Second time lucky

36

It was an emotional moment, saying goodbye to everyone before we left my parents house. If it wasn't for the long drive I would visit more often, but due to the fact that the kids didn't do good with long trips it wasn't practical; for their patience or my sanity.

Thankfully for me they slept most of the way home, waking up with only an hour to go. The weekend must have worn them out, I know I was exhausted and more than that, ready to sleep in my bed without getting kicked by four little feet.

I decided to hit the drive through when they started getting fussy, to avoid getting them in and out of the car. Then I got back on the highway to make the final stretch of our trip. We were almost home, so close and yet still so far it seemed when my phone rang.

"Hello? You're on speaker I'm driving." I said as the call connected through the radio.

"You didn't call me back last night, I was worried." He said as the kids started talking and I just listened.

"Daddy, we saw uncle Levi!" Emelia uttered excitedly.

"Yeah and nana and papa!" Connor added.

"You did? Did you have fun?" He asked them.

"Yeah, we went to the .. mama what's the fish place called?" Emelia asked.

"The aquarium." I added.

"Did you see lots of fish?" Riley asked.

"Yup."

"Hey Riley we will be home in forty minutes or so, traffic is kind of backed up so I gotta go."

"Bye daddy!" The kids yelled.

I disconnected the call as we continued down the road. It was incredibly hot, even with the air conditioning on. Little heat waves were dancing off the tarmac as we inched closer and closer to the house.

I couldn't figure out why traffic was so bad, I assumed it was a wreck or road work further down, but still the stopping and starting of movement was annoying, especially when the kids got antsy.

It ended up taking a whole hour to get back from where traffic had stopped when it usually took twenty minutes, and I never did find the source of the back up. I was thankful for Grace, especially since she
had given the kids coloring books to use for the trip, it kept them busy even if they were fussing over who had which color crayon.

"Daddy!" Emelia exclaimed as we pulled into the driveway.

I wasn't at all surprised that he was here waiting, but I was curious to see just how upset he was over me taking them to see my parents. We hadn't talked since then, other than when he called in the car, and I really didn't have the energy to fight with him today.

I cut the car off and unbuckled the kids, getting them out of the car while he stood on the front porch. The kids didn't hesitate to run to him as they hugged him and began blabbering about the trip.

Quietly I unlocked the front door, abandoning the luggage in the car, it could wait for tomorrow, and walked into the living room as the kids pulled Riley to their room.

He didn't say anything to me, solely focusing on Connor and Emelia as he disappeared upstairs and out of view.

It was obvious that he was still upset at me and I truly didn't have the energy to fight. My body was exhausted , aching from a six hour drive sat down in one position. It honestly felt as if I could close my eyes at any second and sleep for days without a care in the world. I probably could too, well if it wasn't for the two four years olds laughing upstairs.