Page 57 of Mine to Promise
“A surprise?” she says with a squeal. “Bye, Aunt Sofia and Uncle Matty.” She princess waves her hand at them.
“We’ve been dismissed,” Matty says, looking at Sofia. “That hurts.”
“I’ll kiss it and make it better,” Sofia soothes.
“Eww.” I cover Avery’s ears. “There is a child.”
“Oh, please.” Sofia gets up. “Have fun with the surprise.” She winks at Addison, who looks at me.
“They know what the surprise is?” she asks me as I move her away from them and toward the car.
“You’ll know soon enough,” I tell her as she puts Avery in her car seat.
“For the record, I hate surprises,” she declares, huffing and walking away from my kiss. “Like hate-hate.” She opens the passenger door.
“Noted,” I tell her right before she gets into the car and slams the door. I laugh and look up toward the sky. “Please let her not freak out.”
I start the car and make my way over to the private airport in the industrial part of town. I pull into the parking lot before turning off the car. “Let’s go,” I urge, getting out of the car before she asks me questions. The chain-link fence shows a hangar with two planes outside. One plane has the stairs down with a rug.
“Where are we?” Addison asks as she looks around.
I get Avery out of her seat. “Look, an airplane.” She points at the plane as I walk around the car and slide my hand into Addison’s.
“What are we doing here?” Addison asks again, her teeth clenched this time as we walk toward the chain-link fence.
“It’s a surprise,” I tell her, holding her hand even tighter when I feel her slip away.
We walk over to the glass door, and I pull it open and step in. The long desk faces us, with the woman standing up and smiling. “Mr. and Mrs. Dimitris?” she questions, and I nod. “Right this way,” she says, turning and walking out of the side door onto the tarmac.
Once we walk outside and head closer to the plane, I look at them. “Surprise,” I say nervously.
“Is that a plane?” Addison asks me, her face filled with shock. “Is this a private plane?” She continues to look at me and then back to the plane. “Are we taking this plane?”
“We are,” I confirm, and she gasps at the same time Avery jumps up and down.
“I never went on a plane,” she says, clapping her hands together. “Momma, did I go on a plane?”
“No,” Addison says, shaking her head, the shock all over her face. “I didn’t pack a bag.”
“Don’t worry about it,” I assure her, once we get to the stairs leading to the plane. “I got it.” I put my hand on her lower back, almost pushing her toward the stairs.
“What do you mean, you got it?” She turns, asking me through clenched teeth. Avery is already on the fourth step.
“It means trust me.” My hands come up to hold her face. “I promise I have you.” My thumbs rub her cheeks.
“I literally have nothing but my purse,” she says, looking at the plane, seeing Avery talking to the attendant, who is squatted down in front of her shaking her hand.
“Everything is being set up at the hotel,” I tell her, and I can feel her start to shake in my hands. “Hey,” I say as she blinks away tears, but one escapes, “why the tears?”
“I can’t afford this,” she whines as if I stabbed her, “this is too much.”
“Baby,” I say softly. “You raised our daughter for four years without a penny. Trust me, I owe you a lot more than a trip.” I lean forward, the need to kiss her stronger than anything I’ve felt.
“But work,” she finally huffs, putting a hand on her forehead.
“Taken care of.” My hands fall from her face. “Let me give you this.” I don’t know if I’m asking her or begging her. “Please,” I beg, “let me do this for the both of you.”
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