You're Not In This Alone

That night Ryan and I go to the diner a little early, getting a booth and my hands are shaking uncontrollably. "Babe are you sure about this?" Ryan asks, frowning at me in concern as he reaches out and gently takes one of my hands in his, his other arm remaining wrapped around Sophie's waist as she stands in his lap looking around at all the other people in the diner. I slide my fingers through his and squeeze gently, Ryan squeezing back and I nod as I say "I'm sure, I need to get away, start over again. These last couple of weeks have been really hard and I can't..." "It's ok babe" Ryan says softly and I slide closer and cuddle up against his side, my head resting on his shoulder and Sophie loses interest in the people behind Ryan and her attention turns to me, a wide smile on her face as she shifts her way over towards me, her hand reaching out to pat my cheek. "Hey you" I greet her and she lets out a little giggle and babbles "Ba Ba Ba" as her hand trails down to grab at my lips and I gently nibble at her fingers, making her squeal in delight until a familiar voice says "Who's making all that noise?" And we all turn to see Dad and Pa standing beside the table. "Da da da" Sophie babbles out as she points at Dad, her eyes focused on his arms and when he sits down, Pa sitting beside him opposite us in the booth Sophie tries to squirm out of Ryan's arms so he puts her up on the table and she crawls the small distance across to dad. Dad scoops her into his arms, standing her in his lap and she babbles some more before reaching out to grab at the scorpion on his neck and she falls silent as he lets her play, poking at and running her fingers over the ink littering his skin. "So what's going on?" Pa asks after we've ordered our food and I turn to look at Ryan again, a reassuring smile on his face and I smile back before turning my attention back to dad and pa and saying "So we're going to LA." Dad and Pa share a knowing smile as pa says "We know, and we're so happy for you guys. Congratulations on the job Ryan." "Thanks" he replys, smiling proudly and I lean in and press a kiss to his cheek, my head resting back on his shoulder.

A week later Ryan and I are flying out to LA for a few days to go house hunting and as we board the plane I feel slight panic grip me and I try to hide it from Ryan but he notices immediately, shifting Sophie over to his hip as he wraps his arm around my waist and once we're in our seats he leans over and presses a soft kiss to my lips. "Breathe baby, is it the flying that has you so worked up?" I suck in a few shaky breaths before saying "We're....we're leaving....we're really doing this and...." "Hey hey it's alright" Ryan tries to reassure me but the thought of leaving dad and pa behind sends me into near hysterics. "Oh baby, it's gonna be ok, I swear" Ryan tries again but nothing he says is helping, my chest feeling tighter and tighter, my breathing more and more laboured so Ryan does the only thing he knows will calm me down, handing Sophie over and once she's settled against my chest I bury my face in her hair, breathing in her sweet scent and everything seems to slow down as Sophie's hands clench in my shirt and she rubs her face back and forth against my neck, clearly ready for a nap.

By the time the plane lands in LA Sophie is just starting to wake up and I have calmed down again, Ryan smiling fondly at me as he holds my free hand, my other arm wrapped around Sophie as she stirs against my chest. "I love you beautiful" Ryan tells me softly and I smile as I lean in to peck his lips. "I love you too" I tell him and he smiles wide as we stand up to leave the plane, Ryan grabbing my handbag and Sophie's bag of stuff, our only two carry on items and as we make our way off the plane behind everyone else Ryan wraps his arm around my waist, his chest pressed to my back as he says "I have a surprise for you when we get out of here." "What?" I ask, a smile tugging at my lips as I wonder what he could have possibly done and as we walk out into the airport I am rushed by two men, one heavily tattooed and they wrap me in a tight hug, crushing Sophie between us and she shrieks and giggles at the attention, reaching out for dad, mesmerised by his tattoos. "What are you guys doing here?" I gasp when they step back, dad taking Sophie while pa smiles wide at me and says "You know New York is just so lame I mean LA has way better art galleries and a severe lack of guitar stores and..." "Oh my god" I gasp out as I launch myself into pa's arms, letting him lift me off the floor as I bury my face in his neck and I hear Ryan chuckle from behind me so when pa puts me back down I turn and say "You knew?" and Ryan just smiles back innocently and says "It was worth the secret just to see the look on your beautiful face."

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