My Little Stargazer(Adopted by Remington Leith)

(9) - Flying

Before I knew it tour was starting again. I had no idea how it would work with me bringing Cherry on tour, especially since she was still terrified of Sebastian. She was okay with Emerson and would even be alone in a room with him as long as the door was open and she could get out if she wanted. I was terrified about bringing her on tour. I was terrified for me while on tour. But I didn't have anything else to do with her so she had to come with me.

———

   On the morning of October 22nd I crawled out of bed at four am, picked up Cherry, grabbed the handle of my suitcase and carefully walked downstairs. Sebastian was already outside putting his suitcase and guitar into the car. I put Cherry, who was still mostly asleep, into the car and buckled her in. I put my suitcase in the trunk and then went back inside to drag Emerson out of bed. It took fifteen minutes, but I did it. Sebastian drove and Emerson rode shotgun. I rode in the back with Cherry. The drive to the airport was quiet and uneventful. Things were fine until we went through security. Cherry didn't want to go through the metal detector. Eventually I went first, Emerson held Cherry and then the two of us managed to convince her to go through. She cried the entire time. Lucky for me the TSA agents had some sympathy for us since it was ten to five in the morning and she was clearly tired. Once she was through the metal detector we had to put things back in bags and get shoes back on. Cherry didn't stop crying until we sat down at the gate. She sat in my lap, face pressed against my chest, fingers in her mouth, rubbing her padlock with her thumb. I laid my head back and closed my eyes. I rubbed Cherry's back and sighed. Sebastian sat beside me with Emerson on his other side. Emerson closed his eyes and rested his head on Sebastian's shoulder. We had a little less than an hour before our flight boarded and all of the noise was driving me crazy. It was too early and I was too tired. I wiggled around until I managed to pull my phone out of my pocket. I plugged in my earbuds and turned on an album of piano music I liked to listen to occasionally. Cherry got interested in my earbuds so I put one in her ear and let her listen with me. Within five minutes she was asleep. I dozed for a little bit.

———n

Then we boarded and things got worse than they were at security. She stayed asleep until I put her into her seat between Emerson and I. She wasn't happy about it, but once I told her she could sit with me again in little while she calmed down. Until we took off. Then she started shrieking. I felt really bad for everyone else on the plane. I tried my hardest to get her to stop, but she didn't. When we reached cruising altitude and we could unbuckle I pulled her into my lap and managed to calm her down. I gave her earbuds and turned the piano album on again and she was out like a light. I followed close behind. Emerson woke me up when we had to buckle up again. Cherry was still asleep, but I got her back in her seat and buckled without her waking up. She slept through the descent and landing.

———

I carried her through the airport to baggage claim. By the time we all had our bags my arms were tired. Then we had to go upstairs and get a cab to take us to our bus, so I got onto the escalator with Cherry in one arm while trying to drag my suitcase behind me. We got in the car and that's when Cherry woke up. She was disoriented and tired and started crying again. It took fifteen minutes to calm her down. And the cab got a decent tip because of it. When she wasn't crying I gave her a granola bar and she ate it in tiny bites. Then she took to staring out the window and humming to herself. Once we reached the bus we had to wait another hour before Curcio and Phil arrived. The rest of our crew would meet up with us at the venue. Then we had another two and a half hours before we reached our venue. Bags were thrown everywhere as we all climbed into our respective bunks to try to get some more sleep. I was exhausted, but Cherry who had slept most of the trip was wide awake and ready for the day. I turned a movie on on my laptop and gave her my headphones and then promptly fell asleep.