Paige Johnson

"I'm almost there," the airport was finally in view and my sister groaned in annoyance. "You better be running like hell," she hissed. Her mood swings are more apparent after we found out she was pregnant.

"I AM!" I ended the call.

"Excuse me."
"Sorry."
"Watch out!" My eyes gave a quick glance back to the almost collision.

"Super sorry, extremely late," I kept running and avoided fuming passengers. As my feet grew closer to the departure gate, I could hear them calling my name from the speakers.

"-Paige Johnson,"
"I'm here!" I answered, sucking all the oxygen I could take for my drowning lungs.

I was sweating and gave an apologetic smile to the other passengers while I walked towards my seat. "That was close," I huffed out in exhaustion once I was seated next to my sister. Her husband sat separately from us but gave me a smile when our eyes met.

'Good luck,' he mouthed, warning me about his wife's foul mood.

"Are you mad because I almost left you to fly off alone and spend the whole Christmas missing me?" I innocently asked which she just clicked her tongue in response.

"I'm mad because I'm tired of my big sister's tardiness." I gasped at her impression of me.

"I am not tardy. I was already out but somehow something unexpectedly happened on the way which caused me to be late," it was true.

I was already out three hours before the flight and with a few hours to kill, I decided to have lunch. But what I didn't expect from eating tacos and heavily cheese nachos was my stomach's disapproval.

It started a problem of twisting and turning. Then, my unwaged handyman began to work hard to see what the problem was, which produced a satisfying result in a few minutes. They were able to repair and flush off the unwanted substances. Unfortunately for me, I had to rush to the toilet and wasted an hour trying to feel better.

With a slightly better stomach, I took a cab to the airport ASAP. The second misfortune happened when the car suddenly broke down. Baffled at the events, the nerves started to creep in when I looked at the time and the number of missed calls.

"Is everything okay?" A taxi pulled over and a head popped out. The driver explained and looking at my anxious body language, the passenger suggested sharing his ride which I gladly took the offer within a heartbeat. My driver helped me with the luggage and apologized for the last time, and we were finally on the road again.

"You're going somewhere?" The gentleman asked. He had a cap on but his face was visible enough to know the secret's hidden insight - he had a nice face and a friendly smile that makes you feel comfortable to talk about anything.

"Airport," he chuckled at my short answer. "What I meant was, where are you flying off to?" I gave a brief reply about going to dad's for Christmas.

Then, he told me about his destination which was also the airport. He was flying out this winter. We've talked about the places he had listed out to try on his winter vacation. I didn't want to ask about his family since we were practically strangers and the lines were pretty clear when he announced his vacation purposes.

"I have to run, just send me the amount and I'll transfer it to you," I just got off the phone and he nodded.

"And that is why I am late," I told my sister as we hover in mid-air. The plane took off and my baby sister still needed to hold my hand as it took off.

Even with a full-time job, a husband, and an on-the-way baby, she would forever be my little sister. The image of little Janey, trying to catch up to me with her short baby legs, her panting face when we play tag or her warmth when she sleeps in my bed, played in my mind like a movie. Time is both a blessing and curse. I can never see her or hug her as much as I could when she was little but I'm thankful she's happy with her own family. "So did you get me some?"

"I didn't and will not especially when I almost had to go to the hospital but I was able to bake cookies last night. I made sure to bring everything with me and a few for the neighbour's dad has been mentioning about." The cookies were safe and secured in my luggage but I made sure to pack a few in my bag because Janey is my very own cookie monster.

The journey was filled out with chatting our mouths off and listening to Janey whining about being pregnant. "But the silver lining is I do get extra attention from everyone else, especially my super busy husband. Nowadays, he comes home early and rarely does overtime. He also started cooking and doing the house chores," she then laughed at something. Her face lit up and surely it was pure happiness. I couldn't help but let out a smile.

"His first laundry job ended catastrophically when he unknowingly mixed the whites with the colours, making new clothes for both of us. He had an earful, but I didn't tell him that I found it super adorable when he looked so clueless and guilty at the same time."

"What do you think about dad moving to nowhere?" We stared at the window and the passing clouds that seemed soft and solid but untouchable. I wonder how clouds would feel.

"I think it's the best decision he made after us." Dad has been married twice. My mom was his first but she died right after giving birth to me. A single dad is hard especially when you're still mourning and need to take care of a baby at the same time. Grandma and grandpa helped out when they could. In our old photos, it was clear as day how tired he was and the sadness was still fresh.

When I was in elementary school, he met Harper who was our neighbour and often took care of me when dad had to move away from my grandparents. He struggled greatly in the new environment and so did I. With constant fever, he couldn't leave me alone but we needed the money so he had no choice but to ask Harper for help. She was fun to be with and she made the best cake ever which she passed on the recipes to us.

To shorten it up, dad fell in love and so did she. After several courtships, they tied the knot and I had a new mom. In a year, I was having a new sister. We grew up with a beautiful family; a stepmom who loves me undoubtedly, a sister who won't leave your side, and a dad who finally found his peace.

"I think so too. He needs time for himself. He has been so lost since mom died." Janey laid her head on my shoulder. Her eyes started to close. I sighed in content and wished nothing would change. Everything is starting to feel right again.P