— beach

It's pretty early in the morning. The sky is a beautiful shade of deep blue with light blue hues and creamy orange tinges beginning to peek over the horizon. In his eardrums vibrates the sound of soft waves crashing against the sand, his own heartbeat, and the soft snores of his daughter. She was in his lap, curling up against his chest, and together they were wrapped up tight in one small blanket and one big, fluffy blanket. He tried to make sure they were dressed in the warmest pj's that they had before they came out this morning, but yet again he seems to have underestimated the chill. Even still he heaves a small and contented sigh, warm smile spreading across his face as he leans down to push a faint kiss to the top of his daughter's head. Any minute now the sun would rise. And times like this were worth the wait.

"Daddy," mumbles the small child of his, rubbing her eyes and looking up at him with sleepy eyes. "Daddy, I'm hungry."

Seems he woke her with his kiss. Oops. "Just a few more minutes, baby. Just a few more minutes," he whispers down to her, the child's lips curving into a pout and him leaning in to peck her tiny nose. In the next few minutes, the sun would be up, and they could partake in their monthly tradition of eating breakfast on the beach at sunrise. Usually, she couldn't wait that long and they ended up eating prior to the sun's appearance, but just this once, he was gonna make her wait. There was this... awe inspiring quality to seeing the sun rise so early in the cold that made the tradition all the more worth it; there was something about holding off eating until the sun makes an appearance... something about that that just makes the taste of the food more satisfying. And just this once they were gonna do things right and wait.

Shifting around in his lap, little Isla crawls out of the blanket with a yawn, rolling around in the sand and holding out a random prolonged "beep" as she moves about the sand. There she goes, being cute. A chuckle rumbling in his throat as he reaches for her, he drags her close and lifts up her little shirt just a bit to blow a raspberry against her stomach. The small child giggles and pushes at his face, rolling away from him and then circling back around to try and steal some of the food they brought with them. Ten immediately rises to his knees and snatches her away, blowing another raspberry on her neck and patting her with a firm "no" leaving his lips, which causes her to whine and run away. He simply sighs and plops back on the blanket, eyes glancing over the waves before shutting to let his other senses take in all the sounds and feels, the sound of his daughter playing around in the sand taking up most of his focus however. That child is already wide awake and she just barely woke up. What is gonna do with her?

"Daddy! Daddy, look!"

His eyes patiently open and point to the direction of his daughters voice, and the first thing he sees is her jumping up and down in excitement at the presence of a sun that finally decided to greet them. "Food time! Food time! Food time!" shouts a hungry child, skipping in the sand back over to the blanket and attaching herself to the bag with the food in it. Shaking his head at her, Ten crawls closer to the food, calmly and lightly peels her limbs away from the bag, and reaches in there for a tub of sliced apples, handing them to the child as he continues to lay everything out. She immediately pops open the lid and begins to munch on the fruit, beaming up at her father and happily bobbling her head. Over time, early morning joggers and dog walkers begin to appear, and as they do, the father and daughter enjoy a simple breakfast and bask in the beauty of the sunrise.

` v.