It's Only a Matter of Time | A Modern Hamliza Story

20: "So it seems you haven't lost your ability to flirt through poetry."

"Are you suuuuure we're not there yet?" Elaina asked for what sounded like the billionth time to Alexander and Eliza. Each time she asked, it sounded more and more like nails on a chalkboard as her voice got whinier and whinier. They maybe didn't think it through how hard it would be to keep a five-year-old quiet and still on a long drive.

"We told you five minutes ago, baby, we've only got fifteen more minutes before we're there," Eliza sighed, responding as calmly and as understanding as she could. She leaned down, searching through her travel bag to find anything that Elaina hadn't played with or eaten yet to keep her entertained for the last fifteen minutes of driving. She settled on a bag of cheerios and a mini Etch a Sketch and passed them back to her. "Draw me a pretty picture."

Elaina got busy right away, turning the little knobs to create the picture she had in mind. Her tongue stuck out as she tried to concentrate and her eyes squinted as if to help her make the best picture she could.

Just a few minutes before they reached their hotel, Elaina finished the picture, which was an attempted picture of the outside of a house with pretty flowers surrounding the lawn, though it was a little messy with the difficulty of maneuvering an Etch a Sketch.

"Mama, I made a pretty house for you!" she said, handing the toy up to her mother and shoving some cheerios into her mouth.

Eliza took the toy, taking a look at the picture and smiling. "Wow, Elaina, it is a pretty house! And look, you were so focused on the picture that you didn't notice that we just got to our hotel!"

Elaina looked out the car window, seeing the tall building with rows and rows of windows and the sand from the beach right next to it. Her jaw dropped as she gasped, seeing the beach for the first time.

"Woah, are we going to be sleeping all the way up there?!" Elaina said as she pointed to the top of the hotel. Alexander picked her up from the back seat and placed her on the ground, allowing her to see the hotel better.

"I'm not sure which floor we're on, Elaina. We will have to see when we get inside!" Alexander responded as he opened the trunk of his car to get the suitcases out.

Eliza placed Elaina's small backpack on her back so that she could help carry in some of the bags before grabbing her own suitcase from the car. Finally, they were ready to go inside and check in.

Their room was indeed almost at the top of the hotel, which excited Elaina because she got to look out from the balcony high up and see far away. She would excitedly point out the things she was seeing while Alexander and Eliza worked on setting up the room and changing into more comfortable clothing.

"Can I give mama her surprise now?" Elaina asked, running back in from the balcony and searching through Alexander's backpack. Her little gift was sitting in the front pocket of the backpack, unwrapped except for a little bow that was around the gold box.

"Sure."

She took out the box, handing it over to Eliza with a big grin on her face. It was a gold Godiva box filled with Eliza's favorite chocolates.

"Wow, my favorite!" Eliza smiled. "Thank you, baby. How did you know they were my favorite?"

Elaina jokingly rolled her eyes, the smile not leaving her face. "Duh, mama, you always get that chocolate."

"Okay, okay, Miss Five-Going-On-Fifteen," Eliza laughed, giving Elaina a kiss on the cheek. "I get your point. These are going to be very yummy."

The little family spent the rest of the day at the beach before having pizza delivered to their hotel for a quick dinner. After all the traveling, the last thing they wanted was to have to get out and find food. Elaina fell asleep quickly after dinner while in the middle of The Little Mermaid, and it wasn't long before Eliza and Alexander were asleep as well.