Paradise City.

Chapter 7: Eye Candy.

Chapter 7: Eye Candy.

¬Peasnie¬

It’s been two days since the dinner; I was so surprised when my dad showed up. Yes I was a little bit angry because I wasn’t expecting him to be in the UK at all and then he turns up at the flat acting like he walked just down the street from his house to ours. You can’t just fly across the world and show up at your daughter’s house unannounced. There are boundaries and he crossed them, but nonetheless I was glad I got to see him before the twins were born. The dinner was amazing, it went swimmingly. We ate dinner and had a couple glasses of wine while we caught up. Val had her little baby boy who they named River, he was born two weeks before they left. ‘Chell had a little girl four days after Val and they named her Milo. Now Bailey was the last one to pop with Tammer and Trystan. I got to see pictures, hundreds of pictures of my little cousins. Those two boys, my Uncles are the proudest men on earth right now. But I’m pretty sure my dad will out shine them both when Tammer and Trystan are born.

I’m glad that this entire week I get to spend with my dad and Uncles. They’ve added a few extra shows to their UK tour. But my dad wasn’t playing because Arin needed to play for the travel money. So the entire two days that he’s been here, I’ve taken him to the sights of London. He’s been keeping me from spending time with Phil just like he did when we were in California but he said that it’s for the best right now. Dan had a date last night so the entire night was just me and Phil . . . . and my dad. Just like the good ol’ days.

Today my dad wanted to take me dress shopping because he’s noticed that I don’t have a nice cocktail dress for fancy dinners. And apparently my prom dress won’t do. So I met him at his hotel room. My Uncles were busy doing sound checks at the London O2 Arena. So they’ll meet us for lunch at the little cafe just off the High Street.

I walked up to my dad’s hotel room after they let me go up to see him. I wore a long cloak like jacket that was buttoned up and tied around my waist with a black scarf around my neck. I wore a long blue sleeved shirt with a pair of black jeans and my red Doc Martins and wool socks. I even wore mittens but I had taken them off and shoved them into my bag as I walked down the hall after getting off the lift. My dad’s hotel room door was open a little bit so I could just go in. I peeked into the nice hotel room, no one was there.

“Hello!” I called out in a noticeable voice as I entered the room.

“Yeah, I’ll be right out.” Dad called back from the bathroom. I assumed he was getting ready for the day since it was only ten o’clock and he doesn’t usually roll out of bed until eleven if he has the day off. I’ve noticed my dad has been growing a beard, he’s tried before but he always ends up shaving it off so he might be doing that. I find it funny that in my life every time he gets a new baby he doesn’t shave for like two months and then the baby gets to the stage of grabbing the facial hair and then suddenly it’s gone. I wandered around his very neat hotel room, the bed was made, his clothes were neatly folded in his suit case and his laptop was sitting on the table by the window that had a view of the London Eye and Big Ben. I noticed a crumpled piece of paper sitting on the nightstand with his glasses set on top of it. I picked up the deep creased paper that was flimsy and had folds so deep that it became the paper’s natural form. My heart throbbed when I saw that it was the letter I’d written him the day that I left. It made me smile happily.

August 28th, 2013.

Dear Dad,

Ello ol’ man!  When you told me you’ve written me letters every chance you got it inspired me to write you a letter so here it is. Today is the big day. The day you’ve dreaded since I told you in March. I know you’ve been dreading it so don’t deny it, as have I. But we both need this. And I thank you for setting me into this big wide world.