As Eda and Serkan's night continued at the resort—sitting on the couch at their hotel room balcony as they looked at the beautiful night sky. All Serkan could think about was that all his worries about Yusuf were gone. But what is itching him now is finding out the story on why she is so close to him.
"If you don't mind me asking..." Serkan spoke. "...what's the story behind you and Yusuf?" He asked but Eda just smiled and shook her head—she was expecting this.
"I met Yusuf again two years after we broke up..." This statement made Serkan look down, ashamed of what happened. "...I bumped into him during a convention..."
"Eda?" A man's voice called out, making Eda look up.
"Yusuf?" They both smiled, surprised to see each other after such a long time.
"What are you doing here?" She asked, confused at what he was doing at an architecture & design convention.
"I'm here to market my company, of course...and also look out for potential partners and clients." He explained as Eda started to remember that he owned a manufacturing company.
"I—"
"Eda?" Another voice came, surprising Eda even more.
"Fidan?"
"How are you? It's been a long time!" Fidan exclaimed as she engulfed Eda in a hug.
"You know each other?" Yusuf suddenly asked.
Both women looked at him and smiled. "Evet." They answered.
"We were classmates back in university." Eda answered. "How do you guys know each other?" She asked.
"Fidan is my lovely wife." answered Yusuf as he wrapped his arm around Fidan.
This made Eda smile—how adorable they looked. She was happy that Yusuf had found happiness and love. Especially with a person as great as Fidan. How she wished the same for herself with the person she loved.
"Bi dakka...Yusuf has a wife?" Serkan asked.
"Evet."
"Why have I not seen her?" He asked, confused.
"I think it's because you're focusing too much on Yusuf. Seeing as all this time you thought that we were together." Eda teased and rolled her eyes.
"Komik mi?" He asked sarcastically.
"Kidding aside, she works in a different time zone so she wakes up late and works late." She added.
"So this is why I usually just see you and Yusuf in the house?" He asked.
"Evet."
"Speaking of houses...are you staying with them or are they staying at your house? Because I find this very confusing." He asked, again.
Eda smiled, amused at Serkan's confusion and bursts of questions. "The house...is theirs."
"A—bu—" He shook his head trying to find the words to say. "So why are you staying with them?"
"I'm designing their house." She answered, plain and simple.
Serkan chuckled, confused at Eda's answer as it didn't give much explanation. "Tamam. Ama it still doesn't make sense why you and Kiraz are staying there."
Eda didn't answer and just kept silent. "Stay at my place." He suggested.
"Serkan."
"I think it'll be better. We get to spend more time together..." Eda raised her eyebrow at him. "...yani...sen, ben ve Kiraz."
"Serkan." She gave him a warning look.
"Tamam. No meddling." He nodded. "As long as you're not with Yusuf and he has a wife—that's all the clarification I need." He smiled playfully at Eda at which she just rolled her eyes at him.
Silence briefly surrounded them before Serkan spoke, seriousness in his voice. "Ama gerçekten, I'm really happy we're here and that I was able to bond with Kiraz."
"There's so much difference between spending time with her for just an hour in a day compared to the whole day." He sighed. "...and today, I felt that and I learned so much about her." He continued.
"She has such a pure heart...just like you." He said, looking Eda in the eyes with sincerity.
Eda couldn't help but stare back into Serkan's eyes. He then slowly leaned in and lightly caressed her cheek. "Çok güzel..." He said as he looked from her eyes then to her lips, thinking of kissing her.
But his voice woke Eda from the spell his eyes had temporarily put her in. "I think we've had enough words to say for one night." Eda cleared her throat and nervously smiled, putting Serkan's hand down that rested on her cheek before standing up. "İyi geceler, Serkan Bolat."
"İyi geceler, Eda Yildiz." He said as Eda walked back inside and laid next to Kiraz on the bed. He smiled at the sight of the two most precious people to him, before looking back up at the sky, admiring the stars.
—--------------
"Günaydın." Kiraz greeted as she walked out to the balcony where Serkan was standing, looking at the resort below. "Everybody is still sleeping at this time. What are you doing awake?"
"Günaydın." He greeted back before crouching to her level. "I always get up at 5 in the morning. Why are you up so early? You should be getting more sleep so you can have more energy."
"I also get up at 5 in the morning, so I can be more productive." At her response, a smile formed on Serkan's lips.
"Öyle mi?" He asked, amused at how similar they were.
"Evet." She answered enthusiastically. "Ah! We have another thing in common, Serkan Bolat."
Her joy at realizing their similarities made Serkan chuckle. "Evet."
"Hmm...do you wanna go looking for seashells with me?" She suddenly asked.
"Tamam." Kiraz clapped her hands in excitement and walked through the room and straight to the door.
Serkan trailed behind but suddenly stopped. "Kiraz, wait for me. Tamam mi?"
Kiraz looked at him, confused, as he walked back to the table and took out a piece of paper and pen. She walked towards him and asked. "Ne yapıyorsun?"
"I'm writing your anne a note..." He answered. A memory suddenly flashed in his head of the last time he had made a note for Eda—they had fought that night and he had to leave for work so he opted to write her a note.
Peri Kızı,
Çok özür dilerim. I didn't mean any of the words I said last night.
I hope you can forgive me.
Serkan sighed at the memory of the note before smiling at Kiraz. "I'm writing your anne a note so when she wakes up, she knows where to find us." He explained.
"Güzel. Tamam, hadi." She said as he finished writing the note and had put it on her bedside table.
"Tamam." Kiraz held onto Serkan's hand and they left the room.
As they walked towards the beach, and through the resort, multiple people greeted Kiraz—from guests to hotel staff. Serkan couldn't help but smile as he remembered the same instance with Eda during their Antalya trip.
They strolled by the shore, Kiraz looking at every interesting seashell she could find and calling out to Serkan to show it to him every now and then. I could get used to this. He thought.
"Bak, Serkan Bolat! This shell looks so nice!" She showed it to him. "I'll show it to anne later!" She exclaimed excitedly.
—-----------------
Eda could feel the sunlight hit her eyes. She blinked her eyes awake and looked around—Kiraz and Serkan were no longer in the room. Getting out of the bed, she found the note Serkan had left for her.
Peri Kızı,
We've gone out to the beach to check out some seashells. Baba-kız bonding and all.
By the time you wake up, we'll probably be at the restaurant, having breakfast.
Serkan
Although it was a simple note, it made Eda smile but then she suddenly furrowed her brows as she realized that she could no longer remember the last time she received a note from Serkan. She sighed and proceeded to get ready for the day.
As she reached the restaurant, she only found Serkan, Engin and Piril at the table. She took a seat next to Serkan and greeted them all good morning.
"Kiraz nerede?" She asked.
"She's at the playground with Can." Serkan answered before waving at the waiter who immediately came to their table with food on his tray.
"Breakfast for the madam." The waiter said as he laid the food in front of Eda then walked away.
"Teşekkürler, Berat." Serkan said to the waiter.
"Berat?" Eda looked at Serkan, amused that he knew that waiter's name.
"Evet...Kiraz had me introduce myself to the hotel staff and some guests. She was very insistent." He shrugged, earning a laugh from Engin.
"Abi, I can't even imagine it." Engin commented.
"Tamam, tamam." Serkan said before turning to Eda. "I hope you don't mind but I've already ordered for you...your favorite—"
"Pancakes and—" She continued only to be interrupted by Serkan, who cleared his throat.
"—strawberries." He added and Eda smiled at his slightly uncomfortable reaction.
"Ah—bu arada, teşekkürler for the note. I appreciate it." She said before taking a bite at her breakfast. "Hmm...I actually can't remember the last time you wrote me a note." She said out of the blue, making Engin and Piril look at Serkan, waiting for his answer.
Serkan didn't want to tell her that he had written her a note when they fought before she left so instead, he gave her a different memory, something sweet. "It was that time when I took Kiraz out to the backyard of our house. She was fussing and I didn't want to wake you so I thought of just taking her out." He reminisced.
It was 5:30am and Kiraz was starting to wake up and lightly fuss. Serkan looked at his schedule and realized that he had nothing urgent for the morning, so he carried Kiraz out the room, making sure not to wake Eda from her beautiful slumber.
He proceeded down to the kitchen and took out some milk that Eda had pumped from last night, then popped it in the bottle heater before going to the backyard.
Kiraz cooed upon seeing the greenery around her. "You like plants like anne, too, huh?" Serkan spoke to Kiraz.
"Well, when you grow up, you can be a landscape architect like your anne—yani...if that's what you want. You can be anything you want to be, just as long as you put your heart into it. Your anne taught me that." He continued talking to Kiraz as they relaxed outside and waited for the bottle of milk to get warm.
In the bedroom, Eda stirred awake. Feeling that Kiraz was not near her, she immediately sat up at the thought that she may have fallen—but no, Kiraz nor Serkan were not inside with her. A note on the bedside table caught her attention and a smile spread across her face upon reading it.
My lovely soon-to-be wife,
I took Kiraz out to the backyard since we didn't want to wake you up. You may not tell me nor show it, but I know you need all the sleep and rest you can get. Çok teşekkürler for always taking care of us.
Seni seviyorum. See you downstairs!
Eda quickly went downstairs and found that Serkan had heated a bottle of milk for Kiraz and in perfect timing, it went off just as she was about to check on it. She took it out and went to go see the father-daughter duo in the backyard.
Serkan was swaying Kiraz from left to right, slowly dancing and singing to her. This made Eda giggle, getting his attention.
"You're singing..." She said. He doesn't sing nor does he dance.
"Yani...it was for Kiraz. She made me do it." He explained, embarrassed about getting caught.
"Öyle mi?" She asked playfully to which Serkan only smiled. "Bu arada, teşekkürler for that note. Seni seviyorum, aşkım."
"Ben de seni seviyorum." He responded, kissing Eda on the forehead as she hugged Serkan and joined them, swaying.
"Oh, yeah. Then I heard you singing." She teased before taking another bite.
"Hayır." He shook his head, fighting off a smile.
"Evet..."
"Hayır..." Their little banter made Engin and Piril give each other knowing looks as they smiled at the two, opposite them.
"Anne!" Kiraz called out as she and Can ran towards their table. "Günaydın." She greeted, squeezing herself in between Serkan and Eda.
"Günaydın, bebeğim." Eda greeted back, hugging Kiraz.
"Anne bak..." She said as she pulled out a seashell from her pocket. "I found this seashell with Serkan Bolat. Isn't it pretty?" She asked.
"It is." Eda answered, smiling back at Kiraz.
"I think it got broken when the waves kept pushing it onto the rocks. But look how it came out, it's sort of shaped like a heart." said Kiraz as she held it back to herself, touching its misshapen edges. "My teacher said that, no matter how ugly or bad or broken one thing is, something good always comes after."
Eda was speechless. Kiraz's words made Serkan and Eda look at each other as if making them realize something. She then blinked her eyes back to her senses and directed her attention to Kiraz.
"Evet..." Eda then cleared her throat and changed the topic. "Why don't we go and get ready? We'll have to leave soon."
"Tamam." Kiraz responded and held Eda's hand.
"I'll go with you." Serkan said, standing up and grabbing his sunglasses. "Engin, Piril. Görüşürüz."
—--------------
The car's engine stopped as Serkan turned off the car that was now parked at Yusuf's driveway. Their short-lived vacation had ended. Serkan couldn't help but sigh at the thought that he would no longer be seeing Eda and Kiraz the entire day—and that it was back again to scheduled visits with his busy work days.
"Teşekkürler, Serkan Bolat!" Kiraz exclaimed as Eda carried her out of the car.
"Evet. Teşekkürler, Serkan."
"Do you wanna go inside? I want to show you my drawings." Kiraz suddenly asked.
"Kiraz—" Eda trailed, knowing that Serkan would be busy as they were now off of vacationing.
"It's fine, Eda..." He interrupted before looking at Kiraz who was in Eda's arms. "I'd love to see your drawings."
"Hadi, anne!" Kiraz demanded.
"Tamam, tamam." Eda responded and walked towards the door, opening it.
"Günaydın." Eda greeted, her voice echoing through the house.
"Günaydın, Eda." A woman's voice spoke, making Serkan turn his head towards the sound.
A blonde-haired woman came out of the kitchen with Yusuf trailing behind who had Zehra in his arms. They both walked towards Serkan and Eda who had just come into the house.
"Günaydın. I don't think we have met before." The woman said towards Serkan. "I'm Fidan, Yusuf's wife." She extended her hand for him to shake.
"Serkan, Serkan Bolat." He responded, shaking Fidan's hand.
"So you're Serkan Bolat." She playfully emphasized. She surely knew who Serkan Bolat was but this was the first time she saw him in the flesh. Eda had avoided talking about him throughout the years, not wanting to remember the pain that she once felt.
Eda cleared her throat, diverting the attention towards her as she put down Kiraz who ran up to her room with Zehra.
"So Fidan here is a marketing specialist who has a company in Italy so she works in that time zone." Eda explained.
"Evet. We've just recently moved here in Istanbul since I'm expanding my business and I'm also starting to get into Yusuf's manufacturing company on the marketing side. So we thought that it'd be best to run things from here." Fidan explained.
"Hmm...a good business decision. Çok iyi." Serkan responded, nodding his head.
"We are also so grateful that Eda came with us on such a short notice to design our house and do the landscaping. She is amazing!" She added, but something in what Fidan said made Serkan's brows furrow.
"Tamam, Fidan. Tamam." Eda interrupted. "Don't you have work or something?"
Fidan looked at her watch which was in Italy's time zone. "Evet! I almost forgot, it's almost 8am in Italy and I have a meeting with my team." She said. "It was nice meeting you, Serkan." She shook his hand again before disappearing to one of the rooms upstairs.
"Serkan." Yusuf plainly said.
"Yusuf." Serkan replied before he also proceeded to go upstairs.
"Have a seat on the couch." Eda said. "I'll just take these bags upstairs."
"Let me help you with that." He offered.
"It's fine, Serkan." She smiled at his gesture before going up.
Serkan looked around the house—this time, admiring the design Eda had created. Indeed, she was now better at her craft than before. He was amazed at how much she had improved her skill.
"Serkan Bolat!" Kiraz called out as she descended from the stairs. He sat on the couch as Kiraz walked up to him, sitting beside him while she showed her drawing.
"Bak. This is a drawing I made of the outer space and here is my baba's rocketship and here he is...traveling back to planet earth so he can already be with us." Kiraz explained each page of her drawings.
The scene in front of Eda made her stop and smile—Kiraz had really warmed up to Serkan. She couldn't believe that in just a few days, they had gone so close, seeming to slowly patch the missing years they had not spent together. Realizing this made it all clear—they have to tell Kiraz the truth sooner than later.
"Tamam, bebeğim." Eda spoke as she walked towards the duo. "Serkan Bolat has somewhere to be."
"Tamam." Kiraz responded.
"Your drawings are very wonderful. I really love them." Serkan said, handing back her drawings.
"I want you to have them." She said, surprising Serkan.
"Neden?"
"Bilmiyorum." She shrugged. "I feel like you should have them."
This made Serkan smile—her impulsiveness resembles so much of Eda. "Tamam. O zaman, I'll treasure it. Çok teşekkür ederim." He said before standing up to head for the door, papers in hand.
"Bye-bye!" Kiraz waved goodbye before they left.
"Bye-bye..." Serkan waved back.
As Eda and Serkan walked towards his car, he spoke. "How'd you know I need to be somewhere right now?"
"I had Lara send me your schedule." She answered. "I believe that you shouldn't be the only one adjusting to our schedule. I think that it goes both ways. We can work around yours, too. I see it as a better way of co-parenting."
"Right..." He trailed, nodding his head. Co-parenting...why can't we just be parenting...together. He thought.
"Hey, Serkan..." Eda said warmly. "Çok teşekkür ederim. Kiraz had a lot of fun...not just because she had a great time at the resort but I think a big factor of that is also you."
"She's starting to see you as someone who she can trust...and I'm really happy about that." She added.
Step 1: Appease Eda, check! Step 2: Gain Kiraz's trust, check! I'm finally back on track. He thought.
"About that...I know we've already decided on telling Kiraz...and I was thinking if we could do it today." He suggested. "I only have one meeting today and after that, I'm totally free."
"I mean...I guess so." Eda smiled, feeling excited but then she sighed, suddenly feeling nervous on how Kiraz would react.
"What's wrong?" He asked.
"I just feel nervous. I'm scared that she might get mad at us for not telling her right away." She answered, sadness in her voice.
"Gel." He said and unconsciously, Eda walked towards Serkan and what he did next caught her off guard—he hugged her and lightly rubbed her back up and down, comforting her. This made her relax into his embrace. "Let's not think about it like that. I think she'll understand."
"I really hope so..." She responded before sighing and pulling away from the hug, then smiling lightly at him. "So what's the plan?"
"I'm not sure yet but I'll call you after the meeting. Tamam mi?"
"Tamam." She answered. "Görüşürüz."
"Görüşürüz." Serkan then hopped into his car and drove off.
Seeing him leave made Eda feel like she didn't want him to—like how she used to feel years ago when he'd leave for work, sad and immediately missing him. She sighed and shook off the feeling before heading inside the house.
—----------------
It was now 4 in the afternoon and Serkan was on his way to Yusuf's house to pick up Eda and Kiraz. He had called Eda and told her his plan: take Kiraz to the Planetarium and tell her afterwards then hope for the best. It was pretty straight forward to Eda.
A smile spread across his face as he stopped at the driveway and Kiraz immediately hopped inside the car. He could sense that Kiraz was getting used to him picking them up as she would now get inside the car on her own and properly buckle herself with no help.
Serkan hopes that it will still be the same after they tell her. His palms became sweaty at the thought, nervousness getting to him. He sighed then put on a big smile before looking at Eda then turning to Kiraz.
"Are you ready?" He asked a confused Kiraz.
"I'm ready!" She exclaimed. "But where are we going?"
"It's a surprise." He answered.
Their car ride was filled with Kiraz's voice—talking about how great her vacation was and how much fun she had. A thought crossed her mind that she hadn't told Eda.
"Anne, did you know, I learned how to dive!" Kiraz announced.
"Öyle mi?" Eda raised her brows as she looked at her daughter.
"Evet! Serkan Bolat taught me how." She answered. "He said that I should not give up and should try my best...just like how he does not give up on the people he loves and tries his best."
This made Eda look at him, fully knowing what he had meant about what he told Kiraz. Serkan only glanced at her before looking back at the road as he drove. But with just that, Eda had read what his eyes wanted to say. She then looked away, holding her emotions that were fighting inside her. There was so much that she wanted to ask, so much that she wanted to say.
"Serkan Bolat is my hero." Kiraz said, making Eda look at her confused and surprised.
"Neden?" She asked.
"Because he taught me how to be brave." With this, a smile formed on Eda and Serkan's lips.
————————
Not long, they were already walking up to the entrance of the Planetarium. And just as Eda expected, he had rented the whole place just for them. Typical Serkan Bolat. She thought.
They took their seats with Kiraz in between them, then leaned back to look at the full-sized screen. Serkan waved his hand to signal that the movie can now be played. However, a minute passed by and nothing played on the screen.
"What is going on?" Serkan spoke, standing up to look at the back where the operator should have already played the movie.
"Serkan, it's fine." Eda said, sensing that he was getting annoyed.
"It's not fine." He answered back. Right now, at this very moment—was supposed to be something precious for him before they tell their daughter who he really is and he didn't want anything to mess it up.
"Sakin ol." Eda said, in a hush tone.
Serkan took a deep breath and shook his head in disappointment. "I'll go and check out what's happening. Just stay here." He said before leaving. Eda could only sigh at this.
Just as Serkan had gone out, the movie started playing. "Anne, it's playing. Serkan Bolat is missing it." Kiraz said.
Eda's head twisted from left to right, looking where Serkan could have gone and hoping that he was going to come back soon to still be able to join them. However, knowing his temper, he would have probably gone to the manager of the planetarium to complain. So they had no choice but to sit and watch the movie, just the two of them.
"Bak anne, it's the galaxy." Kiraz stated, pointing at the screen.
The movie showed the Milky Way then zoomed in showing the solar system. One by one, it featured the planets with a voice over narrating every interesting fact about it—amazing Kiraz. When it was Earth's turn to be featured, something about it made Eda furrow her brows in curiosity.
"Earth—it is the third planet from the sun. It is the only planet known to have plants and animals living on it. This is where we also live." said the narrator.
"Earth has one moon." The screen then zoomed in on the moon. "We can only see the moon because it is reflecting light from the sun. A total of 12 people have been on the moon..." continued the narrator.
"Baba is one of them!" Kiraz exclaimed then the look of shock came to her as she realized that the animation that was playing on screen were actually her drawings.
The movie showed a rocketship sitting on the moon with an astronaut bouncing around, who then waved 'hello' before getting inside the ship. Smoke started coming out as the ship flew, leaving its station at the moon. It glided left then right, avoiding debris and whatnot that floated in space while it headed its way to Earth.
"The astronaut is going home, anne." said Kiraz with delight in her voice.
The ship came closer and closer to the earth as it entered its atmosphere and finally landed. Doors to the ship opened, fog emitting from inside, the astronaut then stepped out with his hands on his helmet, ready to remove it. This made Kiraz intently look at the screen as this was no longer part of her drawings....but then the screen turned black and the movie was cut.
"Anne, what happened?" Kiraz asked, confused as to why the movie had abruptly ended.
"Bilmiyorum, bebeğim." answered Eda, also confused. She looked around, hoping to find someone to ask when...
All of a sudden, a light fog started to form just below the screen—confusing Eda and Kiraz. But all their emotions changed when an astronaut walked out from behind the screen and towards them. A tear fell from the corner of Eda's eye as she realized who the man in the suit was.
"Baba?" Kiraz called out and stood up, hoping that the astronaut on the screen, which she believes to be her dad, is the one that stepped out.
The man in the suit finally took off his helmet, shocking Kiraz. "I'm home, kızım." He said.
"Serkan Bolat?" She asked. Serkan then smiled as he crouched to her level and nodded in response.
Kiraz froze—she did not move, react, nor bat an eye. She just stared at Serkan, looking deeply into his eyes. Eda and Serkan looked at each other, fearing that their daughter was disappointed. Eda could quickly read how shattered Serkan was at the thought.
What Kiraz did next surprised both parents—she engulfed him in a really tight hug and spoke the words... "I knew it wasn't just a dream. I knew it, I knew it!"
"What do you mean, Kiraz?" Eda asked.
"I had a dream last night...I dreamt that Serkan Bolat was my dad. At first I didn't believe it because how can he be my dad? So then I made a wish: Inshallah, I hope my baba will be the same person as Serkan Bolat."
"Why do you want your baba to be someone like Serkan Bolat?" Serkan asked.
"Because you're really funny." Kiraz simply stated with a shrug, making Eda cover her mouth to hold back her laugh while Serkan just raised his brows, amused at her answer.
"I find it really funny when you look at anne and you don't move—it's like you're frozen, and something in your brain stopped working." Kiraz giggled, a memory clearly playing in her head.
Serkan's face turned into a tomato as his daughter had clearly caught him checking out her mother. At this point, Eda bit her lip to avoid a laugh from coming out of her mouth.
"Komik mi, Eda?" He asked, standing up to look at her.
"Çok komik." She answered, giving him a big smile. Serkan couldn't help but smile back and examine her lovely face.
"Neyse, shall we go? I have another surprise for you." said Serkan, making Kiraz smile in excitement.
"Evet!" Kiraz exclaimed.
"Hadi gidelim." He said. Kiraz then held both of her parents' hands as they walked out of the planetarium—this made Serkan feel like he had his family back again.
————————
After 15 minutes of driving, Eda was getting really curious as to where they were going. Serkan had not given any clue, no matter how much Kiraz and Eda asked. All he said was that they were having dinner.
They arrived at a small restaurant near the beach. Serkan parked the car in front and got out, Kiraz and Eda following behind. But Eda furrowed her brows as she noticed that the restaurant seemed to have all lights off, indicating that the restaurant was closed.
"I think it's closed." said Eda.
"Is it?" Serkan asked rhetorically before taking out a key from his pocket and showing it to them.
Eda shook her head in disbelief then smiled—he once again, rented an entire place. But what could be in store for them this time?
As Serkan opened the door, he turned on the lights to reveal a very modern themed restaurant. It was small but pleasant. There was a kitchen counter dividing the cooking area from the dining table—just like the kitchen he had at his house.
"Have a seat." He said, gesturing towards the chairs in front before disappearing into a room at the back.
"Where did Serkan Bolat go?" asked Kiraz.
"Bilmiyorum, bebeğim." This seemed to be the only thing Eda had answered Kiraz the entire time—also unsure of what tricks Serkan had up his sleeves.
The sound of a cart being pushed echoed inside the empty restaurant. Serkan had brought a cart full of food to cook and also pans and pots.
"You're cooking?" Eda asked, surprised.
"Evet." He answered, smiling flirtatiously at her, obviously hinting a specific time when they had cooked together, making Eda roll her eyes as she hid her smile.
Serkan put on his apron and started cooking as Kiraz looked at him in amazement while he showcased his talent and finesse in cooking. Seeing how he was enjoying, made Kiraz walk behind the counter and join him.
Eda found it really cute, seeing Serkan and Kiraz interact—finally as father and daughter. Serkan had Kiraz wash the vegetables and he taught her how to cut them, giving her a child safety knife. On the other side, he started plating some of the dishes he'd finished cooking. Eda leaned on the table and watched them dreamily.
"Dinner is served." said Serkan as he put down the last plate. "Hadi." He said to Kiraz who immediately took his hand as they went over to Eda.
"Hmm...this is so good." said Eda as she took a bite of the steak. She then gave a piece to Kiraz who also found it really delicious.
"Afiyet olsun." said Serkan, smiling.
—----------------
They were now on their way home after a night of surprises—Serkan was surely a man of many tricks. The little peri kızı had fallen asleep after having a lot of fun cooking with her baba.
"Ya Serkan?" said Eda, calling his attention. "How were you able to pull off the surprise in the planetarium?" She finally asked, unable to contain her curiosity.
This made Serkan smile. "On my way to the office, all I could think about was Kiraz's drawings and how much she longed for her baba. Then when I was looking at them after the meeting, Erdem popped into my office and started flipping the pages of the drawing. As he was doing that, an image of an animation came to my head." He explained.
"So I immediately called an animator and sent Kiraz's drawings so he could animate them in time for our planetarium visit—and of course, a little help from the planetarium staff to make everything seem real. I hope my acting was believable." He added, lightly chuckling.
"I really thought you were already talking to the manager, getting angry for messing up your surprise. I also wasn't expecting a fog machine." Eda said, giggling.
"Yani...I wanted to imitate an astronaut." He shrugged.
"Tamam, tamam." She giggled at the thought.
The car then came to a stop as he pulled up into the driveway of the house. They slowly went out, making sure not to wake Kiraz as Serkan took her out of the car seat and carried her inside the house and up to the room.
When he was about to lay her down on the bed, Kiraz's grip tightened around his neck—she was awake, surprising both her parents.
"Don't go yet, Serkan Bolat." Kiraz said as she looked at him.
"Kiraz..." trailed Eda.
"Tamam, I won't go yet." He answered looking at Kiraz then at Eda, who gave him an apologetic smile as she knew he had an early day tomorrow at work.
He sat down on the bed and put Kiraz on his lap, who hugged him tightly once again. "I wish I found out that you were my baba sooner." She stated, looking up at Serkan.
"Neden?" He asked.
"Maybe then we wouldn't have to leave." She explained.
"Leave?" He asked, getting nervous at where the conversation was going.
"Evet. We'll be leaving on Saturday." said Kiraz. This time, Serkan turned his attention to Eda with furrowed brows but she only avoided his gaze.
"Tamam, bebeğim. Let's get you ready for bed." Eda said, this being the signal for Serkan to go out and wait downstairs.
Simple words from Eda Yildiz. He thought. "İyi geceler, Kiraz." He bid her good night then kissed her forehead before leaving the room.
As he waited downstairs, a million things ran inside his head. He sat on the couch then stood back up, pacing back and forth at every thought that came through his mind. Just then Eda came down the stairs and towards him.
"What did Kiraz mean when she said you are leaving?" He asked.
"Not here." This was all she said before opening the door so they could talk outside.
"What did she mean, Eda?"
"We..." She let out a deep breath. "We're going back to Italy."
"This Saturday?" Eda could only nod in response, hearing the hurt in his voice.
"Eda, that's a day from today!" He exclaimed in frustration. "Today—the day that our daughter finally found out that I'm her baba. The day that I finally get to feel being a baba. And now you're telling me that you're leaving?"
"Serkan—"
"Is this the reason why you're just staying at this house? Because you were just gonna be here for a short time?" He asked but Eda didn't answer.
"Were you even planning on telling me?"
"Bilmiyorum..."
"So you were waiting out to see if I'd have a good relationship with our daughter then you'd decide if you were gonna tell me or not. That's it, isn't it?" He spat.
"Before you start accusing me...meeting you was not part of whatever plan I had when we came here." She answered back. "Evet, it is the reason why we are staying here at Fidan and Yusuf's house, but it's not the reason why I did not tell you."
"Then what?"
"Truthfully, I didn't know when we were gonna tell Kiraz about you being her baba. So I thought that if in case—"
"—she didn't take it well..." He continued her sentence.
"...evet. Then, the trip to Italy may soften her emotions a little and hopefully when we come back, she'll understand and warm back up to you." She explained.
"I get it now. Özür dilerim for my reaction." He sighed. "It was just that—"
"Yok, yok. It's fine. I understand." She nodded.
"Just to make it clear, you'll be back, right?"
"Evet."
"For good?"
"Evet. I just need to fix a few things in Italy."
"How long will you be staying there?"
"3 days." She answered and he nodded, thinking about what to say to Eda.
"I think you can make it to just a day." He suggested.
"Ne? Ne demek istiyorsun?" She asked, confused.
"Merak etme, I'll send some of my team to help you with whatever it is you need to fix so staying there for just a day wouldn't be a problem. Plus, it works with my schedule."
"What are you talking about?"
"I'm going with you to Italy." He smiled mischievously.
"Hayır ya!"
—-------------------
A/N:
I am soooo sorry for updating so late! I scrapped the whole chapter I was writing in the middle of the week so I had to start from scratch. I hope I didn't lose any readers in the process! 😣😣
Without further ado, chapter notes:
- Not sure if any of you noticed Fidan but I mentioned her in chapter 1. 🤭
- I hope I explained the movie animation well since I was having a hard time trying to write it how I envisioned it in my head. 😅
- Also, not sure if I did a good job on how Serkan told Kiraz he was her baba. I wanted to keep the same surprise that Serkan did on the series so I went with a somewhat similar route. 😅😅
- By the way, the narrator when it was Earth's turn to be featured was Serkan. That's why Eda had this reaction. 🤭🤭
Lastly, I think this is the first chapter I put out that doesn't have any clues 🤔. I think 🤣🕵🏻
Anyway, let me know what you think! What do you think of Serkan going to Italy with Eda and Kiraz? Do you think this will actually happen?
Hope you enjoyed!