Family Portrait (Fam Series #1)

Chapter 133 - Six Letters, Sydney

Adeline -

Ashleigh Sami Templeton is officially the maddest woman I know.

Also the ONLY woman I know who can somehow manage to score a very quick labour while flying aboard a Qantas Airlines flight from New York to Sydney, Australia.

Whatever place shall they put on the child's birth certificate? Did they even know what area of the ocean they were flying above? Were they over another country?

And what a show for the other passengers and the poor flight attendants!

Yes, the American Government fucked up when they ordered Ashleigh and Ed to leave the country just while COVID was happening. Fair enough, but not really fair I guess. She was nine months pregnant, surely they could have exempted her and Freyer and not Ed.

Speaking of little Freyer Quinn, she's now an older sister.

'Look, Addie!' Ashleigh exclaims, as she quickly moves her phone camera to her brand new daughter, lying in a newborn bed at the private hospital in Sydney.

'She's so tiny' I say, in complete awe and still shocked that my best friend just gave birth to her second child during an international flight. Like, who else but Ashleigh would that happen to?

Okay, probably a lot of people. But that still has Templeton written all over it.

'Yeah, she was born a few weeks before her due date but she wasn't premature or anything. She's having trouble breathing on her own though, so they've connected her to oxygen. My mother and sister are really pissed off that I gave birth to her on the plane and all of her first photos happened in the plane aisle. The floor of the plane may need to be replaced too, there was a bit of blood' Ashleigh says cheekily. I almost hear her smile in her voice.

'You still haven't told me her name' I say.

'I kind of named her after you' she says.

'You did what now?' I ask.

'Well, her dad didn't want the name Addie so we compromised and made it Annie. So, her name is Annie Reyann' Ashleigh explains.

'Reyann?' I ask.

'Yeah. I don't know, I just liked the name' Ashleigh says, shrugging as she sends me a message with her daughter's name, in case I spell it wrong.

Annie Reyann ******

'Why is her surname that?' I ask, suddenly growing suspicious as Ashleigh suddenly turns the camera around and points it out the large window.

'Look! I'm in Sydney!' She exclaims. I roll my eyes.

'Why is her surname just a bunch of asterisks'?' I ask.

'To conceal her identity. Wouldn't want someone hacking your phone and stealing her details' Ashleigh says. I bite my lip and nod.

Nah, I can't hold this one back.

'And what's the real reason?' I ask.

'Not this again' Ashleigh sighs, flipping the camera back to her face as she rolls her eyes.

'And where's Ed?' I ask.

'COVID, Adeline. Freyer couldn't enter the hospital so Ed's staying back with her at our hotel quarantine. It's just Annie and I here' she explains.

'Who's surname is 6 letters long? You put 6 asterisks' I say.

'Ed's if you remove the d and s, mine if you remove the ton. What's your point?' Ashleigh asks tiredly.