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Her eyes go wide. “Only if you hold my hand. Really tight,” she says in a small voice.
He flips her over, putting her on top of his shoulders. “I think you’re going to need to hold my hand really tight. You’re braver than me,” he says, jumping around. She squeals, holding onto his hair.
An hour later we’re standing in line to enter Disney World. Max bought everyone three-day, park-hopper passes, so Lexi is looking at the map, rambling on about what she wants to do. We all split up into three lines, hoping to quicken the park entrance experience, because this sucks.
We all end up going through together. And I’m not entirely sure this wasn’t planned, but Max, Damon, and Aiden all go through their designated metal detectors. Buzzing and lights flashing like a carnival ride causes everyone to look our direction. I drop my head, slapping my forehead.
Security is there almost instantly. Of course people are nosy, so the noise level has dropped to almost a whisper. Lots of them are wondering what’s going on. Aiden and Damon take out their badges, and Max takes out a piece of paper. They’re escorted to the side so the employees can continue pushing us through like herds of cattle.
“That’s a bunch of bullshit,” Damon snaps as we walk into the park. Lexi clears her throat, holding out her hand. He doesn’t even question it, he just pulls out his wallet and hands her a ten-dollar bill. “Just call that my deposit for the day, Lulu.”
“Thanks, Peter Pan,” she says, shoving the money in her pocket.
The guys had to put their firearms in a lockbox, so we have three grumpy guys.
“Do you know the last time I went without my gun?” Aiden whines, threading his fingers through mine. I shake my head wondering if I’ve ever seen him without it. “I can’t either! I feel naked.”
Lexi goes to his other side, grabbing his hand. “Don’t be sad, Aiden. You got the bad guy,” she says, looking up at him with big eyes.
He nods his head as he looks down at her. He pockets his feelings and flashes a big smile. “You’re right, Tater Tot. We don’t have anything to worry about here.”
All three guys paint on smiles for Lexi and take off running around. She’s passed from guy to guy, and they spoil her rotten all day. Lexi just mentions she wants something and it magically appears. She really thinks Disney is magical.
“He’s so good with Lexi,” Katie says as we walk around. “He’s going to be a great dad someday.”
I smile wide, watching them ahead of us as they stand in line to meet Tigger. Lexi’s bouncing up and down, calling Tigger’s name over and over to get his attention. I laugh, seeing four huge men stand in line with a little girl.
When she can’t get Tigger’s attention, Aiden yells loudly, “Hey, Tigger.” He looks over quickly at the deep voice, and Max points to a jumping Lexi, waving her hand. He must decide it’s probably best to wave to Lexi when he sees the guys taking up half the line. She squeals excitedly.
“He’s going to be amazing. He is amazing,” I say, wrapping my arm through hers. “I’m so happy you’re here. I’m sorry I didn’t call. I’ve been so busy.”
“Addison, don’t apologize. I understand,” she says softly. “I’m just glad you and my brother found your way back to each other.”
Me, too.
“So what’s this I hear about you and Jaxon?”
She sighs heavily. “It’ll never happen. Jaxon is too loyal to Aiden, and Aiden won’t allow it.”
“I think I can make him change his mind,” I say. At least I have goods to barter.
Sydney comes skipping over from the bathroom. Our feet are killing us already, so we sit down on a bench. I can’t believe this is just day one. How did we do it when we were little?
The next two days are rinse and repeat, just at different parks. I am exhausted. So exhausted, that last night I fell asleep on the bottom bunk in Lexi’s room. You’d think I was out of shape, because today I feel like my body is protesting from doing anything. I think it perks up a bit when I tell myself we’re going home today. The best thing about this vacation? Lexi hated It’s a Small World.
As I pile everything into our rental car and all the other rental cars, too, I laugh at how much stuff the guys got Lexi. And Aiden thought I went overboard with her room. Holy shit, how are we going to get this all on the plane?
“Addie, are you coming home soon?” Lexi asks me on the phone. I’m at work, but I’m taking the afternoon off to register her for school. Aiden took it off, too. He wants to check out the school. Make sure its security is up to par.
We’ve been home a week and the transition has gone smoothly. Lexi loves her room. So much so, that she doesn’t have any problems sleeping in her own bed now. Except, it doesn’t resemble the Pottery Barn, picture-perfect bedroom anymore. It’s more like Disney threw up all over that picture. But she’s ecstatic about it, so that is all that matters to me.
Syd is helping me learn how to cook simple things like spaghetti, and chicken without it being dry. We’re learning as we go. And like Aiden said, she doesn’t care what I cook. Thankfully, Aiden is a better cook than I am, so when he has come over this week we have had fantastic dinners.
I put up pictures of Lexi and her family on one wall in her room. I want her to remember them, to know where she came from. It’s important to me, knowing how fast the memories will fade. She cried when she saw them, and I started to doubt if it was the right thing to do. Now, it’s her favorite place to sit and read. She talks to them frequently. Every night I have Lexi tell me something about her parents or her brother.
“Sweet girl, I’m leaving here in just a few minutes. Are you all dressed and ready to go?”
“Yes, I’m ready,” she says excitedly. “Just don’t forget to wash off the DNA from work, I don’t want to touch it.”
