Page 27 of Hollywood Fairytale

Leaning forward she pressed her pouty lips to her screen. “Until then. I love you, my sweet Luke.”

“I love you, too, my beautiful Alex. Sweet dreams.”

“Of you, always.”

13

Unlike the lasttime I flew into LA, Mason and I didn’t have to wait for Luke to pick us up. Instead he was waiting for us with a sign that read Alex and Mason. The moment Mason caught sight of Luke, he took off as fast as his little legs could take him and didn’t stop until he hit Luke’s arms as he picked him up for a big hug.

I couldn’t help but smile at them. Mason had missed Luke since last seeing him in January. Although they talked on the phone some, they didn’t talk nearly as much as Luke and I. Little boys don’t have a lot to say on the phone or at least not for long. It was so sweet seeing them together and how happy Mason was when around Luke.

“Buddy, I’m going to put you down, so I can say hello to your mom. I need you to do me a favor okay. Can you do that?”

“Yeah.” Mason smiled up at him.

Taking one of Mason’s fingers, Luke looped it through one of his belt loops. “It’s only for a minute while I say hi.”

Nodding Mason said, “Mama missed you, so you should say hi.”

“Thanks, buddy. I missed her too. Now hang on.” Luke insisted.

Stepping to me, Luke pulled me into his arms squeezing me tight. It felt like home and safety. It had only been a second and I never wanted to leave. His arms left me for his hands to cup my face. “Hello, beautiful.” He grinned his lop-sided smile. “Fuck FaceTime doesn’t do you justice. You look too good. I can barely keep this PG.” Giving me a kiss that was a little more than PG, he pulled back to murmur against my lips. “I missed you.”

“I missed you too, handsome. I’m counting down the hours until we can be alone.”

“It’s a promise.” Breaking away, his eyes scanned around us. “We should probably get out of here.” Turning to his right, Luke signaled what had to be the biggest man I’d ever seen. He was taller than Luke and double in width. “This is Rome and he’ll be helping us get your luggage and get out to the car. I’ll carry Mason, and when we get outside I’m going to try to explain that we don’t want any pictures of Mason taken, or at least not his face.”

“Do you think it’ll work?” Because I desperately wanted it to.

“I hope so otherwise life around LA will be much more difficult. Sarah plans to issue a statement afterward explaining that we want privacy for Mason and hopefully, because he’s a minor, they’ll respect our wishes.”

Kneeling down until he was eye level with Mason (it was quite the feat with the incredible height difference between the two), he explained. “When we leave there will be lots of people and some may have cameras trying to take our picture. I’m going to carry you out to the car and I want you to keep your face hidden against my neck. If that’s okay with you?”

“Will you and mama be okay?” Mason sweetly asked.

“Yeah, we’ll be okay. We’ve got Rome here to help us if anyone gets out of line. Now’s not the best place to talk about it, but when we get to the house I’ll try to explain all this craziness.” He made a silly face causing Mason to smile. “Sound good?”

Mason nodded and with that Luke stood with Mason in his arms. “Alex, make sure you’ve got a good hold on your purse. I want you to keep one hand at my elbow and if you can, loop a finger through my belt loop.” He looked saddened for a moment before he started to head for baggage claim.

This was the price he had to pay to be an actor and I was sure in that moment he would have given it up just to be able to walk out of the airport with ease.

We were in luck and the area wasn’t swamped with people waiting for their bags. When I spotted our bags, I only had to point, and Rome quickly grabbed each of them up and started to escort us out to the parking lot.

The moment we stepped outside, and the cameras started to swarm us, Luke lifted a hand and started to speak in an authoritative voice. The crowd quieted and listened intently. “Alex and I want to ask that you please respect her son’s privacy and not take his picture especially his face. He’s only a child and doesn’t deserve to have his face splashed all over the internet. We want to make this experience positive for him so please respect our wishes. Thank you.” He waved and started to move again with Rome pushing up behind me.

Amazingly enough the paparazzi stepped back a few steps giving us room to make our way to a black SUV where only a few took pictures. Luke placed Mason in the back with a booster seat already installed and waiting just for him. Rome put our luggage in the back of the car and shook Luke’s hand before he disappeared off into the parking lot.

Once inside he picked up my hand, kissing my palm. “Are we ready?”

“Ready.” Mason called from the back seat excitedly.

“Are you hungry? I thought we could pick up some lunch at In-N-Out Burger. It’s a must have while in LA and I doubt my brother has eaten anything, so he’ll be starved by the time we get back.”

“I’m hungry! Can I get a Coke, mama?”

“We’ll see about a Coke,” I answered him. Turning to Luke, I couldn’t help but smile as I took him in. “I really missed you. You have no idea how much.” I palmed his cheek and let my thumb rub over his scruff and bottom lip.

His lips parted, eyes dilated. “I have a pretty good idea.”

---