No More Waiting, She Chooses Love

A man approached me, tipping his hat politely, "Sorry, my little one's been a bother."

"Ha, no bother at all. I'm adorable," the girl immediately corrected her dad, her smile infectious.

I couldn't help but smile back, "Hannah's a delight. I'm quite fond of her."

"Ha, like you too," she said, her words a bit muddled.

I patted her head and turned to her dad, "For a moment, I thought both her parents were from overseas."

The man's expression darkened for a split second. Though it was fleeting, I caught it.

Realizing my blunder, I quickly added, "Sorry..."

He just nodded slightly and reached out his hand to Hannah, "Come on, sweetheart, time to board our flight."

"Can't you come with us?" Hannah clung to me, unwilling to let go.

I was about to tell her we weren't on the same flight when Dustin came over, brandishing our boarding passes.

He extended a hand to Hannah's dad, "Nice to meet you."

to me, uninterested in

shaking Dustin's

clearly no stranger

with deep, dark eyes. Clearly, she was a

her dad gently chided, but

she said, her eyes brimming with

to her dad, who apologized,

up Hannah and nodded at me before they turned

back at me, "Miss... I'll miss

waved back, silently echoing her

watched them until

from view, reflecting on the notion that crossing paths with someone might be destiny, especially when you've shared

kids?" Dustin's voice brought

said, settling back

to that little girl," Dustin observed,

I had forgotten everything else

beside me, "When you

face flashed before