Japril and family go on a road trip to anywhere and things get crazy
…
She didn't know how they managed to do it, but they did it. They woke up the kids right on time, somehow managed to dress them without any of them throwing any tantrum and were able to put them in the car as they planned.
And now there they were, all of her four children, sitting peacefully in the airplane, behaving like April instructed them to.
April, on the other hand, couldn't be feel more anxious about this. It was going to be their first trip as a family. She still didn't know how they were going to survive the next seven days and even though they were behaving now, she knew from experience that in one second everything could change and the fighting, the crying, the pouting could begin.
However, Ella, their seven year old and oldest daughter, begged for this on her birthday and Jackson couldn't say no. He was determined to take his little girl to Disneyland as much as he was determined to give them everything and be everything his father wasn't.
She took a look at the seats next to her. Ella and Chloe were sitting together, sharing Jackson's Ipod – the one they practically stole from him a while ago and filled with their favorite Selena Gomez songs – mumbling their own version of the lyrics. April smiled, knowing how excited her girls were about this trip and remembering how they spent the past two weeks talking about it non-stop.
Then she turned to watch Jackson, sitting on the other side, showing Jordan a book and her two year old son looking very curious at the pictures. His twin sister, Violet, was sitting on Jackson's lap, with her eyes closed, her head tucked in his shirt and a peaceful expression on her face. She looked so precious when she was sleeping.
April sighed and closed her eyes as well, taking a moment to breath before all the madness. They still had a 2 hour flight ahead of them and she knew that if she got at least ten minutes of peace, she'd be lucky. She'd better take what she could get.
…
When they finally landed, they rushed through the airport to get their bags. April had Ella and Chloe on each of her hands, a backpack on her back and her eyes on the people around them. Jackson was walking behind her, with both twins on his hands as well.
Everybody was passing by them, trying to walk faster, to get their business done and all the movement was starting to drive April crazy. It wasn't easy to move through the crowd with such an entourage. "Jackson, we've got to hurry. I don't like this."
"I'm trying, but they walk slowly, you know?" He replied, taking their two year olds by the hand, waking slowly and carefully so they wouldn't trip or fall.
"I know, but… can't you carry them or something?"
"Seriously? The both of them?" Jackson asked, but April quickly gave him a threatening look and he knew it was for the best if he followed what she said. "Uh… fine!"
"Mommy, are we going to Disneyland now?" Ella asked, looking up at her mom with a spark in her eyes.
"Yes, baby. We are." She replied, praying that they'd make it to the hotel fast. "We are. We just need to get our luggage and then we're going to Disneyland."
"Mommy?"
"Yes, Chloe?"
"Are we staying all together in one big room?"
"Mommy told you we are, baby. Don't worry about it. We're all staying in one big room." April replied, looking down at her five year old. She knew her daughter was afraid of the dark and of all the monsters hiding in the closet. "Plus, you've got Sparkles with you, right?"
Chloe held tighter to the teddy-bear she was carrying in her arm. "Yeah, I got Sparkles."
"If you get scared at night you hold on tight to Sparkles and you do what, baby?"
"I pray." She five year old replied. "I pray so God can fight the monsters away."
"You pray, that's right!" April said, turning her head slightly to Jackson, who was carrying the twins in his arms. "Are we almost there?"
"I think we are."
"Good!"
"We still need to get our luggage."
"I know that!" Jackson said, trying to not to lose his breath as he carried his two kids and their own backpacks.
"Mommy, I need to pee."
April turned to Ella, shaking her head and rolling her eyes, thinking how she saw that coming the moment she left the airplane. "Can you hold on for a minute, honey?"
"Okay." Ella nodded, but before she could say anything else, Chloe also asked to go to the bathroom.
"Jackson, hurry! We need to hurry!"
.
A few minutes later they reached the baggage claim area, but they still had to wait for their bags. That was when Ella started pushing April's shirt, insisting she need to pee.
"But mommy, I can't hold it any longer!"
"I know, but…"
"I need to pee!"
"Ella, I know, but we have to wait for the…"
"But mommy!"
"Just take them to the bathroom." Jackson said, putting Jordan down on the floor, since his arms were starting to fail. "We might be here a while, just take them."
She took a deep breath, praying for some patience. "Fine!" April finally agreed. Then she turned to Ella and took her hand. "We're going to the bathroom. Let's go."
"Me too, mommy!" Chloe said, taking her hand as well.
"We're going to the bathroom. Watch out for the bags and I'm taking j…"
"Mommy!" Ella insisted, almost making April lose her temper.
"Ella! Wait!"
"Just go…" Jackson said, watching as Ella pushed April's hand to make her walk. She nodded and started walking with both girls by the hand. Then Jackson turned around and focused his attention on the bags. "Let's see if we don't lose our bags, Vi!" He said, smiling to the little girl in his arms.
.
Ten minutes later April came back and the girls ran in front of her to Jackson, who was starting to take the bags as best as he could from the rolling mat, since he still had Violet in his hip.
"You need help?" She asked, when she reached him. He nodded and gave her Violet, turning back to catch another bag.
April looked around and noticed that something was missing, something wasn't right. 'One, Two, Three…' She counted in her head, looking at her children. Then, all of sudden, panic. "Jackson…Jackson, where's Jordan?"
"What are you talking about?"
"Jordan, he's not here. Where is he?"
"What do you mean he's not here?" Jackson asked, putting the bag down and looking at her with a confused look. "He went with you to the bathroom."
"Hum, no! No, he didn't!" She could actually feel jumping inside her chest. "I didn't take him with me. He stayed with you."
"No, when you went to the bathroom you said you were taking Jordan as well."
"No, I said I was taking just a second. Jackson, where's my baby?"
"Alright, don't panic!" He replied, trying not to panic as well. "I thought… I thought he was with you."
"Did you see me walking him to the bathroom?" She almost shouted, losing it at once. "NO! I thought you had him. Oh Gosh…where's my baby?"
"Okay… okay!" It was a misunderstanding. He honestly thought she had him and now… now all he could think about was that he lost their baby. "He can't be far. He's two… he must be around here…he…"
"Jordan?" April shouted, looking around, trying to spot his tiny frame in the crowd. "Jackson? Do something!"
"Hum… okay, you stay with the girls, I'm gonna go look for him!"
"I'm not going to wait here. We lost our baby…Oh Lord, we lost our baby!" She noticed how her knees started to tremble and her hands started to shake. "We lost our baby. I'm going to look for him and call the police."
"Calm down! Alright? Don't panic!"
"DON'T PANIC?" She yelled at him again. "My two year old is lost in the middle of the airport and I'm not supposed to panic?"
"April, can you please calm down? I don't need you having a meltdown right now. Stay here. I'm gonna go look for him!"
April took a deep breath and quickly grabbed Chloe's hand, telling her to hold Ella's hand and don't let go. Her heart was racing and she felt a vacuum inside of her stomach. She lost her boy… they lost her boy and this trip couldn't have had a worse start.
"Mommy, what happened?"
"Hum?" She looked down to her sweet daughter's face. "Nothing, sweetheart. Daddy went looking for Jordan. They'll be back really soon. Okay? They'll be back." April replied, trying to dismiss the situation so they didn't get scared.
"But where did he go?"
"Jordan? Well, he went… He…" She didn't know what to say, since she didn't even know where he went. He was two. Where would he go? "You know what? Why don't we wait for him and he'll tell us."
She was about to have a heart attack and Jackson seemed to be taking way too long to come back. There was no sign of her son anywhere near and she was losing it. How could this happen? What kind of mother was she to let this happen?
Jackson eventually came back, but nothing. "I can't see him… I can't find him. I looked everywhere and I can't find him."
"We need to go to the security and …" She didn't have time to finish her sentence when an alarm sound echoed through the space. Then, at least ten security guards started running towards a backdoor. Both Jackson and April looked at the scene completely mortified. They knew it, they felt it inside. Something happened with their son… this was all about their son.
Without taking a second longer, April handed Violet to Jackson, grabbed the girls' hands and started running with all she had, leaving the luggage behind. Her only concern right now was her son.
When they reached the crowd, she heard a cry. A loud and scared loud. "Jordan?" She shouted, pushing a bunch of security guards to the side to be able to see him. "Jordan?"
'Ma'am, I'm gonna need you to stop right here." A security guard stopped her just as she started to spot the top of her child's head.
"What? But that's my son."
"There was a major breach in security and we need to…"
"Can't you hear me? That's my son." She replied. "That's my son and I need to get him."
"You're gonna need to stay here while we try to understand what's happening."
"Nothing's happening… My son is there, crying, and you'll excuse me, but…"
"This is a matter of national security. That little boy somehow managed to break through security and enter a private room. We need to evaluate the situation."
"What's there to evaluate?" Jackson asked, astonished with this man's persistence. "He's two. I'm pretty sure my two year old is not a threat to national security!"
"You know what?" April said, letting go of the girl's hands. "You're gonna have to let me in."
"I'm sorry, but I can't…"
"NOW!" She pushed the man to the side with all the strength she had and ran towards her son. No one could stop her.
She held her son and he placed his tiny little arms around her neck, crying hysterically. "It's okay, baby. It's okay. Mommy's here, baby. You're okay."
"Ma'am, is this your son?" An officer asked.
"Of course this is my son. He got lost in the airport. He's two! He's not a threat to your crappy security system."
"Then how do you explain what happened?"
"I told you. He got lost. We're here as family… we're taking our kids to Disneyland." She said, pointing to the rest of her family. "Then somehow my son got lost. We looked for him all over the place until you mistaken him for a national security threat."
"Your son did enter private…"
"My son is two, he obviously didn't know where he was walking into." She turned to Jordan and rubbed his back. He was still crying. "Mommy's here, honey. Mommy's here."
"We still need to talk to you, Ma'am." The officer continued. "We take these kinds of threats very seriously."
"This was not a threat, for goodness sake!"
"But..."
"Are you seriously mistaking my son for a terrorist? Seriously?" April took a deep breath and held Jordan tighter against her chest. "Look, I'm here with my family…with my husband and my four children. An accident happened. I took the girls to the bathroom and my husband thought I was taking Jordan with me, while I thought he was staying with my husband. It was a misunderstanding and your little mystery is obviously solved. So, can you please let us go now?"
"You should obviously take better care of your children!"
April gave him a fake smile, followed by a fake laughter. But her expression suddenly changed and a serious look appeared on her face. "Look, Mr…" She said, before giving him the most threatening look she had ever given anybody. "When you are a woman, juggling being a surgeon, a wife, a good mother... travelling to another state with four small children, dealing with their needs and tantrums and pouting and everything in between…then, when that time comes you get to talk to me about being more careful with my children." The man looked at her speechless. "Now excuse me. My kids are hungry and tired and all I want to do right now is take my son with me, calm him down and have fun on my vacation."
With that she turned around, kissing the top of her son's head, thinking this trip could not have had a crazier start.