Fate - Chapter 48 - London Walks
Fate
Chapter 48 - London Walks
POV: Zac
April 25, 2007
We’d met Annabelle yesterday and she was something else. I was glad that while she was a fan she didn’t act all hysterical and stuff when she met us! Cassie and I had actually spent Monday with her too, and I found her to be pretty normal, if not a bit nervous at first. She had taken us to museums but then Tuesday had been a day in for us, Cassie was having some mild pain in her left side and while she said she was fine I wasn’t going to risk anything and we’d just taken a low-key stay in the hotel day. Helped us both to recover some.
Joshua was constantly pulling up here and I just knew before long he would be walking. I had left them at the hotel and went and got breakfast, so we could eat there and then get ready. She wanted to see the London Eye and the aquarium, which were right beside each other. Once I got back we all ate and while she got changed I got Joshua ready. Still going with long sleeves for him because of the temperatures along with his jacket. The hotel had a stroller rental and I’d gotten one Monday to use for the rest of our time here, I hadn’t told her yet but we weren’t quite going home from here. She’d mentioned the Eiffel tower for days before we left and then realized it wasn’t here where we were, I’d managed to plan that short side trip without her knowing.
We were treating this as a sort of a honeymoon since Taylor, Isaac, and the rest of the band had gone home yesterday. We weren’t going home until May 1 st.
“How are you feeling?”
“Well, I’m not hurting so that’s a plus! I feel a lot better and maybe you were right that I just needed a day.”
“I’d say I’m always right, but that’s a lie.”
She laughed. “Bring his carrier today just in case he gets scared.”
He hadn’t much liked the Piccadilly circus area, so I put the carrier in the bag and we headed out. I had rented a car too because cabs were expensive so I drove us there and parked. I parked in the aquarium area and we then walked to the London Eye. We waited in line with him in the stroller until we were put into a pod, then she let him out. We had a few others with us but Joshua stayed right beside us.
“The view is incredible.”
“It is, it’s a good place to see a lot of London.”
I felt Joshua tug at my pants so I picked him up. Pointed out places to him.
“Mama.” He said.
She turned and smiled when he reached out, she took him from me. It gave me the chance to get some good pictures of them together too! We did move around the pod, so we got to see the entire view before we were let off. From there we walked to the aquarium, we did a potty break first and to change him, along with a bottle so he wouldn’t be cranky.
I carried him for a while since the first few exhibits weren’t on the floor or eye level with the stroller. He seemed to like the movement of the faster animals, watching intently but the slower ones like the Jellyfish weren’t that interesting to him.
We moved up and then across and found we were walking over sharks!
“Well this is different.” Cassie said.
“Definitely.”
I sat him down and pointed them out, but he stayed really close to me, even though he watched them swim by.
“I think he likes fish and swimming critters.” Cassie said.
“Clearly he does.”
“Maybe that is something to have at the house since you wouldn’t let us bring the kitties home or the snakes or the reptiles.”
I looked up at her. “Come on, Joshua didn’t want to bring those home. You did!”
“Wouldn’t mind a snake or two.”
“No. The fish however could be a suitable solution. Easy to maintain, no messes in the floor and not expensive to take care of.”
“I think he’d like them too.”
When we were done with the sharks we moved down a level, and in the overhead tunnels, for these he rode in the stroller. Amazed by the numerous fishes moving all around us.
“So, Annabelle asked me if we had any names picked out.”
I glanced at Cassie who was just taking pictures, clearly she hadn’t said that but she glanced at me so I guess she had.
“You said you wanted to wait before we discussed names.”
“I lost her around 20 or 21 weeks, I’m past that.”
“And you want to do that here?”
“Well, I mean I just had a few suggestions, nothing concrete or anything.”
“Like?”
We were moving slowly, looking and taking pictures.
“There is London, Paris, they’re good girl names.”
“I really don’t want to name my daughter after a city.”
“Lucy? Madeline?”
“Not after a song title either.”
“I guess Brooklyn is out then? Georgia? Peaches?”
I paused and looked at her. “I really think you aren’t taking that seriously.”
“Well, I mean I am kind of. But, just tossing out ideas. There are thousands of names available.”
“What about your middle name? Destiny?”
“I don’t know, you didn’t use your name.”
“I did consider it, using Walker has a middle name as well. But, ultimately chose just Alexander.”
“I rather like Alexandria, but you used that already.”
We moved into the learning areas and that was awesome to see by itself, but then we headed to other parts of the aquarium.
“I really do like Destiny and she really was destined to be here Cassie.”
She turned and smiled at me. “I would say something but I can’t, there are little kids around.”
I was sure there was a tinge of red to my face after that, I was pretty certain she was going to comment about the quickness in which I made babies. God I hope that wasn’t the case all the time! It got quiet and I began to realize the gravity of this. I was 21 and I would have two children before my 22 nd birthday! I’d have a one year old soon!
We finished the aquarium tour and then headed to Trafalger square, we decided to walk to the location because we could see Big Ben and other places. We stopped for lunch and to give her a break, followed that with a walk which put him to sleep, so we detoured to the Whitehall gardens on the banks of the river, so he could get some kind of nap in.
“Taylor and Isaac asked me if you were coming with us this Fall.”
“Did they expect me to?”
“Do you want to?”
“Well, yes. It’s a chance to get outside Tulsa and see more of the United States. However, I wasn’t sure how they’d feel with a pregnant lady and a one year old.”
He giggled. “They won’t mind either, but, I think for August you should stay around Tulsa, that way you can see the doctor and she can be born there. We have shows in August but they’re all before the due date.”
“She can be here earlier you know.”
“I know, but I won’t be far in LA and I’ll make sure to have a ticket standing by in case I need to fly home quickly.”
“Well, would they mind if Saphira came? She mentioned wanting to travel and she could really help me with Joshua and the baby.”
“I would have to ask them. She may need to do more than help though.”
“I can see what she’s willing to do but I just wasn’t sure if I could handle them both everywhere and I know that you can’t always drop what you’re doing and come help. I mean, would be kind of odd if you left mid-song.”
“It would be.”
“What about Serenity?”
I raises a brow at her. “Serenity?”
“Yes.”
“Destiny Serenity is not a good match.” I said.
“I never fully agreed to Destiny.”
“You could just leave the name up to me.”
She poked my side. “You got lucky with him, you didn’t have her there to complain. Not so much with her.”
I giggled. “Fine. I do like Destiny though.”
“Korinna?” She asked.
“Where did that come from?”
“It’s Saphira’s middle name.”
I just shook my head. “No naming after anyone unless it’s grandparents.”
“Marie is my mom’s middle name.”
“We can use Marie somehow.”
“What about your mom?”
“My mom had five kids that can use her name, because I am sure that my brothers and sisters will have kids someday.”
“You just decided you hated being in the middle and wanted to be first?”
“I guess.”
“You got a little spacey in the aquarium, was everything okay?”
“Yeah, I just realized that at 21 I’d have two kids.”
“And that wasn’t the plan?”
“Not really. I wanted to be at least 25 but at the same time I really don’t think I would change anything. Joshua has a mother that loves him and even though he isn’t yours, you’ve never acted like he wasn’t.”
“Was that part of the reason why you didn’t go back to Maddi?”
I really hadn’t expected that question from her, especially not at this point.
“I didn’t go back to Maddi for the reasons I gave you Cassandra. Why are you asking this now about her?”
“Because I felt like some of your decision was based on who was better for him.”
I slid over closer, she couldn’t really move. “I chose to stay with you because I love you. I chose you because you truly love me, it’s not fake and it’s not because of my name. I chose you because you love Joshua and you consider him to be your son. He’s not your step-son or your husband’s son, he’s our son.”
“So, you did think about that?”
“I didn’t need too, I knew when she showed up Cassie. Are we ready to head to the square?”
“Yep, he should be up shortly.”
We headed out toward the square.
“Is there some reason why you are so adamant about being the one that shows me this place?”
“Yes, it’s where we filmed some of the Where’s The Love video. I wanted to be the one to show you.”
“I didn’t know that’s where it was filmed.”
“Yep, some of it was anyway.”
The walk was eventless but he did wake up before we got there, once there it was a quick diaper change and I sat down to let him play while she took a dozen pictures or more. I had him standing in front of me, using me to stay balanced.
“Mama.”
“She’s right there, she hasn’t gone anywhere.”
She was standing about ten feet from us, getting a picture of the fountain. He turned her direction but didn’t move yet, called for her again.
“I know you hear him.”
“Uh huh, I’m just seeing if he’s going to let you go.” She said.
“So mean.”
She turned and came toward us, kneeled down a few feet away and held her hands out. I didn’t believe he’d move, but he let my arm go and stood there.
“Come on Joshua.” She said.
She kept reassuring him and he eventually took his first step, quickly followed by the second and third and then he fell. Thankfully, he didn’t fall forward just backwards. What did we do? The normal parent thing, we tried to get a video and when we did we sent it to our parents and my siblings.
“Well, I’m not sure if I like this walking thing.” I said.
“You will soon but we do need to add the baby gate upstairs. Even though he’s in the crib, walking leads to climbing.”
“I have one already there, so I’ll put it back up.”
Joshua had fun walking back and forth, falling more than he was walking but she did come closer because we didn’t want him to fall forward, but of course it had to happen, thankfully no blood this time. We visited a few more places before we had dinner and then returned to the hotel. Joshua got some more practice there before it was bedtime. We’d managed to agree that Marie would be used either as her first or middle name, we just weren’t sure which yet. If I had my way, it would be her middle name. I also talked to Isaac and Taylor about her joining us, they both wanted to talk more when we were home but agreed to consider Saphira also.
We spent the next several days exploring London and then France, she was surprised and that was the whole point. But, I made sure she rested too before we headed home.
Chapter 48 - London Walks
POV: Zac
April 25, 2007
We’d met Annabelle yesterday and she was something else. I was glad that while she was a fan she didn’t act all hysterical and stuff when she met us! Cassie and I had actually spent Monday with her too, and I found her to be pretty normal, if not a bit nervous at first. She had taken us to museums but then Tuesday had been a day in for us, Cassie was having some mild pain in her left side and while she said she was fine I wasn’t going to risk anything and we’d just taken a low-key stay in the hotel day. Helped us both to recover some.
Joshua was constantly pulling up here and I just knew before long he would be walking. I had left them at the hotel and went and got breakfast, so we could eat there and then get ready. She wanted to see the London Eye and the aquarium, which were right beside each other. Once I got back we all ate and while she got changed I got Joshua ready. Still going with long sleeves for him because of the temperatures along with his jacket. The hotel had a stroller rental and I’d gotten one Monday to use for the rest of our time here, I hadn’t told her yet but we weren’t quite going home from here. She’d mentioned the Eiffel tower for days before we left and then realized it wasn’t here where we were, I’d managed to plan that short side trip without her knowing.
We were treating this as a sort of a honeymoon since Taylor, Isaac, and the rest of the band had gone home yesterday. We weren’t going home until May 1 st.
“How are you feeling?”
“Well, I’m not hurting so that’s a plus! I feel a lot better and maybe you were right that I just needed a day.”
“I’d say I’m always right, but that’s a lie.”
She laughed. “Bring his carrier today just in case he gets scared.”
He hadn’t much liked the Piccadilly circus area, so I put the carrier in the bag and we headed out. I had rented a car too because cabs were expensive so I drove us there and parked. I parked in the aquarium area and we then walked to the London Eye. We waited in line with him in the stroller until we were put into a pod, then she let him out. We had a few others with us but Joshua stayed right beside us.
“The view is incredible.”
“It is, it’s a good place to see a lot of London.”
I felt Joshua tug at my pants so I picked him up. Pointed out places to him.
“Mama.” He said.
She turned and smiled when he reached out, she took him from me. It gave me the chance to get some good pictures of them together too! We did move around the pod, so we got to see the entire view before we were let off. From there we walked to the aquarium, we did a potty break first and to change him, along with a bottle so he wouldn’t be cranky.
I carried him for a while since the first few exhibits weren’t on the floor or eye level with the stroller. He seemed to like the movement of the faster animals, watching intently but the slower ones like the Jellyfish weren’t that interesting to him.
We moved up and then across and found we were walking over sharks!
“Well this is different.” Cassie said.
“Definitely.”
I sat him down and pointed them out, but he stayed really close to me, even though he watched them swim by.
“I think he likes fish and swimming critters.” Cassie said.
“Clearly he does.”
“Maybe that is something to have at the house since you wouldn’t let us bring the kitties home or the snakes or the reptiles.”
I looked up at her. “Come on, Joshua didn’t want to bring those home. You did!”
“Wouldn’t mind a snake or two.”
“No. The fish however could be a suitable solution. Easy to maintain, no messes in the floor and not expensive to take care of.”
“I think he’d like them too.”
When we were done with the sharks we moved down a level, and in the overhead tunnels, for these he rode in the stroller. Amazed by the numerous fishes moving all around us.
“So, Annabelle asked me if we had any names picked out.”
I glanced at Cassie who was just taking pictures, clearly she hadn’t said that but she glanced at me so I guess she had.
“You said you wanted to wait before we discussed names.”
“I lost her around 20 or 21 weeks, I’m past that.”
“And you want to do that here?”
“Well, I mean I just had a few suggestions, nothing concrete or anything.”
“Like?”
We were moving slowly, looking and taking pictures.
“There is London, Paris, they’re good girl names.”
“I really don’t want to name my daughter after a city.”
“Lucy? Madeline?”
“Not after a song title either.”
“I guess Brooklyn is out then? Georgia? Peaches?”
I paused and looked at her. “I really think you aren’t taking that seriously.”
“Well, I mean I am kind of. But, just tossing out ideas. There are thousands of names available.”
“What about your middle name? Destiny?”
“I don’t know, you didn’t use your name.”
“I did consider it, using Walker has a middle name as well. But, ultimately chose just Alexander.”
“I rather like Alexandria, but you used that already.”
We moved into the learning areas and that was awesome to see by itself, but then we headed to other parts of the aquarium.
“I really do like Destiny and she really was destined to be here Cassie.”
She turned and smiled at me. “I would say something but I can’t, there are little kids around.”
I was sure there was a tinge of red to my face after that, I was pretty certain she was going to comment about the quickness in which I made babies. God I hope that wasn’t the case all the time! It got quiet and I began to realize the gravity of this. I was 21 and I would have two children before my 22 nd birthday! I’d have a one year old soon!
We finished the aquarium tour and then headed to Trafalger square, we decided to walk to the location because we could see Big Ben and other places. We stopped for lunch and to give her a break, followed that with a walk which put him to sleep, so we detoured to the Whitehall gardens on the banks of the river, so he could get some kind of nap in.
“Taylor and Isaac asked me if you were coming with us this Fall.”
“Did they expect me to?”
“Do you want to?”
“Well, yes. It’s a chance to get outside Tulsa and see more of the United States. However, I wasn’t sure how they’d feel with a pregnant lady and a one year old.”
He giggled. “They won’t mind either, but, I think for August you should stay around Tulsa, that way you can see the doctor and she can be born there. We have shows in August but they’re all before the due date.”
“She can be here earlier you know.”
“I know, but I won’t be far in LA and I’ll make sure to have a ticket standing by in case I need to fly home quickly.”
“Well, would they mind if Saphira came? She mentioned wanting to travel and she could really help me with Joshua and the baby.”
“I would have to ask them. She may need to do more than help though.”
“I can see what she’s willing to do but I just wasn’t sure if I could handle them both everywhere and I know that you can’t always drop what you’re doing and come help. I mean, would be kind of odd if you left mid-song.”
“It would be.”
“What about Serenity?”
I raises a brow at her. “Serenity?”
“Yes.”
“Destiny Serenity is not a good match.” I said.
“I never fully agreed to Destiny.”
“You could just leave the name up to me.”
She poked my side. “You got lucky with him, you didn’t have her there to complain. Not so much with her.”
I giggled. “Fine. I do like Destiny though.”
“Korinna?” She asked.
“Where did that come from?”
“It’s Saphira’s middle name.”
I just shook my head. “No naming after anyone unless it’s grandparents.”
“Marie is my mom’s middle name.”
“We can use Marie somehow.”
“What about your mom?”
“My mom had five kids that can use her name, because I am sure that my brothers and sisters will have kids someday.”
“You just decided you hated being in the middle and wanted to be first?”
“I guess.”
“You got a little spacey in the aquarium, was everything okay?”
“Yeah, I just realized that at 21 I’d have two kids.”
“And that wasn’t the plan?”
“Not really. I wanted to be at least 25 but at the same time I really don’t think I would change anything. Joshua has a mother that loves him and even though he isn’t yours, you’ve never acted like he wasn’t.”
“Was that part of the reason why you didn’t go back to Maddi?”
I really hadn’t expected that question from her, especially not at this point.
“I didn’t go back to Maddi for the reasons I gave you Cassandra. Why are you asking this now about her?”
“Because I felt like some of your decision was based on who was better for him.”
I slid over closer, she couldn’t really move. “I chose to stay with you because I love you. I chose you because you truly love me, it’s not fake and it’s not because of my name. I chose you because you love Joshua and you consider him to be your son. He’s not your step-son or your husband’s son, he’s our son.”
“So, you did think about that?”
“I didn’t need too, I knew when she showed up Cassie. Are we ready to head to the square?”
“Yep, he should be up shortly.”
We headed out toward the square.
“Is there some reason why you are so adamant about being the one that shows me this place?”
“Yes, it’s where we filmed some of the Where’s The Love video. I wanted to be the one to show you.”
“I didn’t know that’s where it was filmed.”
“Yep, some of it was anyway.”
The walk was eventless but he did wake up before we got there, once there it was a quick diaper change and I sat down to let him play while she took a dozen pictures or more. I had him standing in front of me, using me to stay balanced.
“Mama.”
“She’s right there, she hasn’t gone anywhere.”
She was standing about ten feet from us, getting a picture of the fountain. He turned her direction but didn’t move yet, called for her again.
“I know you hear him.”
“Uh huh, I’m just seeing if he’s going to let you go.” She said.
“So mean.”
She turned and came toward us, kneeled down a few feet away and held her hands out. I didn’t believe he’d move, but he let my arm go and stood there.
“Come on Joshua.” She said.
She kept reassuring him and he eventually took his first step, quickly followed by the second and third and then he fell. Thankfully, he didn’t fall forward just backwards. What did we do? The normal parent thing, we tried to get a video and when we did we sent it to our parents and my siblings.
“Well, I’m not sure if I like this walking thing.” I said.
“You will soon but we do need to add the baby gate upstairs. Even though he’s in the crib, walking leads to climbing.”
“I have one already there, so I’ll put it back up.”
Joshua had fun walking back and forth, falling more than he was walking but she did come closer because we didn’t want him to fall forward, but of course it had to happen, thankfully no blood this time. We visited a few more places before we had dinner and then returned to the hotel. Joshua got some more practice there before it was bedtime. We’d managed to agree that Marie would be used either as her first or middle name, we just weren’t sure which yet. If I had my way, it would be her middle name. I also talked to Isaac and Taylor about her joining us, they both wanted to talk more when we were home but agreed to consider Saphira also.
We spent the next several days exploring London and then France, she was surprised and that was the whole point. But, I made sure she rested too before we headed home.