Love Like a Tidal Wave

**Seven years later**

"Dad, we're going to be late."

"I'm coming, I'm coming." I told my twelve year old daughter who was standing under the door frame of the front door. I was registering her to middle school and it was a big step for the both of us. I remembered holding her hand on her first day of preschool and now she was a complete different person. She doesn’t even hug me or anything.

Sigh, father problems.

"I'm here." I stood up straight but she just looked at me with one eyebrow up, hinting she didn’t like what I was wearing.

"You're not wearing a tie."

"Do I really have to wear one? I feel like I'm choking when I wear it."

"You're the one who's sending me to a private Jr. High." She said with a hint of an attitude on her tone.

"Don't talk to me with the tone of voice."

She wanted to roll her eyes but she stopped because she knew what would happen if she did. I went back to my bedroom and grabbed a tie that was hanging on my closet. I grabbed two and walked over to the mirror in the living room.

"Burgundy or jade?" I asked her, putting both ties on either side of my shoulders so she could see what color fit best with my suit.

"Green."

"It's jade."

"Just hurry up."

I darted my eyes at her while putting on the tie. She headed down to the car as I closed the door behind me and locked it. I fixed my collar then climbed inside the car. I took the keys out of my pocket and turned on the ignition.

The car was in complete silence as we drove down the city to her new school in San Diego. It was July so Carolina and Luke's birthday were soon coming. Luke was turning eleven, almost a teenager. It's crazy how fast they were growing up.

"Do you want some music on?" I asked the brunette, breaking the silence. She just ignored me and stared out the window. "Did I do something wrong that made you upset with me?"

Silence once again.

"Leia."

"What?" She said with attitude that made me want to slap her, but I contained my anger.

"What did I say about talking to me in that tone?" I hissed and she didn't say a word afterwards. I think I knew why she was acting bitchy. It was time I talked to her. "I know this may sound very awkward but if it is the time of your month I understand that it's a—"

"OH MY GOD DAD! Just no!" She glared at me, feeling slightly embarrassed but mad. I know she was around that age for her menstrual cycle to start. It scared me because of the thought of her becoming a woman and being able to get pregnant was big. She was also around the age of finding guys attractive and that was a big NO in my list of things to watch out for when she became an adolescent.

"I just wanted to tell you that I'm here for you. Just because it's a woman thing doesn't mean you don't ha—"

"DAD, just stop! I'm not on my period and I don't want to talk about that!" She scowled which made me chuckled. I made a right turn on Fourteenth Street passing by Vic and Mike's old neighborhood. The good old days where I would get drunk almost every weekend—well every weekend. Now everyone lived in their own homes with their wives—or girlfriend’s—and family.

"Since you're not on your period, let's talk about the birds and bees."

"OH MY GOD. Are you kidding me?!" She raised her voice at me. I just smiled; this was the part I was looking forward to when she was born. Luke is next on the “talk” and that should be easy since he can’t get pregnant. I just don’t want him to knock up a girl and me having to support her and the baby—my future grandchild.

I feel old.

"Now, I know you're probably wondering what the difference between boys and girls are."

"I already know about that!" She growled and I laughed once again.

"Well, it's time we had the talk." I smiled and glanced at her from the corner of my eyes.

"Mom already talked to me about it! I don't want to hear it again!"

"What did she say to you?" I shifted gears while I entered the freeway.

"'Don't let a guy touch you on your private parts. Don't have sex until you get married or when you’re in love—' "

"NO! Don't have sex until you're married! I don't care how in love you are with the guy. You're not having sex until you're married, settled down and have steady good paying jobs." She gave me a weird look. "And I have to approve of him." She was gonna talk but I interrupted her. "I prefer you go out with someone who's intelligent, knows what college he wants to attend, and is gonna help support you and your future kids."

"Gee, why don't you just pick him out for me?"

I smiled, that sounds like a good idea. "It'll be my pleasure. Now, continue with the birds and bees." I rolled my finger so she could continue.

"Do I have to?" She wined.

"If you want to see your friends or have sleepovers, then yes. You have to."

"Ugh, when two people love each other, and are MARRIED," I laughed the way she emphasized on the word married. "The two have sex. It should be taken serious. If I don't want to have sex, I tell him."

"Protection?"

She sighed, "Wear condoms at all time because if we don't use condoms I will get pregnant and you will kill the guy." My lips quirked up into a smile. I was happy that Carolina said that to her. "Am I done?"

"Yes, now when we go home I’ll give you the pepper spray I bought for you."

The car was silent once again and I wanted to put music on but I didn't think she wanted to listen to any of the music I had since I listened to old rock. I rolled down the window, letting the warm air hit my head. We were almost to her school.

"When is mom coming home?" She asked out of nowhere. I swallowed the lump on my throat then licked my lips before answering.

"Leia, we already talked about this." I glanced at her and I saw her getting eye-teary. It broke my heart but I just wanted her to stay strong like I have. I didn’t want it to upset her, it killed me.

"I miss her," she said softly with a frown.

"I miss her too, baby." We pulled up to her school and climbed out of the car. I put the alarm on my car and walked up the steps of the middle school Leia would be attending this fall. I opened the door, letting Leia walk in first. We turned the first corner and walked down the corridor of the school.

"Ashley! Tiffany! Sam!" Leia shouted with a wide smile on her face. Her group of friends turned their head towards us and smiled. They walked to us while we did the same, meeting them half way. I rubbed the back of my neck as I tried to remember where the cafeteria was located at.

"Mr. Perry," the blonde one said and I turned my attention to her. She was giving me that flirty smirk while twirling the golden lock on her head with her finger. Boy, do I remember plenty of girls doing that when they wanted me back in high school.

“Samantha, pleasure to see that you’ll be attending this school with Leia.” I put my hand around my daughter’s back but Leia moved away from me, crossing her arms under her chest. She gave me that look that meant ‘go away.’ "I'll be inside the cafeteria enrolling you." I started walking away.

"Stop checking out my dad," I heard Leia mutter to her friends. A huge smile appeared on my mouth as I tried not to laugh out loud.

"Your dad is so HOT! And he's a rock star!"

I entered the cafeteria, not listening to whatever they were going to talk about. I was given a packet upon entering containing papers, class schedules and other important things. I sat down on one of the round tables with an Asian and two Caucasians. I filled out the ones I was told to do.

I made friends with the Asian guy. He was nice and we had several things in common. He even liked my tattoos which was odd because a lot of Asians would give me dirty looks. We looked at each of our kid’s class schedule and found out they both are in the same music and Avid class. The kid sounded like a genius but my daughter had honors classes as well. I raised her right.

I saw his kid’s name on the paper and a huge smile escaped from my mouth. A light bulb flashed in my mind. Asians are intelligent, they've known what they want to be when they were in diapers, and I know they'll have a good paying job in the future. I just found Leia her soul mate.

Whilst filling out the paper work and hearing the principal and vice principal speak, we received a snack and a beverage. Once it was over, we headed out the cafeteria in search for our kids. I wanted to meet his son. I wanted to see how Leia’s future husband—and my future son-in-law—would look like.

My Asian friend spotted his son at the benches outside of the quad. We headed over towards him and I spotted Leia with her little chick friends on the other side of the quad. They were giggling and taking pictures. I smiled and turned my focus to his son. He’s tall, slender, long hair—like how I used to have in high school—and he dressed in a long sleeve button up shirt. He had some new high tech Portable PlayStation that came out just a few months ago. He’s perfect.

"This is my son Han Zhi-Wei Wang," he put his arm around his son's shoulder. “Or Han Jerry Wang in American.” He smiled.

"Nice to meet you Han," I smiled, shaking his hand. I whistled to catch Leia’s attention. I put my hands inside my slack’s pocket, waiting for her to get over here. “This is my daughter Leia Nicole Perry.” I placed my hands on her shoulders and gave them a squeeze.

“Hi,” Leia said, shaking both Mr. Wang and Han’s hands.

"Leia you have Han over here for music and Avid class. I'm sure you guys will be good friends." I said proudly, hoping she got the hint—pretty sure she did because she elbowed me when Mr. Wang looked at his phone.

"And I'm sure the study sessions would be beneficial," Mr. Wang said to the two kids. Han nodded his head with a small smile.

"It was nice meeting you two. Leia has band practice in a bit." I shook both their hands again before leaving. Leia said her goodbye to them. She walked over to me as I headed to the parking lot. "What did you think of Han?"

"He was the smartest guy back in elementary school. Don't get any ideas dad. He’s a nerd."

My lips curled up, "What do you mean by ‘ideas’?"

"Just because his name is Han and my name is Leia doesn't mean he's going to be my boyfriend."

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but you did ask me to pick out your husband and so I did. Han wey wang chong lee—whatever his full name is—is perfect, in my opinion." I put my hand on my chest while looking at her with a broad smile. I placed my hands back inside my pockets as we made our way to the parking lot.

"I thought you said I can't date until I'm 20."

"I know. You'll befriend Han. Go on study sessions with him. We'll invite him over for dinner or lunch and we'll take both you two out on weekends. By the time you're twenty, you guys can get married."

"Can I have a quincenara?" She beamed at me, ignoring the fact that I wanted to set her up with Han. My smile went away. My kids don’t have a religion, it was something I didn’t want them being labeled as.

"You're not catholic, baby." I grabbed the keys from my pockets and turned off the car alarm—also unlocking the car.

"But I want one. I want to feel like a princess. Samantha’s sister having hers tomorrow. Ash is planning a big party and I want one also." She smiled, spinning around on the black pavement—imagining she had a big poofy dress.

"You are a princess." I reminded her and she giggled.

"Dad, you know what I meant. I want to wear a big dress and have people by me lots of presents and I want a diamond tiara." Kids, I swear. Why won’t they just accept a cake and balloons or money. That’s a really nice gift but maybe I’ll get her a killer guitar.

“Let’s make a deal, make it into the Advance Academic Academy and bring home the good grades, then I’ll throw you a sweet sixteen, yeah?”

“YES!” She jumped. "Thank you dad!" She hugged me.

"Now, how about we go visit your mom and then head to band practice, eh? The others are waiting for you at Uncle Hime's house."

"Fine. Fine. Fine." She opened the car door and climbed inside. We stopped by a flower shop and picked out some flowers, the flowers that Carolina would always get. We then drove down Market Street to the Mount Hope Cemetery.

We parked in the streets and walked over to the cemetery in complete silence. It wasn't much of a long walk but it took about five minutes to find her. We approached the area quietly.

"There she is." I handed Leia the bouquet of flowers. She took them slowly. I saw her frowning so I rubbed her shoulder soothingly telling her it would be okay. She walked slowly to the tomb stone then got on her knees and placed the flowers in front of the black and silver stone. She lowered her head down and wiped off some tears from her face. Carolina put her arm around Leia and hugged her. She then turned her head to look for me.

I half grinned and waved at her when she spotted me. I walked over to them and stopped behind Lina. I looked at the tombstone and thought back to the day when I first saw him at the hospital. I was scared and speechless.

"I miss him," Leia cried into her mom's chest. Carol pulled her in more, wrapping her arms around her.

"I do too baby, but he's in a better place." She pulled away and wiped away Leia's tears with her thumbs. She smiled and our daughter grinned. She kissed her forehead then stood up and wiped off the grass on her jeans. She looked at me and I hugged her which made her break down.

"Let's go, staying here won't do any good. Okay?" She nodded her head as we pulled apart. I kept my arm around her shoulder as made our way to the vehicles.

"Dad said I can have a quincenara." Leia started a conversation. Carolina whipped her head towards me with confused eyes.

"I said sweet sixteen but only if she gets accepted to the AAA program and keeps her grades up AND marries her future husband." I smiled.

"What?" Carolina said.

"There's this guy in my school named Han Wang. He wants me to marry him because his name is Han." Leia explained to her mother. Carol shook her head and stared at me.

"If Luke got over his obsession of Star Wars, I think you can also."

"No, he still has Padawan braid. We're never taking it off." The twelve year old informed her mother. That's my girl. "Mom, you should make one so us four can be awesome." Conversation went on until we got to Carolina's car. Leia played with her itouch while I spoke to Carolina about our plans.

"We're gonna be at Hime's for band practice. Are you gonna come?"

"Is everyone going to be there?" She asked.

"I'm pretty sure," I scratched my head, hoping she'd come and check out how much the kids progressed. She hasn’t been coming lately since her father—my father-in-law—passed away. She’s been staying at his old place for a few weeks, getting rid of stuff or storing them.

"I have to finish packing and cleaning up the place, but I’ll see you at home for dinner?”

"All right," I frowned, kissing her before she climbed into her car.

“Remember that Luke needs to take his inhaler before three.”

“Will do,” We watched her drive off before heading to my car.

“Dad, I have a question.”

“Mm?” I hummed, banged my head slightly to some song that was stuck in my head.

“If you and mom had sex before getting married, why can’t I?”