Sorry for such terribly long break... this is my first longer text written in English in...forever...so I apologize for any mistakes and promise to get better with time.
thanks to Creative Heart 1997 for reviewing and making me remember the story...hopefully I'll update again soon :D
"Seven T-shirts, three shorts, one dress." Molly was counting out, re-checking Jade's backpack for fifth time.
"Jade, you can't bring this." She said, pulling out a pair of jeans cut-off overalls Jade put in herself.
"But they live on farm, I'll need clothes I can use around animals." Argued Jade, pulling the shorts out of Molly's hands and packing them again.
"I'll go get my rubber boots." She said, running out of the room, leaving no space for arguments, and so Molly just shook her head and folded the old jeans to fit better into Arthur's old backpack.
They went through lengthy conversations about how to behave and what to do during the family reunion so Jade would be prepared for fancy company.
After discussion with Percy and few more reassurances from the rest of her family, she finally decided to give it a try and go meet her family in Ireland.
Tomorrow, Arthur would aparate to London with Jade and then her social worker Matilda Jones would accompany her to the airport.
"Ok, I think everything is packed." Molly concluded right before bedtime, zipping the backpack and closing the small travel lock on top.
She kissed Jade's forehead and closed the window a little.
"Good night." Whispered Jade.
"Sweet dreams honey." Molly smiled and left the room.
It was early morning, so early in fact, that sun wasn't even up yet and the sky was illuminated with soft grey light.
"Eat your breakfast Jade, you'll have to go in five minutes." Molly rushed her, while stirring a pot of porridge for the rest of the kids who weren't in a hurry.
Jade chewed the last bit of toast and put the plate in the sink.
"All done. I'm ready to go." She announced bravely. "Ready to fly."
She was actually a bit shaky, nervous but at the same time excited about flying, and meeting some of her biological family.
"Arthur! Come on, you'll miss the appointment with Matilda!" Molly called her husband, who was still getting ready upstairs.
"I'm here, I'm here, calm down, we still have fifteen minutes before she'll be expecting us." Arthur runs down the stairs, kissing Molly on the cheek while trying to tie his robes.
Jade hated apparition, it was the worst possible way of traveling ever. She just couldn't understand why would anyone go through it when there were such great inventions as floo powder or brooms or basically anything else.
"Are you ok?" Arthur asked worried.
"I'll be fine." She answered, still a little bit green in face.
They walked up the street in the direction of Miss Jones' office, but she was already downstairs, waiting for them next to her car.
"Hello Arthur, hi Jade, how are you? Excited for the journey?"
Jade just nodded, suddenly feeling shy. She has had quite a few visits from her social worker in the past, but this time it was different, because the idea of leaving her family and spending a week with complete strangers was a bit unnerving.
Soon they were at the airport, Arthur carrying the big backpack, while Jade held onto her carry-on bag with all the travel essentials.
"Hello, you must be Jadelynn." Said a lady in dark blue uniform, who suddenly appeared next to the check-in boot.
"Just Jade." Arthur corrected her while Jade squeezed his hand, not wanting to let go.
"Jade, what an interesting name, I'm Maddie." The woman introduced herself, extending her arm towards Jade so they could shake hands. She looked much younger and friendlier when Jade finally looked at her properly.
"I have a friend at school that's called Maddie." Jade smiles shyly and shook hands with the woman.
"That's great, maybe we can also be friends if you want, since we'll be traveling together today. I'll stay with you during the whole flight and also at the airport, so you won't have to go anywhere alone, does it sound good?" Maddie asked, handing Jade a golden metal pin in shape of wings, like Jade saw on he uniforms of pilots that were passing by – all around them.
"Thank you." Jade said sweetly.
"Ok, shall we go? We have 30 minutes before the boarding starts and you'll be boarding first, together with the priority passengers." Maddie explained.
They all walked together to the security check point, where men in black police uniforms were checking the passports and flight tickets of passengers.
Maddie turned to Arthur and Jade. "Only passengers can go behind the security check, but I will stay with you Jade all the time. We will board the plane together and I'll make sure you'll be comfortable during the whole flight, and I'll check on you constantly. Then we'll wait for everyone to get off the plane before we leave, ok? So we won't have to push through the chaos of people in a hurry. I'll help you get your baggage and then we'll o to the meeting point to meet your family in Ireland." Now she turned to Arthur. "I'll make sure we will double check the documents of the ladies picking Jade up from the airport. We ensure one hundredth percent safety for our underage passengers flying alone." She shook hands with Miss Jones and Arthur and went to stand a little bit further away, to give them space to say good bye.
"You'll have so much fun, it will be great trip. Don't worry." Said Arthur softly squeezing Jade's shoulders. She looked terrified but he knew she's really excited to go.
"I want you to keep this." Jade said quietly, handing her dad the golden pilot wings. "I know you like planes. Thanks for coming here with me." He whispered and hugged him tightly.
"Oh Jade, we love you so much. I can't wait to have you back home in a week, I'll be right here to pick you up when you fly back, ok?" He kissed her forehead and hugged her one more time.
"I love you too." Jade said, smiling, her eyes watering a bit.
"Alright, let's start the adventure!" Maddie said with cheery voice and gently guided Jade to the security check. They waved together at Arthur and Miss Jones, from the other side of the glass door and then started to walk together in the direction of the gate.
"We will be serving snack on board." Chatted Maddie. "Do you have any preference? I think there will be chicken sandwich or pastry filled with veggies and potatoes, but I could try to sneak you some pancakes from the first class if you'd like." She winked at Jade and made her laugh.
"Veggie pastry is fine, thank you." Said Jade, stopping at the end of a long queue of waiting passengers.
"This way, we have the priority boarding for you, and maybe I could try to pull some strings and see if we can move you to the first class, it's not very full flight.
In less then five minutes, Jade was comfortably seated in a wide softly padded chair, with her seat-belt on. There was one more chair next to her, which stayed empty as the priority passengers ended boarding and economy class started to get on.
Maddie was standing in the aisle next to Jade's seat guiding the passengers to their seats, checking the boarding passes.
There was a young mom with a one year old baby strapped to her in a baby carrier that caught Jade's attention as she passed by.
"Excuse me madam, did you already get the child seat-belt from my colleagues? " Asked Maddie politely, smiling at the baby, that was half asleep, cuddling the chest of his mom.
"No, not yet." The mom answered, adjusting the shoulder straps of her carrier. They were blocking the aisle and an older couple standing behind them was getting impatient.
"I'll bring it to your seat then, before we take off." Smiled Maddie and checked her seat number. 24B – ok, I'll be there as soon as possible and help you adjust the seat belt, you will have to take your baby out of the carrier for the flight duration."
The young mom thanked her and walked into the back of the plane. The old woman passed, mumbling some complaints about single mothers traveling alone and delaying other proper passengers from getting to their seats comfortably.
"Maddie?" Asked Jade quietly. "Is the baby going to get some special seat? Like in the car?"
"No, babies until two years of age can fly for free if they're sitting on the lap of their parents so this little guy will have to get a special seat-belt so his mom can keep him on her lap.
"That's nice." Smiled Jade, imagining how cuddly babies are and how fun it has to be for the mom to relax in a chair and hold her kid.
"Can I go to the bathroom?" Jade asked, as the line of boarding passengers didn't seem to have any end.
"Well…ok, but you would have to use the ones in the back, because people are still boarding through the front door. I'll move to stand in the economy class so I can keep an eye on you." Said Maddie, looking a bit occupied with all the people.
Jade made her way through the aisle. It took some time, because people were still moving around, putting their bags in the shelves and exchanging seats with friends.
Jade stopped close to the row 24, waiting for the old gentleman to sit down.
"This is inacceptable, first we don't get seats together and now I get to sit next to a baby, there simply isn't enough space for a child to sit in a lap of someone here. You should have bought a seat for him." The man turned to the young woman who was seated next to him.
She smiled apologetically, but didn't say anything.
The lady sitting on the other side of the aisle jut noticed that the baby covered with a cotton blanket and silently nursing. "Excuse me! I won't have any of those obscenities around my husband, there's several bathrooms where you could do that privately. Why didn't you bring a bottle anyway? My kids were already eating baby food when they turned six month, this is inacceptable."
Inacceptable – seemed to be a favorite word of the couple. Jade felt terrible for the mom and the baby, it really looked too crowded here. She squeezed her way around the man and quickly used the bathroom before returning to her seat, where Maddie checked if she fastened her seat belt.
"We'll be ready for the take off soon, so you need to stay on your place no, ok?"
"Maddie? Can I change seats?" asked Jade, a plan already forming in her mind.
"What do you mean change seats? Well, you could get this seat, it's the last empty one in first class." Maddie pointed to the aisle seat and turned around to assist one of the last passengers getting on board.
"No, I meant changing seats with someone else. There's the lady in 24B with her baby and it's terribly crowded there and the old couple sitting next to her are complaining all the time." Explained Jade, looking up at her flight assistant with expectation.
"And you would sit next to that horrible old couple?" chuckled Maddie in disbelief.
"Stay, here, I'll go check with the captain."
Maddie disappeared for a while but soon came back, winked at Jade and continued walking to the back.
Jade looked around, there was still a lot of people standing up, so she opened the seat belt and moved to the empty seat next to her to see what's happening in the back of the plane.
"Excuse me sir, is there any problem here?" Maddie asked, sternly looking at the older gentleman.
"Well, of course, I suggested to the young lady sitting next to me that she should have purchased a seat for her kid, she's making it uncomfortable for us to enjoy the flight."
"That's quite alright, I think we can solve the problem. Miss, if you'd be so kind to follow me." Maddie smiled at the mom and helped her pick up the diaper bag from under the seat in front of her.
The baby was half asleep and his mom looked confused and a bit worried.
"I hope we didn't cause any troubles." Jade heard her say as she walked down the aisle.
"No, not at all, my friend here, noticed you were being uncomfortable there and offered to change places with you, " Maddie pointed at Jade "But I was able to talk with the main pilot and he said it's ok to just move you up here next to Jade so I can still keep an eye on her and you can have more space for your baby.
I'll go bring the seat belt extension for the child and then we'll be ready to go." Maddie excused herself and left."
"Thank you so much for offering to switch seats with me, that was so kind of you." The lady smiled at Jade. "My name is Nancy and this is Timmy, it's his first time flying so I'm sorry if he'll be noisy."
"It's my first flight too!" said Jade and leaned back against the seat, feeling a bit nervous. "And I don't mind noise, it's noisy at home all the time and I love it there." Maddie came back to the front, helped Nancy put her son into the seat belt and started demonstrating the safety procedures to the first class passengers. Soon they were ready to fly. Jade grabbed the arm rests and looked out of the window as the plane sped up and with a slight jump took off.