Chapter 39 - Paris
It was a quick hop from Switzerland to Paris by plane, though there was a short hangup with regards to Cory's ticket, since the Matthews had purchased it separately and at first it didn't seem like they'd be on the same plane. By the time they got it straightened out, they ended up missing their flight altogether and having to take the next one.
Luckily, there was another flight a couple of hours later, but Jon felt like he was sweating buckets the whole way; they were supposed to meet Ashley at the airport in Paris, and she was expecting them to arrive before her. He wasn't sure what she would do if she arrived and they weren't there to greet her.
She was sitting in a seat right by the doorway where Jon and Shawn and Cory entered the airport. Her face lit up when she saw them, and she came to throw her arms around Jon. No stress showed on her face, but he could tell by the way she gripped him tighter than usual that she'd been nervous.
They exchanged flight nightmare stories on the cab ride, until they reached the hotel, which made Cory and Shawn's jaws drop even more than the private jet had.
"How much did you spend on this?" Ashley muttered as Shawn and Cory ran around the lobby. "And how much trouble have those two been giving you?"
"They've been surprisingly well behaved so far. I'm half worried they're saving it up," Jon said. "And I didn't spend a dime. I've got friends from my old life and a lot of favors to cash in."
"Won't complain about that," she said, her eyes wandering around the well-furnished hotel lobby.
They got themselves checked in—they were in a full suite—and went up to unpack. There was a full kitchen and living room, a bathroom with a jacuzzi, and even a small laundry room. There were also two full bedrooms with king-sized beds, each with their own smaller bathroom.
Ashley and Jon left their luggage in the living room at first, scoping out the kitchen to see what was available—full cookware, stove, oven, and fridge, but no foods other than basic seasonings. Cory and Shawn dropped off their things in the smaller of the two bedrooms—though it wasn't smaller by much—and came out in swim trunks. "We're gonna go down to the pool," Cory said.
"Have fun. Behave," Jon said.
Cory headed out the door right away, but Shawn hung back and beckoned Jon over, just out of Ashley's range of hearing. "Your friend did you a favor with the two bedrooms," he said.
"Shawn, what are you talking about?" Jon said, though he knew exactly what the kid was talking about.
"You're in Paris with the girl you love. If you sleep on the couch because of some gentlemanly crap . . ."
"Get out of here, Shawn."
He groaned, but then he perked up again. "You should invite her down to the pool. I bet she brought a bikini."
Not for the first time, but with a lot more difficulty than in the past, Jon had to resist the urge to smack him upside the head. He settled for jabbing a finger into Shawn's chest. "You do not talk about her like that. Ashley's been nothing but good to you."
"Geez, sorry, man." Shawn shrank back. "You know I respect her, right? Just . . . you like each other, I just thought . . ."
It hit Jon: Shawn hadn't thought his words were inappropriate. He really thought he was helping. "I know," he said, softening his tone and squeezing Shawn's shoulder. "But we're here for you boys, not each other."
"At least take her out to a nice dinner while we're out here."
"Maybe." He let go, clapping Shawn's shoulder. "You go have fun."
Shawn nodded and left the suite, and Jon went to meet Ashley.
Ashley was rifling through her suitcase, taking out a change of clothes. "I'm going to shower and take a nap," she said. "Couldn't sleep on the plane."
"Yeah, of course. The room's ready for you."
"Oh, I was gonna take the couch."
"Shawn would kill me if I let you do that."
She shifted her weight. "Um, Jon, I . . . I'm not . . ."
He suddenly realized he hadn't been clear enough. "I'm taking the couch," he said.
She let her breath out, though her cheeks had gone red. "Maybe we can trade off?"
"I wasn't kidding about Shawn."
She laughed, though she sounded a little nervous.
He looked her right in the eye. "If it makes you more comfortable, we'll get a third room. But I'm going to respect your space on this trip. And you're our guest, you're not taking the couch."
She sighed. "You're lucky I'm too exhausted to argue with you."
"I'll order something to eat when you wake up."
"Good." She winced. "I bet the food in this place costs a fortune."
"We charge it to the room. Doesn't cost us a thing."
She grinned. "Filet mignon?"
"You bet."
"Can almost taste it," she said, and she headed off down the hall.
And for all Jon's admonishments to Shawn, he couldn't quite stop himself from enjoying watching her go.
The park was packed.
It was summer, and it was warm, so Jon figured he should have seen it coming. The boys didn't seem to mind, but the lines were long, even for the food stands. Jon was just glad they had the entire week to enjoy themselves; Shawn and Cory had spent the night before mapping out which rides they wanted to get to on the first day, and Jon doubted they'd make it through half of their list.
They rode the first few rides all together, but then they separated. Jon had expected the boys to run off and leave him and Ashley alone—and despite what he'd said to Shawn, part of him had hoped for that—but it was Shawn and Ashley that ran off. Cory and Jon had both lost their taste for thrill rides after the roller coaster incident a couple of years before.
So Jon spent half the day awkwardly eating churros on a park bench in Disneyland with Cory sitting beside him. Cory didn't seem to think it had been awkward, though. By the time they got back to the hotel, Cory and Shawn were both going on excitedly about all of the rides and characters they'd seen.
He hadn't slept well on the couch the first night, but tonight he crashed early. It had been a long day, and he slept deeply.
But not deeply enough to miss the loud knock on the door at two in the morning.
Jon rolled over and threw off the blankets. He didn't exactly know what had happened, but some part of him already knew.
He opened the door of the suite to see the boys, dripping wet, each being held by an arm. The hotel security guard between them looked seriously annoyed. "These your boys?"
"They're under my care, yeah."
"We caught them in the hotel pool. Were you aware it closes at ten?"
"No," Jon said, glaring at the boys, "but I'm sure the sign should have let them know."
"We didn't read the sign!" Shawn protested. "It was dark!"
Jon raised his eyebrows. "And the fact that you snuck out of the hotel room rather than asking me?"
Shawn sighed dramatically.
The security guard let their arms go. "They're both banned from the pool for the duration of your stay."
The boys cried out in protest, Cory looking to the security guard, Shawn to Jon.
"That sounds like a fair punishment to me," Jon said.
"Good night, Mr. Turner," the guard said.
"Good night," Jon said, and the boys shuffled inside before Jon shut the door behind them.
Cory immediately turned to Jon. "You're gonna sneak us back to the pool, right, Mr. Turner? Or talk to the guard again?"
"No! What were you two thinking? There was no lifeguard on duty. Something coulda happened, and there'd be no one to help!"
"Nothing happened!" Cory shouted, but Shawn looked appropriately ashamed.
"Yeah," Jon said. "You got lucky."
Shawn softly asked, "How long are we grounded?"
Jon swallowed. He knew even a half day's grounding when they were literally down the street from Disneyland was an unthinkably harsh punishment. He decided to let natural consequences stand. "You heard the guard. You're restricted from the pool for the rest of the trip."
Cory grumbled under his breath, but Shawn just hung his head.
"Go to bed."
Cory stormed off. Shawn stayed back for just a second, and he nodded at Jon in what might have been appreciation before he followed Cory.
Jon sighed, brushing his hair back with his hand. He felt awful. He already hated yelling at his kid; being punished during a vacation, especially being restricted from swimming in the middle of summer, would be awful for Shawn. At the same time, he'd never forgive himself if something happened to the boys. Maybe he should have been stricter.
A bit of motion caught his eye—Ashley was peeking out at him through her door.
Jon suddenly felt a whole lot worse. "Hey," he said. "Sorry about that."
"Sorry you had to deal with it," she said from her doorway.
"You think I was too harsh?"
"Definitely not," she said.
"Too lenient?"
"No, I think it was about right. They made their choice. And it's a natural consequence."
"That's what I was thinking," he said. He didn't know quite how to put into words how much it calmed his conscience to have her on his side.
She let out a short laugh. "They're not gonna sleep in any later tomorrow, are they?"
"Not a chance. We should get to sleep."
"Night, Jon."
"Night, Ashley."