Drabble:125
Abe had not been a part of his daughter's life for a long time. He'd thought he was protecting her, but only when he met her did he realize she didn't need protecting. She was strong, so strong. But because of his decision to remain unfamiliar to her, Abe had missed his opportunity to be a real father to Rose, to shower her with love and spoil her. But now that he'd gotten to know her, and she'd accepted him selflessly into her life (and heart, he hoped), he wanted to be a good father.
He screwed up many times and managed to get on her last nerves even more times, but that was to be expected with his sense of humor and their similar personalities. But, sometimes he got things right, and she'd hug him, and call him Dad, and he'd feel so proud.
He never tried to win her heart by material gifts; he knew that was not the way to her heart. Instead, he showed her that he was there to stay, to help her, to catch her if she fell, to dote over her and take her side in her fights, and over time, Rose took to him and loved him like a father.
In fact, they began to have dinner together once every month, if not every fortnight. They sent each other birthday and holiday gifts, and even travel souvenirs and photographs, and Abe couldn't be any happier or prouder. They talked over phone regularly, and video-called too, and whenever Abe was abroad, he'd set alarms and reminders to clear his schedule for when Rose was scheduled to call.
It was during one such allotted 'father-daughter bonding' time that Rose forgot to call him. A first.
Concerned, Abe called his secret contact at Court to find out if Rose was okay, and was informed that she'd not come into Guardian HQ for 2 days. Alarmed, Abe directly called Rose, but she didn't pick up. He redialed her number, getting more and more anxious, till she picked up his fifth call.
"Dad, sorry! I'd forgotten what the time was!", Rose apologized in a rush.
"That's okay, kiddo.", Abe answered, feeling pleased that Rose had-reflexively-called him Dad. "You okay?"
"Yeah. Absolutely fine. Why won't I be?", she quipped, but Abe could hear the frustration and hysteria in her voice.
"Rose, what's wrong?"
"Nothi-."
"Rose", Abe admonished, letting her know that she wouldn't get by with that.
"It's Dimitri", Rose finally let out, sounding teary, even over the phone. "He is-he-he is-"
"What happened?", Abe asked, damning the dhampir to hell.
"Oh, Dad!", Rose said in a heartbreaking tone. "Dimitri-he's sick! He's so sick!"
Abe heard those words and jumped to the worst possible conclusion. "What did he do?" Abe asked in a murderous tone, contemplating Belikov's slow, painful murder. "What did he do to you?"
"What? What are you talking about?", Rose asked, confused by Abe's icy tone. Then she realized what Abe had thought. "Oh no, no. Dad, he's sick. As in ill. Not sick-sick. Geez! Why would you think that?"
"You said he's sick, and you sound so upset and panicky. What was I to think?", Abe protested.
"I'm frustrated because Dimitri's being difficult. He refuses to take painkillers, and I'm sad because he thinks he's let me down by falling ill or something. That idiot!"
"Oh", Abe replied, mollified. "Would you excuse me a second, little girl?"
"Why?", Rose asked suspiciously.
"I'm going to hunt down my assistant and terminate the hit I just ordered on your boyfriend", Abe answered sheepishly.
"Dad!", Rose burst out indignantly before starting to giggle.
And Abe, he quickly cancelled the contract his assistant had been making with a hired gun and returned to his daughter, assuring her that Dimitri's death-sentence had been revoked. And despite his almost-colossal-screw-up, Rose loved Abe more for that.
Though she wasn't above sharing the story with everyone and making him feel like an idiot….again and again.
Thank you for reading. Don't forget to review!
I've uploaded the second outtake from Moments. It's a continuation of Drabble 108, and had been requested by Fiera Hathaway, who has been a proponent of this series for a long time (thank you for that!). It's entitled 'Midnight Show', so go check it out!
Just in case you missed my last announcement, for Moments' upcoming 1st year anniversary, I'll be doing prequels/sequels of requested drabbles till 22nd February, so if you want any scene depicted, this is your chance!
Cheers!