And now the next chapter in the story Latent Image, hope you enjoy.
The Photograph: Latent Image
Chapter 2
A couple hours later the young family was at Hillwood Airport and filled with life from all over. Philip was amazed by all the people walking about, even spotting several kids his age and a couple times almost got away from his mother Helga which had to chase him down in the air port. Young Philip certainly had a lot of energy to spend and for both Helga and Arnold, their younger years were behind them and didn't have that kind of energy anymore but still managed to keep up mostly with their only son. Eventually they made it on to the plane it was late in the evening as the plane took off from the tarmac. Phillip, Arnold and Helga had managed to get a window seat just ahead of the wing while they let Phillip get the window so he could see all the scenery while Arnold and Helga could enjoy each other when they could.
An hour into the flight Philip had fallen asleep and Arnold placed his blankie on him which was a very heart warming sight to the young couple and as Arnold finished tending to his son he felt Helga give him a light peck on the cheek and turned to see her smile. "You're quite the father Arnold, I think you will do well, a lot better then mine" Arnold smiled at her "And you're a lot better at being a mother then you thought you were." Helga just blushed lightly and smiled, even 3 years later after everything they've been through it was still sometimes unreal that only 4 years ago she was worrying about making the finals at high school and now has to worry about her new son. There was a moment of silence before Helga spoke up softly to not wake up Philip. "you know only a few years ago we only had to worry about homework and now we got a little one running around making us tired, when we get to California we should have one of friends take care of him so we can have some us time" "Arnold grinned knowing exactly what she meant, it had been awhile since they managed to get some real quality time together and Arnold was not dept lead in his job and was working harder then before making sure shipments were received on time and everything went smoothly. Arnold kissed her softly on the lips "That sounds good, I'm sure Angelica would love a chance to babysit Philip"
This raised a thought in Helga's mind "Hey aren't Chuckie and Angelica expecting a little one themselves soon?" Arnold nodded "yeah last I spoke to Chuckie he says she is about 3 months in, perhaps you can give her a few pointers too" Helga laughed lightly "Yeah I can do that." She said then she started to become tired herself and leaned her head on Arnold's shoulder and started to nod off. Arnold just rapped his arm around her and cuddled up to her enjoying her warmth and feel against him. He then had a flashback to that faithful flight years ago when they were on their way to California the first time and he realized something different about Helga that day, that would could actually like her maybe even love her. And how Gerald pestered him about how he was going crazy by thinking such thoughts about the girl that bullied him for years. Arnold just smiled to himself at how things turned out and at the wedding Gerald took him aside and took back everything he said about Helga though admitted it would take getting used to. As these thoughts ran through his mind he eventually started to nod off himself and fell asleep against Helga.
Some time later Arnold was awoken from being nudged and poked by his son Philip "Daddy, Daddy we're here, Daddy" As his eyes began to open and the haze of sleep began to fade away he rubbed his eyes awake to see this son looking out the window and tugging on his shirt to get his attention. Another announcement came over the intercom stating they were nearing they're destination and Arnold looked out the window with Philip to see the lights of the city lighting up the darkness. Arnold turned to Helga and tried to gently wake her up which took a few moments but eventually her eyes slowly opened and he kissed her gently "We're here Helga" She smiled at him as he came into view "That's good I don't know how much more I can take of sitting in this seat" Arnold directed her to the window and all three of them looked out the window as the plane made its final approach into Ocean Shores airport.
A short time later the plane finally touched down on the runway and came up to the terminal to allow everyone to exit the plane. It took the young family sometime to get things reorganized from the flight and walk out to the terminal. There was a flood of people in the airport and they almost got lost looking for the main entrance and exit which Helga reminded Arnold of that fact a few times as they made they're way and soon saw someone holding a sign reading 'Arnold & Helga Bartlett' Arnold was the first to spot the sign "There we go" he said pointing at the sign and the three of them headed to the person and once the man noticed them he lowered the sign and reached out a hand to welcome them. Arnold could see the man was wearing an Hawaiian shirt and shorts and that he was Hawaiian. "Hey you must be Arnold and Helga" he said happy to see the young couple and then he leaned down to see Philip "And you must be young Philip" Which Arnold's son retreated behind his mother not sure who this person was and the turned his attention to Arnold "Reggie and Otto are sorry they couldn't make it person, but they're busy with some other things so they sent me down here to pick you up and take you to the hotel, My name is Tito Makani, but you can just call me Tito." Arnold shook his hand "Nice to meet you Tito, so what about Chuckie and Angelica have you seen them?" Tito thought for a moment "Ah yeah they are here, already at the hotel" Helga spoke up "Then what are we waiting for, lets get going." The four of them picked up the bags and made their way to Tito's car and head down to the hotel. Arnold and Helga were eager to see their friends that they haven't seen in years and only talked via email or phone on occasion.
So our young family has made it to Ocean Shores where they will meet up with Chucky and Angelica, stay tuned for the next installment.
