Chapter 22:
Final goodbyes and a flight home:
(Wednesday June 7th, 2017; 8:45am)
Jack stood outside on the main balcony of the apartment, dressed in white sneakers, light brown socks, light cream-coloured trousers, red t-shirt and his waist jacket, looking up at the clear blue sky and then looking down onto the street six floors below. It was the day that he and his triplet sisters would be flying back home to Dublin with Rita and Carrie coming along for the ride as well, and he was really looking forward to flying home and seeing his native country, as well as his family and friends, again.
Jack and the triplets had been up since 7:30am that morning and, after having breakfast where they consumed the last of the cereal, orange juice and milk, had been making their final preparations to depart from the apartment buildings in the specially arranged bus at 9:10am which would take them directly to Bangor International Airport. They had gone through every drawer and cabinet, checking and double checking to be sure that nothing had been forgotten or overlooked while they'd been packing.
Over the past few days, Jack and the triplets had spent much of their time doing various things within the apartment, including completing all their laundry, including the ironing, as well as packing their cases and spending as much time as they could with their American friends before they left. At the mall, they had bought a few things to give as presents to their family and relatives back home, as well as five large hampers full of different varieties of chocolate and candy, as well as a few of the five-pound Hershey chocolate bars, from their favourite candy store.
They had also gone out to dinner every evening at the mall, at a different restaurant each time, and made sure as well that most of the food already at the apartment had been eaten before Wednesday. Indeed, the night before, Sue, Tommy, Heather and Roy and Norma and Freddy had spent some time at the apartment with Jack, Carrie and the triplets having one last social get-together, where they consumed the last of the goodies that had been left over from the graduation party the previous week, including the last few cans of soda.
Now though, with all their bags fully packed with everything they had and sitting out in the living room ready to go, there was nothing left for them to do but wait until the bus arrived outside and the staff who worked at the apartment block came upstairs with luggage trolleys to help take it all downstairs and load it onto the bus.
Stepping inside from the balcony, Jack went into the master bedroom to have a last look round; it sure felt different now, seeing all the clutter gone, nothing sitting on the bedside cabinets and the closet empty. Taking a final thorough look within the drawers, presses and within the bedside cabinets, he was satisfied to see they were all empty, and then he checked under the bed to see nothing was left there. Then, after standing up, he felt around the outside of his waistcoat, and was satisfied to feel that his safe travel bag, with his mobile phone, wallet, passport and tickets safely tucked inside it, was still against the front of his chest.
Stepping back out into the kitchen area, he noticed the triplets coming out of the other two bedrooms, having just finished their final checks themselves.
"All done in those rooms?" asked their older brother.
"All done, big bro. Nothing left to pack." Grace said.
"When will the porters arrive up here? It's almost 8:50am and the bus is due to come in 10 minutes." Louise said. Then, there were three knocks at the door.
"Speak of the devil, I'd say that's them now." Jack said, as he went over to the door and opened it. A moment later, two porters stepped inside.
"We're here to collect your things and bring them downstairs." one of the two porters said.
"Of course, let's load them up." Jack said, as he put his laptop bag and camera bag over his shoulders before grabbing one of his cases.
In no time at all the two luggage trolleys had the bags and candy hampers loaded aboard, they left the apartment for the last time and headed downstairs in the elevators to the ground floor where Rita and Carrie were already waiting for them in reception with their bags.
(Downstairs, apartment lobby)
After Jack and his sisters handed in their card keys to the female receptionist at the reception desk, the bus arrived outside the front doors and Sue and Tommy, Norma and Freddy and Heather and Roy all waiting outside. Going out, the porters loaded the luggage onto the bus as Jack and the triplets gave their goodbyes to their American friends.
"It was really nice to know you during your time here, Jack." Tommy said as he and Jack hugged each other.
"Thanks, Tommy. And be sure that both you and Sue keep my sisters and I informed about that baby." Jack said, as he then went and hugged Sue.
"We will, and many thanks again for emailing us those photos, Jack. I'm gonna have some of them mounted in picture frames." Sue said, with a smile. She was feeling happy knowing that her parents and younger sister accepted her pregnancy.
"Hey...before you guys go, we need to take a group photo." Freddy said, as he held up his camera. And so they did; after asked one of the porters to take the picture, the group huddled together with Jack having his arms round Carrie, and Tommy holding Sue with his hands resting gently on her pregnant stomach. After the pictures were taken, including a few on Jack's camera, they all thanked the porter before they said their final goodbyes to each other.
"Will you and your sisters ever come back to Chamberlain, Jack?" Freddy asked, as he and Jack gave each other a brotherly hug.
"Don't worry, Freddy, we certainly will return. Maybe we'll even become U.S. citizens and move here." Jack said, looking at the boy he saw as the brother he'd never had.
"I think you're a great person, Jack. You certainly made a big difference here when you were at Ewen High, and it was great knowing you." Norma said, as she and Jack hugged.
"Thanks Norma, it was great knowing you too." Jack said.
"Have a safe trip home to Ireland, and keep in touch with us." Heather said, as she and Roy made their goodbyes too.
"And have a good time in Ireland, Ms Desjardin." Roy said, to his gym teacher.
"Thanks Roy, and all of you have a really great summer before you all head off to college." Rita said, as she said goodbye to her former students.
"And good luck in Ireland, Carrie." Sue said, as the two blondes hugged each other goodbye."
"Thanks, Sue. And keep us informed on that baby." Carrie said, as she stepped aboard the bus.
"We will." Sue said, as Tommy stepped up behind her and placed his hands lovingly on Sue's stomach.
"Take care, everyone. We'll be back very soon." Rita said.
Soon, with the luggage and hampers loaded aboard, and the goodbyes given, Jack and the triplets along with Rita and Carrie boarded the bus and took their seats. And, giving a final goodbye wave to their friends, the bus set off on its way to Bangor International Airport. Watching their friends disappear as they pulled out of the parking lot and drove down the road, Carrie felt a wave of apprehension come over her and she turned to her guardian.
"I've never left this town before, Rita. I'm not sure what the future's gonna be." Carrie said, as Rita looked at her and smiled.
"Don't worry, Carrie. Everything's gonna be fine. You'll get to see the others again in the future." Rita said, as she assured her surrogate daughter who smiled back at her
They headed out of town to the freeway along the same route Rita and Jack had gone on the way in a little over two months before. As they passed the large Central European style mansion and all its land just outside of Chamberlain, Jack was pleased to see that it still hadn't been sold. But that was hardly a surprising fact, considering its incredibly expensive price tag of about $150 million. But already, Jack was seriously considering buying that house and making it one of his future homes.
Joining onto the freeway a few minutes later, they were able to pick up speed and were soon cruising along at 70mph among other vehicles as they headed south on I-95 to Bangor. It was the first time Jack had been outside of Chamberlain since he arrived in early April, and he was glad to be looking at some different scenery for a change.
"So, Rita, will your house be okay until you return?" asked Jack.
"Don't worry, Jack. It will. I've invested in good locks on all my doors and windows, as well as an effective alarm system to ensure no one tries to break in. Anyway, I don't have anything of value in my house, so I'm not worried about anything going missing." Rita said.
"And what about David?" asked Louise.
"Don't worry, he knows I'm going away for a while and he's promised to keep a close watch on my house until I get back." Rita said.
"That's quite nice of him." Carrie said.
(A short while later)
It wasn't too long before they arrived at Bangor International Airport and pulled up to an area of the terminal that specialised in supporting private charter flights. After loading all their luggage onto the airport luggage trolleys and thanking the bus driver for getting them to the airport safely, they made their way into the terminal, where they had their tickets and passports examined, before they and their luggage quickly went through the security procedures and from there to the gate where they would board their flight via one of the jet bridges. Most of the luggage went on the omnipresent airport luggage trolleys, while everyone carried their smaller bags, including laptop bags and camera cases over their shoulders or on their backs.
Jack was astounded when he laid his eyes on the family's private jet for the first time; it was a Boeing 747-8, the largest of the 747's, and identical to the one he had flown in when he first flew from Dublin over to the United States a little over two months before. Though his sisters had shown him photos of it, it was another thing to see it in person; it was a massive thing, painted in white on its underside with a light blue on top with dark navy-blue streaks in places and small Irish flags which could be seen at different areas of the fuselage, including one placed under the cockpit windows on both sides of the fuselage. On the tall vertical stabiliser at the rear of the plane, there were slightly larger Irish flags to be seen near the base.
Just below the aircraft's starboard wing, a fuel truck pulled away as the airport mechanics went about making the last of the safety checks on the landing gear, the flaps and the four main engines before the plane could take off.
As they turned at the end of the jet bridge and approached the main boarding entrance of the private jet along the lower level, Jack could see three women in their smart dark blue flight attendant uniforms waiting for them by the port entry door. As the group entered the aircraft, Jack and Carrie quickly touched their fingers on the outside of the fuselage by the door.
"Hello again, you three. Welcome back aboard!" one of the flight attendants said, when she saw the triplets approach them.
"Hello, Nora! It's great to see you and the others again!" Catherine said, as she and her sisters greeted the three flight attendants.
"Nora, Sinead, Emma, this is our older brother Jack, his girlfriend Carrie White and their gym teacher from Ewen High, Rita Desjardin." Louise said.
"It's so nice to meet you, Master Sullivan. And it's an honour to meet you at long last, as well as you girlfriend and gym teacher." Nora said.
"It's nice to meet you too. I'm really keen to enjoy this flight and to return home." Jack said, as she shook the hands of each of the flight attendants. After Rita and Carrie spoke to the attendants, they loaded all their luggage aboard the aircraft and brought it to a space very near to the back of the lower deck where there was a space set aside for storing luggage.
After making sure every single piece was there, which they all were, and they were all securely stowed ready for the long flight, Jack, Carrie and Rita took the chance to have a good look round the aircraft, as it would be a few more minutes before they took off; at the rear of the aircraft was a crew area with separate seating area, with 18 seats in three rows of six in a 2-2-2 configuration, along with a storage area, a rest area with bunks, and two lavatories which were also fitted with showers.
Forward of the crew area, along the starboard side, were two guest bedrooms, one on each side and each of which had a double bed inside, along with it's own en-suite full bathroom complete with shower, with two separate lavatories forward of the bedrooms.
In the middle of the aircraft overlooking the wings was a large combined dining-lounge area with two dining tables that could raise up or down so the seats could form two double beds should it ever be required, as well as adjustable seating in the form of comfy armchairs that could also stretch out to be used as beds if needed.
The lounge also had comfortable couches and armchairs covered with plush leather that could be adjusted and moved, with tables stored within the wall panelling, as well as a well-stocked bar with drinks and snacks, and a few large HD TVs mounted on the bulkheads, one of which had a DVD player. There were even armchairs facing each other that could be folded down to form single beds, with the tables between them able to be adjusted to the right level.
A little further forward, and by the stairs leading to the upper deck, was the galley and food preparation area, along with an additional lavatory.
In the nose of the aircraft was the master bedroom, complete with its own bathroom and shower, as well as a couch on one side, a desk with an armchair on the other and very good views through the windows on both sides of it. Carrie was impressed with this particular space, as the bedroom, following the contours of the aircraft's nose, got narrower the closer she walked to the bed, beyond which was the nose of the aircraft. Nora told Jack, Carrie and Rita that the aircraft was also fully air-conditioned and was insulated so the loud sounds of the engines wouldn't interfere with any conversations people in the aircraft were having.
Upstairs on the deck above, was another lavatory along with a self-service minibar, which was very well-stocked, at the back with a combined dining area and lounge forward with a bookcase fitted against one wall and a dining table capable of seating six. Forward behind a door was a crew rest area with its own lavatory and two bunks with privacy curtains on each side, and beyond that was the cockpit where the pilot and co-pilot were readying the plane for the trip to Dublin. While there, Jack took a few moments to speak with the pilots and to have a look round the cockpit. Carrie had never seen the inside of an aircraft cockpit before and was astounded by the amount of electronics around the pilots, as well as by the electronic screens, navigation aids and other devices the crew would use.
"So…everything's good for our trip back to Dublin?" asked Jack, as he spoke to the captain.
"Yes, sir. The aircraft's passed its pre-flight tests, is fully fuelled up and ready to go." the captain said.
"Good…well let's have a good flight and get us there safely…thank you." Jack said.
"So, if you'd all like to take your seats downstairs and buckle up, we'll go through the safety briefing and then we'll be on our way." Nora said, as the group turned and headed back downstairs to the lounge area.
Once buckled up, where Jack showed Carrie how to put on the seatbelt, they went through the safety briefing, through the safety briefing, which included how to put on and inflate a lifejacket, what to do in the event of an emergency landing and how to put on an oxygen mask if the cabin suddenly depressurized. They were also shown how they could dim the lights on different parts of the ceiling if they needed to, or even open or close the automatic blinds on the windows, all done by special software on the iPads provided.
Then, with the safety briefing complete, and with them all having set their watches ahead by five hours in order to match Irish time, they were ready to go. At precisely 10:00am sharp, they slowly moved backwards from the gate, were turned and then the plane moved forward under its own power down the taxiway to the south-eastern end of the runway.
Carrie was sitting in one of the window seats on the starboard side with Jack sitting beside her. She was a little nervous as it was her first time flying on an aircraft and she wasn't sure how the flight would go. Jack noticed and gently put his hand on hers.
"Don't worry, Carrie. Everything's gonna be all right. Flying is a very safe way to travel. My family and I have gone on many flights to Europe over the years. So, please trust me." he said, gently reassuring her, and his words helped to calm her down quite a bit.
And once the aircraft turned at the end of the runway with its nose pointing northwest, there was a pause of a few moments before the control tower gave it the "all clear" to go. Then, with an increase in noise level as the engines roared loudly outside, and Jack quietly saying, "Well, this is it…home, here we come…Thunderbirds are Go!" they started to move, slowly at first and then faster and faster.
Looking out the window, Carrie, in some of the most exhilarating moments of her life, watched as they went faster and faster along the runway. It seemed like they would never take off, until she felt the nose lift up and they finally lifted up into the sky. She watched as the ground slowly feel away from them and everything got smaller until it resembled a model scene far below them. She could see that even the vehicles on the roads moving about seemed like tiny toys.
Then after a few minutes, the pilots banked slowly round to the northeast and passed very near to Chamberlain while still climbing higher. Looking out, Jack, Carrie, Rita and the triplets could all clearly see the town laid out far below them, including the site of the mall, the apartment complex across the street from it, the different parks, various house and garden, and even the familiar shape of Ewen High School far below them as well as the road layout and other distinctive buildings and landmarks within town.
"Wow, it's quite something to see Chamberlain from all the way up here." Carrie said to Rita, who was sitting on the other side of the table from her.
"Yeah, it is, wow. I never thought I'd see my hometown from this angle." Rita said, as she too gazed out the window at her native town. Then as the pilot levelled the aircraft out and continued climbing higher, Chamberlain disappeared from their view.
It wasn't too long before they reached their cruising altitude of 43,200 feet, a little over eight miles in the sky, and had settled on their course to the northeast. The seatbelt lights went off with a "ping" and so they took their seatbelts off. There were no clouds in sight at all, and they were now passing over the Canadian Province of New Brunswick and approaching the widening and open stretch of water known as the Gulf of St Lawrence.
"Where are we do you think?" Carrie asked as she looked down to ground far below.
"Well Carrie, I reckon we're over Eastern Canada now, Carrie. It won't be long before we're passing over Newfoundland and then from there, it's the wide open North Atlantic all the way to Ireland." Jack said.
One of the TV's was turned on and up came a channel which showed where the plane was in real-time, which included its ground speed, altitude and position. It currently showed them flying at 43,620 feet with a ground speed of almost 780mph and about the cross the coastline to the northwest of Prince Edward Island. Carrie was fascinated by this, as she'd never seen a real-time display before.
"How high is 43,620 feet?" Carrie asked Jack.
"It's just a shade over eight miles up." Jack said.
"Wow…that's…that's very high." Carrie said, as she looked out the window to the expanse of water passing by far below them.
"We're at 778 miles an hour?" Rita said, in confusion as she looked at the screen.
"I think that high speed means that we're in the jet stream now, Rita. And it's gonna help push us all the way across the Atlantic to Ireland, which means that we'll get home somewhat earlier than expected." Jack said.
"That's right. We've just spoken to the cockpit crew…" Emma said, as she came up to them ready to serve them, "…and we'll most likely be landing in Dublin at around half past six this evening Irish time, instead of a little after 7:00pm as we originally expected to."
"Excellent, that's only three and a half hours or so instead of four and a quarter. The sooner we're home, the better." Jack said, with a smile.
"Well, I'm just gonna get my laptop out and watch some videos on YouTube. Jack, the WIFI is very good on this aircraft; much faster than any other WIFI we've tried. You should try it out." Louise asked, as she reached for her laptop bag just in front of her.
"Okay, I think I might do just that." Jack said, as he reached for his laptop bag by his feet and put it over his shoulder. "Hey Carrie, do you wanna sit upstairs with me?" he asked.
"Oh yes, please." Carrie said, as she stood up while grabbing her backpack.
"So, can I get any of you any refreshments?" Emma asked.
"Could I have a large cappuccino please?" Rita asked.
"I'll have an orange juice please." Carrie said.
"I'll have a Sprite please." Jack said, as Emma nodded before turning her attention to the triplets and asking them, but they insisted they were all right and would wait until lunch time.
"Okay, we'll have lunch ready to serve out in about an hour or so." Emma said, as she went to the galley to get the drinks ready.
Jack and Carrie went forward a little and went upstairs to the upper level and then forward to the lounge. Even though she'd just come up here before they took off, Carrie still couldn't believe they were going upstairs on an aircraft. They reached the table, sat down at it and settled back to relax and enjoy the trip. After about two minutes, Nora came up with their drinks, in glasses with ice, on a tray and placed them down before them. Giving thanks to Nora, Jack and Carrie picked up their glasses and, after clinking them together, gave each other good health and took sips from them.
For the next hour, they relaxed on their seats and chatted with each other, read their books, worked on their laptops or looked out the windows occasionally at the vast expanse of blue open ocean far below. Now and then, one of them would see a ship in the distance far below, which usually brought some diversion to the routine, but generally things went by without too much to worry over.
Then, at a point a little over a third of the way into the flight, they were served lunch. They started off with cream of leek and potato soup, followed by roast sirloin of beef with mashed potatoes, peas and carrots with a rich gravy. They also had a selection of soft drinks to wash their lunch down.
For dessert, there was a good selection on offer; including pastries, cream cakes and cheesecakes, all of which were bite-sized, served with tea and coffee.
"Hmm, this is delicious. It certainly beats flying on a commercial aircraft any day." Grace said, as she finished off a second iced finger.
"Agreed." Rita said, as she picked up a mini éclair and popped it into her mouth.
"You know…I could get used to flying like this." Carrie said, as she finished off a second cookies and cream cheesecake. Jack couldn't help but smile at hearing his girlfriend say that; he could certainly get used to private flying too.
"Yeah, I heard that once you've flown in a private plane once, you'll never wanna fly in a commercial plane again." Catherine said, as she sipped from her mug of tea.
Once they finished their lunch, Carrie announced she was feeling a little tired after that meal and was going to have a lie down in one of the guest bedrooms for a while. Jack asked if he could join her, Carrie accepted and they went aft.
"Would you please wake us up when we're a little closer to Ireland." Jack said, as they left Rita and the triplets at the table.
"Okay." they said, as Jack and Carrie headed astern. They arrived at the first door, opened it and went inside. Sitting at the end of the bed, they removed their shoes before they laid back on top of the duvet.
"How's your first ever flight so far, Carrie?" asked Jack.
"I've been having a great time so far, Jack. I never thought I'd ever get to fly on an aircraft, let alone a private jet." Carrie said.
"Well, we'll be arriving in Ireland very soon, and we'll both wanna be well rested when we arrive. Let's get some rest." Jack said, and with that, they rested their heads on the pillows, with Carrie being closest to the windows, and dozed off in each other's arms.
(Later on)
Jack wasn't sure how long he had slept for with Carrie in the warmth of his arms, but he felt someone gently rub him on the shoulders. He groaned, opened his eyes and looked up to see Rita standing over him and Carrie.
"Come on, you two. It's almost journey's end. Get up, we'll be landing very soon." Rita said, as, with groans, Jack and Carrie sat up. Looking outside the window, Carrie was a little surprised to see that the sun was now far to the west, almost like it was evening.
"Goodness…I'm amazed by how fast time has gone." Carrie said, as she stood up and reached for her shoes, while Rita smiled.
"We must be very near Ireland now. In fact, it's actually just a little after 6:00pm Irish time." Jack said, as he finished tying his shoelaces.
"You're right about that, big bro; just take a look outside right now." Louise said, as she stuck her head in the doorway. Jack and Carrie went over to the windows, and they looked outside; far below them and a little off to the north, they could see a mass of land before them. They were travelling just off the coastline and just see all the different headlands, bays, inlets, cliffs and even the beaches from where they were. Even the outlines of the fields on the land could be seen, as well as the odd vehicle on the roads. They seemed to be at a lower altitude than before, and the aircraft's speed seemed to have fallen somewhat as well.
"Oh, my goodness. That's Ireland! We're almost there, Carrie. We'll soon be home and dry." Jack said, as he looked below him for any familiar landmarks.
"Do you know whereabouts off Ireland we are?" Carrie asked.
"I know exactly where we are, Carrie; do you see that headland we're passing just below us? Well, that's the Old Head of Kinsale, along the coast of County Cork." Jack said, completely unable to believe how quickly time had gone by since they'd taken off.
"Well Jack, how well did you and Carrie sleep for the last while?" Rita asked.
"I slept quite well actually, Rita. And that's a bit of a surprise to be perfectly honest, as I usually don't sleep that well on aircraft." Jack said.
"I also slept very well, Rita." Carrie said, surprised she had been able to sleep with ease on an aircraft.
Heading back out into the main cabin, Jack and Carrie sat down and watched from the windows along the port side where they could overlook the coastline as it passed by before them. Jack brought his camera with him so he could take pictures of sights that interested him.
"How long will it be until we arrive at Dublin Airport?" Rita asked, as she turned her attention to Emma.
"Well, at the speed we're going at, about 450 miles an hour, we'll be landing at Dublin airport in about half an hour or so. We'll be following the coastline, and when we reach a point just off Rosslare, we'll turn north and head towards Dublin." Emma said.
"Hey Rita, come here quick! We're passing by Cork Harbour now!" Jack said, as Rita and the triplets quickly rushed over to the windows along the port side and looked out; they were passing by the mouth to Cork Harbour. Some large ships, including a bulk oil carrier and a freighter laden with containers, could be seen with the harbour waters. Other sights they could also see were Roche's Point at the mouth of the harbour, the town of Cobh a little to the north, Spike Island, the town of Crosshaven and the estuary of the River Lee leading all the way up to Cork City which they could see in the distance.
"Wow, I've never seen this area like this before." Catherine said, mesmerized by the sight.
"Yeah, it's incredible." Rita said, as she looked down below. At her window, Carrie noticed the position of the sun and, though it was still fairly high in the sky, could see that evening was drawing in. She was astonished by how quickly time had gone by.
The next half hour went by astonishingly quickly; staying by their window seats, they watched as the coastline, and all its headlands, beaches and cliffs, went by until they turned directly northwards at a point to the east south east of Rosslare, and headed up towards Dublin, still keeping a distance of about five or six miles from the coastline.
The final approach into Dublin Airport came when the seatbelt lights came on with an audible "ping" and Jack, Carrie, Rita and the triplets, by now all in the upper level behind the cockpit, quickly took their seats for landing and securely fastened their seat belts. Jack and Carrie sat at the table for two on the port side where they were sitting across from each other and yet both could look out a window and see what was going by outside.
Then a minute or two later, after they had fastened their seatbelts, the plane made a banking turn to port and, slowing down, lined up to make its final approach into Dublin Airport on one of the east-west runways, having been given the all clear to land.
Looking out their windows, Jack and Carrie watched as they made their landing. It was a lovely clear summer evening over Ireland with no clouds at all, and so they could see a lot of details below them as they came in to land.
Crossing the coast, a little north of Howth, Carrie could see the dark outline of the Wicklow Mountains in the distance off to the south and some ships, including a ferry, going in and out of the Port of Dublin, as well as the sprawling layout and buildings of Dublin. Then crossing the coast and getting lower and lower all the time, she could see the beaches, and then the railway line going north from Dublin to Belfast with a train heading north along it.
Crossing over some open fields while still descending, they flew over the M1 Motorway, with many vehicles moving along it, going north and south, before making their landing on the runway with a bump and, they all started clapping in celebration, pleased at having finally arrived. Then, slowing down before the end of the runway, they turned off onto the taxiway and headed over to the terminal to disembark.
"Well Carrie…this is it. We're here. Home at last!" Jack said with a grin, as he looked out the window as they approached the familiar terminal buildings he had missed while he'd been away. Carrie felt herself smile broadly as she felt the news sink into her head. They were here, in a new country. What would it be like and would she like this new country and its people? She looked at her watch; it was 6:29pm Irish Time.
Looking out the window as they approached the terminal, where plenty of support vehicles and airport maintenance crews and support crews were milling around with their work, Carrie could see all the different aircraft types, ranging from twin engine airbuses all the way to turboprop aircraft, and all the different liveries they wore and the airlines and aviation companies they represented, including the bright yellow livery and red letters of the courier and package carrier DHL, the white and blue liveries of British Airways and Air France, the green and white livery of Aer Lingus, the dark blue, yellow and white livery of Ryanair and the distinctive white and red livery of Norwegian Air, as well as other airlines including Emirates, Air Canada and Turkish Airlines.
After the plane had stopped in its designated parking space near Terminal 2 and a mobile airstairs came alongside and hooked up to the forward and lower exit door along the port side, the door was opened up and Jack, Carrie, Rita and the triplets disembarked, taking their luggage and things with them and boarded a bus waiting below which would take them to passport control and customs. After being cooped up in an aircraft for the last few hours, it sure felt good to feel cooler outside air again. Once they had gone through customs, they went out into the arrivals area of a small area for private flights.
"Did mom and dad say they'd be here when we arrived?" asked Jack, as he pushed his heavily laden luggage trolley before him.
"Yes, dad said in an email that he'd be tracking the flight as it came in." Louise said, as they approached the doors leading out to the arrivals area.
(In the Arrivals area)
The automatic doors opened and, as the group stepped out into the arrivals area, Jack and his sisters noticed two familiar people sitting on the seats and waiting for them.
"Hey mom! Dad!" Catherine called, getting their attention and the two quickly rushed over to their four children.
"Jack! My girls! It's so great to see you back home at last! We've missed you!" their mother cried as she threw her arms round each of her kids one by one and hugged them before their father welcomed them back.
"It great to see you all back home again, safe and sound! Welcome home, son…I heard you passed all your courses over there with flying colours." Jack's father said, as he looked at his son.
"I did, dad. High marks in all of my classes, that's what I got." Jack said, feeling proud of his achievements in the States.
"You must've gotten well used to living over there by now...especially considering how long its been." his mother said.
"Yeah, but at the same time…it's good to be home again really. Anyway, mom, dad, there's too people we'd like you to meet." Jack said, as he turned to Rita and Carrie who were standing just behind him. "This woman is Rita Desjardin, my gym teacher at Ewen High and self-proclaimed big sister. She was keeping an eye out for the four of us while we were over there." Jack said, and his mother went over to Rita and shook her hand.
"It's so nice to meet you, Rita. My name's Marie and this is my husband, Liam, and I want to thank you for keeping a watch on my kids while they were over there. I was so worried about them going abroad alone, as they'd never gone abroad by themselves before. First Jack heading off early in April and then my three daughters following nearly a full month ago. I'm really deeply grateful to you for helping them and keeping an eye out for them." Marie said.
"Oh, it was no trouble at all, Marie, really it wasn't. After all, your kids are very special and you should be very proud of them, especially Jack, as he did so much for Carrie since he arrived at Ewen High in April." Rita said.
Then, as they finished speaking with Rita, Marie and Liam then turned their attention to the blonde girl standing just a little way behind Rita.
"Jack, is this Carrie?" his mother asked. Jack simply nodded and Marie went over to Carrie and gave her a hug, which surprised Carrie a bit but she returned the hug.
"Carrie, we're so glad to meet you at last. I'm Marie Sullivan and Jack has told my husband, Liam, and I so much about you and how much you've changed his life since he first went over there. He's mentioned in his Skype calls how beautiful you are, and I can see he wasn't exaggerating about that." Marie said.
Carrie smiled and blushed a little at those words. "Thank you for saying that, but I'll be honest it was Jack who really made a big difference in my life since he arrived. When we first met, he did everything he could to make my life better than it had been before. He's the most selfless and wonderful person I've ever met, and I love him so much." Carrie said.
Marie's eyes went a little wider when she heard Carrie say that as she smiled.
"You know, I can tell you're gonna be a very welcome addition to the Sullivan family." Marie said, as her husband stepped forward to introduce himself. He had a charming smile on his face that helped to ease Carrie's worries.
"Hi Carrie, I'm Liam Sullivan and I want to welcome you to our little family. You're now an honorary Sullivan as far as I'm concerned. When Jack told us how difficult things were for you over in the States, we decided to pull out all the stops to help you. I'd also like to welcome you to our family, to Dublin and to Ireland." Liam said, as he shook Carrie's hand.
"Thank you. Thank you." Carrie said, a little overwhelmed from the kindness and love she was being shown. She could easily see where Jack and the triplets got it from.
"Well, shall we all head home now? I'm a little tired after that flight." Catherine said.
"Of course, come on. We're parked just outside." her mother said, and they went out the door, heading towards the carpark. As they approached, Jack was very surprised to see there was a brand shiny new minibus in grey silver paint parked before him.
"Is this something you bought with the money you won?" asked Jack, as his father opened the double doors at the back of the minibus.
"Yes, son. The older minibus we had, a very good vehicle though it was, was starting to show its age a bit and so I decided to invest in a brand-new minibus. Customised, that is." Liam said, as they unloaded their luggage bags and the hampers of chocolate and candy into the back.
"This minibus originally had 18 seats, but we wanted it customised with plenty of space in the back. So, eight of the seats were taken out, including the two rows of seats at the back, and the seats behind the driver and passenger seats in the front reassembled so there's a row of four at the back with two seats just a little in front of them, one on each side of the vehicle, and the last two placed behind the front seats facing to the rear. The two seats up at the front remain unchanged." Marie said.
As Jack unloaded his bags off his trolley before loading them into the back of the new minibus, he could see the amount of space freed up there by not having seats occupying that space allowed for everything they had with them to be loaded in without hassle. Impressed, Jack loaded his bags into the back.
"You certainly bought quite a lot of stuff back with you...particularly these big hampers with all these goodies." Marie said to her son, as they loaded them and the other bags into the back.
"Well mother, I said I would before I left. After all, it was my first trip over to the United States and I really wanted to bring back a lot of stuff with which to remember it by. Including these hampers." Jack said. And nodding in agreement, they loaded the last of the things into the back and climbed aboard themselves.
"And how much were these big Hershey bars?" Liam asked, as he placed some of them into the back.
"They're $75 a bar, dad." Catherine said.
"That's a lot for sizeable chocolate bars like these." Marie said, as he put another bag into the back.
Soon, they had left Dublin Airport and were on their way back home, with Marie and Liam sitting up in the front, and the others in the back with Jack and Carrie sitting together with Rita along the back row. Heading down the M50 towards Blanchardstown, Jack couldn't help but gaze out at the familiar sights of the home city he hadn't seen for a little over two months. Carrie was mesmerized by how different things were over here, especially the fact they were driving on the left side of the motorway as opposed to the right side and that the lorries looked very different in having flat fronts as opposed to having the engines sticking out in front. She also could see that the postal vans over here were painted in green, unlike those at home which were painted in white.
"So, what's the plan for this evening after we get back to the house?" Louise asked.
"Well…we'll drop off everything we have back at the house, and then afterwards we'll head out to dinner to celebrate the return of you three and your brother, and to get Carrie and Rita familiar with some of the places we know." Maria said.
"Any place you have in mind for dinner?" asked Jack.
"Yes…we've been thinking of going to the hotel where we had the triplets fifteenth birthday the Friday before you left." Liam said.
"Sounds like a fair idea." Jack said, as he looked over at Carrie. He had a feeling deep inside there was more to going to that hotel than simply going there for dinner. He noticed his mother was looking through her iPhone at one of her messages before sending back a reply to it. He looked at his watch; it was 6:57pm.
(A little later, in Blanchardstown)
It wasn't too long before they pulled into the Sullivan residence in the Dublin suburb of Blanchardstown, with the gates in front of the house opening automatically once the minibus pulled in front of them, and Liam driving up to the house once the gates were fully opened. The house was a two-storey building painted white with a long garden in front of it and a long driveway leading up to it.
"Oh, it's so good to be home again!" Jack said, as he stepped out of the minibus and looked up at the building he knew as home.
"Wow, your house is really nice." Carrie said, as they went to the back of the minibus and unloaded their bags.
"Yeah, it is." Jack said, as they all went inside. Going upstairs with Marie leading the way, the triplets went back to their own rooms as Jack led Carrie over to his room, and Rita was shown to the guest bedroom just a little down the hall from Jack's room.
Entering his room, Jack placed his two larger cases at the end of the double bed, his smaller one at the foot of the bed and his laptop bag on the chair in front of his desk. Then, sitting down on the side of the bed with Carrie sitting down beside him, he looked out the window at the setting sun outside while she looked round Jack's room; it was very close to what she imagined his room would be like. In addition to the large space having its own en-suite bathroom, there was a bookcase stretching from floor to within a foot or so of the ceiling along most of the wall opposite the bed, and its shelves were full of books. On top of the bookcase were a number of painted model kits, including a few propeller driven fighter aircraft and some tanks in different colours.
The chest of drawers was against the wall where the door was and beside that, closer to the door leading to the bathroom, was a study table with a light fitted on the wall over it. Securely fitted to the wall over the bed were some white painted wooden cabinets and to the left of the bed was a large walk-in closet with bedside tables with reading lamps sitting on top of them on both sides of the bed.
"This is very nice place, Jack. But how did your parents ever afford a home as nice as this?" Carrie asked.
"Oh, lots of hard work, Carrie. Especially with dad at the pharmaceutical company he works at and mum's bakery business." Jack said.
"It must be good to be back home now, Jack." Carrie said, with a smile.
"Yeah, it's great to be back, Carrie. And I'm very glad that you're with me too." Jack said, as he put his arm round Carrie's shoulder and gave her a kiss.
"Yeah, I know. I'm really pleased to be here and to be with you." Carrie said, as she rested her head on Jack's shoulder. Then, after a moment, Jack stood up and reached for his smaller case and opened it up. Pulling a jumper aside, he lifted up a picture frame. Within it was a picture of him and Carrie dressed in their prom clothes, taken by the professional photographer at the entrance to Ewen High School just before they went into the prom. When he got his copy of the picture not long after the prom, Jack had it specially mounted in this picture frame so that it would look presentable for people to look at.
"Are you gonna hang that up somewhere?" Carrie asked as she and Jack looked over the picture with pride.
"Absolutely, I wanna remember prom night for the rest of my life...and the great time we had." Jack said, as he smiled at Carrie and she smiled back.
For a few moments, they stayed there, basking in each other's company and looking down at the picture until they heard the door open behind them and Rita come in.
"Come on, you two lovebirds. Get yourselves ready, we'll be heading off to eat in a few minutes." Rita said.
"Okay, Rita." Jack said, as he and Carrie turned to see Rita before they set about getting themselves ready to go.
"I guess you'll have to show me round the house a little later then?" Carrie said, as she reached for one of her cases and opened it.
"Yeah, I guess so." Jack said, as he put the picture down on his desk.
(About 10 minutes later)
Very soon, with everyone at last ready, including going to the bathroom and changing into fresh clothes if they needed to, they re-boarded the minibus and headed off to get dinner. Heading down the familiar streets he'd gone down along many times over the years, Jack could feel himself smile as they got closer and closer to the hotel, while Carrie couldn't keep her eyes looking out at all the different sights, buildings, cars, people and things that were all brand new to her. It wasn't too long before they turned into the main entrance gate of the hotel and parked close to the front entrance.
"So, is this the hotel where you three had your fifteenth birthday in March?" Carrie asked the triplets, as the engine was switched off.
"It is indeed, Carrie. You'll like this hotel, as it's one of the best anywhere in Dublin…well, outside the city centre at least." Catherine said, with a giggle.
"And it has a very good reputation and able to cater to any event." Louise added.
"Which is one of the reasons it has five stars." Grace said, as they unbuckled their seatbelts and got out of the minibus. After locking the minibus, Liam and Maria led the group up a path lined with flower beds into the hotel.
(Inside the hotel)
After speaking with one of the smartly dressed staff waiting at the reception desk, they left the reception area and headed down a familiar corridor towards a familiar set of varnished wooden double doors.
"Hang on a second…isn't this the way to the large room where…?" Jack said.
"It is, Jack." his father said, as they arrived at the doors and opened them up wide, before someone then turned all the lights on.
"SURPRISE! Welcome home, Jack!" called a chorus of different voices from inside the room. Jack paused in surprise as he scanned the room to see who was there. There were many of his friends and classmates from his year in secondary school, a few teachers he knew, some neighbours as well as quite a few of his relatives.
"Just a little party to welcome you home, Jack." his mother said, gesturing towards the crowd.
"And to welcome the triplets home as well." his father added, as Jack, his sisters, Rita and Carrie noticed the "Welcome Home, Jack" banner fitted onto the wall and the impressive buffet of drinks, hot foods, sides and desserts set up on a few long tables below.
"Come on, Carrie. Let's go and enjoy this party." Jack said, as he gently took Carrie's hand in his. Carrie looked up at him and smiled, and they stepped forward with Rita, the triplets and Marie and Liam to greet everyone and to start the party.
Soon, everyone was socialising with each other and Jack was introducing Carrie and Rita to his school friends and relatives. Everyone loved them and made both of them feel very welcome to Dublin and hoped that they'd have a good time while they were in Ireland. Carrie was very pleased to meet Jack's school friends and relatives and thanked each of them wholeheartedly for their kind and warm welcome.
Jack and Carrie were sitting with Jack's school friends, Laura, Henry, Jenny and her boyfriend Daniel, at one of the tables by the windows overlooking the hotel grounds outside and chatting with each other of how the last few months had gone for them all while Jack had been away. Rita was over chatting with some of Jack's relatives and teachers in another part of the large room.
"We all saw those videos of you standing up to those bullies a few months ago, Jack. And I can tell you that we were all impressed by what we saw. Even many of the teachers saw it at a special screening of the videos arranged for us all to see in the school's sports hall where everyone, from First Years right away up to us in Sixth Year saw what you did. And the laughs we all had...oh, you should've been here to see it, Jack!" Jenny said, as she sipped her soda.
"Really? And do you mean MANY of the teachers?" asked Jack, as he munched on a plate of cocktail sausages.
"Absolutely! Even that old witch of a French teacher we know as Ms Owens saw them too." Daniel said, as a grin came across his face.
"And she wasn't too happy when you said to Chris Hargensen that Ms Owens was a much nastier piece of work than Chris was. She was very angry when she heard it, which was very funny for us to see, but there was absolutely nothing that she could do about it." Laura said, with a smile.
"Yeah well, thank goodness she's not in the school anymore." Jack said.
"Yeah, and we're all very thankful for that, considering her bad-tempered personality. Even many of the other teachers were pleased to see her go." Henry said, as he drank down some more of his soda.
"And when she slapped Jenny Walsh a few weeks back, Steve had been inspired by what you did by standing up to those bullies, and that's why he stood up to Ms Owens the way he did. And we were very impressed by what he did by standing up to her. No one ever did that before." said Daniel. Jack smiled; he was very impressed by the fact his actions had inspired others to do the same. He glanced over to another part of the room, where he could see his sisters talking with Jenny Walsh and her brother Steve.
"So, Jack; what's your plan for showing Carrie and Rita round Dublin and the rest of the country while they're here?" Jenny asked.
"I was thinking of taking her and Rita into the city tomorrow and showing them round the places I love to go to, such as the Guinness Storehouse or even the crown jewel of my mother's bakery business along Upper O'Connell Street." Jack said.
"And what about all the other tourist places in this city, like the Irish Whiskey Museum, the Phoenix Park, Jervis Street Shopping Centre and Dublin Zoo, as well as other places like that in Dublin?" Daniel asked.
"Yes, I'll be taking them to those places as well, but it'll have to be spread out over a number of different days to ensure that we can have plenty of time to visit them, even though Dublin isn't the biggest city in the world." Jack said.
"And what about other places on the island, like Belfast, Galway and Cork?" Henry asked.
"Yes, we're gonna be bringing them round to those places too. After all, Carrie and Rita are on a long trip over here, and I intend to show them round as many of the places I've been to on this island as I can." Jack said.
"Have you ever been abroad before, Carrie?" Jenny asked.
"No Jenny, this is actually the very first time that I've ever been outside the United States. I'm really looking forward to seeing what this country is like. Jack has told me so much about it, as well as having shown pictures of the places he'd been to here. And Jack has told me all about the different countries in Europe that he and his family have visited over the years." Carrie said.
"Well, I hope you'll have a great time here, Carrie. A lot of Americans come to visit Ireland each year, especially during the summer months. We know this because we've all been to the many popular places throughout Ireland, and there ALWAYS seems to be American visitors there whatever time of year it is." Laura said.
Carrie smiled at what Laura had said, before she noticed Rita coming over towards them.
"Rita!" Carrie said, as her guardian came towards her.
"Hey, Carrie, Jack, come on over to the bar. They're about to break open the champagne to celebrate." Rita said, as she came up to the table.
"Okay, Rita. Come on, Carrie." Jack said, as he took Carrie's hand in his and followed Rita over to the bar.
At the bar, several large bottles of very expensive champagne, all sitting in silver ice buckets to keep them cold, stood waiting on the counter along with three silver trays laden with tulip champagne glasses.
"Hey Jack, do you want to open the first bottle?" his father asked, as he reached for one of the bottles and handed it to his son.
"Oh, sure would." Jack said, as he took the bottle in his hands while many of the others gathered and watched, including Rita and the triplets. He removed the gold-coloured foil around the neck of the bottle, before angling the bottle and untwisting and removing the wire cage over the cork.
Then, gathering his nerves, Jack carefully twisted the cork, keeping a very firm grip on the cork so that it didn't fly off and damage something, until there was a very loud "pop" when he had gotten the cork removed from the bottle. Almost at once, everyone around him cheered briefly.
"And there we are." Jack said, as he handed the opened bottle to one of the attending waitresses who would fill up the glasses. It wasn't too long before many of the glasses on the silver trays were filled with sparkling fizzy champagne, which meant a few more bottles had to be opened. And soon most of the adults each had a champagne glass in their hands.
With a glass of champagne in one hand, Jack and Carrie went back over to the table they'd been sitting at with Jack's school friends.
"Well, Carrie…here's to the two of us." Jack said, as he raised his champagne glass a little while they sat down.
"Here's to us…and to our future together." Carrie said with a smile, as she too raised her glass and then, after gently clinking their glasses off each other, they took their first sips of champagne together.
Note: Just to let you know everyone, this isn't the final chapter in the story. Please stay tuned for the Epilogue, to see how some of our characters will be in the future. I'm not sure when I'll be uploading the Epilogue, as it's still nowhere near finished yet, but please stay tuned. Thanks.