Long Live the Reckless and the Brave

Toot Hill, Essex. I hadn't thought of this place as more than just a path to cross while on tour for a very long time. Not once have I knocked on any doors or bothered to find a friendly face. It wasn't that I didn't want to stay connected to my family, I just worried more about the family I created back in Baltimore.

All of that changed yesterday when we arrived with my mom and dad. They got a rental car for themselves, as did I for me and the kids. We checked into the Town Hall Hotel (which is where we'd be staying while my parents stayed with our family), then dad and I shared a drink in the bar while mom helped the kids get settled. We gathered ourselves, preparing to see faces we hadn't seen in a very long time. We warned the children that our family didn't have a filer. Tom was told to put on his Gaskarth charm. Stella was told not to cock an attitude, and little Laim was informed that his cheeks would get pinched.. A lot.

The kids were only slightly excited to meet the family. More than anything, they were upset that they had to leave their friends and family during their school vacation. I knew they were desperate to have fun, and even though getting in touch with their roots would be interesting, it wouldn't keep a pre-teen and two teenager's content for more than a day. Which is exactly why I informed my mom and dad that they wouldn't be seeing us today. Instead, I was going to make sure my kids had fun during their stay here.

London. We were going to explore the place and do whatever they wanted to do.

"Daddy," Stella jogged to catch up with me, as Liam had my hand and was leading me around the street, pointing out random things and snapping pictures with my cell phone. "Can we go shopping? I want to bring something back for Jack, and I wouldn't mind having something for myself..."

"Hold up," Tom stood beside, forcing me to stop walking. "If she's getting something for Jack, I need to bring something back for Aubree, and Nate too."

"But what about Mommy?" Liam looked up at me with sad eyes. "I bet Noelle would like something, too."

"Is that really all you guys want to do?" I rose an eyebrow. "Just go shopping for everyone back home?"

"Well, no.." Stella shifted her weight. "We can go do something after that."

"Okay, shopping it is, then. But after that, Tom and Liam get to pick what we do next."

Stell led us in and out of multiple stores. By the forth store, Tom had already selected a book and necklace for Aubree, along with a tee-shirt for Nate. Store six, I found a beautiful pair of earrings for Juli, and Liam picked out a coloring book and stuffed animal for Noelle. Now it was all up to Stella.

She groaned, as we reached the last store our legs would allow us to walk to. We lingered behind as she expolored the shelves and tried to find exactly what she wanted to bring back to her boyfriend. She ended up picking out a shirt, a little more expensive than the one we'd bought for Nate, and a pack of guitar picks that had different places from the city pictured on them.

"I'm not happy about this," Stella frowned. "I wanted something special."

"You've got the rest of vacation to find whatever it is you're looking for, Stell." I smiled. "Liam, where to next?"

"Food."

It was simple enough, and we all agreed, we wanted some food. The kids decided that we'd get something we could eat on our way through town, that way if we saw anything interesting, we could do (or buy) it on the spot without wasting anymore time. We were having a good time, just laughing, talking and taking in all of the beautiful sights when Tom managed to find a place to play laser tag.

Being my age, I wasn't in the best shape, but I had to admit I had fun owning my kids. Stella simply wathced from the sidelines, for fear that she'd hurt her arm again, but she was constantly cheering one of us on. By the time the game ended, we were all exhausted and just wanted to go back to the hotel room.

It was late, really late by the time we got back to the hotel. I ordered everyone some food and we let Liam pick a movie for everyone to watch. If Juli were here, the day would have been much more exciting, but for what I was given, I'd like to think the kids had a pretty good day. Now if only I could figure out how to make the rest of the vacation just as much fun.

"Daddy, today was great," Stella kissed my cheek. "I'm going to sleep now. I love you."

"I love you, too, Princess."

The lights were turned off, the kids were curled up and Liam was snoring softly beside me. I missed my wife and my youngest daughter, but I was thankful to have this time to bond with the rest of my family.

Notes