Meet Me by the River's Edge

"All those days watching from the windows
All those years outside looking in
All that time never even knowing
Just how blind I've been
Now I'm here blinking in the starlight
Now I'm here suddenly I see
Standing here it's all so clear
I'm where I'm meant to be

And at last I see the light
And it's like the fog has lifted
And at last I see the light
And it's like the sky is new
And it's warm and real and bright
And the world has somehow shifted
All at once everything looks different
Now that I see you

" You can own the Earth and stiiiill
All you'll own is Earth untiiiiiil
You can paint with all the coloooooors of the wind "

Georgie and I belted the words along with the beautiful comic princess on TV.

" Oh my god girls that was horrific " Jack laughed next to us, desperately trying not to suffocate from laughing so hard.

" That was wonderful " Georgie argued and reached for another pancake.

We were currently sitting on our queen size bed watching a Disney Sing Along Show and devouring the breakfast Jack had ordered us via room service.

And let me tell you, residing at the fairy tale suite does definitely come with it's perks and privileges.

We had everything, from scrambled eggs and bacon to muffins and pancakes. We even got a bowl of fresh fruit salad. Disney was pretty magical if you ask me.

" So you're disagreeing with me, huh tiny princess ? " Jack asked her and grabbed her holding her in his outstretched arms wide above him.

Georgie had the time of her life and her laughter and giggles were filled happiness.

" No no, I would never do that Jack Jack " she giggled cheekily.

" Oh are you mocking me " Jack joked and plopped Georgie on the bed next to him, blowing raspberries on her stomach which cause the little girl to let out high shrieks of laughter.

The sight of Jack and Georgie made my heart flutter like a butterfly. He was so great with her, I never would've guessed.

" Hhhh....look it's Beauty and the Beast " Georgie chimed up and pointed her little finger towards the TV, where now Belle and the Beast were dancing in through the ballroom.

" Dance with me Jack " Georgie demanded stretching her arms out wide to get Jack to get up and dance.

Of course he obeyed, the little girl had him wrapped around her tiny finger.

Jack picked her up and swirled and twirled around the room with Georgie in his arms. Her hair flew wildly in the wind and the sound of her high laughter filled the walls of our room.

That was a happy moment. One of those that seem impossibly insignificant to others but to me this moment would forever be a dear memory. There was nothing negative, saddening, stressful or in any way unhappy about this moment.

With my favorite little girl so perfectly content with everything and laughing like there was no tomorrow, and the guy ... the man I loved, whose eyes were filled with adoration and joy, not only because of Georgie but also because of me.

" I love you ... both of you " the words left my lips without my mind actually comprehending they did. I just talked straight from the heart.

Georgie looked at me with her big beautiful eyes and a cute little smile and Jack mirrored her look perfectly. Sometimes I wasn't sure who of those two was the kid and who was the adult.

Georgie lowered her head to whisper something into Jack's ear which caused him to snicker and then nod, before they both turned to me and I knew, I KNEW they were planning something.

" Hey Billie " Jack said with a evil tone in his voice.

" Yeah ? ! "

" Georgie thinks you don't seem to have enough fun. "

" Oh does she now ? "

Slowly they were both coming closer.

" She also thinks you need to beeee...."

" Tickled " Georgie yelled and they both jumped on me tickling my sides, my feet, my neck ... everywhere they could reach.

I was heaving and gasping for air between laughs and giggles.

" Stop stop, I surrender "

" No mercyyyy "

That only made me laugh harder, how does she know expressions like that.

" Okay okay tiny princess I think she has enough " Jack chuckled while they both slowly stopped tickling me and I got my breath back.

" Cuddle time " Georgie exclaimed and threw her little arms around my neck and nuzzled her face in my hair.

" I love you too Billie " she said, it was a mere whisper but I heard it and it made my hear flutter from joy.

As my eyes connected with Jack's I could almost feel the love radiating from him. No matter how much he had fucked up, I would never, not for anything in this world, give up on him. Give up on the man I love.

" I love you " I mouthed and in return got him to mouth an honest " I love you too ".

" Come join cuddle time Jack " Georgie chimed up.

" Yeah join cuddle time Jack "

... and he did.



" They are so lucky "

" Who sweetie ? "

" The duckies, they live here in Disneyland, I would like to live here in Disneyland " Georgie giggled before she took another spoon of delicious dole whip.

" ... if we could live here we could live in the castle and Billie you could be the Queen and Jack could be the King and I could be your princess. And then we could buy a dog like Pluto and every time for my birthday I could invited Cinderella and Belle and Rapunzel. That would be soooo cool "

Jack and I both looked at her with amusement and warmth. She had such a cute and creative imagination and I was so thankful she kept that after her mother's death. Sometimes I wish I was half as strong as Georgie was. The girl was 5 and lost her mother but she lived, she was happy, she pulled through. I was an adult when I lost my sister ... and I went nuts.

" That sounds pretty cool tiny princess " Jack's voice snapped me from my thoughts.

" You could also marry Billie here in the castle, Jack wouldn't that be super dooper amazing ? "

I almost choked on my slushy right then. Woah kid calm down. That guy wasn't even my boyfriend ...
I think, he wasn't ... right ?

I knew that concept was hard to grasp for a kid but marriage, woah awkward.

" Hey Georgie we're not ... together " I tried to explain to her a situation I didn't even fully understand myself, makes sense Billie.

She furrowed her eyebrows in confusion and scrunched her tiny little nose.

" But you love Jack right ? "

I looked up into Jack's eyes and smiled.

" Yes I do "

Georgie quickly turned her head to look at Jack almost hitting me in the face with her long hair.

" ... and Jack do you love Billie ? "

He granted me the same loving smile as earlier.

" Yeah, very very much "

Georgie took a deep breath and then let out a loud huff.

" Then why are you not together ? " she shook her head in disbelieve and made me chuckle quite a bit. You're supposed to be 5 how are you so sassy ?

" Because ... it's complicated Georgie. Sometimes love is only the beginning. Sometimes people do stupid things that hurt other people and they still love each other but they have to work to get where they want to be. You know it's like when you're playing Mario Kart and you just got a green shell but you have to wait for the right moment to shoot it or you might hit yourself ? That's it. Our love is the green shell and we're currently waiting for the perfect moment to shoot it off " Jack declared. Only Jack would compare our relationship with each other, to a video game. A video game in which I totally owned him. Bam!

Georgie pondered away for a while before she spoke up again.

" but .... but you will marry one day ? "

We both just smiled in amusement. This girl was the biggest fan of Jack and I together, even bigger than Clover and THAT means something. She would soooo be a tumblr fangirl one day, shipping everything in sight.

" Georgie I don't think we're that far "

" ... but like IF you get married you can buy a big house together and then I can come live with you and we can buy a dog and a kitty and maybe some duckies. And we can have sleepovers every night and eat pancakes every morning and Jack can dance with me and ... "

" But what about David and Amy ? They would be sad if you went to live with us " I interrupted her in rambling about her future plans.

Her smile fell and she started to fondle with her spoon.

" You okay tiny princess ? " Jack asked her softly after we had shared a concerned look.

She didn't answer but stir the left over dole whip around in the cup.

" Hey cutie look at me " he softly tipped up her chin to make her look at him.

" ... no " her voice was so small and quite, so sad. I immediately wanted to hug her tight and take all the sadness and hurt off her and load it on myself so she would never have to suffer ever again.

" What's wrong Georgie " I asked and lifted her onto my lap.

" Amy and David are having a baby. And I heard them say that they can have their OWN baby now and that they will love it so much. They want to give my room to the baby and I have to take the room downstairs. They say because the baby needs to be close to the mommy and daddy. But the room downstairs is where the monsters are. Jimmy from next door said that. And I want to be close to the mommy and daddy too. I can't be close to my real mommy but to Amy and David. But now they only want the baby. And I'm like lady in lady and the tramp. When the woman and the man have a baby they forget about lady, and then the man doesn't play with her anymore. They will love the baby much more than me. Because it's their real baby "

Her words broke my heart into many many little pieces. But I was over with when I saw tears running down her cheeks.

" No, no Georgie no. They love you I promise they do. If you want I can talk to them when we get home, okay ? "

" But I want to stay with you "

Oh god how would I get out of this situation. I would love to have Georgie with me, but I wasn't meant to take care of a kid. I could hardly take care of myself. I'm just starting to get my life back on track. And even if I would see myself as suited to be a foster mom, no one would ever give a child to a single woman in her early twenties that is in my mental state.

" Georgie you know that's not possible, but I promise you, I swear to you, I will come visit you more often okay ? "

She weakly nodded her head yes and I wiped away her tears.

" I love you princess "

" I love you too Billie "

I met Jack's eyes again and I knew he felt the same way I did. Miserable and helpless.

" Hey tiny princess, how about we go see Rapunzel and Flynn ? " Jack exclaimed trying to lighten the mood.

Her eyes lit up and she nodded her head happily.

" Okay come on then "

We got up and Georgie skipped a few steps in front of us, eager to get to the meet up place.

" She's gonna be alright Shortie "

" Huh ? "

" I know you worry about her but she'll be alright. We'll make sure she's alright. I promise I'll do everything in my power to make sure this little girl will never have to endure any pain or hurt ever again " Jack said and placed his arm around my waist.

" Why ? Why are you so ... " I trailed off, I didn't even know what to say.

" Because you love her, so much. And I love you and I will do everything to make you happy and besides, this little girl has been through so much shit to last her a lifetime, she doesn't need more "

I only shook my head in disbelieve. I never knew I could mean so much to a person, I mean someone other than Mattie.

Jack wiped the few stray tears away that left my eyes and placed a sweet kiss on my lips.

" Come on let's meet Rapunzel ... and don't you DARE hit on Flynn. I'll keep an eye on him "

No matter how hard I was trying to fight it, my heart had forgiven Jack and my head wasn't far from it either.



" Do I look pretty ? "

" You look super pretty "

" You do too, Jack is gonna fall so much more in love with you "

I placed a bow in Georgie's hair and tugged her dress in place.

" Ready to go ? "

" Yup "

Jack had told us to get a little dolled up, he wanted to take us out for dinner on our last night here.
And not the adventurous pirate dinner, but quite fancy before we were going to watch the fireworks.

" Alright Jack we're ready "

Georgie was dressed in a cute creme dress and a little light pink tweed jacket. She looked adorable, and so much like her mother.

I tried to fit with her in color so I chose my light pink babydoll top and light washed blue jeans. It could be cold out so I decided for a golden cropped jacket.

" Wowza, girls you look gorgeous. Look at you tiny princess, you're gonna be a heartbreaker one day " Jack exclaimed as he turned around the corner.

He was wearing black jeans and his red dress shirt that made him look so incredibly irresistible.

" Look at Billie, isn't she pretty ? " Georgie asked with youthful innocence.

" She really is, she's so pretty "

I didn't know what Jack and I were at this point, I didn't know how it would go on when we were back home, but by the love in his eyes and the butterflies in my tummy I could tell we were on the right way.

" I have something for the both of you "

He pulled two black boxes from behind his back. One he placed on the bed for a moment and opened the other.

It was a gorgeous, sparkling, silver tiara.

He beckoned Georgie over and placed it on her head. It sparkled in the light and made her smile like a mad man.

" It's so pretty, thank you Jack Jack " she cooed and hugged him tightly.

" No problem tiny princess ... Billie " he turned to me and took the other box.

This one also contained a tiara, a gold one. It had rhinestones all over and it looked so wonderful.

" This one's for my queen "

He placed it on my head and softly brushed a part of my hair behind my ear.

I was never one for brown eyes. Blue eyes had always fascinated me, intrigued me. I always described my perfect guy as a man with piercing blue eyes. Never had I given much thought to brown eyes. But if someone would ask me now what my favorite color was, I would without a doubt picture Jack's eyes immediately. Just like his laugh became my favorite sound in the world.

As much as I hated to confess it ... I was undoubtedly in love with this dork.

" Thank you Jack, that's wonderful "

" Anything for my girls " he said with a wink and a light peck on my lips.



Plaza Inn was shining and sparkling with thousands of fairy lights and the soft tunes of Mainstreet U.S.A surrounded us.

A chirpy waitress came our way with a million dollar smile.

" Welcome to Plaza Inn, I'm Wendy can I get your names please ? "

" Uh, yeah hi Wendy, we have reserved a table for Barakat "

Her eyes lit up and her grin got even wider, that was the second time someone got noticeably more happy when they heard Jack's name and last time we got a suite, I was really curious what he had in store for us this time.

" Oh yes, well hello. Come with me please "

She skipped in front of us like she was meant to be Snow White but ended up with this job instead.

We were seated next to the window with a view on the castle.

" A waitress will be with you in just a minute. I hope you have a magical time, enjoy your meal ... and we already took care of the dessert for you Mr. Barakat " she said, granted us all a smile and hurried away.

" What's up with the dessert Jack ? "

He looked at me with the eyes of an innocent puppy.

" I have no idea what you're talking about Shortie "

I only nodded my head in sarcasm " Sure you don't " .



" That was so good " Georgie exclaimed as she had finished her last piece of chicken.

" It really was. Say thank you to Jack. He's the one that made this all possible "

" Thank you Jack " she told him sweetly and hugged her arms tightly around him.

" That's no problem tiny princess. All for my girls "

Just then our waitress - conveniently called Cindy, I was just waiting for Tink and Belle to come serve us wine - came around the corner .

" So all done. Well seems like you're ready for dessert ? " she asked sweetly but the question was solemnly directed to Jack. Which, I admit, was making me feel a little ... okay jealous, it made me jealous. That was until Jack caught my drift and placed his hand on mine stroking his thumb over the back of my hand.

" Yeah we are ready for dessert " he nodded at her.

" Then I would need to know what each of you would like to have. There's Red Velvet cake, chocolate cake or carrot cake "

The way her lashes flattered you could've mistaken her for a Disney princess.

" Chocolate " Georgie called out enthusiastically to which Jack added a " Twice please " and I decided on the Red Velvet cake.

" Alright ... but I heard there's someone else who would like to ask you for a dance before dessert ... princess Georgie. A little birdy told me you met all the princesses yet " she turned to the little girl at my right.

Georgie nodded and then her smile fell a little " Yeah almost, we didn't meet sleeping beauty "

Oh my god, no he didn't.

" Well, tonight is a magical night, guess who is here to see you and ask you for a dance ? " Cindy cooed excitedly and just then Princess Aurora and her prince came around the corner.

Georgie was in a state between joy and shock before she let out a happy squeal.

I leaned into Jack's side and placed a kiss on the side of his head. Taking us to Disney was a wonderful thing to do for me and Georgie but this .... this was more than I ever could ask for. He really was determined to make these the best few days of her life. This guy was heaven sent. No matter how hard he fucked up, my heart had forgiven him long ago ... and my head decided in that moment, that a guy who was so sweet, deserved a second chance.

" I love you so much for doing this for her "

" I told you, I would do anything to make you smile...and the tiny princess too. I love you too by the way "

" Hi princess Georgie, would you like to come and dance with me and prince Philip ? " Aurora asked as she reached us.

Georgie looked at me as if the ask for permission to which I only nodded.

And off she went and danced through the night with sleeping beauty, prince Philip ... and a huge smile on her face.



" Okay she's in bed. She was super tired after the dancing and the fireworks "

" She totally loves the pjs you bought her "

" Yeah 'cause they're Belle ... and I bought them. The little one adores me "

" She's not the only one ... Jack, you didn't need to do all of this. But I am so grateful you did. Not for me but for her "

" I know ... I'm totally digging the star wars PJ's Shortie "

" Oh shut up you muffin "

He grabbed my hand and lead me to our room where again there was a Disney music channel playing.

" Dance with me " Jack whispered into my ear and grabbed me by the waist as I linked my hands behind his neck.

Rapunzel's and Flynn's voices were surrounding us as we swayed softly from side to side.

Just then I remembered a point on Mattie's list.

#1 : Fall in love.

This was the one point I never though I would be able to cross of the list ... but I could. There was no denying or sweet talking or finding excuses anymore.

I was in love with Jack Barakat.

I didn't even notice the tears before Jack had cupped my face and wiped them away with his thumb.

" Why are you crying Shortie "

" I ... Jack if I tell you what I want to tell you you have to promise me to believe my words. "

He nodded quickly, confusion written in his eyes.

" I've been a bitch to you for quite a while ... but I deserved to be a bitch to you. What you did in Chicago and Cincinnati was a total asshole move. But It's okay, we worked through it. Right now, the good times completely outweigh the bad ones. And isn't that what love is ? Forgiving and working through it and jumping obstacles. And for a while I thought maybe that was yours and Trish's story ... after all you seemed to be drawn to each other ... but maybe that is our story. I don't want you to think I say this because you buy me stuff or dedicate songs to me. There's only one thing you give me that is responsible for this. And that is happiness. You make me genuinely happy. That is something I deprived myself from for so long. Ever since ... since Mattie passed away I tried to not let myself feel too much. So I numbed my senses with booze and cheep company ... but you completely threw that plan over board.

Jack I love you. And I can't go any longer with trying to fight this. Maybe I'll be left heartbroken in the end ... but I need to feel happy for a while ... and I feel happiest when I'm with you. So if you want this - us - if you want US, wholeheartedly and for real ... then we can be, completely. "

Jack was quite for a while which made my heart beat faster than ever before.

" As girlfriend and boyfriend ? " he asked, his voice a husky whisper.

" Y... yeah I think that's what most people call it "

I saw his confused look turn into a big smile and then in a matter of seconds, his lips were on mine.
Oh yeah, count that in on my list of favorite things. My favorite taste - Jack's lips.

" Hey Shortie " he chuckled as we pulled away.

" Yeah ? "

" You were my new dream "

I jokingly punched his chest " Oh you just HAD to ruin it right ? You're an ass. Don't make fun of tangled, it's a good movie. I'm taking it all back, just for that move. "

" Nooo noo you wont " he picked me up and laughing we both fell onto the bed.

" I love you so much shortie "

" I love you too, you ass "

And that's where I fell asleep. At Disney. In the fairy tale suite. In the arms of my ... boyfriend.