Forever (Epilouge)

92

A few weeks had passed and I was back on my feet completely. I was so happy that I was able to fully bounce back in such a short amount of time.

"Ready to go?" Colby asked as I put Olivia in her cute little onesie. "I'm ready! Is the birthday girl ready?" I asked and turned to look at him as he grinned at me.

"Ameeeeelia!" He called out as Mia ran down the hallway with her little suitcase trailing behind her. "Yes, daddy?" Mia asked as she slipped into the room. "Are you ready to go on your birthday getaway?" Colby asked as he scooped her into his arms. "Yeah! I can't wait to SWIM!" She squealed happily.

We were going on a vacation today to the Bahamas. I know taking a whole ass vacation for a seventh birthday was a little extreme but Colby just wanted to take us somewhere tropical so badly.

After much deliberation we decided to go to the Bahamas since it was gorgeous there and Mia was actually obsessed with swimming. We even signed up to swim with some wild pigs, which was really exciting.

"I'm gonna load the car, you get the girls ready to go." Colby said then leaned in and kissed me quick. "Okay." I said as he put Mia on her feet. "Can you believe you're almost 7 years old?! How many fingers is that?" I asked as Mia giggled and held up seven fingers.

"Very good!" I said as I walked with Olivia in my arms to get to the kitchen. "How about a snack before we go?" I asked Mia as she nodded, "bananas and peanut butter please!" She said as I laid Olivia in her carrier. "Okay, I'll try to do it in the shape of a mermaid for you." I said and grabbed the bread to make her sandwich.

I cut her sandwich into a mermaid as best as I could then put it on a paper plate. "Alright. Go ahead and go out to the car, I'll bring your snack." I said as she giggled. "Okay, mommy!" She said then skipped out of the house as I looked at Olivia.

"Sissy is crazy isn't she?" I asked Olivia as she chewed on her baby blanket. "Yep. She is and so are you." I said and pulled her into my arms. "Let's feed kitty, yeah?" I asked then walked over to the cabinet with Olivia on my hip.

Athena came running over so she could run her face on my leg, "there she is." I said with a grin then put the bowl of food down as she meowed. "I'll miss you little kitty. Jake is going to come by and take care if you, don't worry." I said as Olivia reached over to pet her.

"Okay, sweet pea. It's time to go on an airplane, are you excited?" I asked and walked towards the door.

When I got outside Colby was strapping Mia into her carseat. "When's our flight?" I asked as I strapped Olivia in. "3:30 so we have about an hour and a half before boarding starts." Colby said as I handed Mia her sandwich.

Once we were all in the car and settled, we started making our way to the airport. "How are you feeling?" Colby asked and took my hand as he drove. "I'm feeling okay, a little sad that our little girl is growing up so fast." I said as he chuckled, "7 years old...that's still so crazy to me." He said as I nodded in agreement.

"Where's the pause button?" I asked and looked behind me. Mia was chewing on her sandwich as she looked out the window absentmindedly. I couldn't wait to see her smiling face this entire trip.

Mia has been so strong through all of my recovery, being patient when I couldn't spend time with her. She even took the initiative to help out with Olivia when I was having a bad day.

She deserved this trip more than anyone.

When we got to LAX we unpacked the car and made our way inside. Olivia was fast asleep, but Mia was bouncing off the walls with excitement.

"Come on come on come on!" She squealed as she pulled Colby's hand, trying to get him to hurry. "Calm down, princess. The flight isn't gonna leave any faster if we get to the gate now." Colby said with a laugh as Mia pouted.

"I want to be there already." She said as Colby scooped her into his arms. "Soon, sweetheart." He said with a laugh as she leaned her head on his shoulder.

Getting through security with two children was probably the worst nightmare of my life, but we got through it fairly unscathed. I was just grateful that the TSA people were really nice and accommodating.

"Okay, you have your coloring stuff and we can watch a movie on the flight, is there anything you might want to do while on the plane?" I asked Mia as I fed Olivia at the terminal.

"Hmmm, can we get snacks?" Mia asked as I giggled, "a girl after my own heart." I said and looked up at Colby. "What do you think, honey? Can we go get some snacks?" I asked him as he grinned, "yep, there's a little shop over there." He said then stood up,

"I'll sit here and watch the bags. You can go bring Mia to pick some snacks out for us." I said and patted Olivia's back, trying to burp her.

"Are you sure you'll be okay?" Colby asked cautiously as he took Mia's hand. "I'll be fine, I have this sweet pea to keep me company." I said and bounced Olivia as she burped onto her cloth.

"Okay, we'll be right over there. Just call me and I'll come back okay?" Colby asked as he kissed my head. "Okay, get me some good snacks." I said with a wink then continued to feed Olivia.

They went off as I zoned out, combing my fingers through Olivia's hair. I was trying to focus on the excitement of the trip rather than the cloud that was constantly above my head.

I was happy and doing much better than before but that stupid rain cloud always rested over my head, waiting to rain on me.

I stayed zoned out as I burped Olivia again, hearing her sweet cooes in my ear while we waited for Colby and Mia to come back.

"Hey, you okay?" Colby asked as he came over with Mia. "Yep! Just zoned out. What did you get me?" I asked and grinned up at him. "Well, Mia picked out most of them so she got you some goldfish, butterfingers, Doritos and gummy bears. I however snagged you one of these." Colby said and held up a packet of frosted animal cracker cookies.

"Babe! I love those!" I said as Mia giggled, "Can I try one, mommy?" Mia asked as I nodded, "yeah, they'll change your life, little one." I said as I looked down at Olivia.

She was sleeping in my arms with a small smile on her face as she sucked on her thumb. "I love you." I whispered and kissed her head then looked up at Colby.

He was looking at me with so much love I felt my heart stop for a second. "What?" I asked as Mia skipped over and pulled herself onto the chair next to me.

"I just think you're so beautiful." He mumbled then leaned over and kissed me. I smiled into the kiss for a second as Mia gagged. "Ew, cooties mommy." She said causing me to laugh. "Right. Sorry." I said and held my hands up in defense.

We waited another couple minutes before we loaded the plane. I sat in the window seat with Olivia in my arms, Colby sat in the aisle seat and Mia sat in between us.

"I don't like when the plane goes up in the air." Mia said as we prepared for takeoff. "I don't either sweetheart, but daddy will protect us." I said and looked up at Colby as he wrapped his arm around Mia's shoulder then look my hand.

"Always. I'll always protect you girls." He said and kissed Mia's curls. "Thank you daddy." She said and snuggled into him as the plane started is ascent.

I held Olivia close to me as I squeezed Colby's hand tightly. "Okay mommy, I think we are safe." Mia said causing me to laugh. "Yep, now we are in the clouds, look." I said and pointed out the window.

"Woooooah. That's cool." Mia said as Colby grinned at me. "It is pretty cool, but did you want to color now?" I asked her as she perked up, "yep!" She exclaimed as Colby set her up.

The flight went by fairly fast as Mia colored the entire way. Olivia was an angel as usual and only woke up once so she could eat.

I was forever proud of our girls for being the best kids to ever exist. I don't know what we did to deserve such good kids but I wasn't going to complain.

"Okay sweetie, are you ready to have some fun?" Colby asked as Mia stood up and stretched while everyone got off the plane.

"Yeah! I'm so excited!" She squealed and jumped up and down. Colby grabbed our stuff then led the way off of the plane so we could go get our bags.

As we walked through the airport I felt the happiness bubble in my chest.

I couldn't wait for this vacation.