Ever After New York

Somethings Different.

"Hero, are you sure about this?" I ask nervously, fiddling with my promise ring.

"Yeah, why?" He says with a smirk as he positions the camera over Annie.

"I don't know. I just... I'm not sure if I want my daughter blasted out all over social media. She's so little and innocent."

Hero lowers the camera slightly and looks into my eyes. "You're right. I don't know what I was thinking. I guess I was just proud that's all."

I reach up and kiss his jaw before taking his phone from him. "I have an idea."

I kneel down in front of Annie, where Hero had her positioned on the bed. She was fast asleep, her chest rising and falling rapidly. I place my hand over her chest and her smaller one reaches up to grip my finger. I smile when Hero positions his hand next to mine on her chest. I quickly take the picture of our hands and give Hero back his phone. "There."

"Thank you, love." He smiles at me before kissing my cheek.

He opens Instagram and posts the picture, the caption being Annie's first and middle names. "There. Simple, but effective." He winks at me.

"I love it." I smile.

"I wonder what people are going to say." He says as he stands up.

"I don't care anymore." I shrug. "People can say what they want. I know who I am and how I feel about myself. About us."

That's a load.

This is coming from the same girl who couldn't even look at herself in the mirror.

"I'm proud of you, Jo." Hero says, snapping me out of my thoughts.

I give him a half smile before going to pack the rest of our things.

We were leaving for Atlanta this afternoon, and I was a nervous wreck. I kept trying to suppress the idea that I had to bring Annie on a plane at only a month old. After repeatedly begging Hero to drive to Atlanta rather than flying, and after repeatedly being told no, I begrudgingly gave in. Thankfully, it was completely safe for a baby to fly on a plane. I could only hope that Annie would be better off than I was.

"Oh shit." I groan.

"What?"

"Who's going to watch Annie while we film? We can't bring her onto set. Damnit."

It was moments like these where I wished that my mum hadn't gone back to Perth with my dad.

 At least my parents were back together.

"Jo." Hero says as he walks over to me. He places his hands on my shoulders and plants a kiss on my forehead. "It sounds like you're looking for a reason not to go."

"It's not that." I shake my head frantically. "I'm just worried about Annie that's all. On a plane, being watched by god knows who while we film for hours and hours a day. This is going to be harder than I thought."

"Baby, look at me." Hero softly says, tilting my chin up with his finger. "I know we can do this. We're in this together, remember? We agreed to keep Annie because we knew we would be able to raise her regardless of the circumstances. Please don't stress yourself out any more than you need to."

I nod my head slowly. "Okay."

He quickly kisses my lips before lifting my suitcase off of the floor. "Come on. Anna's sent us a driver. We don't want to be late."

I nod my head before pulling the bag with Annie's stuff over my shoulder. Then, I wrap the k-tan around my front and gently lift Annie off of the bed and inside.