“I guess we’ll see.”
“Keep in mind,” Emily said, “that you’re also getting this special trip. We wanted you to be able to see Japan before your sibling was born.”
“Thank you, Mama,” Juniper said. “Thank you…” She stared at me. “May I call you Daddy now?”
The question warmed my heart. I wanted to say yes, but I looked over at Emily for permission. She nodded.
“Sure, Juniper,” I said. “You can call me Daddy.”
“Yay.” She smiled, turned back around, and started her movie back up.
“Huh,” I said, after a few seconds. “I won’t have any good advice to even give her.”
“What do you mean?” Emily asked.
“I have no idea what it’s like to have a younger sibling. I was an only child.”
Emily blinked, and then her eyes widened. “So was I.”
We both laughed at that.
* * *
Two weeks later, Juniper snoozed in the limousine. We’d had a long flight back to Nashville, but she’d taken it like a champ. She’d wanted to play with some of her new LEGO sets, but Emily told her no. An airplane isn’t exactly the best place for precision work. At least I had a full library of movies for her to watch.
When I was her age, the longest flight I ever had to suffer through was only five hours. I was impressed she could handle the huge flight with only minimal complaints.
I couldn’t help but worry about some things. I shook my head.
“What’s wrong?” Emily asked.
“Do you think she liked it?” I lifted my eyebrow and tilted my head a little, studying her.
“Tokyo?”
“Yes.” I smiled at her returned question. She knew what I was talking about.
Emily looked at me like I’d grown another head. “How could you ask that? She loved it. We had to carry her crying onto the plane. We’re lucky she didn’t try to renounce her American citizenship and set up shop in Odaiba.”
I laughed. Emily was right, of course. I don’t know why I was so worried about the trip. Maybe because it was our first big trip as a family. I wanted it to be perfect.
We’d probably personally pushed the Japanese GDP up one percent with all our LEGO purchases, and we’d visited all sorts of interesting places. Juniper seemed to like them all, but I wanted to make sure.
“We should take a big trip every year,” I said. “To a different country.”
“I’d love that,” Emily said. “And I think she will as well. Maybe starting a bit after the baby is born, though.”
“Sure.”
Emily’s phone rang. She frowned and pulled it out of her purse.
“Mama. I told her I’d send her a text when we got in, but somehow she already knew.” Emily sighed and tapped the phone to answer it. “Hello, Mama. Yes. Yes. On our way home now. Yes.” She tilted her head. “Oh, she’s asleep. Little thing is so tuckered out, but she loved the trip. Okay. Yes. Wait. What? Are you kidding me?” She listened intently for a long moment. “Okay, thanks for letting me know, Mama. We’ll see you tomorrow. I love you.” She ended the call and slipped her phone back into her purse.
She shook her head, her face a mask of shock. My heart kicked up. I’d wanted the perfect honeymoon, but perhaps tragedy had ruined it at the end.
“What’s wrong?” I said.
“Nothing. I was surprised is all.”