fh_trips | LAX Portalocity Terminal [Monday Night]

LAX Portalocity Terminal [Monday Night]

It was late enough on Monday night that the airport was mostly quiet. A lot of the shops and restaurants were closed already, but the lights were on bright in the Portalocity Terminal.

There weren't snacks this time, but a few boxes of tissues were around the room, in case anyone needed them after saying goodbye to their temporary families.

[post is up early for great sp justice. no ocd. you still have all day to play in today's Disney post though]

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"Daddy I don't want to say goodbye to Faith." Ana sniffed.

Faith clung to her older sister as well.

Saying goodbye to the kids would not be easy, but Chris was hopeful that some day he would have them around permanently.

"You guys got all your stuff?" he asked.

"Yes Daddy," Madison replied. She had so much princess stuff from Disneyland.

Matthew nodded as well. "I'm all set."

Summer smiled despite her sadness. "You two be safe, okay?"

She was trying not to sniffle too much.

Chris knelt down and held his arms out for a hug.

"I'm glad we got to spend some time with you guys," he said.

"We will, Mom. Promise," Matthew said to his mother before hugging his dad.

Then it was Madison's turn to hug him. "I love you, Daddy."

Awwww.

Chris held her tight. "I love you, too, honey. And you tell me at home not to yell too much about you guys ending up here, okay?"

The two exchanged a glance and giggled.

Summer thought that was kind of an odd reaction from them. "What's with the giggles?"

"Mom and Dad know we're here," Matt explained. "Said they were gonna let you take care of us for a few days."

Summer shook her head at her possible future self. It was totally something she'd do.

Matt and Maddie both took turns giving her a hug. "I love you, Mommy."

She smiled again, this time through tears. "I love you guys."

He was taking it pretty well, all things considered; Kayla was a great kid, but what he'd been able to puzzle out about the details of her world were a little too weird and brainhurty (also awkward) for Anders to be terribly broken up about sending her home.

"See," he was saying to the girl walking beside him, who was proudly sporting the Disney-character baseball jersey (yes, baseball, he'd insisted, and besides, they didn't have any rugby style ones in any of the shops they'd looked in) and pilot's-cap mouse ears he'd spent the last of his money on, "there was no getting drunk and being gross in public."

Because wow, no. Not in this world. Weird.

"Oh, shut up, Dad," Kayla said lightly; both of them leaned against the wall in identical poses. Waiting for the last possible second. Typical.

"Clearly we should have fed you more sugar to send home to ourselves," Chris joked.

He ruffled Matt's hair. "You take care of your sister, okay?"

"I will," Matt promised, reaching for his sister's hand. "Come on, Maddie. Time to go home."

"Tell your parents thank you for letting us spend sometime with you," Summer added.

"We will!" Maddie replied before they turned toward their portal.

"Don't get me wrong," Troy added. "I mean, you're a great kid. But... you kinda break our brains."

He glanced up at Anders. "No offence."

Mike was surprisingly calm about sending Mandalay back to her home. "Are you sure you've got everything, including those gifts you bought for your friends?" he asked, handing her a Mickey Mouse backpack.

"None taken. I shoulda said that, huh?" Anders realized belatedly.

"Yeah, yeah," Kayla said, rolling her eyes (Anders wondered how she didn't sprain something as often as she did that, then chalked it up to thorough eye-muscle stretching -- yeah, that would be his kid all right) at both of them. "At least it's not like at home, where you still pretend like you're not together."

"Oh, I see you've got the difference down now," Anders noted dryly.

Chris watched them walk away and then hugged Summer. "That was a fun way to spend a few days."

Summer clung to him. "Yeah. I'm gonna miss them."

But she had a feeling she'd see them again.

"Yes! I have everything for Mommy and Coco and Eddie and Ashley and Ariel and the new baby," said Mandy, grinning as she put her backpack on.

"What? It's not like you act any different here," Kayla pointed out. "You guys need to lighten up."

"Yeah, but we're not together," Troy insisted. "Never have been!"

Well. Except that once, and it wasn't entirely their fault.

Mike wasn't sure if he wanted to know who all those other kids were, or who their parents were, since Mandy had indicated that she was an only child.

"Well, give your old man a hug before you go, okay?" he said, crouching down and holding his arms open.

"'kaaaaaay, do we have to argue now?" Anders asked, holding both hands up. "C'mon, kid, just 'cause that isn't how it works here doesn't mean things aren't good in your dimension. Right, Bolton?"

Mandy rushed into Mike's arms and gave him a bear hug. "Daddy, can I ask you something?" she asked.

"Of course, sweetie. What is it?" asked Mike, squeezing her back.

"When are you and Mommy and I going to live together like a real family?" asked Mandy, pulling back so she could look her father in the eye.

Mike was completely floored by her question, and it took him a little while to figure out how to respond. "I don't know, Mandy. But I do know that your mommy and I love you very much, and we'll really try to work on that," he promised.

Mandy seemed satisfied by that answer. "Okay. It's just that I really miss you when you're away, Daddy, but I miss Mommy when I spend weekends with you," she pointed out.

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LAX Portalocity Terminal [Monday Night]

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