Birthday Flowers | The Kissing Booth

55. Twelve Days (2)

"Do these plans also involve Thai food? Dinah and I will both be very angry if they don't."

"That could probably be arranged."

"Stop being mysterious and just tell me your plan." Elle glares.

"I figure these next couple weeks are our last chance at some of those adventures we talked about but never got around to."

"Such as?" Now Elle looks downright suspicious.

"Well, you always wanted to go camping in Big Bear...."

"Are you out of your mind?" Elle yelps, interrupting.

I wouldn't mess with Elle so often if she didn't reliably react so entertainingly.

"I mean, we can't drag a baby camping, right? So we'll have to wait years if we don't go now." I force myself to keep a straight face.

"You can't drag me camping! I already can't sleep comfortably in a real bed without five pillows, I'm not sleeping on the ground! And have you forgotten that Dinah wakes me up every three hours to pee? If you think I am sleeping in a tent in the woods, I —"

I give in and grin at her. "I was kidding, Elle. We share a bed, I'm more than aware of your current sleeping habits."

"You were kidding about all of it? This isn't one of your Friday schemes where you refuse to tell me where we're going until we get there? You promise I get to sleep in my own, real bed tonight?"

"Promise. I did actually think about surprising you with some kind of getaway, but it turns out we don't have a lot of options right now."

"What would we be getting away from? We have nothing to do and a very nice apartment in which to do that nothing."

"I know. I just figured we'll be stuck at home for the foreseeable future, it would have been fun to check a few more adventures off our list while we can."

"You didn't seriously consider camping, did you?" Elle still looks concerned.

"Not actual camping, no. But Parker's family has a cabin in Big Bear, so I did think about that... until I realized how far from the hospital we'd be if you went into labor."

"I'm not going into labor this weekend."

"Probably not, but I'm still not taking that chance."

"Agreed. So what else did you consider?"

"Well, you did always threaten to make me go to Disneyland..."

"Because you are literally the only LA native who has never been and that's just wrong and weird."

"Yes, you've told me that. Many times. But being around a bunch of hyped-up kids doesn't seem like great pre-baby relaxation."

"Fine. But I am dragging you there eventually. You know that, right?"

"We'll see about that. But not this weekend. Anyway, Joshua Tree and Palm Springs are too far, one of Mom's friends is using the beach house this week, and I ruled out anything involving sailing or ferries since you've been getting queasy just driving around."

"Yeah, no, I'm vetoing anything sway-y right now."

"So, basically, other than checking into a nearby hotel and pretending to be tourists for the hell of it, not a lot of options for a weekend getaway right now."

"I appreciate the thought, but I'm perfectly happy staying home. So if we're not going anywhere, why can't we go see the play?"

"We're not going anywhere, but I did have plans for us. Do you remember Ironic Puppet?"