Micaela offered to take us to the airport Wednesday night. I hadn't packed much; I was traveling with a suitcase and Bella's Dora the explorer backpack. Mental note: get a new backpack. Because just like Santiago, Micaela wasn't able to shut up when it came to making fun of me and my fashion choices.
We got to the airport at six.
"Love you girls, take care" Mica said as she kissed my cheek. "Don't forget to call and send lots of pictures."
"Chill, Mica" I laughed, hugging her. "We're not leaving for a year."
"I'll still miss you. Life's kinda boring without you" she said and pretended to wipe away fake tears. I laughed.
"God, you're so dramatic. Why am I even your friend?"
"Because I help you pick out nice wedding dresses. If it wasn't for me, God knows what you would've wore. Your cousin was going to disown you, you know? You should be very thankful."
Of course, I'd gone shopping with Micaela. Of course, she'd picked out a thousand dresses for me to try on. And of course, I bought the one she'd said looked the prettiest on me. I actually couldn't blame her, I blamed myself for listening to her.
"Fine, I'll bring you some pan de bono" I said, referring to the Colombian bread Micaela loved so much.
"Hell, yeah!" she laughed and then got on her knees to hug Bell.
"Why are you and mommy always fighting?" she asked innocently, looking at both of us. We couldn't help but laugh. She was too cute.
"Honey, we don't fight" I said, patting her head. "We... kinda disagree on some things. Aunt Mikki can be really annoying."
"That's what she thinks" Mica told my daughter and winked at her.
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"First class passengers from flight 304..."
Of course Paula had booked us first class tickets. I hadn't even realized until I saw them the night before.
"Come on, you work so hard, you need to learn to treat yourself every once in a while" she'd said when I told her she shouldn't have bothered and that normal ticket would be just as good. Just like Mica had said before. Apparently, I must have looked like shit, because everyone kept saying the same thing, and telling me how tired I must be.
So, I wasn't loving first class because I felt like I was taking advantage of my cousin in some way. But Bella was loving it. She got the window seat, and was amazed when she could see the clouds after takeoff. The clouds, however, soon disappeared as the plane went higher.
"Mommy! Where'd the clouds go?" she asked and turned around to ask the passenger behind her "Sir, did you take the clouds?"
The man was sleeping and was a little bit annoyed by my daughter.
"Bell, drop it. Look, you have this TV just for you" I said, pointing at the screen in front of her.
"Woah!" she gasped, excited, quickly pressing buttons.
I closed my eyes, trying to get some sleep.
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It was four in the morning when we landed in Medellin, Colombia. Bella had fallen asleep thirty minutes before landing. Before, she'd been too busy watching movies on her TV.
"Bell, come on, wake up" I shook her shoulder gently. "We're here."
"Huh?" she asked, still asleep.
