look after you ( andrew bazzi )

V

  andrew walked into the school, excited to see his daughter again. he only hoped today was better than yesterday for her. he hoped she made a friend to make coming here everyday easier. he just wanted her to be happy.

  the classroom door was open when he reached it, kids and parents walking the opposite direction and on their own way out of the school for the day. his eyes searched for the familiar brunette child, trying to find her curls in the room of different people. his eyes found her in the back of the classroom coloring, the man taking a second glance when he also saw adeline sitting with the child.

  andrew watched the two for a few moments, seeing rosalia smile at the woman next to her multiple times. rosalia pointed at her picture, adeline grinning down at the child. if the man was being honest, he hadn't seen rosalia this happy since allison left. he had tried everything to make her forget about her mother's abandonment, but he knew in the back of his head that nothing could make the child forget it.

  "daddy!"

  a smile subconsciously made its way onto andrews face at the sound of his daughters voice. rosalia dropped her crayon, running to her dad and throwing her arms around him. andrew looked down at the child who had her arms wrapped tightly around his leg to the woman who had walked up to the two. both adults had smiles on their faces, the child grinning as well.

  "miss. kuwonu colored with me! she's very good at it. she stays in the lines and everything!" rosalia rambled.

"that's great, princess. why don't you go get your stuff together while i talk to miss. kuwonu?" andrew asked, looking down at his child.

rosalia nodded, letting go of her father's leg and making her way to the other side of the classroom to grab her stuff.

"she's such a great kid once you get past that defensive layer she has set up. so smart too, maybe too smart for her own age." the woman spoke, crossing her arms over her chest.

andrew let out a chuckle, pushing his hands into his pockets. "yeah, she is. im glad she had a good day. i just want her to find some kind of happiness from here, ya know? i don't want her to be sad everyday because she despises coming here."

"well, we did have a tough morning, but that all went away after lunch when i sat down and colored with her. she talked— a lot, but it was nice listening to her talk about you and your friends and memories she adores. she loves you a lot, you know that right?"

andrew smiled, "she loves to color, especially if someone does it with her— but i know. i love her just as much."

a moment of silence passed, adeline being the one to break it. "she started talking about her mother. i know it's not my place to ask about, but she just seemed so hurt by whatever happened. she said her mother was her favorite person besides you and she talked about her memories with her, but i'm guessing when she got to the last one— she got quiet for a long time and was thinking about whatever happened. i'm just worried, please don't take offense."

andrew was surprised rosalia had spoken about allison with her. rosalia never spoke about allison— never. the man knew his daughter was hurting and he would do anything to take that pain off her shoulders and put it on his own.

andrew bit the inside of his mouth, "i don't take offense, i'm just surprised rosalia talked about her. when it all happened, rosalia never spoke about it. she just— shut down. i know she's still hurting, but today when she was coloring with you, i haven't seen her that happy for a long time, so than—"

"daddy, we're still going to see uncle g and uncle j? and uncle sammy!" rosalia asked, cutting the man off.

"of course." andrew looked from his daughter to adeline, sending the woman a genuine smile. "we'll see you tomorrow, miss. kuwonu?"

"yes, of cour—" adeline was cut off by the feeling of small hands wrapping around her waist.

adeline and andrew were thrown off by the child's sudden affection, a smile subconsciously making its way on both adults faces.

"thank you." the child mumbled, adeline's heart strings pulling at the sound of rosalia's voice.

adeline bent down to be eye level with rosalia, grabbing the child's hand in her own. "anytime, rosalia. you're amazing, you know that?"

rosalia let out a small giggle, giving the teacher another hug. adeline hugged the child back, once again feeling her heart strings pull.

andrew watched the two, a smile subconsciously on his face the entire time. "come on, princess. i'm sure miss. kuwonu has other students to tend too before they leave."

rosalia let go of the teacher, nodding and turning around to grab her father's hand. "bye, miss. kuwonu. remember to tell your brother i said hi."

adeline let out a laugh, "i'll remember. bye, rosalia."

andrew sent the teacher another smile before leaving the classroom with rosalia following beside him. "what was that?"

"miss. kuwonu has a brother who sings! like you, daddy. she let me watch a few videos of him and his friends. they're very talented— and cute." rosalia mumbled the last part, but andrew had heard it.

the man raised his eyebrow at his daughter, "they're cute?"

the two reached the car, andrew opening the door for rosalia, who's cheeks were burning bright. the child put her hand over her mouth, letting out a few giggles before jumping into the back seat of the car.

andrew closed the door, shaking his head and getting in the car. the two drove in silence for a few minutes, them enjoying the music that was playing through the speakers.

"rose?"

rosalia hummed, looking up from her spot in the backseat.

"you like miss. kuwonu?"

"yes. she's really kind and she's very pretty and she listened to my stories. when i try to tell uncle nate my stories, he usually is too busy to listen to them, but miss. kuwonu listened." rosalia took a deep breathe. "she reminds me of mama."

andrew was taken back by the last thing she said, not expecting her to compare adeline with her mother. the man didn't know what to say back to the child, him knowing he wouldn't be able to find the right words.

"i love you, rosalia."

rosalia smiled, her green eyes shining brightly in the sunlight shining through the car. "i love you too, daddy."

authors note:
i'm bringing zion and some
of the boys into the next chapter 😘😤
along with jack & jack & sammy 😰

it's going to be a long ass chapter.