Page 58 of Mine to Promise
“Momma,” Avery yells from inside the plane, “they have a couch in here!”
I smile at her and then look back at Stefano. “This is not normal.”
He chuckles and wraps his arm around my waist, pulling me closer to him. “Baby, nothing with us will ever be normal.” He bends his head to kiss my lips. “As normal as things can be.”
“I don’t think you guys would know how to do normal if it came and bit you in the butt.” I shake my head. His arm drops from around my waist as his hand finds mine before he puts his other hand on my lower back, guiding me to the stairs. I walk up the first step, and the only thing going through my head is how crazy this is.
“Welcome aboard,” the attendant says, standing with her hands in front of her. “We will be ready to go when you are.”
All I can do is nod at her and move to the side so Stefano can step in. “I want to sit by the window,” Avery says, walking over to the four seats on one side with a table in the middle. “Dad, can I sit in that one?” She points at the one chair facing out the window.
“You can sit anywhere you like,” he replies, and I’m not even going to lie, I feel my chest rising and falling as I try not to freak the fuck out.
“Relax.” Stefano leans down and whispers in my ear.
“Easier said than done,” I mumble, making him chuckle as he kisses my lips softly before walking over and getting Avery buckled in her seat. He sits right next to her and then motions to me to come on over with his hand.
I inhale deeply and exhale before walking to the chair facing him and sitting down. The sound of the plane starting makes Avery squeal, the smile on her face is everything. She’s always been a happy kid. Always been a kid who just accepts what I tell her with no pushback, like when I couldn’t buy her theFrozensneakers, and she stared at them for the longest time before just shrugging and walking out with me. It broke my heart so much I went back to get them the day after and ate ramen noodles for two weeks. I blink away the tears as I watch her and Stefano together.
He's got his head next to hers and his arm around her, as he explains everything that is happening. When the plane starts to move, she looks over at him with her eyes big and her mouth in a big O. She puts her two hands on the armrests when the plane picks up speed and the pressure makes her back stick to the chair.
“My ears feel funny,” she says, putting her hands over her ears.
“When we get into the sky, it’ll feel better,” Stefano assures her and she just nods at him.
She looks out the window and gasps, “Momma, look, we are in the clouds.”
I smile at her as I turn to look out the window. “Pretty cool, right?”
The ping for the seat belt goes off, and Stefano unfastens his seat belt and then unfastens hers. “Just for a minute so that you can look outside,” he tells her as she gets on her knees, looking out the window.
“Where are we going?” I ask Stefano, who looks over at me with a smirk.
“It’s a surprise,” he repeats, earning him a glare which makes him laugh. “Last one, I promise.”
“I don’t know, but something about that statement makes me not believe you,” I accuse him. The attendant comes over to hand us water before coming back with a huge fruit plate. “Who is going to explain to her that this isn’t the way travel is done?” I point at Avery, who is looking out the window while she eats strawberries. “No one travels like this.”
He rolls his lips when I ask, “How often have you been on a regular airplane?”
He rolls his eyes. “Plenty of times.”
“Name five,” I demand, holding up my hand and he ignores me and turns to talk to Avery.
“Do you want to go watch a movie on the couch?” He points over to the other side, where a couch seats five people. Avery nods her head and he gets up from his seat before reaching over and picking her up.
I watch the two of them sitting on the couch as they watch a movie Avery chose. He will do anything she says. I wonder when she’ll use it to her advantage for real. I sit in the chair, looking around, wondering how I got here. I get up from my chair and walk over to the couch. I’m going to sit on the other side of Avery when he moves over so I can sit next to him.
Avery is now lying down on the other side with her feet in his lap. “Hi,” he says, putting his arm around my shoulders. “How’re you doing?”
“I’d be doing a whole lot better if I knew where we were going.” I look over at him.
“You’re beautiful when you get that look on your face,” he tells me, kissing my lips softly.
“What look?” I ask him, settling next to him.
“The look where you are going to kill me but still like me,” he teases, and this time I can’t help but throw my head back and burst out laughing.
“You aren’t going to tell me?” I prod him, and he shakes his head.