Forever and Always

Chapter 49 - A New Beginning

After two short days and a lengthy goodbye to my fiancee, I got on the airplane to Denver, too early in the morning for my brain to actually be functional. I wasn't processing what was happening right before my eyes. I was taking custody of my daughter without a second thought, taking benadryl to pass out on the flight to Denver. The touch down jolted me awake and I found my way through the enormous airport relatively flawlessly. Farlan had texted me with his location, and the only challenge was navigating the crowds of people to find Farlan with my daughter. At first I wasn't even sure that it was him, but the strawberry blonde mop on the top of his head was a dead giveaway. He wasn't looking at me, but I knew that it was him.

"Farlan," I called waving at the man with his back turned. He spun around and our eyes met. I shot him a grin in greeting and the little girl in his arms began to jump and squirm, an enormous smile spreading across her small features. Her rosy cheeks dimpled in her giddy attempt to get out of Farlan's arms and into mine. I couldn't help how quickly my legs carried me to her. I sprinted to close the distance between us, my backpack thudding against my back. I dodged and weaved through mobs of people, pushing past total strangers as Farlan set my little girl down. I slid onto my knees as I made contact with my daughter, snatching her up into my arms.

"Daddy!" She squealed. "It's really you!" I nodded, planting a kiss onto her soft cheek.

"Yeah, Sweet girl, it really is me. How are you, Poppy?" I grinned, squeezing her tighter, vowing to myself that I would never let her go. "Have you gotten bigger?"

"I'm good. How are you, Daddy?" Poppy asked, pressing her small lips to my cheek as well.

"I'm doin' okay, Princess," I nodded. "Ya know, your daddy said to give you a big kiss when I saw you." I kissed her forehead for Levi and pulled back, smiling at her. I felt tears stinging my eyes as I lifted her into my arms. "Hi, Farlan," I nodded, pulling him into a tight embrace as well. He wrapped his arms around me and Poppy, holding us there and swaying back and forth. I understood why Levi enjoyed being enveloped in his arms. They were long and comforting.

"Hi, Eren," he whispered. There was something so intimate about those few seconds in his arms, that when I pulled away, I couldn't help the way my ears heated up. It wasn't sexual in the slightest, but more of the feeling when one's hugged by a parent in public. He was my senior in every way.

"How are you holding up?"

"I'm, uh, okay. Look, I don't have long. I have to catch my flight to JFK soon. No allergies, but she hates tomatoes. Isabel and I tried so fuckin' hard to get her to eat them, but she will spit them out no matter what you give her to try and make them better. My advice to you: avoid tomatoes. Apart from that, she'll eat anything you wanna put in front of her. We're working on Please and Thank you.

"She loves Moana. Hates Cinderella. The talking mice creep her out. She seemed excited by the prospect of a beach with shells and sand castles. She's never seen the ocean. If you take her to a park, she likes the swings the best. Her bed time has been eight o'clock and her naptime at two. I mean, feel free to change it however it suits you, but that's what she's used to. If you can't get her down, go for a snooze cruise. Knocks her out cold every time." Farlan checked the time on his phone. "Shit. My flight leaves in fifteen minutes. Poppy's bag is checked. It's bright fuckin' pink with purple flowers on it. You can't miss it. Here is her car seat. And make sure she has Mr. Wiggles when she goes to sleep." He handed me a stuffed lion with a blue bow tie. "Levi gave it to her when she turned one, and she hasn't let go of it since. Here is her backpack. It has shit that will keep her occupied on the flight. No diapers. She's potty trained. But the backpack has coloring books, crayons, shit like that. I really gotta go."

"Okay. Look, Farlan. You have a safe flight. Take good care of yourself. Have a good time in Germany. I love you."

"You do?" He asked, his grief-stricken silver eyes searched mine.