“Remember what I told you.”
“We gots to be quiet.” My daughter presses her finger against her lip before giggling. Ilona doesn’t know the first thing about using an inside voice, but I don’t call her out on it. She is only five after all.
I scan her mismatched outfit from head to toe. “Where’s your sign?”
Her small lips part as she sucks in a breath. “I forgot.” She runs back down the hall. Her braids swing behind her, making the butterfly beads at the end bounce.
Based on the noises coming out of her room, it sounds like a war is going on in there. I resist the urge to go check on her. Iris says I need to stop being a helicopter parent because she needs to start growing up.
Fuck growing up. I want her to stay five years old forever.
“Got it!” she shouts as she bolts out of her room.
“Shh.” I press my finger against my lips.
She giggles, and the sound feels like drinking pure sunshine. Her tiny shoes slap against the hardwood floor as she makes her way back to me.
“Let me have a look.” I put on a serious face and gesture toward her poster.
She holds the graduation sign upside down, so I switch it right side up.
hAppy grAbUAtIOn.
Close enough.
“Hmm.” I stroke my chin.
She looks up at me with her big brown eyes full of uncertainty. “Do you think Mommy will like it?”
I lean forward and give her a kiss on her chubby cheek. “I think she’ll love it.”
“Yes!” she whisper-shouts to herself, and part of my heart melts at the sight.
“Come on. Let’s go get Mommy.” I hold out my hand.
She stares at it before running straight toward our bedroom door without bothering to wait for me.
“Ilo—”
Too late. She barrels into our room. “ZERPRISE!”
I’m quick on her heels, not wanting her to get too excited and hurt Iris in the process.
Our daughter jumps on the bed, making the gold dust from her poster fly all over our white comforter. I hate glitter but raising a daughter with an obsession for arts and crafts means I inhale the stuff like an addict would cocaine.
Iris seems to have the same thought as me as she looks up in amusement. “Care to explain what’s going on here?”
Even after years of being married, Iris has a way of incapacitating me with nothing but her smile. I’m filled with longing as I take her in.
After a close call at the ER last month, Iris has been on bed rest for the duration of her pregnancy. The change has been hard on her. She went from being able to go to school and help raise Ilona to being trapped in bed. And although she won’t admit it, I know she is still upset about not making it to Dreamland Tokyo’s opening ceremony a week ago.
Hence the party. I couldn’t let her years of hard work go uncelebrated. It might have taken her longer than most to graduate from college, but we have one healthy kid and two on the way thanks to the sacrifices she made to put family first.
“Daddy planned a grabuaton party for you!”
“A what?”
“A graduation party.” I stop by Iris’s side of the bed and press a soft kiss against her lips.
“Ew!”
Iris laughs. “Are you sure you’re ready for twins?”
“Of course. We still have half a minivan to fill.”
She shakes her head with a smile. “At this rate, we might need a bus.”
“That can be arranged.”
She laughs before gasping as I throw the comforter off her.
“Stop distracting me. We have guests downstairs who are waiting to see you.”
“Wait! You mean right now?”
“Yes. Let’s go.”
She looks down at her outfit in horror. “I can’t see everyone like this.”
“You look great.”
“Psst. Daddy?” Ilona waves me over.
“Yes, sweetheart?” I lean down so she can cup her hand over my ear.
“You forgot the hat.” She speaks at full volume, completely missing the point.
Iris muffles her laugh with the palm of her hand.
Shit. The hat.
“One second.” I rush downstairs and grab Iris’s graduation cap off the dining room table without running into anyone. By the time I make it back to the bedroom, Iris has thrown on a casual dress and Ilona is missing.
“What are you doing walking around?”
“I’m on bed rest, not life support. It’s good to get some exercise in every day.”
I place the cap on the top of her head before bending down to cradle her in my arms.
Her eyes roll. “You’re so dramatic.”
“I prefer the term overprotective.” I carry her out of the room and down the stairs. The sound of people talking grows louder as we enter the living room.
“Surprise!” everyone shouts.
Ollie barks before his tongue falls out of his mouth. I can barely make out his mini graduation hat with all the fur covering his head.
“Oh my God.” Iris covers her mouth.
Both of our families are packed into our living room. Iris’s mom helped me decorate the place with streamers, balloons, and enough confetti to make my daughter happy.
Iris cups my cheek, and I look down at her.
“Thank you for planning this.” Her eyes glisten.
“You deserve it. It’s my fault you got pregnant again in the first place.”
Her head drops back as she laughs up to the ceiling. “You and that damn private jet. We wouldn’t have these issues if we flew commercial.”
“Want to bet?”
She smacks my chest with another giggle before I deposit her on the couch.
Once everyone has a glass of sparkling apple cider in their hand, I call Ilona over so we can give our speeches.
Ilona wouldn’t tell me what she planned for Iris, but I assumed it would be something short and sweet.
I should have known it wouldn’t turn out that way.
She presses a palm against her heart. “I pledges allegiance to the flag…”
Iris cackles as everyone looks around with confused faces before joining in and reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. By the time it’s my turn to speak, half the group is already red-faced or teary-eyed from withheld laughter.
Ilona looks up at me. “How did I do, Daddy?”
“Good work, sweetheart. It’s going to be hard to beat that one.”
She shoots me the brightest smile before running back to her cousins.
Although I’m no longer nervous to speak in public since becoming CEO, I still feel a jolt to the heart when Iris looks at me.
I raise my glass. “Congratulations on this big accomplishment. I never doubted your ability to be an incredible mother, wife, and student, although I know you did. But you persevered despite the doubt and earned your degree to help others just like you. There is not anyone more deserving of this diploma than you, especially given the sacrifices you made to achieve it. You’re the strongest person I know and the hardest worker I’ve ever had the pleasure of collaborating with, and I’m grateful our kids have you as a role model to look up to.”
She wipes her eyes.
I finish off with a word just for her. “Gunnen1.”
“Was that even English?” Nana calls out from somewhere in the crowd.
“Dutch or German if I had to guess,” Rowan offers.
“Why the heck would he say that?”
Iris smiles. “Because we’re in love like that.”
