Yours Truly (Post Malone)

45

I woke up early with Austin. Our flight to Texas was at ten that morning and we had to leave quite early to get to the airport. Austin's parents were taking Daphne while the other three of us were traveling to Albania and Morocco. I still felt bad for leaving Daphne behind but, in it's own way, was her own vacation. She got to spend time with her grandparents.

As I got ready, Austin started getting up and dressed too. He was just as tired as I was. Once I got myself put together, I went to wake Winter and Daphne. Winter was already awake but hadn't gotten out of bed. She groaned when I threw off her blankets and pulled them back on but I left the light on when I left the room.

When I woke Daphne up, she was tired but she slowly got out of bed. She was certainly faster than her sister getting up. I walked down to the kitchen to find Austin already making breakfast for us. I kissed his cheek and started helping get the rest of breakfast together. 

After a few minutes, Daphne and Winter joined us. Both were tired as they plopped into their chairs and I set their plates of breakfast on the table. Daphne got digging into the food while Winter picked at it tiredly.

I sat across from the girls. "What's the matter, Winter?"

She shrugged. "I'm just tired. I didn't get much sleep last night."

"Well, I hope you can get some sleep on the flight," Austin said as he sat down with us. "We're going to leave in about forty-five minutes so once you're done eating, get dressed so we can go."

The two girls ate their food rather quickly and were gone before Austin or I had finished. I cleaned everything up while Austin went to grab our stuff. By the time that I got done with the dishes and cleaning the kitchen, Austin and the girls were ready to go. We loaded up into Austin's truck and were on our way to the airport. Austin had gotten us a private airplane to go to Texas to drop Daphne off before we headed to Albania. 

It didn't take us long to get to the airport and we parked in a more private area. One of Austin's friends were picking up the truck to take it back to the house while we were gone. I helped Daphne out of the truck while the other two got out. We were taken by security to our airplane and got on. As I sat down in one of the seats, I started scrolling through social media. I saw a few pictures of us driving to the airport but luckily, neither one of the girls' faces were visible in the pictures.

When Austin finally sat next to me, I handed my phone over to him and said, "Look at this, babe."

Austin took my phone and looked over the pictures before saying, "I'm going to talk to my manager about this. I don't want my girls to be on camera like that."

"They aren't in the pictures," I said. "But they still shouldn't be taking pictures where our girls could be in them."

Austin got on his phone and got up to go to a quiet part of the airplane. Daphne came over and climbed into my lab. I held her close, resting my chin on top of her head. As she closed her eyes, she cuddled into me. Winter even came over and sat in Austin's chair, leaning against me. I pulled her close and ran my hand through her hair. 

It didn't take long before we took off. Austin sat across from us and he took a picture of us sitting there. I smiled at him while both the girls dosed off. It wasn't a long flight to Texas and the girls slept the entire way.

On the descent, I gently woke the girls up. Winter stretched and rubbed her eyes before getting up. Daphne stayed in my lab, holding onto my shirt. I got up with her still in my arms while Austin and Winter headed for the door. We were leaving our bags on the plane as we were taking the same plane to Albania.

Austin's parents were waiting for us at the airport. We talked with them for a bit before Daphne went with them. She skipped along with them, talking happily. Before getting into their car, she turned and waved at us before climbing in. 

I smiled, tears threatening to spill down my face. It was the first time that I would be away from my baby for an extended period of time. I always hated being away from both my kids for a long time. Daphne was so young as well. She was staying with relatives so it was okay but I was still going to miss my baby girl.

We turned once the car was gone and got back onto the airplane. I sat back down in my spot and leaned against Austin when he sat next to me. He wrapped his arm around me and kissed the top of my head.

"How are you feeling, honey?" Austin asked.

I shrugged. "I already miss her but she'll be fine with your parents."

"Of course, she will be," Austin said. "We'll see her soon. But we've got this trip. Winter, what are you most excited for?"

She nodded, scrolling on her phone. "Yeah. I want to see the marketplaces of Morocco and the Pyramid in Tiranë."

"We're make sure to do everything that you want," I said. "We're going to do a lot on this trip."

Winter just nodded and continued scrolling on her phone. We sat in silence for most of the trip with some talks. I ended up taking a nap too as it was a long flight. I woke up just as the plane was descending. I stretched as I started to wake up and looked around. Winter was curled up in her chair and Austin was awake, walking back from the bathroom.

"Good morning, sunshine," Austin said, a little smile on her face. "I'll wake Winter when we've made it to the gate."

"How long was I asleep?" I asked.

"About two hours," Austin replied. "She's been asleep about the same amount too."

We landed a minute later and taxied to the gate. Like Austin had said, he woke Winter up as I started to grab our bags. She got up, rubbing her face as she grabbed her bag from me. When we got off the airplane, we were greeted by lovely weather. There was already a driver waiting for us. A perk of Austin being famous was that we got driven around in different cities. I didn't always like the fame and the attention from the media but there were some perks. Like we didn't have to figure out driving. 

After getting our bags loaded and seated in the car, our driver started to take us to the hotel. Winter stared out the window, watching the city go by. She didn't look at her phone once on the drive, far too interested in her surroundings. At the hotel, we brought our bags inside and got checked in. We had a suite so Winter had her own separate room from Austin and me. She disappeared into her room for a few minutes. I got a seat on the couch, scrolling on my phone.

Winter came out a few minutes later and sat next to me. "Mom, when can we go out and explore the city. I want to see everything."

I set my phone down. "We'll be going out to dinner soon. After that, we can walk around and see what we can find."

Winter leaned against me. "I already love being here and the city is so pretty. I can't to see what else we see while we're here."

I wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "I like it here too. I just want you to be careful while we're here, okay?"

She rolled her eyes. "I'm always careful, Mom. You don't need to worry about me."

"Like your middle name isn't trouble," Austin said as he came into the room. "But we're serious, Winter. We don't want you to get taken or have something bad to you."

"No, I understand," Winter said. "And I won't wander off."

We stayed at the hotel for a while before looking up restaurants in the area to eat at. We found a restaurant nearby that we agreed on and went out on our way. Austin wrapped his arm around my shoulders as we walked with Winter next to us. I didn't know how her leg was going to feel with all the walking and if her prosthetic was going to feel after the day. But she wouldn't let it get in the way of having an amazing time.

We got to the restaurant and got seated. We ordered and waited for our food, watching our surroundings. The breeze was warm and was gentle as it passed by. Winter took pictures of the city around us and talked about what she wanted to see. I sat there, listening to her talking. I smiled, already happy that we decided to take her on the trip. She was going to remember the trip for the rest of her life.