Forever In Your Shadows

Chapter 25

Pippa's POV

I had packed up mine and Lin's bags while he showered since we were only staying a week in Chicago.

"Where did you go last night?" Lin asked.

"I sat in the living room with Amelie. She was up last night too. We had a little heart to heart." I smiled. "I think she's going to come back to us."

"Yay!" Lin did a little dance and smiled. "Maybe we should have another kid." He laughed.

"Oh hell no. I'm not doing that again." I laughed. He shrugged and went to search for clothes to wear. We were going to ride the train since it would be more reliable in the snow than flying.

"What if we foster kids?" he asked from the closet.

"Foster parenting? Why?" I asked. "I mean, like I would take care of kids, but I don't think I'm young enough to keep up with kids anymore... I can barely keep up with the teenagers we have now." I laughed. He shook his head and pulled on his shirt. I shrugged and continued to pack our bags. "I'm going to spend the day with Amelie tomorrow." I said quietly.

"But tomorrow is the day before Christmas Eve..." Lin frowned.

"Yes I know, but there's an art gallery in Chicago that I can take her to. It'll make her so happy." I smiled. Lin nodded and looked at me. "I'm trying to get our daughter back to us and you're upset that I'm not going to be spending time with you." I smirked.

"I know, I know. I'm a little bit selfish." He laughed. I rolled my eyes at him and zipped up our bags. It seemed that I was always the one packing bags for the family. I had to help Scarlett pack her bags, Amelie of course needed help, and Alejandro just needed his checked to make sure he was ready for Chicago.

After a while we were sitting on the train, headed for my home. Scarlett was on her laptop, typing up an essay of some sort. Alejandro had his earbuds in and was watching a movie on his tablet. Lin was asleep in the chair next to me and Amelie was sitting next to me drawing in her book. I looked down at it and saw that it was a cat sitting on a windowsill.

"It looks amazing." I smiled.

"Thanks." She smiled back. I watched her draw until I felt my eyes starting to droop. It was going to be a really long train ride.

~~~

"Mom... Mom!" I woke up and saw Scarlett standing in front of me. "I'm going to take Amelie and Al to get some food. Do you want anything?" She asked.

"I'm good... Thank you for waking me up." I said while stretching in my seat. I checked my watch and saw that we had only been on the train for about three hours. Nineteen more to go...

"You were out like a light." Lin laughed.

"You were the minute you sat down." I laughed.

"I am an old man. I have every right to fall asleep like that." He laughed. I smiled and placed a hand on his cheek. "You don't look a day over forty." He smiled.

"I'm not even forty yet." I said while pushing him lightly.

"I know!" He teased. "I'm just messing around." He said while running his hand through his hair. It was beginning to turn grey.. A dark grey of course. He tried to hide the manly hair dye but I found it. His hair was turning and he didn't like it. "What?" He asked.

"Nothing. Just admiring you." I said quietly. "I love you so much."

"I love you so much too." He kissed me and I smiled in the kiss. It made me feel like I was falling in love with him all over again.

"Get a room." We stopped kissing each other and saw our kids come back holding little snacks. We rolled our eyes and laughed. They were going to learn one day.

~~~~

"That's not fair!! You cheated! Mom!" Alejandro whined. He had been playing a game with Amelie and I didn't even know any of the rules. I was already getting a headache from their arguing...

"I didn't cheat! Mom don't listen to him!" Amelie groaned.

"Yes you did! You can't do that!" He complained.

"Lin please handle this. I have a headache." I mumbled.

"Kids please stop. Alejandro just play her again. Start the game over. Amelie no cheating. Now please can both of you be quiet. Your mother has a headache." He frowned. The twins nodded and started their game over.

"Thank you." I whispered. Lin kissed my head and held my hand. I didn't feel like this was going to be that hard of a trip for us. I thought it would've been a nice time since it would be family time but I guess not... 

We still had at least five hours left on the train and it was nearing sunrise. I had woken up at four just to make sure all my kids were here. Scarlett was asleep leaning on the window, Alejandro was sleeping next to Lin, and Amelie was asleep leaning on me. Lin was awake as usual, typing on his laptop. 

"You okay?" Lin asked. 

"Yeah... Just ready to get off this train. Next time I'll let you buy the plane tickets." I groaned. 

"You had a good point though. Leslie and Chris were trying to get out of JFK and they were stuck there for hours. While we were already half way to your mom's house." He smiled. I shrugged and looked out the window. I wanted to be off this train already. It was nice that I had leg room and was able to sit with my family without having to trade seats with various people... But I just wanted it to not be so long. "Do you think you could add your input on this?" He frowned. 

"On what?" I asked. He got up and handed over his laptop. I read through the highlighted paragraphs and shrugged. "It's good." I shrugged. 

"But what do you really think?" He asked while sitting back down. 

"Well... Since I have no real background on the character, I'm just a bit confused..." I frowned. "But it really is good. Don't doubt it. Once it's completely finished, I'll be glad to read it for you." I smiled. 

"Thank you." He smiled. I felt like he was trying his hand at writing a book. It wasn't the first time he's written a book, but the first time he's written one about someone other than a real person in history. Well, that I knew of.