“I'm working for you, aren't' I?” Craig replied.
“What would I do without you?” Ethan asked, getting up from his desk. Now, Craig couldn’t hide his smile. He beamed at Ethan from the chair. He rose as well once Ethan was standing.
“Can I help with anything else, sir?” Craig asked.
“Not right now, thank you,” Ethan replied, walking around his desk and toward his jacket where he had his phone. “I need to make some phone calls.”
“Of course, sir,” Craig replied. He paused at the door. “I'm glad I could help, Ethan.”
Ethan looked up from his jacket and smiled with a nod. Craig carefully closed the door behind him, and Ethan began his phone calls with a smile on his face.
Chapter 24
Laura
Laura looked down at the two faces of her younger siblings and felt her heart break. They were staring back up at her with tears streaming down their little cheeks. Their eyes were puffy from crying. Each of their sobs caused Laura's heart to break a l
ittle more.
Dallas was sitting on the ground, with his arms wrapped around her left leg. He was squeezing her so tightly that she was pretty sure her foot would go numb soon. Ivy was doing the same thing but on the right. She couldn't move. It was like both of her feet had been cemented into the floor.
“Guys, please,” Laura pleaded with them. “Just hear Ethan out. He's trying to give us a gift.”
Laura and Ethan had gotten back to the house a few minutes before. The kids had been so excited to see them initially. They were prancing and dancing around the house with giant smiles on both of their faces. Things changed immediately, though, as soon as Ethan presented them with their surprise trip to the Caribbean.
At first, the kids were just shocked and almost seemed excited about it. Of course, that was because they didn't know exactly where the Caribbean was. As soon as Dallas asked if it was far away, and Ethan replied with a “yes, it's far from here. We'll ride a plane there,” all hell broke loose. Both Dallas and Ivy just lost it, and their smiles turned to sobs of fear in a matter of seconds.
“It's okay, you guys.” Laura knelt down and wrapped her arms around her siblings, pulling them close. Their tears soaked her shoulders as soon as their little faces got close. “It's totally safe. As Ethan said, it's not a regular airplane. It's a private jet. It's different.”
“It's not safe!” Ivy shouted, through a wall of tears.
“We don't want you to go,” Dallas said, squeezing her even more tightly.
“You get to come too, though,” Laura said. “Don't you want to see the ocean? Ethan said we can see dolphins and whales and that the water there is so warm it's like taking a bath. Doesn't that sound incredible?”
“NO!” little Dallas shouted. “Planes crash! Mommy and Daddy got on a plane and didn't come back!”
“Yeah, we're not going,” Ivy shouted. “Dallas and I are staying here, and so are you! Ethan can't take you away from us.”
Ethan was standing just a few feet away, watching the interaction. Laura felt horrible for him because he had been so excited to present the surprise to the kids. This wasn't the reaction he had hoped for.
“Dallas, Ivy, I'm not taking her away from you,” Ethan said, kneeling down. “I just want to give you guys a fun experience.”
Neither of the kids responded to him. They just gripped Laura even more tightly than before. She couldn't be mad at them for their reaction. She'd felt pretty similar earlier that morning when she thought about boarding a plane. Her heart hurt as the kids continued to cry because she knew exactly what they were going through.
In fact, their fears were probably even more intense than her own. They were young and didn't have the capacity to think things through in the same manner as she did. They had never been on a plane before. Their only experience with the giant metal birds that fly in the sky was that they crashed.
“You can't leave us, Laura,” Ivy said, hesitantly releasing her grip from around Laura's shoulders. “You can't go. What if something happens? We wouldn't have anybody.”
Ivy's words seemed to strike a chord in Laura's heart. She winced. The idea of those two kids being without her, being left alone in the world, was her greatest fear. Still, though, she had to see past that. She couldn't allow them to live in a world full of fear and pain. There was more to life than that. There were so many things to see. She knew that she wouldn't be doing either of them any favors by sheltering them forever.
“Guys, what if we all went at the same time?” Laura said calmly. “That way we'd be together.”
“No, no, no!” Ivy said, stomping her feet in frustration. “That's even worse! What if the plane crashes then? We'll all be dead!”
“Ivy, please,” Laura said, stroking her back. “Please, just hear me out right now. Do you think I'd ever suggest anything that might hurt you or your brother? I love you guys more than anything in this entire world. There's nothing I wouldn't do to keep you safe. You've got to understand that planes aren't dangerous.”
Dallas pulled away and looked at Laura like she'd lost her mind. “Then where are Mom and Dad?”