You And I: Family Time

Troye V

"Whose idea was this?" I groaned, reaching for my phone to turn off the alarm. Beside me Connor mumbled something into the pillow that I couldn't quite make out. "What was that?"

"It was your idea." He repeated, lifting his head a little. "You were the one who booked a six am flight to Miami."

"Sorry." I muttered, throwing the covers off us both. 

"Troye..." Connor whined, trying to pull them back up. I could hear Victoria whimpering a little in her crib and gave him a shove.

"Get up, lazy. Tori's crying and it's your turn to calm her." With a groan, he rolled out of bed, pulling on a sweater as he went over to our daughter's room. Normally, I would have rolled over and gone back to sleep but we had an hour before we had to be at the airport if we wanted to catch our flight. So I yawned and crossed the room to get dressed. We'd laid out clothes the night before to make sure we didn't waste too much time in the morning.

When I was dressed, I went to Aiden's room, gently shaking him awake.

"Aiden, time to get up, buddy." I said quietly. He slowly woke and sat up, rubbing his eyes.

"I'm tired daddy."

"I know. You can sleep on the plane, okay?"

"Okay." I pulled him out of his bed, putting him on the floor so I could help him get dressed.

"Do you want to put teddy in your bag? Or is he going on the plane with us?" I asked when he was dressed and I was pulling up the covers on his bed.

"Can he come on the plane?"

"Sure. Make sure you hold on to him so he doesn't get lost."

"Yes daddy." He suddenly woke up a little more. "Daddy, is Tori coming with us too?"

"Of course she is. We can't leave her here. And Uncle Joe wants to meet her." I laughed as Aiden began jumping up and down excitedly. He'd taken a big shine to Tori since we'd brought her home nearly four months ago. He loved giving her cuddles and insisted that Connor and I read bedtime stories to them together.

"Can I give her cuddles on the plane?"

"We'll see. Now, let's go get you some breakfast because we have to leave soon." He nodded and followed me out to the kitchen where I found Connor cradling Tori as he fed her a bottle.

"Hi papa." Aiden chirped, sitting on the bar stool beside him and peering over to look at his sister. "Hi Tori."

"Morning sweetie. Are you excited for our holiday?" Connor asked him. We hadn't told him that we were going to Miami for Joe's wedding. He just thought it was a family holiday.

"Yeah! Daddy said I can give Tori cuddles on the plane."

"I said maybe." I corrected, my head in the cupboard to find a bowl. "We'll see when we get to the plane."

"Yes daddy." Aiden was pouting when I stood up and looked at him but I just ignored him. I was used to his tricks to try and get his way.

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As the plane took off, Aiden suddenly let out a whimper and clutched at my arm. He'd never been on a plane before so I wasn't surprised he was a little scared.

"It's okay, sweetie. It's just like a big car." I said to him.

"It's scary, daddy." Beside me, Connor leaned forward to look at him.

"You'll be okay. Just hold daddy's hand, yeah?" Aiden nodded and held my hand tightly. Connor himself was holding my other hand. He wasn't as nervous about flying as he used to be but he still liked to hold my hand. In front of us, a little table folded down that we had secured Tori's carry-crib to. The little baby was fast asleep,barely even registering that we were moving.

Once we were in the air, Aiden and Connor let go of my hands and I leaned forward to carefully pick up Tori who had started to whimper a little in her sleep.

"Shh. It's okay beautiful girl." I whispered to her. Around us, people were sleeping so I didn't want her waking up and crying. Connor leaned forward and gently ran his finger down the side of her face, a trick we'd learnt calmed her down.

"Is Tori scared too?" Aiden asked, kneeling up on his seat to see.

"No, she's just dreaming." Connor said. "Do you want to sit on my lap so we can watch something on the TV?"

"Yes please papa." Aiden was just climbing off his seat when we heard a lady behind us speak up.

"I'm sorry, I couldn't help but overhear, that little boy called you daddy and you papa." She said, pointing first to me and then to Connor. 

"Yes, he did. We're both his parents." Connor said, a little apprehensively.

"That's horrible, how is he supposed to get a mother's love if he's got two fathers?"

"I'm sorry you feel that way, ma'am. But Connor and I give Aiden the best chance he can for everything."

"I highly doubt that." The lady scoffed. An air hostess walked past just then and the lady flagged her down. "Excuse me, I'd like to move seats, please."

"I'm sorry, the plane is full, there's no other seats left."

"That's ridiculous. I shouldn't have to sit here with the likes of these two, taking away those children's right to a mother." The air hostess looked at Connor and I who had sat quietly. I saw a flash of something in her eyes and bit my lip, hoping she didn't agree with the lady behind us.

"Let me talk to the pilot and see what I can do." She decided finally, looking back to the lady who smiled and sat back in her seat. As the air hostess walked off, I looked at Connor in shock.

"Daddy?" Aiden asked quietly, eyes wide as he sat on Connor's lap.

"Shh. Hold on a minute buddy." I said to him. I could feel the eyes of other passengers nearby staring at us as we waited in silence for the air hostess to return. She finally did, a smirk playing at the corner of her mouth.

"There's a few empty seats up in first class and the pilot has agreed to let you up as an apology." She said and I felt like crying until she continued. "I'm so sorry sirs' you shouldn't have to deal with this sort of thing." She said to Connor and I. I heard the lady behind us exclaim in protest.

"That's not fair. I asked to move. They're breaking god's will and shouldn't be allowed to raise children together."

"Ma'am, I am sorry you feel that way but our company has a strict no-tolerance policy when it comes to homophobia." The air hostess turned back to Connor and I. "If you'd follow me, I'll take you up to your new seats."

Gratefully, Connor and I stood up, him carrying Aiden and me carrying Tori as we followed the air hostess up towards first class. There was actually a little bit of clapping and cheering as we walked and I caught Connor's eye when he turned to look at me.

"I'm so sorry you had to deal with that. If there's anything else we can do for you to make you more comfortable, just let me know." She said to us when we'd arrived. The plane we were on actually had what they called 'apartments' in first class which were basically just little cabins with a sofa bed to lie on.

"Thank you. Um, if we could get our carry-on bags brought up...?" I asked and she nodded.

"Of course. I'll bring them right up." When she was gone, I turned to Connor who had just put Aiden on the floor.

"Wow."

"Yeah. Who would have thought? I was seriously thinking she was going to let that lady move up here."

"So was I. I was about to cry when she first came back." I admitted.

"Daddy, why did we move seats?" Aiden asked.

"Because the lady behind us wasn't very nice to your papa and I. So the nice lady that works on the plane said we could sit up here."

"Oh. Cool. I like this seat better."

"So do we, sweetie. So do we." Connor laughed.