Long Live the Reckless and the Brave

It was our last day in Essex, which made me sad but also brought me a sense of peace. The kids and I were all more than ready to go home, but I think we were going to miss the freedom of sight-seeing and no real time schedules. We'd done pretty much everything we wanted to do in our time away from home, so I decided that we should spend the day with mom and dad, since they've been with our families pretty much non-stop, aside from babysitting Liam for me. In a way, I guess I owe them.

"Hey, mom," I smiled, kissing her cheek. We had agreed to meet in one of her favorite, family-owned diners. "Are you ready to head back yet?"

"Yes and no," she laughed lightly. "But your dad is."

"Yep." Dad grunted, a smile coming to his lips. "But I'm also ready to eat."

Spending time with my parents was probably on the list of my top three favorite things to do in Essex. Being back here made their hearts heavy, but it also made them appreciate the world around them a lot more. They were soaking in every moment with kids, even though they would still be able to see them when we got home, and began to take a bigger intrest in the things the kids liked to do. Liam was even telling them stories about school, how he was learning about dinosaurs and how he wanted to dig one up some day. My dad was making jokes, telling Liam that something that big and dangerous could stay underground as far as he was concerned.

Once we finished eating lunch, my mom suggested we all go look at some of the places we used to go when we lived here, so we could teach the kids a little more about their roots. I knew the chance of me remembering enough to inform my kids was slim to none, but it would make my mother happy, so I agreed. Occasionally we'd pass something that would put her in tears, something that gave the three of us a deep sense of nostalgia because it reminded us of Tom, but we would never mention it. I don't think my parents could handle the kids asking questions right now.

By the time we finished taking pictures and seeing everything my mother wanted to see, it was six o'clock. I decided it was time to take the kids back to pack up all of our things, shower, eat dinner and sleep the best we could before our flight in the morning. The kids were sound asleep by eleven, which left me a little time to myself. I was thankful.

I went down to the bar and ordered myself a drink. The tender informed me that he'd be closing up in about thirty minutes, which was fine with me. I just needed some time to unwind before I went back to Baltimore. Words couldn't describe how excited I was to get back to Jules and Noelle, but I knew it would only mean that more was demanded of me. My parents would certainly want to see me more after this trip. Juli would want 'alone time' with me, Liam would request help with homework, Noelle would want me to play games non-stop. Tom would wait for me to come to him for some alone time, while Stella needed attention almost constantly. On top of trying to keep up with the band, write music and prepare for our next tour- I was totally exhausted. But it was time away from my family that made me more than ready to take all that on.

Feeling refreshed, I slid my empty beer bottle across the bar, left a tip and went back up to the room. Liam was snoring softly in our bed, so I grinned to myself and took what was left of the mattress, falling into an easy sleep.

_____________________

"Alex?"

"I'm not going to school."

"Alexander, you get out of that bed right now or we're going to miss our flight!"

In two seconds, I'd hung up the phone and hopped out of bed like a crazy person. I pounded on the bed I had been sleeping in to wake Liam up, then I began to yell and shake Tom and Stella until their eyes fluttered open.

No one spoke. This early, none of us were morning people, except for Tom. He brushed his teeth pretty clickly and began carrying bags downstairs. Liam and Stella shared the sink while I brushed my teeth as I grabbed our last minute things. By Tom's second trip down to the lobby, we were all ready to go. We my parents by the car and my dad floored it to the airport. He returned the rental car while I got the kids ready for the flight. We literallly all took our seats just moments before the doors were shut tight.

"I'm going back to sleep," Stella groaned, resting her head on Tom's arm. "Wake me up when we're home."

It was a simple enough request. I napped, talked to those of us who were still awake, watched part of the inflight movie, and napped some more. I did wake Stella up once to get some food in her stomach, but after that, she was out again. I understood entirely. It'd been a tiring week for us all. By the time we were landing, Liam and I were both compliaing about how ready we were to get on solid ground.

Like a ghost, I went through the bagging claim. I'd done this so much it was like a second nature to me. My mom and dad had left their car there, so they were in no big hurry to get the parking lot like we were. All of us had bags in our arms as we exited the airport, even little Liam. He didn't care about that, though, he was just excited to see his mom and sister.

There she was, my beautiful wife, standing by our vehicle, tears in her eyes when she saw us coming. I quickened my pace, dropping my bags by the back of the car so I could scoop her up in my arms. I planted sloppy kisses all over her face, never wanting to let her go, but Liam was tugging at my shirt. I knew I had to share her. It was a magical moment, watching the kids see their mom again. I hoped that Stella would learn something from this trip. It was hard to be away from everything you'd ever known, and though it was okay for the few couple of days, it just got harder after that. If nothing more, maybe seeing her family and friends again would trigger something in her. Maybe now she'd wait to grow up.

"Noelle is sound asleep," Juli whispered, kissing the kids on the foreheads. "Let's get you guys home."

Tom, Liam and Stella all took their seats in the back while I crawled into the passenger seat. I grabbed Juli's hand and planted a soft kiss on her skin, smiling to myself as she took us back to the place we would always belong.

Notes