Disney Day
Bailey was awake long before her alarm went off. She'd rolled over and looked at the clock and when she had seen that it was still thirty minutes before they needed to be moving she simply laid there, a smile plastered across her face. She would have gotten up and woken up her dads if they hadn't impressed the need for sleep the night before. They were very adamant about not being woken up before the alarm rang through the room. So, she remained still and thought about the day that lay ahead. Safe to say it was every kid's dream to go to Disneyland.
When the alarm finally went off Bailey jumped up from the bed and onto the one her dads were sharing. TK groaned but she could distinctly hear Carlos chuckle.
"I told you she would have energy this morning." Carlos mumbled.
Bailey laughed.
"Come on, it's time to get up!" Bailey said shaking TK who only groaned again, pulling the blanket over his head. "Please dad, come on."
TK pushed the blanket down and looked at his daughter.
"Are you 17 or 7 Bails? Cause I'm pretty sure no 17-year-old should have this much energy at 5:00 in the morning." He argued.
"For Disney I'd have this much energy at 4." Bailey snipped back.
TK cocked a brow and chuckled.
"There's that teenager snark," He said and then took a deep breath and hauled himself into a sitting position. "Fine, I'm up."
"Yes!" Bailey cried, sitting onto her knees.
"Oh come 'ere kiddo." TK said grabbing Bailey and pulling her down in between he and Carlos.
Bailey screeched but soon was laughing as TK and Carlos attacked her stomach with tickles.
✵✵✵
Bailey was in awe. The colors, the sounds, the smells, it all invaded her brain and she never wanted to them to leave. It was unlike anything that she had ever experienced before. Maybe it was because her dads had talked so much about it and she was making it into something unworldly but she truly felt as though their words hadn't done it justice. She spun around and looked at her fathers who were standing with proud smiles on their faces as they watched their daughter take in their surroundings.
"So?" Carlos asked. "What do you think?"
Bailey's smile got impossibly wider.
"I never want to leave." She said.
Carlos chuckled and TK approached Bailey.
"Well, I certainly agree that Main Street is amazing but let's go on some rides and really up that adrenaline, yeah?" He said.
Bailey nodded enthusiastically.
"Where to first?" Carlos asked.
"Indiana Jones." Bailey said inspecting the map she'd grabbed at the entrance.
Carlos peered over Bailey's shoulder and nodded.
"Looks like a good choice and we can do Jungle Cruise while we're over there." He said.
"And Pirates." TK said, pointing out the ride on the map.
Carlos chuckled.
"You have not stopped talking about Pirates since we booked the trip, we will ride Pirates." He said.
"Do you have a Pirates of the Caribbean obsession that you haven't told us about dad?" Bailey asked.
TK scowled.
"I do not have an obsession with Pirates of the Caribbean I just have always wanted to ride it and haven't been able to." He argued.
"Uh huh, right," Carlos said. "So it has nothing to do with Johnny Depp?"
TK's cheeks reddened and Bailey laughed.
"It's okay dad, I get it." Bailey said starting to walk slowly down Main Street.
TK and Carlos followed close behind. TK hit Carlos' arm.
"I thought I asked you never to bring that up again." He said.
Carlos chuckled at his boyfriend.
"Babe, I love you. It is therefore my right to torment you about the little intricacies of your fantasies." He said, wrapping an arm around TK's waist.
TK groaned.
"It's still not an excuse." He mumbled knowing full-well that he was guilty of the same thing.
✵✵✵
She felt it when it started, the slow creep of the warmth in her gut that shot a signal of warning through her. Not now, she didn't want this to end, the wonder, the fun, the joy that they were sharing as a family. It was their first official family vacation and she would not be the one to ruin their thrill. Maybe she was just feeling something that wasn't there, sensing a shot that was no more than a tingle. Bailey took a deep breath and took mental note of where her levels lay. No, she thought, I'm fine, it's just a cramp. Twenty minutes later she realized that cramp was more of a shot than she'd wanted to admit.
✵✵✵
"I swear I thought I was fine." Bailey mumbled, leaning on TK's shoulder in the Disney infirmary.
TK hugged Bailey closer to his side and kissed the top of her head.
"We know Bails, we're not mad." He promised.
Bailey nodded but her body language betrayed her. Carlos kneeled down in front of her and rubbed her knee.
"Think of it this way," He said. "Now we've officially seen all of Disney."
Bailey couldn't help the small smile that played at her lips.
"Not exactly the part of Disney I wanted to see." She teased.
"What? You didn't want to get the chance to meet the Disney nurses?" TK baited; his tone playful as his hand ran in circles on Bailey's back soothingly.
Bailey laughed quietly.
"Well hun, your temperature is back down again so I think you're good to go as soon as your energy starts to come back. You're probably tired so I would suggest you get some food in you to bring your blood sugar back up and then you should be right as rain." The nurse said.
She had been the nurse to see Bailey the moment her dads had brought her in. She'd been hanging half-conscious in between them and that certainly got people's attention.
"Thank you." Bailey said quietly.
The nurse smiled.
"Dear, you are very welcome. It's been nice to have something other than puking kids or heat stroke come through." She said.
TK furrowed his brow.
"It technically was heat stroke though." He said.
The nurse laughed.
"Not in the traditional sense though which always is interesting to see," She said. "I'm sorry it happened though; it probably was not the plan."
Bailey smiled.
"Not really." She replied.
It took some time and a grilled cheese but eventually Bailey's energy did return to her. Though she was moving slowly, she was ready to take on the rest of the park.
✵✵✵
Carlos looked at the rear-view mirror and smiled. They'd stayed in the park until it closed and then spent a considerable amount of time meandering through Downtown Disney going in and out of stores and just watching the people and taking in the sights. Bailey had fallen asleep before they'd hit the freeway with a smile on her face and Minnie ears on her head.
"She had a lot of fun today." Carlos laughed.
"I swear she's a 7-year-old trapped in the body of a 17-year-old." TK laughed.
"That's not necessarily a bad thing for her to be considering she never got to act like a 7-year-old when she actually was 7." Carlos pointed out.
TK shook his head.
"No, definitely not and I'm not mad that she got to just be a kid today," He said. "I think I'm more upset that it took this long for her to be able to do it."
Carlos nodded.
"Me too," He agreed. "But she'll never have to worry about that again. She can be whoever she wants to be from now on. No matter how old she is, she can always let go and be a kid. She didn't deserve what happened to her."
TK nodded.
"Her face when she saw Mickey today." He laughed.
Carlos laughed.
"She was more excited than the little kids." He said.
"Not to mention all the rides," TK said shaking his head. "God it was a good day."
"Nothing like it." Carlos agreed.
"Promise me it won't be long before our next family vacation." TK said.
Carlos looked at his boyfriend with a soft smile.
"I promise that we will be sure that we will go on family vacations at least once a year. Even if it's just a small one." He said.
"Good." TK said.