Coffee Shop Romance

Chapter 56

The weeks until Thanksgiving went quickly. We'd decided to fly down a few days early to beat the holiday traffic. It was just the three of us; Billy was in Scotland with Ali, Sean and his family with his mother. It was strange that in the three years we'd been married, this was the first time that Elijah had come to North Carolina. We'd always visited my family at functions in West Virginia. This year however it was to be held at my parents house. Because there were so many guests at the house, we were going to be staying with the Fowler family. They were good friends of my parents, and I'd watched their two sons for over seven years. In their basement, they had a large spare room and a separate bathroom, just perfect for the three of us.

They were to meet us at the airport, and I was nervous as hell. The mother was a hard person to get used to, as were her two incredibly spoiled children. They weren't so little anymore, and not quite so young. The eldest Zach was now in Middle School, his younger brother Josh not far behind. When we exited the plane Elijah and Dom put on their caps and shades, I had Jordan in her stroller and as I was the only one who'd been in this airport before, led the way to the baggage claim where they were waiting for us.

They weren't hard to spot. When the boys saw me the immediately ran towards us, which caused me to slow down. As young as the boys were, Dom and Elijah together wouldn't amount to even the youngest one. "Sarah!" They called across the crowd. I smiled and stopped walking; letting them run the rest of the way...their parent's not far behind.

I turned to Elijah and Dom before the reached us, "Now look, these boys are obsessed with Lord of the Rings...but they think they know everything about it. And they'll ask you questions, and probably bother you." I saw their faces get tighter, and they nodded slightly, Elijah leaning over to kiss me. "Hi guys!" I smiled warmly at them as they looked at the sleeping Jordan.

"That your daughter?" Zach asked.

"Yep, her name's Jordan Marie."

"She's so small." Josh observed.

"Hey girlie!" Linda smiled as she and her husband reached us. She pulled me into a hug. "How was the flight?"

"Long." Dom laughed.

"It wasn't that long." Elijah laughed.

"We had a four hour layover at the Twin Cities Airport." I translated. "Have you been waiting long?"

"No...Traffic wasn't too bad." Mike spoke up.

"I'm sorry; this is my husband Elijah and our good friend Dominic. Guys, this is Linda, Mike, Zach, and Josh Fowler."

They all shook hands, Linda pulling Elijah and Dom into a huge hug. "I'm so glad to meet you two. And this must be little Jordan! She's so small."

Elijah raised his eyebrows, I knew what he was thinking, and I made a note to explain later. "So...shall we go get our bags?"

"We'll get them, Linda why don't you take them outside and have a seat. I'll grab the bags and then go get the car."

"Alright." We followed her to the outside of the airport and sat on some benches at the drop off and pick up zone.

"So...where are we now?" Dom asked to no one in particular.

"Raleigh, NC." I answered, "Our state capital."

"Ah." Dom was pulling his hat down lower on his head, as he'd gotten the attention of several kids next to us. When one of them waved and smiled he flashed a grin and waved back. I smiled; the kids were around seven or eight...so they'd probably recognized him as a hobbit. When one of them walked over and tugged on his shirt I nudged Elijah and pointed to them.

"Are you a Hobbit?" The kid asked him. He was so shy, but his curiosity had gotten the best of him. He'd taken a hold of his younger sister's hand.

"Yes I am." Dom leaned in towards the little girl and grinned. "Are you two Hobbits too?"

The girl laughed, "No! We can't be Hobbits because mom says were going to be too big."

"You're the Hobbit that set off that dragon fire work aren't you!" The boy smiled.

"Well...Pippin was actually the one who set it off...I tried to stop him." Dom nodded slowly. "But you know what?" He leaned in again. "Frodo's sitting right over there." He pointed at Elijah and grinned at him when Elijah looked over his glasses.

The little girl immediately ran over and tapped him on his leg. "Are you really Frodo?" She smiled.

Elijah took off his shades and hat and smiled. "Yep."

"That spider was scary." She said shuffling her feet. "Why didn't you put on your ring to get away?"

Her brother broke in, "Cause then that evil eye would find him and catch him and he'd die silly."

Their mother, who'd been keeping a close eye on things smiled, "I'm sorry if they are bothering you."

"It's quite all right Ma'am." Dom reassured her.

The little girl walked up to me and pointed at Jordan. "Is that your daughter?" She asked.

"Yes she is, her name's Jordan."

"My name's Meghan. What's yours?"

"Sarah."

"Are you Frodo's wife?"

Elijah smiled and put an arm around me, "Yep she is."

Meghan pulled Elijah's collar to bring him to her level. "She's very pretty." She whispered in his ear.

"Thank you." He whispered back, "You're very pretty too."

She giggled and ran up to Dom. "Frodo said I'm pretty."

"Well you are!" Dom declared. "I bet you'd be the cutest Hobbit lass in the entire Shire!"

Meghan’s brother smirked. "She's as cute as a cave troll!"

"Jason!" His mother scolded.

"Sorry." He scuffed the ground with his shoe. Dom pulled out two lollipops and gave their mom a questioning look, who nodded her permission. Just as Dom handed them the loli's Mike and the boys pulled up to the curb.

"Could I trouble you gentlemen for your autographs? The kids would love to have them I'm sure." The mother smiled, and offered Elijah and Dom a piece of paper and a pen, which they signed. Meghan gave them each a hug, while Jason was alright with just a friendly wave.