*What kind of dress do you guys imagine Bailey in? *
Chapter Fifty-Seven – Where They Have A Family Day
Bailey's Pov
With the house and album and engagement, which was still weird to say; we've been busy and all of us have been doing our own thing. Melina's been focusing on school and art, I've been looking into this wedding and trying to get the house finished and Julian's been at the studio.
So when Julian came home one day and told me we were pulling Melina and Travis out of school for Friday and Monday and going to Disney Land, I didn't hesitate to pack a bag. With everything going on we were in desperate need of family time. It felt natural to include Travis though since we had all but adopted him with how his home life was.
The kids were thrilled and Travis' mother was happy that he would be able to go to Disney Land for the first time and it hadn't occurred to me that Melina had never been either. Hell, I myself have only gone once when I was younger; I couldn't wait to stay in a hotel where I wasn't having to clean, go out to dinner and not cook and just roam around a theme park or two.
We would get to have fun and I'm sure there would be some recognition with Julian, but I hoped that it wasn't all consuming. Until I started dating Julian I never realized how aggravating it could be.
We were just people and we had flaws too. It bothered me that our relationship problems, his suicide attempt and the drugs were suddenly everyone else's business because he was famous. The only reason I was okay with the publicity of it was in hopes that it could help someone.
I hoped that they would see what happened to him and to us and use it as an example of what not to do, to be better than it. I hoped that people would realize when we were at Disney Land that we were trying to have a day as a family. Would they want people coming up, interrupting their personal conversations on their days off and having their personal space invaded? No, then why is it okay to do it to a celebrity?
"Stop thinking so hard." A smile graced my lips as his arms came around me and his finger traced over my ring. He loved staring at my ring and honestly, I loved it too. It was gorgeous and everything I didn't realize I would love. It always seemed as if gold, white gold or whatever variation of silver colored bands there were was the way to go. This ring stunned me and I fell more in love with it and him after he told me how hard he looked to find the perfect one for me. I still can't believe we were getting married though.
"What if I'm thinking about you?" My body leaned into his and he pressed his lips to my temple.
"Then you shouldn't look so stressed, so stop it. Grab your bag and get your beautiful self in the car and we can go have some fun. No phone calls, no dealing with the record company or managers. It's just us and the kids. And Mia is terrified of roller coasters, so that in itself is going to be a huge source of amusement." I should smack his arm and tell him that was awful, that using her fear as amusement was wrong; but I had to agree with him.
"Okay, no stress." But he still didn't let me go. His grip tightened and he held me a little longer before releasing me, kissing my lips briefly and letting me go. I got Melina in the car and we went to pick up Travis before making the short hour and a half trip.
We couldn't get them to settle down the whole drive and they were bursting with excitement as we pulled to the Disneyland resort. It was right in the middle of the two parks and we could walk to Disneyland or California Adventure. The hotel was on Disneyland Drive and also right there by Downtown Disney. It was the ideal location and if we were going to enjoy the time, we were going to do it right.
Julian also made it a point to get a suite with three beds and he'll probably sleep with an eye open to keep an eye on those two; not that they would try anything especially with us in the same room. He was a little over baring, but we did catch them with shirts off so it would be something they would both have to accept. One thing was clear though, Travis would never take advantage of our trust like that now and he was just grateful that we brought him with us.
Those kids made a mistake that I don't think will happen again; at least not until they get a little older to have a real and mature relationship, they there would be nothing we could do, they would make their own decisions and mistakes.
"This is so cool!" The balcony overlooked the huge resort pool and Melina couldn't figure out where to look first. Both kids were in awe of this place. We set bags down and changed into clothes for the park and we headed out instantly.
Melina begged to start with Disneyland instead of California adventure. There were less coasters and rides to terrify her there, but as anyone that has been to Disneyland knows; there is always one ride. Everyone knows the ride that they can drag their friend through and force onto logs, the ride that gives the illusion of peace as it gently wades through at first. The ride with the huge drop into water, the one that takes the photo which perfectly displays the terror on their faces; splash mountain!
Her screams and frantic face was everything I could have hoped for and when we saw that picture, Julian and I lost it.
"Shut up!" Melina was fussy as we teased her. She crossed her arms defensively and tried to ignore us.
"I'm framing it, this is one for the wall."
"No!" That no was about ten seconds too long and came in the form of an annoyed yet defeated groan.
"We love you." I called after her as she stormed away with Travis following after, the three of us trying not to laugh. To make up for it, we took her on the Pooh Bear ride that was right next to Splash Mountain. It was a kids ride, but I found that I enjoyed it.
The weekend was filled with pools, shows and roller coasters'. We watched Honey I Shrunk the Audience, went on it's a small world and watched fireworks and fantasia. We bought the picture from the Tower Of Terror and took the kids to Harry Potter Land. We decided not to do Magic Mountain or Knots Berry Farms' for Melina's sake, but we took the kids to universal and got splashed with water seeing underwater world.
The four days were packed with endless things to do and I found that Monday was my favorite day since it was drastically less crowded. There were people who came and asked for a picture or autograph but thankfully it wasn't as often as I was dreading it could be. There were a lot of staring and picture taking from afar, but for the most part people respected our space.
There was zero stress, no ringing phones because they were set on do not disturb, only on to take photos. It was wonderful to come back to the hotel and have beds made and to go out to dinner, not having to cook. This whole weekend was a mini vacation that I would love to repeat and extend once everything else in our lives settle.
Monday evening we headed back home and dropped Travis off with his family; Melina was so exhaust and she had never missed class before, so we extended her days off into Tuesday as well. Having Travis around was wonderful, don't get me wrong; but it was also necessary to spend time with just the three of us.
Somehow Melina talked us into going to a shelter to look at animals. We looked through the cats and kittens, the puppy room and then to the much larger room with full grown dogs in need of adoption. My heart broke a little as we walked through that room. They perked up at the attention and I felt awful for walking away from them; I wanted to adopt them all.
Melina felt the same way I did; I could see that on her face every time she stepped away from one of the sweet animals who wanted to be loved. We snaked through the cages and the only thing that gave me comfort was that these animals were well taken care of.
This place had volunteers who took animals' home until they could be adopted, they just didn't have enough people to take them all and they took in any cat or dog they could; they were a no kill shelter.
We kept going through and Melina looked at their names and took the time to read a little about each of them. Most of them hadn't been here more than a month or two, thankfully they had a great adoption rate. We kept going until we were getting to the end, back to the beginning when she stopped.
The smile left her face as she read the tag and she squatted down to whistle for him. The English bulldog in front of us raised his head and looked at her, but he didn't get up like all the others did. She called him again and he sighed before putting his head back down helplessly.
I looked at the tag, as Melina did and I could see her wipe her eyes. He's been here for eight months after spending a year each at two other shelters. When dogs didn't get adopted they moved them shelters in hopes that there would be more exposure and they would get adopted quicker.
Obviously that wasn't always the case, since this poor four year old baby had spent the majority of his life in three shelters. He was tired of rushing to the door for attention now; he didn't feel like entertaining anyone anymore. A small noise escaped Melina's lips and he whined and lifted his head to look at her, sensing her change in mood. She kneeled and called him and he got to his little legs and came over to lick her palm which was against the door before going back to lie down.
Melina was the most compassionate teenager I have ever seen. Growing up and going through high school, I never encountered someone that had such a heart. She cared so deeply and passionately for animals and people alike. Find someone who needed their spirits lifted, food, someone to talk to or just a friend and she would be there.
"Come on Mia, we have to go." He grabbed her hand and helped her off the ground.
"Do we have to?" She asked me and I couldn't look at her, I didn't have the heart to tell her that yes, we did have to go.
"Yeah sweetheart, we do." She ran from the kennels and we heard the loud noise from the door shutting. After looking for her I found her in the bathroom and she refused to come out. I gave up and headed back to Julian knowing that she had to come out sometime.
"We're adopting that damn dog aren't we?" Those were the first words which passed his lips when I left the bathroom and they had an obvious answer.
"Better get used to a furry friend." She was heartbroken and bawling her eyes out in the bathroom because she fell instantly in love with this dog; how can we say no? How can we not take in a dog that bounced from shelter to shelter all his life and doesn't remember what the love of a family is? How can we say no to give this sweet animal a loving and good life? How can we not take in an animal that Melina is crying over because she probably sees herself in him?
The answer is we can't, so Julian groaned as we walked to the front desk and talked to them, ultimately signing papers and arranging to pick him up in a week, when the house is finished. We didn't necessarily agree on the adoption, but we did agree that we shouldn't bring a scared animal into a house that's in chaos.
Melina was so upset we signed all papers and were still waiting for her, I had to go in and bribe her with ice cream to get out of the bathroom; damn child. We didn't tell her about the adoption because we wanted to surprise her so she moped through ice cream and then we decided to take her to a pet store to bring some cheer back to her.
She didn't understand what we were doing so when she got a glimpse of the building we were about to enter, she got furious.
"Are you kidding me? You brought me here to find a damn puppy or something? I don't want a stupid puppy." The windows were lined with little kennels of puppies wrestling around or sleeping; by my research it was also the pet store that sold the best pet foods. It was also a locally owned shop and not a soulless chain store.
"Fine we can go home." Julian snipped at her
"Good, let's go." She turned and started walking back to the car.
"Well I guess then we'll go back to the shelter and tell them we don't want to adopt that damn bulldog anymore." That caught her attention. She turned around slowly and eyed us suspiciously.
"What?" She looked like she could cry or laugh in hysteria right now and it all depended on what our next words were to her.
"Well, while you were crying like a child in the bathroom Bailey and I were signing paperwork. He doesn't get to come home today, he's not coming until the house is finished." We wanted to be clear on that as not to get her hopes up too much.
"But he is coming home?" Her face brightened and a creepy smile was starting to make its way onto her now bright and cheerful face.
"Yes." She looked to me like he was playing a sick joke on her and I confirmed that we did in fact adopted the dog.
"With us?" And there the awkward and creepy smile was in full force.
"Yes, the flea bag is coming." I backhanded him in the ribs at that comment.
"Knock it off. Yes Melina, now would you like to venture into the store now? Or would you still like to go home?" The answer was obvious and she squealed before running into the store to look around; Yeah Julian definitely helped raise that kid; she was strange.
But I did love her.
She looked like a child in a candy shop; as cliché as that saying was. The best part was that she looked unbelievably and incredibly happy.
I spent some time online trying to figure out what the best pet food was and I talked with the owner's daughter as well. I liked making sure my family was healthy and eating the foods that were best for them. They ate organic and none genetically modified food that cost a small fortune to maintain. If this dog was going to be a part of our family, he would eat the same way. Together we decided on the best food for him and we would drop some by the shelter so we could start the transitioning process.
You couldn't just change their diet all of the sudden, you had to slowly mix the foods, a little at first and then more until the transition was finished. It needed to take minimum five days and my hope was that he would be fully transitioned once we brought him home; I didn't want to make him sick though.
Julian stood back while Melina picked out a collar, leash, food bowl and a whole array of things. I wanted to make sure we had everything so I looked up a check list of what you needed for when you brought home a new dog. Julian was making fun of me but it was always good to be prepared.
Structure was my way of coping with the chaos and I've had a lot of it in my past. With my family to being an addict, the high profile lifestyle I now had with Julian and all the drama in-between. Life has been constantly changing so yes, I liked lists and knowing what needed to be done. I liked seeing what is expected in front of me and I liked clean and ordered. There was a reason that our apartment was spotless and dinner was always ready. I had my reasons for wanting things orderly. I knew that I needed to let go and stop being such a control freak, but knowing it didn't make it easier to do.
By the time we left the store two hours later we had everything we needed for a new dog. We dropped food off at the shelter and headed home to pack some more; we were hoping to give keys in three days but we'll see. They were finishing up construction and as soon as they were out; we were having everything delivered and finally making a place together in our new home.
It's been a long process but first a home and then we would be having a wedding; a terrifyingly magnificent string of events. As soon as Julian became accepting of our new family member I was getting another one because a wedding was one thing; dogs were going to have to do instead of kids for the foreseeable future.
So i finally have time to write, we're on the road and have gone from Washington, through Oregon, California, Arizona, New Mexico and are in Texas for a few days.
Hoping to get some more updates out and get some books wrapped up.
Thank you all for your patience <3