Chapter Text
The alarm buzzed for the third time before Namping finally reached over to silence it.
For a few blissful seconds, he simply lay there, blinking at the morning sunlight filtering through the tiny gaps in the navy-blue curtains. Outside, birds chirped somewhere among the gulmohar branches brushing against his bedroom window.
He soon realised that something or someone was poking his ribcage under the blanket, small tufts of black hair peaking out of the said offenders side of the bed.
Namping smiles as he dislodges the offenders foot from his ribcage and hops out of bed.
Namping finds himself enjoying the quiet wee hours of the morning alone, before the little hurricane...nope...his little hurricane wakes up. Meal prep is done in the same calculated rhythm he does every day, Coffee brewed while pancake batter sizzled on the pan. Fresh orange juice waited in a tiny cup beside a plate already decorated with sliced strawberries because, according to Risa, pancakes tasted better when they “looked pretty.”
Namping suddenly remembers he has a promised a one-on-one class to a student. He halts whatever he’s doing and jogs towards the bedroom.
Now comes the daunting task of waking up his daughter, sleeping like a mummy under her duck printed comforter, her duck plushie had long since lost the battle during the night and now lay face-down on the floor.
Namping picked it up before sitting on the edge of the bed.
“Risa, baby wakeup.” Namping nudges the tightly cocooned child.
“Risa, daddy is going to be late, wake up baby girl.”
Slowly, a sleepy little face peeked out. Puffy cheeks. Sleepy eyes. A tiny pout.
She looked remarkably like an annoyed duck.
Namping bit back a laugh.
Risa says nothing, she simply throws away the comforter and plasters her body to her father. Namping shakes his head and smiles as he ruffles her hair.
“Good morning to you too.”
After doing their morning routine, their morning routine being Namping bathing Risa and taking a second bath since he’s almost always soaking wet after bathing Risa and them arguing about which outfit Risa will wear today.
The topic of today’s argument is *drum roll*
Socks.
Yes.
Socks.
Namping had carefully laid out a pair of delicate white frilled socks to match her white dress but Risa insists she will only wear her bee print socks.
“DADDY I TOLD YOU I WANT MY BEE SHOCKS” Yells Risa.
“Risa, baby it’ll not look good with your outfit, kids will make fun of you” Namping pleads.
“I do not careeeeee I WILL wear the bee shocks” Risa says firmly, legs dangling from her high chair.
“They’re bee socks , sweetheart.”
“BEE SHOCKS!”
Namping stared at his tiny opponent.
She stared right back.
After a long moment, he sighed dramatically.
"...Fine."
He reached for the yellow bee-print socks before his eyes drifted, almost instinctively, to the framed photograph resting quietly on the bookshelf.
A small smile tugged at his lips.
"She's stubborn like you."
He could almost hear Davikah laughing.
They eat breakfast in a rush. Risa somehow managed to leave syrup in places syrup should never exist.
By the time Namping had cleaned the high chair, wiped sticky fingerprints off the table, and rescued his coffee from curious little hands, they were finally heading out.
Halfway to preschool, Risa broke the comfortable silence.
“Daddy?”
“Hm?”
“Do you think Mommy would be good at playing hide-and-seek?”
Namping’s fingers tightened around the steering wheel.
For a moment, the only sound inside the car was the hum of the engine.
“Why do you ask, baby?”
“Klao said he always plays hide-and-seek with his mommy.”
She giggled.
“And she always loses.”
Namping smiled softly.
“I don’t think Mommy would lose.”
“No?”
“No.”
He remembered the way Davikah turned every game into a competition.
“I’m pretty sure she’d find you before anyone else.”
Risa seemed satisfied with that answer.
Soon, the conversation drifts to what’s happening in her pre-school, Risa talks Namping’s ears off telling him about her classmates, her best friend Klao and Araya and how her home room teacher almost tripped over the bench, soon they are in front of Risa’s preschool, Namping tidying her outfit and ponytail that looked like a coconut tree.
“Bye, Daddy!”
She threw herself into his arms before racing toward her classroom, where her homeroom teacher greeted her with a smile.
Namping waved.
“See you this afternoon.”
“Come soooon!”
Namping glances at his watch and notes that he’ll be late for class if he’s unable to rush through the traffic.
With one last glance toward the preschool building, Namping headed for the university.
The day passed in its familiar rhythm. He greeted colleagues with easy smiles, returned polite wais from students, delivered his lectures, answered questions after class, and spent the afternoon buried beneath a mountain of assignments that seemed to multiply on their own.
Before he knew it, it was already time to pick Risa up.
As always, she came bouncing out of the preschool gates the moment she spotted him.
“Daddy!”
She launched herself into his arms with enough force to nearly knock him off balance.
“Easy there, hurricane,” Namping laughed, adjusting her backpack onto his shoulder. “How was school?”
“I got a star sticker! And Klao shared his cookies with me. And Miss Anya almost dropped the crayons because everyone was talking at the same time!”
Namping chuckled as he opened the car door for her.
“I see you had a very eventful day my busy bee.”
The drive home was filled with animated stories, dramatic hand gestures, and at least three different songs Risa insisted on singing at the top of her lungs.
By the time they pulled into their driveway, Namping was smiling despite the exhaustion settling into his bones.
Risa had already unbuckled herself before he switched off the engine.
“Daddy!” she exclaimed, pointing excitedly toward the house next door.
Namping followed her gaze.
A large moving truck stood outside the neighbouring house. Cardboard boxes were scattered across the front lawn while movers carried furniture through the open front door.
“Are we getting new neighbours?” Risa asked, bouncing on the balls of her feet.
Namping watched for a moment before nodding.
“...Looks like it.”