And Baby Makes...?

Chapter 63

Mom woke me up at six.

"Hey there sleepyhead," she smiled. "Want to grab a quick shower and change for dinner?"

"Wha?" I asked, disoriented and still sleepy.

Mom laughed.

"Come on, up you get," she said, pulling me into a sitting position.

I stretched and yawned and opened my eyes. Nothing looked familiar. I looked around.

"Sam?" Mom said. Then it dawned on me. Duh. We're in London. In a hotel.

"Hi Mom," I smiled.

"Forgot where we were for a second?" She asked. I smiled.

"Yeah. Kinda," I said, sheepishly.

Mom hugged me.

"Go take a shower," she said. "It'll wake you up."

She left my room and I got up and went into my bathroom.

I showered and got dressed into khaki pants and a nicer shirt, and met Mom and Dad out in the living area.

"Ready, kiddo?" Dad asked. "Sleep okay?"

"Yep. And, yeah.  I slept hard," I said. 

"She was so confused when I woke her up," Mom smiled, giving me a side hug.

"Rosie still isn't sure she wants to be awake," Dad said, holding my sister who was decidedly just kind of holding on to him. Her head was on her shoulder and her thumb in her mouth.

"SaSa," she said in a sleepy little voice.

"Hey Rosie posey," I smiled at her.

We went downstairs into the lobby and looked for the restaurant. Mark was standing just outside with Carol and Benjamin and Emma.

Carol came over first and gave me a hug.

"It's so nice to finally meet you in person," she smiled at me.

"Hi, Samantha!" Benji and Emma said.

"Hi guys!" I smiled, gathering them both in a hug.

We went into the restaurant and were shown to our table and sat down. Rosie had a high chair.

Carol and Emma told us about the concert Dad gave them tickets to, and Emma went on and on about seeing Dad backstage and the concert itself. It was fun to hear from her perspective.

Mark asked about school and what was happening in the fall and that sort of stuff. Everyone loved Rosie, because, Rosie.

Dinner was a lot of fun. We talked about what we were going to do this week and how we'd get around. A few of the days Mark and his family were going to come to the hotel and we'd walk or take the Tube, as they called it, to different areas.

Mark said we could also take the Tube to their house, and we'd go there for dinner at least once.

After dinner, we went back to our room to go to sleep. Rosie had fallen asleep at the table and I was exhausted, too. Mom and Dad finalized plans for the next day with Mark and Carol and we said goodnight.

In the morning, I was woken up when Dad put Rosie on my bed and she patted my face.

"SaSa!" Rosie smiled.

"Good morning Rosie posey!" I said. "Morning, Dad."

"Good morning. Get up and dressed and we'll go downstairs for breakfast," he said, gathering Rosie up and leaving me to get dressed.

Once done, the four of us went downstairs and had breakfast. They had all sorts of stuff for breakfast, sausages, eggs, baked beans, something called black pudding which I didn't think I'd like, so I didn't take any.

We ate and then waited for Mark and Carol and their family to arrive. Mom had already packed up a day bag for us. The diaper bag for Rosie and a backpack for us with some of my extra stuff, some snacks and water and such.

Mark and the family arrived about ten minutes after we finished breakfast and were waiting in the lobby.

We all said hello and Emma and Benji handed me a present.

It was a team jersey from their favourite soccer team, although they called it football. I thanked them and hugged them.

We left and Mark said we were going to start with a double decker, hop-on-hop-off bus tour of London to see the highlights and maybe hop off and visit some of the sights.

We walked to a corner where Mark purchased tickets for us on their bus. Dad tried to pay him back for our family but he wouldn't let him.

"It's our pleasure to show you where we live," Mark said.

We waited a bit and a bus pulled up. Mark helped bring Rosie's stroller on the bus while Mom carried her. We climbed up to the top level and sat outside.

The bus pulled away and the guide told us stories as we drove.

Mark suggested places we should hop off to visit, so we got off at Madame Tussaud's and went into the wax museum. It was weird. And kind of creepy. But fun.

We also stopped to look at Buckingham Palace, and then the Tower of London where we waited to see the Crown Jewels. We also stopped at Hyde Park and had a picnic lunch.

We went to a few museums and galleries and went to Picadilly Circus, which isn't a circus but a traffic circle. Kind of like Time's Square in New York.

We did some shopping as well and then found a restaurant for an early dinner.

Rosie and I were tired and Mom and Dad could tell. Even though I wasn't saying anything.

After dinner, we took the Tube back to the hotel and Mom and Dad got Rosie ready for bed while I took a quick shower and got into my pyjamas.

Mom came into my room after getting Rosie settled and sat on my bed.

"Did you have fun today?" She asked, smoothing down a stray hair.

"I did. Thanks for planning this," I smiled. She smiled back.

"Our pleasure. It's been fun so far. Tomorrow, Mark thought maybe we should take a train to Dover to see the cliffs."

"What's so special about some cliffs?" I asked.

"They're white. They're called the White Cliffs of Dover. And on Tuesday, maybe we'll go see Stonehenge. What do you think?"

"Sounds good," I yawned.

"Okay. Go to sleep sweetheart. We'll see you in the morning."

Mom kissed me on the head, and I curled up and fell asleep.