Three weeks later
"Mom, what should I pack?" Zola asks.
"Shorts, tee shirts, flip flops, a few dresses, bathing suits." I say, handing her a pile of clean clothes.
"Thanks mom!" Zola says.
"Mommy? I don't have any bathing suits that fit." Bailey says. I look at him and he's holding two that I remember from 1 year ago, when he was younger. (He's 3 in this).
"Okay honey. We can get you new ones before we leave." I say. "Hey Zo, do your bathing suits fit?"
"Yeah mom. All my favorites do, anyway." Zola responds.
"Awesome. Do you want a new one for the trip? I have to take Bailey to get new ones anyway." I say.
"Really? Sure!" Zola says. She walks out into the hall.
"I need to get Ellis bathing suits too, and I need some new suits too." I say.
"Are you going shopping Mer?" Nathan asks.
"Yeah. Bathing suits. Plus go some other beach stuff and stuff for the kids on the plane." I say.
"I'll drive." He says and takes the keys out of my hands.
We pull up to Target and get out. I help Bailey with his bathing suits, and Zola goes to the regular area. Once we have a few shorts we think Bailey will like, we go over to Zola and see what she's picked out so far.
"Mom! Look how cute this one is!" It was strapless and low cut and push up.
"Zo, no. Just the triangle top. Or we can go back to the kid section, okay?" I say. While she looks around, I grab some in a size larger than I usually would. It's weird but hopefully they fit. Or at least look decent.
"Zola, what do you have?" I ask. She holds up a purple top, a light blue top, and a neon pink top. All are flat and she grabbed three pairs of black bottoms to match.
"Lets go try stuff on!" I say.
We go try them on. I find some that I hope will fit for a while longer, and Zola looks fine in her new ones. She feels really grown up, wearing bathing suits from the adult section.
Bailey was easy. I just grabbed a handful in his size, he's pretty small, and in a few different patterns, and a few baby or toddler ones for Ellis.
"Mama!" Ellis cries, holding her arms out of the cart.
"Mama's here, baby." I say and lift her up.
Ellis snuggles into my shoulder as we continue to shop. Zola picks out a new pair of sandals, Bailey grabs athletic slides, I grab those plastic flip flops in a black color. Nathan returns with some swim trunks, a pair of flip flops, and a handful of bottles of sun screen.
"Baby sun screen, kid sun screen, and I know you like SPF 30, so here's some for you." He says. "I also got a stick for the kids faces, since I know I always hated putting lotion on my face. Plus this is quicker and less messy."
"Thanks, babe. I totally forgot about this." I say and we out everything into the cart.
"Mom, can we get this?" Zola asks, pointing to a giant towel.
"Zola, no. Disney has towels for us to use. We don't need that for this trip, but this summer if you want it that badly, we can find time to go to a nearby beach or take a trip down to LA." I say.
"Yay!" Zola says. We out that into the cart, and we go check out.
We load everything onto the line and Nathan pulls out his wallet. "I got this." He says to me.
"Thanks." I say and give him a warm smile.
"Zola, Bailey, make sure to thank Nathan for the baiting suits and sandals, okay?" I tell them.
"Thanks daddy!" Zola says.
"Thanks!" Bailey says. He doesn't quite remember Derek, but isn't quite sure what to make of Nathan yet.
"Of course, kids." Nathan says and we grab the bags and head back home. Once we get back home, we finish packing and I start to make dinner. I make chicken nuggets for the kids, and salads with grilled chicken for us adults. I set out a beer for Nathan and an aranciata for me, and juice boxes and milk for the kids.
"Kids, dinner!" I shout up the stairs. Zola comes running down with Ellis and Bailey is close behind them.
"Thanks mom!" Zola says, and sets Ellis in the chair, and gets into her chair herself. Bailey sits across the table from them, and Nathan and I sit next to each other.
"Are y'all excited for the trip tomorrow?" I ask the kids.
"Yes!" They all reply. "What time do we have to get up, Mom?" Zola asks.
"Well, the plane is at noon, and we should be there two hours early, so we need it be at he airport by 10am. It's a six hour trip, so we'll be getting in pretty late, around 6pm. Is that okay, Zo? You're going to have to help with he suit cases when we land. I'm going to assume Ellis is going to be fast asleep and Bailey will be so tired he's probably either going to be crying or fast asleep. It's going to be 9pm your body time. I'll let you sleep until you wake up the next day, okay?" I ask.
"That will be okay mom. I'm going to be really tired though." Zola says.
"Okay. How about you get to sleep right after dinner, so that you can save some energy for later tomorrow? You can also have soda tomorrow on the plane if you want, or take a nap on the plane. It's a long flight." I say.
"Is it direct?" Nathan asks.
"Yeah, which is nice because no transfer with three kids and a whole bunch of checked luggage." I say. I notice everyone is done with dinner so I clear plates and Zola goes to get her pjs on and brushes her teeth.
"Night Mom. Night daddy." She says and gives us hugs hen goes off to bed. I change Ellis, brush her teeth, and tuck her in, hen help Bailey change and brush his teeth and tuck him in.
"Long day?" Nathan asks, opening a spot on the couch for me to sit.
"Yeah. And today I've been really tired too, and being pregnant isn't helping." I say, and place my hand on my still flat belly. Nathan kisses my had and carries me to bed. I'm already in yoga pants and a comfy shirt, so he tucks me in, and curls around me after the lights are off. We quickly doze off to sleep before the sun rises and we have to get ready for a big day ahead of us.
