The way I found you

10| Birthday Surprise

In the end, Lana and Lola stayed her last three days in LA at Sean's house before she had to say goodbye to them. It broke her heart not to know how long she would be staying in New York for the job she had to do, because she really wanted to be here on Flynn's birthday. She didn't even bother to think about a party for her own birthday since she was just unsure if she would be back or not. 

"But when you're not here for a looong time then you cannot give me a goodnight kiss.", Leo protested, not wanting to let Lana go. The black-haired woman sighed and got on his height before giving him a soft hug.  

"I will call you, I promise. I am just gonna be very busy because I have to work, you know?", Lana said and gave him several kisses on his cheeks. "So these are your goodnight kisses for next week.", She said giggling whilst placing more and more kisses on Leo's face. The boy started laughing immediately and tried to wiggle out of her grip. 

"Stop! Stop!", he laughed out of control, trying to tickle Lana so she would let him go. 

"Oh, you cheeky monkey. Do you really think tickling is stopping me from kissing you all over the place?" Lana said dramatically with laughter in her voice. Leo took this opportunity to make a run to the living room for his escape. 

"Oh, no-no-no. I am gonna get you.", Lana giggled playfully and ran behind him. The boy was going around the sofa as fast as he could, running to the kitchen with Lana right behind him. She almost reached Leo, when two strong arms grabbed her by the waist and held her back. The sudden movement took her by surprise so that she let out a scream when she got lifted from the ground. 

"I got her, Leo. Ruuuun!", Sean shouted, whilst holding Lana close to himself, so her hands couldn't move anymore. She didn't even try to get out of his grip since it was part of the game now. 

"She needs to walk over the plank, Daddy! Because we are real pirates! ", his son yelled back, approaching both of them with some toy handcuffs, which he put on Lana. "Haha! We got her!" Leo exclaimed laughing whilst putting one of his pirate hats on. 

"Nooo. Please don't make me walk over the plank!", Lana said, joining their game. Sean was still holding her, looking Leo in the eye, and questioned what they should do. 

"Mh…. You can stay on our ship when you swear to cook your lasagna for us again.", The kid said with big eyes. 

"I will when I am back.", Lana laughed and finally freed herself from Sean's grip. Leo took off the handcuffs and looked at her with a sad expression, which made Lana sorrowful as well, but she had to go. After a couple of minutes, she finally made it to the door again, with Sean and Leo right behind her. She gave Sean a tight hug, told him that he could call her anytime before she left the Maguire house. 

It was hard for her to leave but it had to be done. So she drove back to her house to pack everything she needed before saying goodbye to Lola, who would stay with her aunt Candy since Lana didn't want to stress the old dog with bringing her to the airport. It was always devastating when she had to leave her behind but she knew that Lola was in good hands. 

The next day it was time for her to take her flight to New York, where she was working with a friend of hers on a couple of new songs that nobody knew about yet. The whole process of writing, developing, and listening to different tracks took ages but was worth it in the end. They finished the lyrics and talked about how to actually control Lana's voice, tried some parts of the song, and even considered a rap. 

All the work let the days pass in no time. Lana stayed for almost three weeks and the urge to see Sean and the kids again was getting bigger every hour. It was like a drug she couldn't have enough of. She felt strange to be honest because it almost felt like they were her family. She had spent so much time at Sean's house that she even had spare clothes in his wardrobe along with some essential stuff she brought. And since she arrived in NYC, her dreams were all about Sean and the kids. How Flynn is greeting her after school, how Leo's eyes got bigger when she was cooking and how Amélies smile was brighter than the sun. And not to forget… There was Sean, who always brought a grin to her face even if he didn't try.