Chapter 274:

"Donovan! What are you doing here?"

"I asked him to come along and give us a hand with the children on the plane. He will sit with the boys, freeing us up to take care of the four girls." Seb answered from behind her. Then he shook Donovan's hand. " I also didn't think he'd mind getting a chance to go see Adrienne for Christmas.... You had me worried. I was afraid you'd decided not to come."

"Not on your life. Sorry I worried you. The cab I was in got stuck behind a traffic accident. I was just about to get out and start walking when we finally were able to go around it."

"You really have thought of everything haven't you? And I think that Adrienne will be thrilled. You couldn't have given her a better Christmas gift than to bring Donovan along." Lisa said, before she leaned up and kissed his cheek.

"That's what I thought. I can't wait to see her face when she sees him."

"Well thank you Donovan. We definitely appreciate the help." Lisa told him.

While they waited, Lisa fed Jessica, Seb fed Lauren a bottle and they let the children play a bit in an open area that had no chairs and no people. They wanted them to run off as much energy as possible before they had to get on the plane.

After Lauren had finished her bottle, he set her on the floor to crawl around, then he went and got them all some breakfast danish and muffins so they wouldn't be hungry as soon as they started the flight.

When the flight was called, families with children were among the first to board. So they gathered the children and all of the carryon luggage and lined up to have their boarding passes checked.

Their tickets were for first class so they didn't have far to go. After getting the extra carryon put up in the overhead bin, Seb and Lisa sat Holly and Kayti in their seats and got Lauren's carseat buckled in. Then Seb went across the aisle and helped Donovan get the boys settled.

He told the boys that they needed to listen to whatever Donovan said to them and that Mommy and Papa would be over to check on them from time to time. They'd already showed Donovan their backpacks with all of their gear and Lisa had added some snacks and juice drinks to the boys bags.

"Thanks Donovan." Seb said again.

"We'll have a great time won't we boys?"

"Yup, I'm excited cuz I'm gonna see Grandmere in a little while."

Seb and Donovan met eye to eye over Sammy's head. Both of them knowing that Sammy had no idea how long this trip was actually going to take. Seb and Lisa had tried to prepare the children for their long confinement and only time would tell how each of them would handle it.

"This is fun flying on a plane. I never went on a plane or to Paris before." Jeremy told Donovan.

"I've been on lots of planes. But I 've never been to Paris." Donovan told them.

"Boys just remember what I said. When we take off into the air, your belly will feel funny for a minute and you'll be tipped way back in your seat. And then when the pilot gets up high, the plane will get straight, like this and your belly will be alright." he said showing them with hand gestures. Then he took a peek into the seat pockets to be sure that there were air sickness bags in them, just in case either of the boys felt ill.

"Okay Papa." they replied.

Seb hoped that all of the children took to flying well because he wanted to be able to have them come and visit him when he was traveling. He hoped their excitement would carry them through this first encounter and leave them happy with the adventure.

When he was sure that they were settled, he went and made a quick trip to the lavatory and returned to help Lisa with the girls but found that she had everything well under control. Holly and Kayti were already pulling things out of their bags. Lisa had emptied the seat pockets in front of the girls so they could put things in there.

Lauren was in her carseat on the other side of Lisa on the opposite aisle from the boys. Lisa was holding Jessica and Seb and Lisa had Kayti and Holly in between them, with Seb on the aisle close to the boys.

Once the passengers had all boarded, a flight attendent closed the door and shortly after the safety instructions were given as always. Lisa tried not to think of what could happen.
Even though it was approaching a year since it had happened, the memory of the near miss of the two planes on their honeymoon was still very vivid in her mind. She wondered if Seb had the same thoughts when he smiled over at her during the instructions. He reached over and gave her hand a small squeeze.

As soon as the plane began to back out of the gate, they all heard the cutest giggle coming from Sammy. Seb and Lisa looked over and he had the biggest smile on his face. He had his hands clasped together and his feet were wiggling.

"No Kayti, you need to keep your seatbelt on while we are on the plane." Lisa told her when she saw her fiddling with it.

She wondered if they'd made the right decision not to bring her regular car seat. They had so much to carry that they thought she'd do alright, especially sitting between them. She would however, make her keep the seatbelt on all the time except to take a walk or go potty. That way they wouldn't be chasing her.

Minutes passed as they taxied into the line for it to be their turn to take off. When they finally heard the engines get louder and then they began the rapid increase in speed, Lisa and Seb kept looking at the faces of all of their children, watching for any sign of fear.

They didn't need to worry about Jessica or Lauren. They had both fallen asleep shortly after getting settled. Looking over at the boys, so far they were fine, both of them had huge smiles and were giggling. Donovan looked like he was enjoying watching them. Kayti was holding her doll and the tiny bottle that came with it. She was pretending to feed the doll like Lauren got fed. Holly was just sitting staring straight ahead. No smile and no frown, that is until the plane's tires left the ground and the plane had that momentary feeling like it was falling.

Holly tried to climb out of her seat and into Seb's lap but he reached down and held her hands, keeping her from unbuckling herself.

"It's alright Sweetheart. That's the way it's supposed to feel. We're up in the air now." he said, trying to calm her. He saw the fear in her eyes just like she used to be in the pool.

He wanted to let her get up and into his arms and it seemed like a long time before the seatbelt sign went off and he was going to let her up. Lisa saw what he was going to do and shook her head no. She wrote him a quick note and passed it to him.

"I know you want to hold her Seb but she needs to get used to this and you can't hold her the whole flight. If she gets really upset, maybe we'll need to hold her. See, she's already doing better."

After he read the note, he looked down and Holly did look better and not afraid for the moment. She was back to playing with Kayti and the things in her bag.

"Are you okay?" Lisa asked him, knowing that he really had needed to pick her up.

"Yes, and you were right." he said with a wink.

They settled in for the flight that would take them to New York for a layover before they would continue on to London and then their final leg that would get them to Paris.


They made their connection in New York with only twenty minutes to spare so they didn't have much time for letting the children play. But once this flight was in the air, the flight attendents began serving their lunch so that kept the children busy for a while. They were all interested in watching what everyone was given. Sammy asked if he could have one of the little bottles of juice that the attendent gave to the man in front of him. Donovan had to explain to him that it wasn't juice and not something that children could drink.

After she ate, Lisa fed Lauren one of her little toddler meals that she'd brought while Seb held Jessica. Then she fed and changed Jessica who fell right back to sleep when she was finished.

Changing Lauren had been a bit more difficult. She was starting to get very wiggly when she got changed, always trying to get down. Seb had her lying across his lap, and was thankful that it was only a wet one. When he finally got her put back together, he went to wash up, making a stop on the way back to speak to the boys and make sure they didn't need anything.

"It will make the trip feel shorter if you try to take a nap for a while."

"Are we going to be at Grandmere's soon?"

"It's still going to be a long time, Sammy. I know it's hard to sit still so long and you are all doing a great job. I'm proud of you."

*

It was a very tired group who came off of the plane in Paris a full day after leaving Florida. The children had done quite well considering. They had taken walks up and down the aisles to get rid of some of their fidgetyness. Kayti had had one time when she was insisting that she wanted to get down to play and had cried for a short time until Seb got her interested in something else and Lauren got tired of being confined so they took turns walking the aisle with her.

The layover in London had given them some time to let the kids play but it was the middle of their night and they had fallen right to sleep after leaving London.

Pierre met them all right in the customs waiting area, just as promised. But he was not alone. Aunt Cecile and Adrienne were there as well.

The children recognised them and ran to them. Happy to see familiar faces in this strange place. Hugs and kisses were given all around and when Seb got his usual exuberant hug from Adrienne, he gave her an extra squeeze.

"I brought you an early Christmas gift."

"Oh really? Where is it? Can I open it now or do I have to wait for Christmas?"

"Ummm well, I guess you'll have to ask him that question." he said grinning down at her.

He waited for what he said to sink in and then saw her face light up and her head began swiveling around looking for who she hoped to see.

Donovan was standing off to the side of the room, smiling as he saw her welcoming the Izambards, kissing the children, holding the new baby and especially her eager welcome of Sebastien. When she started looking for him, he moved towards her. She moved out of the crowd, careful not to step on any of the children and ran to him, launching herself into his open arms.

"Are you really here? Am I dreaming?"

"I'm here. I'm right here." he said holding her to him still, smelling her scent and feeling her body against his. He knew he owed Sebastien big time. Sure, he had been there to sit with the boys on the plane. But they hadn't been any trouble at all, actually they were very entertaining listening to their little boy chatter which helped to pass the time on the long trip.

Seb came up behind Adrienne and kissed the top of her head. She spun around and threw herself back into his arms.

"You are the greatest. Do you know that? I love you Seb."

"I love you too. Merry Christmas."

"Where are you staying?" She asked Donovan.

"With you." Seb answered. I already talked to Aunt Cecile. He'll have the spare room."

"Oh......good." she said trying to decide if that was good or bad that he was staying at their house. Time alone with him would be scarce with Maman around. She would be watching like a hawk. Well, she wouldn't think about that now. She was just thrilled that he was here at all.

They moved along and got everything loaded into the two vehicles. Pierre had rented a van in which they loaded all of the Izambard's belongings. Donovan left with Adrienne and Aunt Cecile after thanking Seb again.

"Let us know if you need any help while you're here." Adrienne told him.

"I might just take you up on that. Maybe you and Donovan could come over and stay with the children so I can take Lisa out one evening."

"Sure, that would be great."

It was late evening in Paris so the children's body clock's were bound to be messed up. They had just gone through their night and were now wide awake after sleeping on the plane.

Sammy especially was wide awake as he knew that they were in Paris and that meant he'd see Grandmere soon.

"So how is Claire, Pierre?" Lisa asked.

"She's great. She would have come but we needed the room in the van. She'll be by to visit."

"Great tell her I can't wait to see her."

They drove towards the house and Seb saw Lisa with her face pressed to the glass as they passed the Bastille, "their cafe". He was smiling as he watched her, knowing that she was probably reliving their memories. He wasn't surprised that she'd known just where to look for it. When she turned to him, he expected to see a smile on her face, that was not the case. She looked very upset.

"What is it, Ma Cherie?"

"It's closed Seb. Our cafe is closed."

"It is late. Maybe they've closed for the night."

"No, it looks totally empty. There weren't any tables or chairs on the patio. There was big sign in the window. It was too dark for me to see what it said. But I probably couldn't have read it anyway."

He reached across the seat and took hold of her hand.

"I'm sorry Sweetheart. I'll miss it too."

They didn't have too long to mourn the loss of the place that held precious memories. They'd left the main part of the city and headed out into the country just outside of it. They were soon stopping in front of a black iron gate.

"I don't remember a gate here." Lisa said to him.

"Nope, It wasn't here. I had a fence installed around the property shortly after we got home from our honeymoon. I knew I wanted to bring the family here and I was imagining Kayti running right for the river."

Lisa just looked into his eyes for several moments, a lump in her throat making it hard to speak.

"I love you so much."

"I love you too Baby."