'I Missed Him': Military Father Surprises Daughter At Jenks Elementary

First graders at Jenks Elementary West were about to hear from a mystery reader on Friday. As they anxiously waited, wondering who it could be, the birthday girl, Katy, got the biggest surprise.

“I haven't been able to make a lot of my daughter's birthdays due to me being overseas, so the fact that I actually get to make this one I feel great,” said Dayelan Clayton.

Clayton is an MM2 in the United States Navy, and he is currently based in Virginia.

“Hey! How you doing? You doing OK? Happy birthday, baby,” Clayton said, surprising his daughter and holding her in his arms.

This time, he came home and just got to be Katy McCulley's dad.

“Aww you don't have to cry, you don't have to cry. It's OK,” he said, comforting her.

This is only the second birthday Dayelan has ever spent with his daughter in person because he was stationed in Japan for 5 years.

“Due to being foreign deployed in another country, I never really got to see her that often. So, whenever I did see her, it always felt like when I was at the hospital again holding her for the first time, so it's just that feeling again today all over again,” Clayton said.

As he spent time reading to Katy and her class, she couldn't help but have her own feelings too, “Because I missed him,” she said.

Her mom said having Dayelan home means the world to Katy.

“Seeing other kids with their dads, her cousins, so it's been hard for her, and it's been hard to watch her go through that as her mom,” said Kaylyn McCulley.

As they wrapped up their story and sent the class on their way, "Give me hugs, I love you," Clayton said.

Katy looked forward to celebrating the rest of her birthday with her dad in one simple way, getting some ice cream.

“Get ice cream, that's it? Oh, that's easy, we can do that. We can o that. We can most definitely do that,” Clayton said to Katy.