The Missing Gem

35 | Puppy Love

Nicole

"Are we there yet?"

"No." Lucas replied the question Lexi had already asked easily ten times during the car trip from San Francisco to Los Angeles. Six hours on a car with a five year old girl who loved Disney, on our way to Disneyland was definitely difficult.

On the day of Lucas' birthday we picked up his sister and niece at the airport, then we went out for ice cream, took a walk around the city so they could get to know the north of California, and ended the day by going out for dinner at this very nice restaurant by the sea, with a view to the Golden Gate Bridge. 

Today, as we continue the birthday celebrations, we were driving to the Disneyland Park, where we're spending the da. But in all fairness, between Lucas, Lexi or even me and Melanie, I don't even know who's more excited to go there.

With a few stops along the way for food, drinks, bathroom breaks or even just to stretch our legs, we were finally arriving at the themed park. 

Lexi's big eyes spotted the tip of the huge blue castle from a mile away, but now, after walking by the busy streets of the park, we were actually standing in front of it. 

"It's so big!" The little girl said in amusement and astonishment. 

Of course, she wanted as many pictures as she could convince us all to take, of her standing with the castle behind her, and Lucas was more than happy to oblige to all her wishes.

After visiting the castle, the four of us hopped on a train - the Disneyland Railroad. It was a pretty easy way to get around the park and not get to the end of the day without feeling our feet. The train had four stops, and the final one was where we hopped off, near Alien Pizza Planet - a themed restaurant that served pizzas, which was the best choice for lunch on a family fun day out. 

"I can't believe my little brother is really going to be working on characters that we might see here in a few years." 

"Sometimes, I can't believe it either." Lucas said before taking a bite of his slice of his pineapple pizza.

"When will you start?"

"They called me the other day, asking how everything's going. They scheduled a meeting two weeks after I'm done with classes, so I'm guessing the end of May or beginning of June."

It's safe to say that it was a fun day overall, minus the lines for the attractions, but that wasn't anything we weren't already expecting. 

Lucas and I were both a little sad that Melanie and Lexi had to leave California and go back to London tomorrow morning, but we also knew that they had their own life there, and we couldn't stop them from leaving. We could only hope to see them again really soon.

 * * * 

I was actually hoping for a ceremony, a whole afternoon of academic events where I'd stand proud and clap for my boyfriend who just finished his semester, studying what he loves and accomplishing it all with flying colors. 

Instead, it was just another sunny, warm day of May and we stopped by the administration services to pick up his certificate - a paper signed and stamped by the college that certificates Lucas' attendance to the classes he took, and all the final grades he achieved for each class.

The cold, grey and white office was not what I envisioned when I thought about the end of Lucas' semester here.

"I was expecting a bit more." I said looking at a piece of paper that qualified as a certificate.