Love Began with the First Meeting

"Daddy can do it! Charlie, if you keep questioning Daddy, I won't talk to you anymore!" Evelyn refused to hear any further degradation of her heroic father. She quickly covered her ears and childishly pouted her mouth at her brother. Brian's smile widened as he softly sat down by her side. He gently put her on his lap and started to sort out the different bits of the handcraft. As he helped her patiently, he said, "You need to prove yourself through actions, not words." Evelyn pulled a face at her daddy's words. She gave Charlie a stern look and then started helping Brian with the handcraft. She was no longer helpless. With Daddy's help, she was confident that she could make something far better than the other two. Cathy and Charlie exchanged looks, silently suspicious about Brian's skills. He just didn't seem like a man who knew how to make detailed handcrafts. He was a man who sat at a high position and his time was devoted to more important things, such as determining people's life and fate. How on earth could he afford to spend time learning handcrafting? However, they were both wrong about him. Brian seemed to know what he was doing. He skillfully matched the parts one by one and was able to quickly put them together without any glitch. He didn't even seem to be wondering what he was doing. Both Cathy and Charlie stared at his hands and were amazed by his speed. They forgot to concentrate on their own half done work.

"Seriously?!" Cathy's eyes widened when she saw his final product. She exclaimed, "You are really good at this... How is this even possible? You are really crushing our self-esteem here!"

Brian simply gave her a profound smile to her surprised reaction. Then he casually laid the handcraft on the table. It was a perfectly glued sailboat. All the details were present. It was, by all means, a true piece of art. Evelyn got so excited that she jumped to her feet and threw her arms around his neck. "Thank you, Daddy! You are the best!" She pecked him warmly on the cheek. The warm kiss from his precious daughter melted his iron heart. In front of his baby girl, Brian was no longer tough or unapproachable.

He recalled a saying 'Your daughter may outgrow your lap, but she'll never outgrow your heart.' It brought a smile to his face when he realized that he was just like Richie, who loved Wing to hell and back. He was so grateful that he was blessed with an adorable daughter as well. Having a daughter made Brian perceive things in a different way.

"This is just a piece of cake. I'm used to assembling something far more complicated than this." Brian casually looked at the sailboat he had made and grinned, "Compared to what I used to do, this is just child's play." Back in XK Intelligence Agency, he was part of a team that was skilled at picking digital locks and dismantling tech gadgets. It was an essential team to keep the organization running as information gathering was one of their key forte. Their talents played a major role. Without their professionalism, most of their tasks would fail. As one of the leading information brokers in the world, XK Intelligence Agency boasted of numerous well trained agents. They were the best among the best.

Although Brian was not an expert in dismantling tech gadgets, he had the general idea of how to get things done. Compared to the basic training he had received and the vast in-field experience, these handcrafts designed for children were simply too easy for him. He actually had fun helping his daughter and was happy to see the satisfied smile on her adorable little face.

Cathy shrugged and rolled her eyes. She then jokingly said to Brian, "This is so not cool. You have made my handcraft look bad with your extraordinary piece of art there. I am getting married tomorrow. Is this how you treat a bride-to-be?"

Brian laughed generously. He then checked his watch and said to her, "Cathy, it is pretty late. You should head home now. You don't want to end up having dark-circles under your eyes on your big day, do you?"

Cathy blushed at his remark. She pouted her ruby lips and giggled, "Well, it doesn't matter if I doll up or not. Molly will always look prettier than me anyway." She said those words cautiously as she peeped at his reaction. When she noticed that his look had become softer, she carried on with her hidden agenda, "Brian, how about... you agree to Daniel's request as a favor for me? Please do it as a wedding gift to us."

"Aha Auntie! So this was your real agenda. I thought you were here to keep us company! But it looks like you just wanted to ask him for a favor!" Before Brian could open his mouth, Charlie bluntly interrupted the conversation and gave Cathy a complacent look. He had already figured that she had come to the guest house with a purpose.

Evelyn, on the other hand, was not pleased about his accusation. She snapped back, "Charlie, you can't say such things to Auntie. It is obvious that she came here for us! She's only asking for a favor since she's already here. What's wrong with that?" Evelyn glared at her brother with her little hands on her hips.

Charlie rolled his eyes, but said nothing. Although he didn't agree with his sister, he chose not to argue with her. His sister was so important to him that he refused to bring her any kind of sadness, even if it was for something as insignificant as this matter. Cathy smiled on hearing their childish squabble. These two whimsical kids really acted like adults sometimes. Cathy extended her palm to Evelyn and high-fived her with a wide grin. "Evelyn, my dear girl, you sure know me well." The next day was extraordinarily sunny.

The sky was as blue as in a beautiful painting, and the clouds had been erased clean.

Red carpets were already spread out down the aisle on the training field. At the start of the aisle was a beautiful arch decorated with hundreds of small pink balloons. A small stage, clustered with fresh flowers picked from the mountains behind the army base, was carefully erected at the end of the aisle for the newly weds to exchange their vows. Despite the simple decoration, the ambience was cozy and romantic. Everyone at the venue could sense the love in the air. Compared to a traditional church wedding, this army base wedding was not at all fancy. However, it was just as romantic and lively. The couple had known each other from their days in the army. Therefore, they had deliberately chosen this site to reaffirm their promise of love. The wedding was going to be unique, meaningful and irreplaceable. Daniel and Cathy's love story could be traced back to the beginning of their military days. They had begun dating here, and now, they would be starting a new life together, with all their friends and relatives as their witnesses.

Brian, Molly and other military officials sat at the front row benches. While other officials were dressed in their normal military uniforms, Brian was wearing a piece of smart black suit with a white shirt inside. Molly had a gorgeous pink jumper skirt on.

"Mr. Brian Long, thank you for the invitation. At the after-party, I shall drink as much as I please. It was really kind of you to ask me to officiate the wedding," the chief official said to Brian with a big smile. He was greatly impressed by the way Brian had approached all the issues. 00000