Page 92 of Never Stop

The taxi dropped Brooke and me off in front of the departure terminal, and we entered to look for Cheyenne and my parents. They were waiting near the line of the check-in counter of the airlines Chey was flying.

“Hey, Peanut.” I wrapped my arms around my little girl. “You ready to get on a plane by yourself?”

Cheytsked. “Yeah! I’m eleven you know?”

I chuckled. “Yes, I know. I’m just not sure I’m ready for you to leave me.”

That was the truth on so many levels. My little girl was growing up extremely fast. It seemed like just yesterday Dana showed me the white stick with a plus sign. Now, my girl was leaving on a plane that was bound for almost three thousand miles away. Hell, I’d be farther away than that once Brooke and I touched down at our destination.

“She’ll be fine,” Brooke ensured as she wrapped her arm around my waist.

“Did you two have a nice night?” my mother asked.

I smiled and looked down at my wife then back up at my mother. “Yeah, we were hungry when we got to the room, so we ordered Chinese and ate it in bed. Best way to finish the best night of my life.”

I caught the eye of my dad, and he smirked, knowing exactly what Brooke and I had done when we got to the hotel. We eventually ended up ordering Chinese food and eating in bed. We just—you know, did something a few times first.

“Chey is all checked in. You three need to head over to—”

I cut my mother off so she didn’t spoil the surprise. “Right. Thanks for bringing Peanut and our bags. We’ll see you in a week.”

We hugged, and my parents said goodbye to Cheyenne. I’m not sure if they’d had a week alone since we moved to New York. When Cheyenne would be in Long Beach, I would still have breakfast or dinner at my folk’s house. This was going to be different for everyone. They would have an empty house, I was letting my little girl get on a plane by herself, and Brooke was about to go on her first honeymoon.

“Where are we going now?” Cheyenne asked.

“Yeah, where are we going?” Brooke grinned at me.

“Just over here.” I pointed in the direction and began walking. Thankfully, I’d researched the departure terminals and was able to get Cheyenne’s domestic flight and our international flight in the same terminal. I dug into the carry-on bag my dad handed me when we first saw them and pulled out Brooke’s passport. “Here, you’ll need this.”

Her eyes widened in surprise. “We’re not staying in the U.S.?”

I smiled. “Nope.”

“Are you going to tell me now?” she inquired.

I wrapped my arm around her shoulders, pulled her closer to me, and kissed the top of her head. “You’ll figure it out in a few minutes when we get to our check-in counter.”

She groaned.

“Why are you keeping it a secret?” Cheyenne asked.

“Because, Peanut, it’s the little things in life that make someone happy. I want to see Brooke’s face light up when she sees where I’m taking her.”

Cheyenne shrugged. One day she’d understand.

When we got in the vicinity of our airlines, I stopped walking. “Ready?”

My wife looked up at me and smiled. “Dying here, babe.”

I kissed her briefly. Cheyenne made a gagging noise, and I smiled as I pointed to the ticket counter not far from us. “That one.” I began walking again in the direction of the line of people.

“We’re… we’re going to France?”

Looking directly into her eyes as I wrapped my arms around her shoulders, I said, “Paris to be exact.”

She pulled back, looked at the counter and then back at me. “Shut up!”

We walked to the line of people. “Just think. In about twelve or so hours we’ll be in a country where we know none of the language.”