple of minutes until Killian spoke again. “Do we really have to bring her to school? Because we can keep her at home with us, so she won’t ever leave our side. We can homeschool”
“Ugh, I wish. I don’t want to be a whole day apart from her. Not being able to hold her, or hug her, or kiss her whenever I want will suck” she snuggled closer to him. “Where has our little girl gone?” she felt tears in her eyes, and although she didn’t want to cry, she couldn’t hold the tears. It was circle of life, and her daughter was starting a new phase.
“Don’t cry, my Emma” Killian kissed her cheek and wiped her tears “She will forever be our baby” Emma laughed with that and nodded.
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“Daddy! We here!” Hope was jumping in her car seat. Killian turned around to see his smiling daughter and he couldn’t help but smile too. Emma looked at her in the rear-view-mirror and blew her a kiss. She parked the car and minutes later the three of them where in front of Hope’s classroom.
They both lowered to be at Hope’s height, making sure her clothes were all right and checking one more time she had everything she needed. The smile never left her lips.
“Oh, baby, come here” Emma pushed Hope to her chest and hugged her tightly “Mummy is going to miss you so much.” This time, she managed to hold her tears, she didn’t want Hope to feel sad.
“Me too, mummy. But I’ll see you this aftewnoon.” How was it possible that the little girl was being the mature one? Because Killian was clearly also having a hard time holding his tears.
“Come here, little love. Daddy wants his hug too.” Emma let Hope go and she went to her dad’s arms, hiding her head on his neck.
“I love you, daddy” and with that, Killian started crying in silence. She was daddy’s girl, and every time she said those words, he got emotional.
“I love you too, little lass” he cried, rubbing her back.
“Don’t cry, daddy” Hope moved from her dad’s embrace and looked him in the eye.
“I’m not crying” Hope smiled and removed his tears with a gentle touch. Emma was seeing that father-daughter moment with tears in her eyes, but it was her time to be strong for the both. Killian was going to need her to leave their girl there, and they couldn’t step out the school both crying. “I will miss you, cygnet”
“I will miss you too, daddy. And you, mummy” Hope hugged Emma again, giving her a kiss on the cheek.
“Behave yourself, muffin. See you later. I love you” Emma said one last time. The teacher was waiting for Hope, so she turned around to enter her new class with a big smile.
The only ones in the corridor where Emma and Killian, the both staring at the closed-door holding hands.
“We should get going” Emma whispered, hugging Killian.
“Emma, this is one of the most difficult things I have ever done. I don’t want to leave her here again.”
“She will come here tomorrow. And the next day. And the day after. We better get used to that.” Although she wasn’t sure that was going to happen anytime soon, they loved having their little girl around, her happiness too contagious, and her love what they needed to smile.
Walking slowly, they exited the school.