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."

me, uninterested in

after shaking Dustin's hand, sparing me

she could change flights," Hannah protested, clearly no stranger to the ways of

with deep, dark eyes. Clearly, she was a beautiful

fuss," her dad gently chided, but she wasn't deterred,

you," she said,

dad, who apologized,

Hannah and nodded at me before they turned to

craned her neck to look back at

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

them

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

Dustin's voice brought me back to

I said, settling back into

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

had forgotten everything else

softly, not replying, and Dustin took a seat beside me, "When you decide to settle down, would you prefer a son

face flashed before my eyes, "Someone