The Passage (h.s)

Chapter Two

It's been two months since graduation, Sam and I decided we're not going to waste our time waiting for something new and exciting to happen in our lives. We combine our life savings, pack up all our things, and move to LA with the girls in tow. There's more job opportunities for us in our line of work in this part of the country and a change of scenery can't hurt either.

Traveling cross country with two kids could have been pure hell, but we made it into a fun road trip. Lots of snacks, singing, and of course the iPads and iPhones for additional entertainment. The girls have never been out west, so they're hyper while anticipating seeing their new city for the first time.

Most of our journey they talk about all the celebrities they want to meet. Lark insists on googling the places the boys from One Direction like to frequent, she's made it her mission to meet them. She seems to have developed some detective skills scrutinizing paparazzi pics along the way. I don't want to break her spirit so I just let her dream. I guess she could meet them someday, stranger things have happened, right?

Lily has fun playing road trip games with us, her favorite is the alphabet game. It was always my favorite when I was growing up. Whenever my mom and I would travel farther than the grocery store or my school I begged her to play with me. I always hated when we got to the Q or Z, they're always the hardest to find. My mom usually let me cheat when we landed on those, she let me use license plates to find them which is normally off limits. The rules are no skipping around the alphabet, and you can only use road signs.

I'm glad I've still been able to hold on to some of these fond memories. When my mom passed away so many happy moments just kept slipping through my fingers. I really wish she was still here to see me and the girls now, she'd be so proud of me for moving on. I still don't know if I believe in an afterlife or not, but if it's real then I know she's smiling and cheering me on. The idea of that is comforting to me so I've chosen to hold on to it for now.

***

After four days of driving, Los Angeles is finally in sight. We're just outside the city on interstate 10 stuck in typical LA traffic and the girls start bickering.

"How is it that we've made it this far in the car without one argument, and now we have maybe thirty minutes left and you two start fighting? Please tell me why."

"Mama, Lark keeps stealing my iPad."

"I didn't steal it you brat, I was trying to watch the video with you but you wouldn't share, and my phone is dead."

Heaven forbid she charged the thing to avoid this fight. Sam looks over at me from the driver's seat and snickers.

"It could be worse. At least they didn't fight like this the entire time."

"You make a valid point."

I turn around giving my best, look at mom she's pissed, stares.

"Lily let your sister watch the video with you, and Lark keep your hands to yourself and stop calling your sister names, we're almost home."

Wow that sounds weird, to think LA is our new home. I've wanted to live here my whole life; my head has always been in the clouds. My dreams have never been small, I just never pursued them as aggressively as I should. I'm excited that my days of complacency are over; this life is much more fun.

An hour later we pull into the driveway at our new house. We're leasing a small California bungalow on the edge of LA. It's not huge, but the view is perfection, it's close to a great school for the girls and it feels like home to us.

The outside of the home is the color of a Tuscan sun and it's accented with white columns on the front porch and dormers. There's not a lot of living space, but it's perfectly comfortable for us. The owners of the home have done some recent renovations and reconfigured the floorplan to include three bedrooms, each with its own bathroom. We're lucky to have found this gem. It feels like we were always meant to live in this place.