2
Dottie hugged Fergal's arm like it was a life line. She needed him so that she could press her ear up against her shoulder, which meant she could cover the other one with her hand and close her eyes.
The airport was busy. It was the busiest even at five in the morning as they stood in line to check in their bags. The noise level was just as bad as a live show.
"Dottie," Colby's voice was muffled, she had to lift her head and look at him. When she did she was bombarded by noise. But she had to focus on him. "You need to put your bag on the belt."
Dottie looked at her backpack and the suitcase she had with her. Her only thought was what belt?
"Help me," her hand was shaking faster.
"Sure."
He picked her things up and put them on the bag check belt. She had nothing that would be considered dangerous, not even nail clippers.
They had to go through security, and the city they were in had a TSA stop. Dottie knew that TSA was a random check and it was one of those things she also hated about planes and airports.
"You, over here." One rotund woman said, grabbing Dottie by her arm, who wore a blue shirt and tan pants.
It was because she wasn't acting normal, she was holding onto Fergal for dear life.
"I'm autistic." She rocked where she stood.
"That doesn't change anything. This way," the woman pulled on her arm.
Fergal told her it was okay. He had to go through the pat down at one airport so if he could do it then she could as well. She had to deal with a person touching her that wasn't a hug. She had to stand in an area away from everyone else as she watched the woman pat her arms down and then leaned down to pat her legs.
The entire thing was enough to bring tears to Dottie's eyes. At the end of it, she was unable to stand still as the woman patted up under her breasts.
"Okay, you can go." The woman motioned to where Fergal was standing nearby with Colby.
She hugged her boyfriend's arm, burying her face into his arm. He reached up and ran his fingers through her hair as he guided her away towards the end of the security checkpoint.
"You did great, Dottie." Colby said, his voice close to her head so that she could focus on it.
They waited for their plane to Chicago. Fatigue started to set in, it was still morning and it seemed like more and more people were coming into that one airport. Some were stuck there because their flights were cancelled and…
Dottie saw Santa Claus walking through the airport. She lifted her head off of Fergal's shoulder and watched as the Father of Christmas came through with a small bag. He was not the funny fake bearded Santa that she had seen, this man actually had a real looking beard. He looked huge up close, kind of like a white haired Braun Strowman.
"Ho Ho Ho," he laughed at something a small child said, his hand going over his stomach and his whole body shook in that laughter.
What was unique about him, his coat had a rip in the shoulder. If she only had her sewing machine she would have…
"Hello there, young lady. I saw you watching from afar." The Santa man said as he strolled up to her. He'd broken her out of her thoughts. "You look sad, would a candy cane help?"
"No," she declined. "I mean, children should have that. You coat is ripped." She pointed to his shoulder. "I'm a seamstress, I can fix it for you but they don't allow sewing needles and threads."
"Oh," he looked at the rip. "Well, my wife is always complaining that I eat too much cookies, you know. In fact, today before I stopped by to see these kids who were stuck in the airport on the day before Thanksgiving, she had me pick up a sewing kit."
He pulled it out of his pocket of the large coat he was wearing.
"I can mend it for you." She stood up fast, letting go of Fergal's hand. "I mean, I'm Dottie O'Connor."
"Dottie, such a pleasing name." His whiskers moved as he smiled. "Sure, that would be wonderful. I'll leave you with my coat while I go tend to the children."
She nodded.
She got right to work when that Santa man left her with the large coat. She sat back down in her seat, popped open the sewing kit and found a red thread to thread through the needle head.
It didn't take her long to get lost in her tradecraft. Even though it wasn't her sewing machine, she was still practicing with hand sewing any chance she got. She brought the two parts of the seam together just enough so that she could work on the coat.
"That was kind of you, Dottie." Fergal said as his hand rubbed up and down her back as she was hunched over her knees working.
"Uh huh," she said, but she counted to four stitches and then back to one again as she made extra sure that the seam was right and tight.
Pulling the coat sleeve back out, she examined the tear. It didn't look like there was ever one there. She had done a good job, once again. No sooner had she done that, Santa was back, his small sack of candy canes empty, except save for the one in his hand.
"There, see, I fixed it." She put the thread and needle back in the sewing kit.
"And in time for us to get on our plane." Colby said as he stood up.
"Thank you, Dottie. I'll be sure to add you on the Nice List this year."
"But there is no such thing as…" Fergal clamped a hand over her mouth to keep from saying what she was going to say.
"I would not want to ruin the happiness of the kids, Lovely." He said in her ear. "Let them think that, okay?"
She nodded.
They got their stuff ready. Dottie said goodbye to the Santa man and then they went off to their gate to board.
Planes, it was another issue she had. If airports were big and loud, places were small and louder. Especially if she was sitting next to the engine on the wings where the jets were.
Luckily she was sitting towards the front of the plane, not First Class but Business. Because they worked for the WWE it was not hard to get a business ticket. There, they at least had some better leg room than the basic economy class. Dottie ended up sitting directly between Fergal, who had the window and Colby, who was on the aisle seat.
"Here." Colby dug some headphones out of his backpack. "Bose noise cancelling headphones. You'll be able to feel calmer."
"Thank you, Colby." She said as she took the headphones.
Taking off was like a roller coaster, at least that was what it felt like. She grasped Fergal's hand and then the armrest on her right. Dottie squeezed her eyes closed as the velocity at which the plane took off and the trajectory it was on pressed her back into her seat.
Colby's hand came and rested on hers, holding it like Fergal was holding her other hand. She glanced at him and Colby was smiling at her. His hand was rougher than Fergal's because of all the weights he lifted.
The left ear piece lifted off her head. "Breathe, Lovely. You're not breathing. Remember to take your breaths and count to four." Fergal said.
So she did, trying to ignore the vibrations of the plane. One and breath in, Two and breath out, Three and breathe in and Four with a breath out. She repeated it until the plane settled down into a normal vibration rather than the mild earthquake shaking she thought it was doing earlier.
Planes would forever be her downfall, that and airports.
A hand shaking her shoulder woke Dottie up. She'd fallen asleep against Fergal's shoulder and hugging his arm. Through the entire ride she slept, which meant she had to go through the prep of landing, which was just as bad.
"You're doing okay, Dottie." Colby said as he rubbed her knee and then handed her the fallen headphones again.
It worked in reverse, now the trajectory angled towards the ground as the plane descended from the sky onto the tarmac of the airport. This time, both men held her hands. In some ways, the descent was worse than the take off, if it meant more shaking from the plane. Was it going to shake itself apart or something?
Finally, with some prodding from Fergal on her getting to breathe, Dottie felt the bump of the wheels hitting ground. They jumped a little and finally they were coasting up to the O'Hare Airport.
"Oh thank goodness," Dottie mumbled as the plane started to slow down.
"See, it's not all that bad." She heard Fergal say, and then he patted her hand.
As people started getting off the plane, Dottie sat. She breathed, she took her deep breaths as Fergal and Colby got their things out from the overhead compartments. She breathed deeper when it was just the three of them to disembark from the plane. It was then, that she had to face yet another place that had too many people and too many noises.
But none of that mattered when she saw her sister. Cait waved her hand in the air, smiling.
"Sisser!" Cait yelled, and Dottie dropped her bags to run up to her younger sister.
Cait O'Connor may have been Dottie's younger sister, but Cait was more of the older sister type for Dottie. If it hadn't been for Cait then Dottie wouldn't have her job, she wouldn't have met Fergal and wouldn't have the friends that she acquired. Even the Asshole that was Jon Good.
Dottie hugged her sister, not considering the woman that was standing next to her redhead sister.
"I missed you so much, Cait." She said when she pulled back.
"I know, I know. But I'm here now for a little bit. Let's enjoy it together."
Taking Cait's hand, Dottie pulled her along and pushed her towards Colby, knowing that he had missed Cait just as much as Dottie had. The smile on Fergal's handsome face told her that she had done something good. As Colby kissed and hugged Cait, Fergal pulled Dottie under his arm.
"Guys, this is my Mom. Holly Franklin." Colby introduced them. "You obviously know who this idiot is." That comment was pointed at Fergal.
"Nice to meet you, Mrs. Franklin." Dottie said, forcing herself to offer her hand to the unknown woman.
"It's a pleasure. Thank you for allowing us to join you for the holiday." Fergal said when he shook the woman's hand.
"If you're as uncomfortable about this place as I am, let's get a move on. Brandon said he would dog sitting while we came to get you."
"You have a dog?" Dottie asked, her eyes wide. "What kind? Is it small? Or is it a medium to big dog?"
"Kevin is a Yorkie. He's my dog, actually." Colby said as he took Cait's hand. "Come on, we have to get our extra luggage."
She would have to wait to meet the rest of Colby's family, and dog apparently.
"Are you okay now, Dottie?" Fergal asked.
She nodded as she looked at the back of Cait's head. "Cait is almost two months along, she won't be showing for a while." She said.
"No, I don't suppose she will be."
"Fergal, I…" she stopped when guilt boiled up in her chest as she passed by a few men in black suits with briefcases.
"What, Lovely? You know you can tell me anything."
"I'm sorry if I did something wrong." She sighed and looked at the ground in front of her as she walked. "I'm sorry that I embarrassed you when we were waiting for the plane and on the plain."
"Don't." He pulled her towards him a little more. "You never embarrass me for what is bothering you. You know that. What about now, you're not covering your ears."
"No, I guess I'm not." She squeezed his hand. "I just want this trip to be special."
"Anywhere that you are, it's special enough for me." He kissed the side of her head as they found the luggage claim.
There you guys go. Hope your Holiday was special. I'll be back with a few more updates with this story tomorrow.