Adopted

Chapter 79

Dad left early Sunday morning. He woke me up to say goodbye, and we chatted for a little while. 

I felt well enough to go back to school on Monday, but sat out of PE. More because my teacher insisted than because I felt I needed to. So, of course I got my homework done. 

Mom and I went to get my passport done right after Dad left, and I started getting excited that as soon as school was done for Winter Break, we were heading to Europe! We would meet Dad in Germany and travel with him to Italy. Then Mom and I were going to take a train from Italy to Paris, and then London for a couple of days before flying home in time for school. I was beyond excited. 

I made it through the rest of December without a) getting sick or, b) losing my mind from excitement. 

Dad called almost every night, which was usually around dinner-time for us. 

Granny and PopPop called a lot, too. And of course we still had all our texts and FaceTime calls as well. 

On the last day of school before the Winter Break, we were basically learning nothing because, well, a bunch of 13 and 14-year-olds waiting until dismissal before a two week break? We were impossible to contain. 

The bell rang for dismissal and I almost literally flew to the front of the school.  Kyla was picking me up and taking Mom and I straight to the airport. I'd left all my school stuff in my locker and my bag just had stuff for the flight in it. I left the bag at home with my luggage, so it was in the car already. 

"Hey sweetie. How was school?" Mom asked as I hopped into the car. 

"Do you remember the last day of school before Winter Break?" I asked, smiling. 

"I do," Kala said, smiling. 

"Yep. Let me guess, no one listened to any of the teachers, there was no actual learning going on, and in most of your classes you watched either a Christmas movie or just some time killing movie.  And lunch was something resembling turkey and stuffing and Christmas cookies."

"That about covers it," I said. 

We got to the airport through some crazy pre-holiday traffic, and of course, there was press around. Mom and I got our stuff from the car, and put it on a cart, and we walked close together to check in for our flight.  There were press taking pictures of us, but no one said much. They asked where we were off to, if we were meeting Dad, someone did ask something about the legal cases and my diagnosis, but for the most part, they just took photos of us walking through the airport. 

We went to the lounge and waited for our flight to be called.  I was a little nervous because this would be the longest flight I'd ever been on.  Mom kept checking in with me, knowing I was a bit nervous about the long flight. 

"All good?"

"Yeah," I said. 

"Nervous?"

"A little," I said. 

"Don't worry.  You can nap, play on your Switch, they'll have WiFi on the plane. And movies."

"And be 30,000 feet above the ocean," I said. 

"Well, yeah. But Dad and I have done this a bunch of times and we're still here to tell the tale," she smiled.

"I know. But it's so long."

Finally our flight was called and we boarded.  Mom and I found our seats and sat and got organized.  Mom and I were looking around, and looking at the safety card and just enjoying it being the two of us. 

Our flight took off on time and before we knew it we were up at cruising altitude.  We hit a little bit of turbulence and Mom held my hand. 

I watched a couple of movies, and played on my Switch a bit. Eventually I got bored and did wind up falling asleep. 

Mom woke me up as we were landing in Munich. 

We got our luggage and went to find our car. There was a car with our names on it outside, and we checked with the driver and got in. 

"Hello, my lovelies!" 

"Dad!" I said, launching myself into his arms. 

"How was the flight?" he asked, giving me a hug and giving mom a kiss. 

"Good," Mom said. "Our nervous flier isn't so nervous anymore."

"Great!" he said looking at me. 

We drove to a hotel and Dad brought us to our room. He had a suite, so Mom and Dad had their own room, and I had a room of my own, too.  It was 5 am in Germany but for us it was 2 am. Mom and Dad made me go get some sleep. I don't know what they did, but I could probably imagine. 

By the time I woke up, it was time for Dad to go to the venue. We packed up whatever we'd unpacked and brought it all down to the bus. The bus in Germany was a bit different than the bus back home, but basically the same. Dad showed me the bunk for me, and he and Mom had a bunk at the back. 

The band had their own bus. 

Dad had decorated the bus with Christmas decorations and even had a little tree. And a bunch of presents wrapped up and piled around it, sort of. 

We drove to the venue, and Dad filled us in on the tour so far. 

"European fans aren't much different than American fans," he said. "Just as crazy, but just as awesome."

At the venue, we piled off the bus.  The guys from the band saw me and all came over to say hi to Mom and I. We caught up while they got organized in the dressing room.

Mom and I watched from the wings. We were dancing around and enjoying ourselves.  It was only a couple of days before Christmas and I was in Europe! With my family!

"Munich, you've been amazing! It's been a long couple of weeks touring Europe. I've been missing two very special people in my life. Some of you probably heard that Sarah and I adopted a child this summer. And I've been lucky that they flew out here to join me for our first Christmas as a family. Anyone want to meet my daughter?"

Cheering. I looked at Mom, who was smiling at me, and nodding.  Dad was looking at me from the stage with his hand out, if I wanted to go out. I walked slowly up the stairs, very aware of the lights, and the music, and the cheering. Dad took my hand as I got close to him and pulled me out onto the stage. I waved at the fans. 

"Isn't she beautiful, Munich?" Dad said. 

Everyone cheered. I smiled and waved like an idiot. 

"Jess, how many times have you been to Germany?" he asked and then put his mic in front of my mouth. 

"Uh, zero. This is my first time here."

"And what do you think of Munich so far?"

"Well, I've only seen the hotel and the venue, but the drive here was nice," I said. 

Laughter. I smiled. 

"This girl is the love of my life," he said and then pretended to whisper. "Don't tell Sarah." 

We all laughed. I looked over at Mom, who was smiling and pretending to be mad at Dad. 

Finally Dad let me off the stage and I ran back to Mom. 

"That was embarrassing," I said. 

"It was not. It was cute. You looked adorable up there."