Two Worlds Collide

“Welcome to Miami, Florida. Please stay seated until the plane has come to a complete stop. Thank you for flying with American Airlines.”

Finally back in Miami. John and I had been planning to come visit my family, but the guys had to tag along since Tim had booked them to play a festival with the guys from Taking Back Sunday. My dad hadn’t seen Bryce since the week after Bryce was born. He needed to spend some quality time with his grandson.

Bryce loved being on the airplane, and when he unloaded and walked to claim our bags, he lay his face against John’s chest. I wrapped his blanket around him and John placed the pacifier in his mouth. By the time we reached baggage claim, Bryce was already knocked out. We gathered our bags and headed outside. I don’t know how Max did it, but the bus was already outside waiting for us. We weren’t returning home by flying, but with the bus. We stuffed our bags in the compartments and settled inside. I followed John to put Bryce in the crib and joined the rest of the guys in the lounge area.

“Is your dad coming to the show tonight?” Jared asked and I nod. We were headed straight for the festival, and then we would stay in a hotel for the night. Tomorrow we would have lunch with my dad and Marie when they got out of work.

“By the way,” I started, nudging John’s shoulder. “John has something to ask you guys.”

“Oh, yeah,” He remembered with a chuckle. “I want you guys to be my groomsmen?”

Pat screeched with happiness, “OF COURSE!”

“It would be a pleasure.” Kennedy smiled. The rest of the guys smiled.

“Who’s going to be your bridesmaids?” Garrett asked me.

I blinked, “Melli, Vivi, and Lex.”

“Aren’t you missing two people?” Max raised an eyebrow.

“Yeah,” I sighed. “I don’t have anyone else to ask. I wanted Kirky to have a big part in my wedding, but I’m not sure how that’s going to work out.”

“Can you possibly bend the rules and ask Kirky to be like another one of your bridesmaid?” Aaron asked. Everyone laughed, picturing Kennedy in a dress. I could have lived without that picture in my head. It was a great idea, though. Maybe Stacy could pull some strings.

Two hours into arriving to the festival, I was bored. John and the guys had been busy doing interviews and talking to fans. I had seen them once for five minutes. Bryce tried to run after them. John picked him up, leaving a kiss on his head, before handing him back to me, kissing me, and rushing out. I tried to entertain myself by playing a few games with Bryce, but even he was getting sick of sitting around and waiting for the guys to come back. I sighed, picked him up, and headed outside. What would be more perfect than to enjoy the festival with my son? Especially his first festival.

Bryce’s eyes scanned our surroundings, amazed. There were game and food tents all around us and rides. The first thing we headed into was a magic show that was going on. I sat on the metal stands and seated Bryce on my lap. His mouth was agape as he watched the man in a suit wave a red cloak over his assistant. She waved with a bright smile before the magician covered her. He mumbled a few words before he threw the cloak off. His assistant was gone now. Everyone clapped and I rolled my eyes, noticing the trap door where she had stood. Jared would completely lose it and tell this poser off if he were here.

After a few more horrible and fake tricks, I couldn’t take it anymore. I stood with Bryce in my arms and walked off.

“Mama.” Bryce mumbled.

“Sorry, baby,” I gave him a sad smile. “I couldn’t stand watching that anymore.”

“Dada?”

“He’s busy, but he’ll join us soon. I promise,” I could tell he wasn’t enjoying his day, and I wasn’t either. “How about we get some cotton candy?”

At the sound of the word candy, Bryce’s eyes lit up and he bounced in my arms. I chuckled and we stepped up to a food tent. I asked for a bag of cotton candy and a bottle of water. I set down Bryce in front of me so I could pay the man. I stuffed my wallet back in my purse, grabbed the cotton candy and water, and glanced down. Bryce was gone. I panicked and looked around. I spot him in a second. He was waddling over to the petting zoo tent. I ran, but not fast enough. Someone bent over in front of him. I frowned and reached my son, picking him up right away.

“Bryce, don’t ever run off from mommy.” I told him.

“Carter?” The person who had stopped to talk to Bryce recognized. I turned and my eyes widen. “It’s really you. And holy shit, you have a kid.”

“Y-yeah.” I nod, licking my dry lips. I turned on my heels, to walk off, but he grabbed my arm.

“Don’t touch me, Mike!” I yelled, yanking my arm away.

“I’m not who I used to be,” He called before I could run off. I turned back to face him, an eyebrow raised. “I’ve been clean for six months. After I attacked you in Colorado, reality smacked me in the face.”

“Why are you telling me this?” I asked sourly.

“Because I haven’t been able to live with myself because you hate me,” He sighed. “I’ve been waiting for the day that I could apologize to you in person.”

“You’ve hurt me a lot, Mike. You stalked and attacked me in Colorado. You’ve done a lot of unforgettable things to me,” I stated. “But I was taught to forgive and forget. We all make mistakes in life. I would hate to leave this world tomorrow with guilt and regrets. I forgive you.”

He smiled, walked over, and hugged me. Bryce banged his fists into Mike’s head. He backed off, rubbing his head.

“I guess I deserved that,” He chuckled. “Thank you, Carter. You’re a great person and you deserve to be happy.”

“You deserve to be happy too, Mike,” I smiled. “Everyone does.”

“You look good, Gomez,” He noted. “It was good talking to you. You were the best thing to ever happen to me.”

I watched him walk off until my phone ran in my pocket. I fished it out and answered John’s call.

“Where are my two lovelies?”

“We’re spending some bonding time in the festival.”

He informed me about joining us before we hung up. I sat in a bench with Bryce in my lap and opened the bag of cotton candy. He smiled as I peeled off a piece and placed it in his tongue. He bounced happily once he swallowed and I chuckled. His hazel eyes sparkled each time I would peel off another piece.

“Is that yum yum, Bryce?” John asked, sliding into the bench next to me.

“Yum yum!” Bryce clapped his sticky hands together. John and I laughed. I whipped his hands with baby wipe and John tickled his belly.

“What have you two done so far?” He asked.

“We watched some guy bullshit with magic.” I answered. Bryce peeled off a piece of the cotton candy and placed it in my mouth.

“I’m surprised he hasn’t picked up any cuss words yet.” John chuckled.

“Whoops.” I giggled, covering my mouth.

Once Bryce refused anymore cotton candy, we headed for the petting zoo. Bryce yelled and mumbled happily as we watched the small animals. I set him down and John bent over next to him. There was some of the animal food on the palm of his hand. A small pig and goat ran over, digging into the meal in John’s hand. Bryce screeched and wrapped his arms around my leg. I could tell that he didn’t trust the animals to be this close to him. I bent over in front of him and encouraged him to join John.

“Come on, buddy,” John helped. “They don’t bite.”

Bryce held on to John as he reached a hand out to pet the goat. His small hand softly stroke its fur, and it continued to each. Bryce smiled and let go of John so he could pet the pig as well. I took as many pictures as I could. Once the food in John’s palm was gone, the goat turned to face Bryce. Its tongue traced from his chin to his cheek. Bryce screamed and jumped into John’s arms, crying. John chuckled and stood. I wiped his face with a baby wipe and he sniffled.

We left the petting zoo and walked around the rest of the festival. Bryce got to pet an elephant named Petunia, and he laughed with joy. As we walked back to the stage, Bryce fell asleep in my arms. I knew he would sleep until morning. He did whenever he had the best of days. Back in the green room, the rest of the guys were changing and warming up. I settled Bryce in his stroller and helped John fix his ear piece. Garrett almost choked himself trying to do his tie. I laughed, swatting his hands away, and tied it correctly. Once they were set, we chanted “We Like to Party” and headed out side stage. I pushed Bryce’s stroller with me. No matter how loud the guys were backstage, he would be sound asleep. He was used to all the noise by now, and I know it meant a lot for John to have both Bryce and I there.

As they performed, I played with the ring on my finger. It had become a new nervous habit of mine. I had been debating whether to tell John about Mike or not. Would he be worried? Mad? I took a deep breath to calm my nerves. A shoulder nudged me, and I looked up to see Tim grinning down at me.

“You’ve been picking at that ring for the past ten minutes,” He noted. “What’s up?”

“Just stressed out about planning everything for the wedding.” I lied. I didn’t want to tell Tim before I told John. Tim a lose tongue, especially when he was drunk. He let it go and I dropped my arms to my sides, trying to calm down.

“This is the most comfortable bed in the world.” John sighed as he dropped his body into the king sized bed. We were back in the hotel now after the show, and I was still thinking of how to bring up the subject of Mike.

John helped me set up Bryce’s portable crib next to the bed and we went off to the bathroom to shower together and change. Pat had offered to watch over Bryce was we got ready for bed. I hugged Pat before he left to the room he shared with Garrett.

“Today was an amazing day,” John smiled, sliding his body under the covers. I shut off the lights and joined him. His arms wrapped around me, pulling me close. “What’s wrong? You seem distant.”

“I ran into Mike today.”

“Mike? As in that asshole of your ex-boyfriend?” He asked and I nod. “Did he hurt you whatsoever? I’ll fucking kill him.”

“He didn’t,” I shook my head. “He apologized for everything he put me through.”

“Did you forgive him?” I nod and he sighed. “I’m fine with your decision as long as you’re safe.”

I smiled and attached my lips to his warm ones.

Maybe forgiving Mike was the right thing to do, but could I really forgive everyone else who had screwed me over. Was I ready to forgive and forget? Forgiveness was an easy word, but it sure was hard to accomplish.

As long as I had John, Bryce, my friends, and family, they were all I needed. I sank into John’s welcoming arms with a smile plastered on my face.