The Lavender Butterfly

Chapter 3

“Flight 116 from O’Hare to Daytona Beach, now boarding,” we heard booming over the loudspeaker, overwhelming the noise from all the busy chatter of the airport. “That’s us,” I said to Meredith, Stella, and the children as we got up and made our way to the boarding gate. We walked into the plane, found our seats and settled in. Meredith immediately reclined her seat, ready to get some shut eye, while Stella was trying to calm an extremely chatty Chloe. Evan pulled his handheld video game device and proceeded to start playing a baseball game on it. I leaned in and started to watch him play, while I started to make some conversation. “You think Ruiz is going to win the batting title, Evan?” He replied, “It doesn’t really matter if the Cubs can’t get some decent starting pitching!” I chuckled and replied, “Well, there’s always next year, right?” Evan replied, “At this rate, it will be another 108 years before we win another World Series…” I quipped immediately, “Yeah, but at least we’re not White Sox fans!” We both laughed. Evan and I didn’t find too much common ground as I was 22 years his elder, but we always have baseball to talk about. I must admit I enjoy talking baseball with Evan, amongst other things. I put my headphones on and watched a movie on my phone to pass the time. I’d watched Forrest Gump about a million times (okay, that might be a great exaggeration) in my life, but I never tired of watching it. It was, without a doubt, my favorite movie. Evan eventually got bored of playing video games and put his gaming device back into his carry-on bag and pulled out a sketch pad and some colored pencils as he began to draw. He drew a bunch of dragons and mythical creatures that I’m sure I couldn’t name if I tried. Still, he has the same penchant for art and drawing that I had when I was his age. In a way he reminds me a lot of myself when I was his age. I went back and continued watching my movie. After a few minutes, my mind wandered off as I daydreamed about a romantic getaway with my wife. I looked over at Meredith, already sound asleep as I smiled. It had been a while since we had gotten away, just the two of us. I was hoping for some time alone, just the two of us. I loved Stella and her kids, but I hoped that Meredith and I would have some intimate time alone. It was our ten-year anniversary, after all. I glanced over at the ladies and all three of them were sound asleep, with Chloe’s head nestled in her mother’s lap. They would remain sound asleep until the wheels came down on the runway upon our arrival.