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Chappie #10 – I'll Always Bring You Flowers
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After a long discussion of baby names with Carrie at lunch, I went back to the rotunda. I returned to my desk to see a vase with a dozen light pink roses sitting on it, along with a small light brown teddy bear with a bow around its neck that matched the colour of the roses. I found a small envelope sitting on my chair, and I opened it to read the note inside.

Hey there beautiful!

I told you that I couldn't go an entire hour without thinking of you. I love you and I can't wait to marry you. You're the greatest woman I've ever met and I know you'll be the best mother in the world. And did I mention I love you? You deserve the world and I will spend the rest of my life trying my hardest to give it to you. I love you my soon-to-be Mrs. Vaughn, and I love my soon-to-be baby girl. So turn around and let me show you how much you mean to me.

Love,
Vaughn

I was completely speechless. I admired the roses for a moment before realizing that the last line of the note said to turn around, so I did. Vaughn was standing behind me with another larger bouquet of pink roses.

"Oh my god, Vaughn." Was all I could say. Everyone slowly gathered around behind Vaughn, and I could see Carrie completely swooning.

"You mean the world to me, Syd. I love you so much, and I had a revelation while I was out with Weiss: I realised that I left everyone out when I should've told them how I felt about you. Everyone here is like family to you, and to me, and so there's something I have to do again, but this time I'm doing it like I should have." He said. He turned to my father, who had just stepped out of his office to see what all the commotion was about.

"Mr. Bristow," Vaughn said, addressing my father, "I'd like to ask for your daughter's hand in marriage and I would appreciate it more than you know if I could have your blessing." I saw my father's expression turn from an inquisitive nature to a slightly annoyed one, so I shot him a pleading look.

"Agent Vaughn, despite my past feelings about you, this display has shown me that you truly do love my daughter and so I give you my blessing to marry her." He replied. I was overjoyed.

"Tellement maintenant Sydney, me ferez-vous l'honneur d'être mon épouse et me laissant passer chaque jour avec vous pour le reste de ma vie?" Vaughn asked. ("So now Sydney, will you do me the honor of being my wife and letting me spend every day with you for the rest of my life?") I started to cry.

"Of course!" I replied joyfully. He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me into a tight embrace. My father, seeing that the commotion was over, turned to walk back to his office.

"Jack, wait." Vaughn said. I quickly looked at Vaughn with a shocked expression. What else would he need my father around for?

"There's something else that I haven't told you – or anyone else for that matter…" he began. My father looked at him, annoyed.

"Vaughn, no. Now isn't the time for this." I pleaded.

"Syd, now is the right time for this. I'm tired of trying to hide everything. It's time that we tell your father the good news." He said with a fearless smile. I nodded, bracing myself for what was about to be said.

"Jack, I wanted to be the first to tell you that Sydney & I are going to have a baby." Vaughn said. My father's face contorted into a twist of rage, and I knew Vaughn would regret telling him about my pregnancy.

"WHAT!" my father boomed. Everyone else slowly backed away.

"Dad, I'm pregnant." I said, squeezing Vaughn's hand. We were in this together, and there was no way I'd let my future husband throw himself to the wolves.

"I cannot believe what I'm hearing. You've done some crazy things in your life, Sydney, but this one most certainly wins first prize!" my dad said in absolute disbelief.

"Dad, need I remind you of some of the crazy things you've done in your life? I think being pregnant 4 months before my wedding isn't that bad compared to some of the things you've done!" I said defensively, "And for you to be this way in front of my friends – the only family I've known? That's low, even for you!" I couldn't hold in my tears.

"Sydney, I know I've done some terrible things in my life, but those were my mistakes. I swore the day I found out I was going to have a daughter that I would keep you safe and protect you from those that would set your life off course." He replied.

"You'd protect me from those who'd set my life off course? So you think that keeping me in the dark about the truth behind SD-6 and Arvin Sloane for 7 years was protecting me! You think that you can risk my life and the life of my friends, and then whine because I fell in love with someone that wasn't who you wanted me to be with!" I yelled angrily, my body shaking.

"I've tried for the past 5 years to put the past behind me and to be the perfect daughter, but I'm not going to sacrifice my relationship with the man I love just to please you! You finally made me realise why I was right to resent you for all those years. In fact, I don't need your blessing or your presence at my wedding. As far as I'm concerned, my father is dead to me." I spat angrily.

My father just gave me an angry look, and disappeared back to his office. My knees buckled, and I slid into a heap on the floor. Vaughn wrapped his arms around me and tried his best to wipe away the tears that were streaming down my face. Carrie brought me a box of tissues, and Dixon rubbed my back and assured me that everything would be okay. Vaughn gave Dixon a pleading look and Dixon nodded. Vaughn picked me up and carried me out with Carrie following behind, her hands full with the roses and the teddy bear. Vaughn helped me into the car, and I was still sobbing the entire way home.