Chapter 62

 It was going to be a long flight, which Jon and Colleen dozed.  Colleen woke up and headed toward the front galley for a snack.  Granted her mom had sent a huge care package of cookies for the rest of the holiday, but she was craving salt.  As she got near the seats with the older boys, she heard them talking.

“If we’d gone to St Bart’s we’d be on the beach by now,” Jake moaned.  “The Maldives is more for adults than kids, the little dudes will be bored.” He would be bored, he missed Rose already.

“Yeah and the fact that our friends couldn’t come really makes this trip suck,” Jesse said and Romeo agreed.

“I’ll be stuck watching over the little ones, because you two will run off on me,” Romeo complained.  They always went off and left him out.

Hearing this finally from the kids, made her feel like the wicked stepmom in Cinderella.  Suddenly her need for salty chips and coke turned her stomach.  Turning around she headed back to her seat. 

Jon woke up and reached for Colleen, ‘Damn even on the plane I wake up alone’, Jon thought.  Getting up he saw Colleen turn around and walk back to her seat. The look in her eyes, like someone kicked her puppy.

Jon stood up and was going to see what hurt her when the flight attendant told him the pilot wanted to talk to him. Very important, she said.

Jon was in the cockpit for a while the pilot showed him the weather reports and told him it would be a dangerous flight.  As he walked back, he went into his take charge Jon mode, he called out to his brothers and wives.  “I need adults to the back please,” Jon watched Jesse stand up.  “Over 30 adults only. We have to make some decisions, I will let you know soon.”

“We have a problem, the weather is bad, really bad. We can either go to Florida or the Caribbean, but Italy and the Maldives are out. I need to get us a place to stay, Matt contact the ship and tell them a change in plans, and can we still get a ship here in Florida or the Caribbean?” Jon pulled out a map and the other five looked at the map.  Jon placed an X on St Barts, which was out of the mix.

Matt came back to the group, “Ship in Maldives canceled, we can pick up the ship in Key West, I told them I can give them the decisions once we get to Key West.”

“Okay that makes this a whole lot easier, let me call my assistant to get us from Miami to Key West,” Jon reached out and gave Colleen hand a squeeze and noticed her smiling again.

Jon leaned over and whispered, “We need to talk,” He kissed her cheek.

Jon gave the pilot the news then went back and sat with Colleen.  Colleen had a pack of chips and a cold can of coke, she and Desi were talking about going shopping where ever they ended up.  Jon laughed, as he grabbed a chip and sat in the window seat. Reaching for another chip, Colleen snatched the bag away from him.

“Get your own, these are mine,” Candy brought him a bag of chips and a glass of Rose’.  Colleen laughed at him.  “I like coke with my chips.  How can you drink wine with potato chips?”

“I can drink Rose’ every day, with anything,” Jon told her as he crunched a chip loudly.

Jon watched as his brothers and their wives moved back to their seats.  “You look happy we aren’t going to the Maldives,” Jon asked Colleen as they finished their snacks.

“Anyplace as long as we’re together,” Colleen told him.  “Yeah, I’m happy.  I was reading online it’s more of an adult playground.  Maybe for say a honeymoon instead of a family vacation?”

“Honeymoon hum, say a private room on the water?” Jon pulled Colleen on his lap.

“Little skinny dipping?” Colleen giggled. She opened the top button on his shirt and slipped her hand in his shirt.

“And the kids will be happy not in the Maldives?” Jon asked her. He said as he rubbed her back.  Keeping her mind on his questions.

“Well, yeah,” Colleen agreed then it hit her what he said.  “Oh shit, how did you guess?”

“I woke up and saw you walking back, you weren’t smiling the way you are now when we had the change of destinations,” Jon rubbed her back.  “You know you can tell me everything.”

“Don’t say anything to the boys, I don’t want to be the future wicked stepmom who ruined their holiday,” Colleen begged him, her eyes brimming with tears.

That got to Jon, she was more worried about how the boys would take her telling me what they said.  He pulled her closer to his chest.  They sat that way till Candy came to tell them they were landing and to get into their seatbelts.

They landed on the private area of the airport and taxied to the hanger where the transport to Key West waited.

“Grab your luggage people and move it to the bus,” Jon told the boys.

“This doesn’t look or feel like Italy dad,” Jake said.  He looked around at the palm trees.

“That’s because we're in Miami,” Jon loaded his and Colleen’s suitcase.  “Change of plans, due to weather.  We’re going to the Belize area a place called Harvest Cay for the beach, but we have a Yacht to stay on.  Too late to get a house.”

The boys looked at Colleen then to his dad, who was giving them the world's worst stink eye.

“Oh Shit,” Jesse mumbled.

The bus pulled out on the highway and they had a long ride to try and figure out what and who was in deep shit.