"OK little lady, you all done?" I asked Ruby as she was finishing up in the airport bathroom. "Hands mummy." She proclaimed and I lifted her up so she could wash her hands in the sink. We had excused ourselves from Tom to go to the ladies room before the flight.
"Let's go mummy!" She squealed. She was getting excited now. "Em, are you not forgetting someone Miss?" I raised my eyebrow at her, nodding my head in the direction of the counter top. A perfect 'O' formed on her face and she ran back. "Mickey!" She grabbed him and gave him the tightest of hugs.
Walking hand in hand back through the terminal of the airport, Ruby was forever asking questions. What's that? Why are they doing that? Why's that thing beeping? It was all brand new to her and anything that was old and mundane to Tom and I was exciting and new to her. We were nearing the gate where we had left Tom when Ruby spotted her daddy and started off at a run towards him. He must have spotted us coming back as he was on his knees, arms stretched wide, waiting for Ruby. Ruby noticed and, with a massive smile on her face and my encouragement, she took off running full tilt towards her daddy. Her arms were outstretched and Mickey was being waved about as she ran as fast as her tiny legs would carry her - her shoes clacking against the cold tiles. She neared Tom and jumped straight into his waiting arms, "DADDY!" She screeched as Tom blew a raspberry onto her neck making her giggle wildly. This was something that they always did, it was their 'thing' and it happened every evening when Tom came home - if Ruby was still awake. Tom stood to his full height, holding a giggling Ruby above him, his arms raised towards the ceiling as he flew her round the gate.
Tom flew her over to the small soft play area a small distance away from our seats and let her play until we were boarding. He walked over to me, a grin on his face. "She's getting excited now." He smiled at me as he sat down next to me, his hand wedging its way between my crossed knees. I wrapped both my arms around his and cuddled into his shoulder, resting my head on him. "I can't wait to see her when we actually get there." He murmured into my hair, kissing after he finished speaking. We both sat watching Ruby play in the small ball pool, she was throwing its contents all over the place, letting off some steam.
"You know, I can't wait to have another one." Tom whispered to me, his thumb gently rubbing my knee. I looked up at him, smiling, "Me neither handsome, me neither." Family life was bliss and I loved every single second of it.
"British Airways invites all Business Class passengers to board. Please make your way to the gate. All Business Class passengers are now invited to board." The announcement was made at our gate and we began to come back to life. "I'll get her Em, you grab your bag." Tom kissed me as he wandered over to the play area, walking like his infamous veloceraptor impression as he scooped Ruby out of the ball pool. That was one of the nice things about a private lounge - Privacy. Tom could behave exactly how he wanted with his daughter, we could let her run around happily, without being worried that her picture would be splattered all over the news. We could be as relaxed as we wanted. I heard her giggling from all the way over the gate, the gorgeous sound getting louder as they made their way over.
"Mummy! Daddy's turned into a dinosaur!" She squealed as she ran to me, clinging onto my leg. "Oh no!" I reacted, playing along with her, "Well I don't think that dinosaurs will have as much fun as we will, so will we leave the dinosaur here?" I asked her. Ruby nodded and looked at Tom who was pouting dramatically, "No! Don't leave me here!" He fell to his knees and clung to my other leg - I swear it was like I already had two kids sometimes. "I'll be daddy again, I promise." Ruby believed that her daddy was no longer a dinosaur and looked up at me, "OK mummy, we can take him." Tom pretended to wipe his forehead, making a 'phew!' sound as he stood up. "OK baby girl, backpack on." He spoke to Ruby and she slipped her arms in the straps and grabbed Tom's hand and they headed to the plane, ready to board.
~*~*~*~*~*~
We wasted no time with unpacking when we got to the hotel, opting instead to head straight into the park. Ruby didn't know where to look first, she was so excited. Watching the parade was made all the more fun by watching her reactions, waving back as the characters waved to the crowd as she sat on Tom's leg as he crouched on the pavement.
Next stop was the flying Dumbo's. Ruby was desperate to go on them with her daddy and ran to pick her favourite one. Tom scooped her into the seat and sat - very uncomfortably - beside her in the small elephant. His legs were far too long for it and his knees stuck out at an awkward angle but he smiled for his girl. I was snap happy with the camera, catching them every time they passed, big grins on their faces and waving.
We did a little bit of shopping on Main Street. I say shopping, it mainly involved Ruby darting around looking at everything while Tom or I fought to keep track on her. She stopped in front of a hat stand, chock full of character hats, staring up at them in awe. Tom knelt down behind her, his knees keeping her close to him, "Would you like one baby?" He asked her. She could only nod in response to him, "Well what one would you like darling?" He kissed her cheek as he picked her up, giving her a better viewpoint from which to choose. She opted for the traditional Mickey hat - the blue sorcerers hat from Fantasia, promptly pulling it on her head before turning to Tom - "Daddy too!" She clapped her hands and pointed to a hat on the stand. Tom looked at me, a 'do I have to?' look on his face, I only shrugged at him, making him look at Ruby who was deadly serious. "OK baby, which one?" He asked, waiting on Ruby to make her choice.
She pondered her choice for a few moments, "That one!" She squealed, pointing at one straight in front of her. I laughed and Tom picked it from the stand and pulled it on - the bright green Goofy hat with long black ears. I laughed and pulled my camera up, "Don't you da-" He was cut off by the flash as I snapped him. "Mummy this one!" Was all I heard and Tom laughed as my face fell, mirroring his from earlier. He had a smug look on his face, clearly he was going to enjoy Ruby's choice.
I looked down at her as she held her choice up to me. My girl had done good - a pair of black sequin ears with a big Minnie Mouse bow between them. "Thank you baby!" I kissed her and pulled the ears on, happy with my daughters choice. Tom however, wasn't so pleased. "OK, so you get to look cute while I look like an idiot, I feel ganged up on here." Laughing, he scooped her up and we headed to the till to pay for our hats before heading, hand in hand, for dinner.
This was turning out to be an awesome holiday. And it was only our first day.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Aw, little holiday story done. I'm really really enjoying writing this bunch again, I hope you're enoying reading it.
Thank you for all the support. Your votes are amazing and I love reading your comments.
Big love
xoxo
