Page 112 of A Game Plan for Love

I’mgoingtocry.At some point today, I’m going to combust into tears. It's inevitable.

Declan leads Nora and me off the monorail and into the amusement park. They walk hand in hand toward the park, bracelets on their wrists and large, blossoming smiles on their faces.

I was shocked this morning to be woken by an antsy Declan opposed to Nora. Turns out, he might be even more excited than she is to go to the park. He wouldn’t tell me his grand plan, only to make sure there is space in my bag. The request was far too ominous to determine what in my bag could be discarded. Every item in the bag is essential. Granola bars. A first-aid kit. Rechargeable battery.

I spent hours curating a list of essentials based on packing lists I found on Pinterest.

In the end, I decided we could forcefully shove what we needed into the bag, or buy a new bag and Declan can tote it around.

“Wait up!” I yell as the distance between us increases and I’m jogging after them. Nora drags Declan toward the ticket queue, and I’m nearly out of breath when I reach them.

“C’mon, Mommy!” Nora yells in response, and as we’re ushered through the ticket line and into the park, my breath catches.

It’s fucking chaos.

Everywhere.

Magical, happy, chaos. And my two goobers might be the most excited of them all.

“I have a surprise for you,” Declan says, “But it means we have to run through Main Street for now.”

Nora’s lips downturn. They spent two hours last night planning the route, deciding which rides they wanted to wait in line, and which were a hard no.

I vetoed any with water. I amnotwalking through the park wet and chaffing.

“Can we come back?”

Declan nods. “Of course.”

“Okay!”

He crouches down and Nora leaps onto his back. Declan turns to me. “I had tobegto get this appointment, we cannot be late,” he says low and quiet, just for me. “We’re going to have to jog to the Castle.”

Without another word, he starts to run away, weaving around families and workers with massive bouquets of balloons. Noraoohsandahhsas the main stretch of the park passes with a blur of bright colors and sweet, gooey caramel and vanilla scents.

Declan is panting when he stops, helping Nora off his back and guiding her inside the castle. Nora’s blue eyes are wide with wonder and enchantment as she looks around the castle, and when we stop in front of a boutique, my heart flips.

“Would you like to become a princess?” Declan asks, voice brimming with excitement.

Nora jumps up and down. “Yes!”

He guides us in and after a few moments, Nora is swept away by a worker and guided through the large entryway full of more princess dresses than she could ever imagine. She nervously walks around the room, uncharacteristically shy, as she selects an outfit. After a stressful few minutes, she decides on the sparkly purple dress, and Declan and I help her change in a dressing room and a magical mirror.

I’m not going to make it much longer. I can feel the tears pressing against my eyelids, begging for escape. I’m trying my best not to cry, but I glance over at Declan and he’s helping Nora fluff out the tulle in her dress and I lose it.

It’s going to be a long day if I can’t get a hold of my emotions.

Declan glances up, brows furrowed in confusion, but I wave him off, pull out my phone and start to take a million photos to capture every moment, every memory.

When Nora is dressed and her clothes are shoved into my bag, afairy godmotherguides her into the salon area, helping her into the chair.

“Are you okay?” Declan asks, a hand trailing down my spine as we watch Nora select her hairstyle, makeup, and nail polish color.

“I’m fine,” I assure him, pressing onto my toes to place a chaste kiss to his lips. “Just emotional.”

“Me too.” His features soften. “Love you.”

He places a kiss to the top of my head and pulls my back against his chest, holding me as we watch Nora blossom into a stunning princess, complete with a tiara and pixie dust in her hair. Her smile is blinding as they spin her around and she looks at herself in the enchanted mirror.

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