Status: Complete

Turbulence

Just Beginning To Get All That I Want

“Jonathan,” I giggled, trying to roll away from him. “Stop it! You’re going to make me late.”

The man took his hands off me, kissed my lips, and rolled over so he was lying next to me. “Where are you going anyway?”

“New York,” I responded, propping myself onto my elbows. “I promised a friend I would visit. Since you are busy with an upcoming road trip I figured now would be a good time to go.”

“You mean I won’t see you for the whole trip?” He pouted, causing me to chuckle.

“Even if I stayed in Chicago you wouldn’t see me.”

“I guess that is true, but if the road trip was in the East I could at least plan to see you.”

“I wouldn’t say no to that,” I grinned, leaning over to peck his cheek. “Now, we actually have to leave or I will be late for my flight.”

“I’ll go grab Cam, and meet you at the car.”

“You’re going to make me carry the bags?” I joked, sitting on the edge of the bed to slip on my sandals. “What kind of a boyfriend are you?”

“Clearly not a very good one, considering I didn’t even know I had that title.”

Sticking my tongue out at him, I threw the diaper bag over my shoulder and grabbed the handle of my suitcase. “Go grab Cameron.”

Following my command, he left the room. “Who are you going to see?” He called before re-entering my room with Cameron.

“A friend of mine,” I responded, walking past him into the hall.

“Have I met this friend?”

I turned to look at him and raised my eye brow. “Are you getting jealous?”

“No,” he argued, grabbing the handle of my suitcase from me. “I just want to know who you are seeing.”

Sighing, I ushered him out the door and locked it. “Fine. You know how I told you that I had this family friend who started his own bar in New York?”

“Yeah, he helped you start yours, right?” He clarified, putting Cameron into his car seat. “He’s the one you are going to see?”

“That would be him.” I closed the trunk of Jonathan’s Tahoe, and made my way to the passenger side. “Before you jump to any conclusions, I don’t care for him in any way, except as a friend.”

“Do you really think I would make that assumption?” He asked, starting the SUV and pulling away from my home. “I feel I should take offense to that.”

“Forget it,” I mumbled, staring out the window. “Maybe I’ll see my parents while I’m there.”

“Are they planning to be in New York?”

“No idea, but if they are, I should probably tell them that Patrick and I broke up.”

“You still haven’t told them?”

“No,” I muttered, sheepishly. “I have been avoiding their calls.”

“They are your parents.”

“And I took over a year to tell them they had a grandson. What difference will a few more months make before I tell them that I left their grandson’s father two years ago?”

“It will probably mean a great deal to them. They are your parents.”

“Shut up. Besides, telling them I’m not with Patrick will probably lead to telling them about you.”

“And that is a problem because?” Jonathan raised a brow.

“You clearly don’t know my parents.”

“That is true, since you never introduce us.”

Ignoring his comment, I turned to look at my son, who had fallen fast asleep. “I can’t wait for Sean to meet Cameron.”

“Sean?”

My eyes widened as I realised the words had exited my lips. “Yeah, my family friend, Sean.”

“As in Sean-”

“I know what you are thinking,” I interrupted as he pulled into the airport parking lot. “And you would be correct.”

“Why? How?” He shot me a flabbergasted look.

“Marcus did some business with him years ago,” I explained, opening my door. “My dad got involved, and from there he basically became part of the ‘family’. He started a bar, so I used his knowledge to start mine. At the time, he was a good asset, now I just go visit to keep the connection alive.”

“I guess that makes sense,” Jonathan grumbled, picking up Cameron.

“Don’t act all pissed off, Jonathan,” I warned. “I am still coming home to you in a week’s time.”

A smile spread across his face before he took my suitcase handle and pulled it behind him. “I really have nothing to be angry about. If you had wanted to get with Avery, you would have done it by now.”

“Yeah,” I said, thoughtfully. “I guess so, but I was never really interested in him like that. It took a lot for me to tolerate him when we first met.”

“Fair enough,” Jonathan said, stopping once we were inside the busy airport. “I didn’t think this one through.”

“You should probably hurry up and leave before someone recognises you. You’ll never make it out otherwise. I’ll give you a call once I get to New York, okay?”

Jonathan nodded and quickly pecked my cheek before handing over my son and leaving.

I sighed and manoeuvred myself into a line to check in. The wait was surprisingly quick, but I was already mentally preparing myself for the trouble I knew it was going to be just to get Cameron and me through security.

“Hello, ma’am. What can I do for you today?”

“Flying to New York,” I replied, handing her my passport and placing my suitcase on the scale.

“Thank you, Ms Brandt.” She handed my documentation and ticket to me. “You are free to move to security now.”

I smiled my thanks and grabbed the diaper bag from the ground. Following the signs, I made my way to the line up for security. My thoughts moved to Jonathan as I bounced Cameron lightly, keeping him calm.

Jonathan and I had only been together a month, and already I knew I was happy in the relationship. Keeping us a secret had made me skeptical, but as time passed, I realised that keeping this from Patrick and the rest of Jonathan’s teammates would be quite simple. We made sure not to give them a reason to be suspicious, but for some reason that didn’t stop David from questioning me on a regular basis. He kept telling me that I was too happy. To which I argued that I was trying to look at things in a more positive light.

“Passport?”

I looked at the man and smiled, handing him what he had requested. After doing a final check for anything that might set off the detector, I carried Cameron through. Once I got the okay from the security, I collected the diaper bag and made my way to the waiting area near my gate. I hoped the wait before boarding wouldn’t take long, but was experienced enough with flying to expect the worst.

Settling into the seat, I positioned Cameron safely on my lap and pulled out my phone. I knew Jonathan would be curious, so I sent him a message to let him know that we had made it through security. I wished him good luck on the road trip and shut off my phone. This trip was a time for me to relax, and I didn’t need any extra distractions before getting on the plane.