Cool Mom

2: Packing

We leave at 8:00 p.m. tonight which gives Hazel and I the whole day to pack. Daniel has to go to his office to make sure that things run smoothly while he's away.

He packs his things after breakfast and then leaves. I decide to pack Hazel's things first. I go to her room to find her singing along to Let It Go. She stops when I walk in and turns off the music.

"I'm going to start packing your clothes for the trip, okay?" I tell her. She nods her head in reply.

There are mothers who believe that a child is just a child and she does not have any opinions of her own yet. But right from the beginning I have encouraged Hazel to do everything according to her own will, even when we go out shopping.

So, I ask. "Do you want to help?"

"Yes!" She squeals. I smile at her eagerness and walk into her walk-through closet. She follows behind with a teddy bear in her arms.

"What do you want to take?" I ask, motioning towards the shelves where her casual clothes are kept. She thinks for a second and then holds out her arms to me. I lift her up and she grabs everything she wants.

Once she's done choosing, I put her down and help carry the things back to the room. We pile the clothes on her bed.

"Do you think we should take a frock or two?" I suggest, in case we decide to go to some place formal. She nods in agreement and goes off to fetch them. In the meanwhile, I put her things into a suitcase.

Within a few minutes I'm done with Hazel's packing and get a maid to carry it downstairs. I leave her playing with Vanessa and go pack my own luggage.

Most of my clothes are casual and comfortable just like Hazel's but I pack a couple of dresses too. Once I've zipped up the suitcase, I go looking for Hazel. I find her on the patio, eating cake.

She's really picky about what she eats but the one thing she just can't say no to is cake. I sit next to her and ask for a cup of coffee. Coffee is to me what cake is to Hazel.

"How's the cake, Bunny?" I ask her.

She gives me a thumbs up before going back to gobbling down the cake. My coffee arrives and I stir in the sugar.

"You know we're going to Disneyland." I tell her.

"Disneyland?" She asks, confused. Bunny looks really cute when she's confused.

I explain it to her. "Disneyland is where Cinderella lives."

At this her mouth hangs open.

"And maybe you'll meet Olaf too."

"Olaf!" She exclaims, jumping in her seat, her fork falling to the ground in the process.

"Yes. Calm down!" I tell her, laughing.

Daniel gets back home two hours before our plane is due to take off. The luggage is put into his Mercedes. Hazel fell asleep an hour ago so I carry her out to the car. I get into the back seat and settle Hazel in my lap. Once Daniel gets in next to me we drive off.

He has his laptop bag with him which means that he'll be working on some presentation or something on the plane too. I silently sigh at this and look out of my window. After a few minutes I feel Daniel take my hand in his and give it a little squeeze.

"All set?" He asks me.

I nod in reply and give him a genuine smile. The best thing about our relationship is that we can feel when other is uncomfortable or feeling down about something and try to make up for it.

When we get to the airport, Daniel takes Hazel from me. The driver loads our luggage onto the private jet. Within no time we're in the air.

Hazel wakes up the minute we take off. I'm sitting across the aisle from the other two. Daniel sensed what bothered me back in the car and does not so much as even touch his laptop bag. Hazel tells him about her toys and her friends. She's snuggled up to him with his arm around her.

I love him for taking time out for us, his family. This is something rich men often forget to do.

I leave them to themselves, put on my headphones and doze off as the plane flies towards Paris.