Soon it was time to board the airplane. Doug held tightly to his wife's hand the entire time. Once aboard, they found their seats and got ready for take-off. "Here goes nothing," Doug mumbled as the airplane began to move.
Jo chuckled. "It's gonna be all right!"
After a few minutes, a stewardess walked down the aisle pushing a cart which held drinks and snacks. "Got any vodka?" Doug asked her. She looked puzzled.
"This is his first time being on an airplane," Jo explained.
"Oh, I see." The stewardess laughed and patted Doug's shoulder. "Don't worry. We'll take good care of you."
"Yeah." He rolled his eyes. In the end he and Jo both took ginger ales, but Jo only had time to drink about half of hers before Bethany awakened and began to cry, and Jo draped a blanket over her shoulder and nursed her.
A short time later, there was some mild turbulence and the 'fasten seat belts' light came on. Doug's eyes went wide with fear. "It's all right!" Jo laughed and patted his hand reassuringly.
Several hours later, lunch was served. Ravenous, Jo ate every bite of the semi-congealed meat loaf, macaroni and cheese, and green beans. Doug hardly touched his, giving his leftovers to Clay, who of course devoured them in practically no time.
At last the airplane was touching down at the airport in New York. "Whew!" Doug exhaled, obviously very relieved.
"I told you everything was gonna be fine!" Jo reminded him.
"You did great, Dad," said Jamie. "I'm proud of you."
"Thank you, darlin'," Doug replied, a little shakily.
From the airport, they took taxis to the motel. Fortunately, Natalie and Tootie had rented adjoining motel rooms. Having not seen their friends since Doug and Jo's wedding the previous year, Jo and Blair greeted them warmly. They both made a big fuss over Bethany, of course, as did Tisha, who'd accompanied her mother.
"The pool here's really great!" Tisha told Jamie. "You did pack a swimsuit, didn't you?"
"Like, totally!" Jamie replied. She opened a suitcase and riffled through it until she found her swimsuit, then rushed into the bathroom to change, emerging several minutes later to follow her friend downstairs. A few minutes later, Clay went downstairs as well.
Jo and Doug finished unpacking, and Jo changed Bethany's diaper, fed her, and settled her down for a nap.
Several hours later, Natalie and Tootie invited both families to walk over to the diner beside the motel. Jo and Tootie went downstairs to get Jamie and Tisha from the pool and discovered that, to their dismay, the two girls were nowhere to be found. Clay was asleep on a recliner, and Jo shook his awake. "Where's your sister?" she demanded.
"Huh? I dunno." Clay glanced around sleepily. "They must have gone back upstairs."
"We just came from there!" Jo exclaimed. With their hearts pounding, the two women searched the entire property and were just about to call the police when suddenly the two girls appeared, chatting happily with a couple of teenage boys.
"Where the hell were you, girl?" Tootie exploded, grabbing Tisha's arm. "We've been looking all over for you!"
"Hey, let go!" Tisha angrily jerked her arm away. "We just went for a little walk, that's all."
"Well, you could have at least told us," said Jo. "We were worried to death!"
"We thought we'd be back a long time before you came looking for us," Jamie said sheepishly.
"Well, go upstairs and get dressed," said Jo. "It's time to go for dinner."
"Please don't tell Dad!" Jamie begged. "He'd kill me!"
Jo sighed. "I won't, if you promise to never do anything like that again without telling me first."
"I promise!" Jamie swore.
The diner they went to for dinner was quite nice. Jo had a cheeseburger with everything and fries. "You're gonna pay for that in a few years," said Blair, who was having tuna salad with carrot sticks.
"I know," Jo replied. "But after that stuff they served us on the airplane, I was just so hungry for some real food." She did, however, skip the ice cream cone she'd been planning to have for dessert.
That night, she and Doug lay in bed talking softly together before drifting off to sleep. "As much as I want to see her, I'm kind of afraid at the same time," Jo confessed. "Suppose she looks really bad?"
"However she looks, I'm sure she'll be glad to see you again," Doug replied.
"I know," said Jo. "But it hurts to see someone you love suffering and know that you can't really do anything to help them."
"I'm sure the hospital's keeping her as comfortable as possible."
She reached for him, and he took her into his arms and held her close. "I really am glad you came with me, Doug. I can't imagine going through this without you."
He kissed the top of her head. "I love you, sweetie."
"I love you, too." Soon they were both asleep.