Finding Her Joy

Turbulence

*A/N- Um... not what I had planned, but this is what happened. I like it better than the original plan for this chapter. Please tell me what you think in the comments. I'm dying to know. Buckle up, buttercup. We're in for a wild ride. Happy reading! Enjoy!

(MIA POV)
I should've taken a Xanax before getting on that plane. It was awful. The turbulence, the rude flight attendant, and some screaming baby ruined the first 4 hours. I felt bad for the kid and the parent. The mum was a young American girl, no more than 25. Her baby was no more than 6 months old. She was trying so hard to quiet her baby, and nothing was working. She looked exhausted and stressed out. Her baby was practically blue from how hard he was crying.

After she'd tried all of the soothing methods for the 10th time, I couldn't take it anymore. I had to step in. They were sitting in the section next to me, but one row ahead. I reached over and tapped her on the shoulder. "Excuse me," I said to her.

She jumped and turned to me, angry. "I'm trying, okay! He's a baby, and they cry! Get over it!" She thought I was going to yell at her, and I didn't blame her. A few of the other people on the plane had already been complaining or giving dirty looks.

"I wasn't going to complain." I told her, "I was going to offer some help. You're exhausted and clearly under a lot of stress, but if you think you have it under control, then I'll just leave you be."

She dropped her head and sighed, "Oh, God. I'm awful, aren't I? I just assumed you were going to be rude. Now I feel like an ass. I'm sorry."

I laughed, "Don't worry about it. I would've thought the same thing. I used to work in a nursery, so I thought I'd offer my services. Unless that's too weird."

She stared, confused, "You used to work in a nursery? That is not the career I would've guessed for you."

"I get that a lot." The baby was still fussing and trying to wiggle out of her arms. "I can try and calm him for you if you'd like. What do you have to lose?"

She looked at her baby and then back to me. "What the hell. I'll try anything at this point." She leaned over to hand him to me, so I stood up to move closer. "Wait, what's your name? Just in case you're some serial killer, I'd like to know what to tell the police."

I chuckled and said, "Not a serial killer, but my name is Mia."

She just barely smiled and said, "Mia? Now that fits you. I'm Emily, and this is Milo."

Emily handed Milo to me. He was still upset but stopped crying for a second because of the switch. He had no idea what was going on, but I took the quiet moment as an opportunity to calm him further.

I laid him down in my arms and smiled at him. "Hello, Milo. You're very handsome." I started to softly bounce him. "No need to cry, you're alright." Emily was stunned by how quickly he settled. I used my hand to wipe his tears, grabbed a napkin, and wiped his nose. "There you go, sweet boy. Look at those beautiful blue eyes and your strawberry blonde hair." He reminded me a little bit of Reece as a baby.

Roger had thrown out a lot of the family albums, but the siblings kept a few pictures for themselves hidden. Autumn saved baby pictures of Reece, and he did the same for her. I always thought it was funny that they'd never told the other either.

"How did you do that?" She asked. Everything was quiet. There was a little bit of chatter from the other people on the plane. I could hear Milo sniffling a bit and the humming of the plane. "It's official. I'm an awful parent, and Milo prefers strangers to me. My baby hates me!" She dropped her face in her hands.

"He doesn't hate you. You are just stressed and tired. He can sense it, and that's not your fault. It's just a baby thing." I thought what I'd said would help, but it just made her cry. "Hey, it's okay. I'm sorry if I upset you. You're doing great. Parenting is hard, so you're allowed to feel this way. Just try your best, and it will all work out just fine."