Overexposed

Ch. 3 A Charming Homecoming

Juice held Evie tightly in his arms, rocking her while he watched Angela take care of their check-in luggage. His baby girl was half asleep, her head on his shoulder, arms around his neck. He'd spent the extra cash to park their car just so he could have this extra moment with his girls without having to worry about people rushing them. They were set to leave on the red eye to Oakland in hopes that Evie would sleep on the plane. Juice had a feeling their plan was a little too hopeful. As tired as Evie was, she was also really excited about going on the plane. He turned his head to kiss her forehead, inhaling her warm scent, happy to hold her for as long as he could before they left.

She stirred a bit, nuzzling her face into his shoulder. "I fly, Daddy," she murmured sleepily.

"Yeah, Monk. You're going to fly on the plane with Mama," he told her, his eyes on Angela, watching her with worry. She was being way too calm about everything, it was like the quiet before a storm. Only he wasn't going to be there to help calm the inevitable storm, and it already had his stomach in knots.

"We go to California? See Mama's family?" she asked around a yawn.

"Yeah, baby girl," he answered. It felt weird to have her refer to the family in California as Angela's; they'd been his once too. "All of 'em."

"Daddy go too?"

"Not this time, Monk. Daddy's gotta stay here to take care of Rigs," he explained, kissing her temple again.

"Riggy no fly?" she asked, leaning back to look at him in shock.

Juice smirked; his daughter seemed more upset about leaving the dog than about leaving him. "Nope. Rigs is going to stay with Daddy this time. Doggies don't like to fly."

"Oooh," she drawled out, seemingly appeased by the explanation. "And Jazzy?"

He fought the urge to laugh. Evie loved her brother, but it was his girlfriend who she idolized. "Your brother 'n' Jazz are gonna meet you guys out there later," he assured her. "You gotta promise you'll be good for Mama. Listen to her and behave, okay?"

"Okay, Daddy. I be good."

He held out his pinky to her. "Pinky promise?"

Evie smiled, hooking her pinky around his. "Pinky pwomise," she replied, kissing his nose with a giggle. "Love you, Daddy."

Juice felt a lump in his throat at the idea of not seeing his beautiful little girl for an undetermined amount of time. "Love you too, Monk. So much," he murmured, kissing her cheek and holding her just a little tighter.

Angela approached them, looking a little frazzled. "Got the boarding passes and checked in the big bag. So that's done. Plane is leaving on time for the moment. We don't have a connecting flight, thank God, and we have a window seat with no one sitting next to us," she rambled on in one breath. "Think we're ready."

"Plane time?" Evie asked, yawning again.

"Plane time," Juice confirmed, kissing her cheek. "Beso, monito."

Evie gave him a loud kiss, her arms wrapped tightly around his neck. "Beso!" she shouted, more awake now as her excitement set in. He noticed Angela grimace and chuckled as he bent to put Evie in her stroller. She squirmed against him, doing her best to keep him from strapping her in. "No, I walk, Daddy! I'm a big girl!" she insisted, kicking her legs out.

"Too many people, Monk. Stroller time. What'd we say about being good?" he reminded her, clicking her in despite her protests.

She pouted a bit but stopped as soon as she had her little stuffed bull dog close by. "I be good."