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."

Hannah said to me, uninterested in

not flying with us," her dad said after shaking

clearly no stranger to the ways of air

deep, dark eyes. Clearly, she

don't make a fuss," her dad gently chided, but she wasn't deterred, gazing

fly with you," she said, her eyes brimming with hope,

her dad, who apologized, "Sorry, she's quite

he scooped up Hannah and nodded at me before

her neck to look back at me, "Miss... I'll

waved back, silently echoing her sentiment, "I'll

them

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

voice brought me

guess," I said, settling

talking to that little girl," Dustin observed, catching me

forgotten everything else

replying, and Dustin took a seat beside me, "When you decide to

really thought about it, Hannah's cute face flashed before my eyes, "Someone like her would be