Hamliza Oneshots

"I'm proud to be your father."

Not going to lie, today was kind of a rough day, but writing this helped a lot!

Based slightly on In the Heights (title from Inutil). As always, like and comment! I love hearing your feedback! :) 

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"I'm proud to be your father"

"Did Ellie say if she got a ride here from the airport?" Alexander asked his wife who was cutting up veggies for the dinner salad.

She put the knife down and looked towards her husband who was being absolutely ridiculous. That was not the first time he had asked about their firstborn daughter returning home after her first semester away at college. He hadn't seen her since August since she wasn't able to return home for Thanksgiving.

"Could you calm down, honey?" Eliza asked. "Philip said he'd pick her up, and he says he's on his way home with her. She'll be home before you know it."

He sighed and settled with trusting his firstborn to bring home his daughter. Apparently Eliza wasn't going to let him do anything else.

"Papa!" a little voice behind him called. "Can you play Barbie with me?"

It was his five-year-old daughter that he and Eliza adopted when she was only a few months old. After the difficult labor and delivery of their fourth baby, Eliza and Alexander decided not to have any more children naturally. They instead decided a few years later to adopt, and they haven't stopped after just one. They now also had a ten-month old baby girl named Laila that they adopted, and Alexander and Eliza didn't see themselves stopping there.

Alexander figured he needed to pass time somehow, and he loved playing with his babies anyways. "Sure, Mila. Just let me just get Lai-Lai some puffs."

He got the baby food puffs out of the pantry and placed a few on the high chair tray. The little girl smiled with gratitude and babbled, "Dadadada" over and over again. She wasn't quite yet calling him "papa" or "dada" yet, but it still made his heart swell when he heard her try.

He joined Mila on the floor to play with the Barbie dolls for a few minutes before he heard the door open.

"Ellie!" he heard his wife say, and he immediately got up to greet her too.

"Mom! Dad!"

She hugged them both, excited to see them again finally. She was sort of a homebody, and so being away from home for almost four months was a difficult change for her. Her first two weeks she called every night nearly in tears because she missed being home. 

"Hi, sweetheart!" Alex greeted, giving Ellie a kiss on the cheek. "I missed you so much."

Alexander loved all his kids equally; he promises he does! But there was something about his firstborn girl moving away for college that made it so difficult for him to let go. Ellie was like a mini him personality wise, although she looked like a carbon copy of Eliza. He and Ellie had been best buds since she was born. She was his first little princess, after all.

"I missed you too, dad." She was unenthusiastic, and seemed a little off. That wasn't like her at all. Alex decided he would keep a watch on her the rest of the night.

"Ellie!" Isa, Mateo, and Mila shouted happily when they saw their sister. They ran in for a group hug.

Philip laughed a little while hanging up his coat on the coat hanger. "No one was this excited when I came home for Christmas my first year."

"That's because you were only thirty minutes away, Pip. You'd come home at least once a month," Isa smirked, crossing her arms.

He rolled his eyes, but knew she was right.