“You definitely are,” Val says.
“Something like this always has back-ups,” Alex says to Juniper. “If one thing fails, there is something behind it to keep it from failing entirely. We’ll be fine. Plus, I played a superhero in a movie once. So that’s probably helpful, right?” he adds with a wink.
She eyes him up and down. “You’ll hold my hand the whole time?”
“Absolutely. As long as you need me to.” He holds out his hand and pulls it back as if reconsidering. “You don’t have girl germs, do you? I hear sometimes girls have girl germs, and I don’t know if I can risk it.”
Juniper giggles, grabbing Alex’s hand and pulling him to the bubble. “I don’t have germs, SuperZander! Let’s go!”
“Yeah, SuperZander, let’s go.” I eye him before turning to lead the group into our bubble. Why does Alex have to be so unbelievable?
11
Alexander
Juniper’shandisnotthe one I’d envisioned holding on this ride, not that it isn’t nice in its own way. She’s a sweet girl and I’m glad I can help her. Of course, my superhero skills will be useless if something happens. I know that. She knows that. But here we are. I’m a hundred percent sure I wouldn’t be holding Ivy’s hand right now, anyway. My right hand is free, but she has kept herself busy with Peter on the far side of our capsule.
“This goes way slower than a Ferris wheel,” Juniper observes.
“It does. But we will only go around one time,” I tell her.
“That stinks. I bet you go around on a Ferris wheel fifty times.”
“Well, I believe it takes thirty minutes to go around this once. So we would be here for quite some time if we went around fifty times.”
“Twenty-five hours. That’s over a full day!”
Sheisa smart girl. I lean over toward her ear and whisper, “And there’s no bathroom.”
Juniper giggles and turns back toward the view. I feel Ivy’s eyes on me and turn my head toward her with a smile. I’m stunned at how beautiful she is. The sun streaming into the capsule makes her skin glow and her hair shine with tiny stripes of gold. I have to get to know her. I have to shoot my shot with her before her vacation’s over and she’s gone.
“Will you point out all the best things to see from here?” Juniper asks.
“I’ll be glad to. Obviously, there’s Large Robert,” I say, pointing toward Big Ben.
Juniper laughs. “Peter, come over here. Mr. Henry is about to give us the best tour.”
“And highly accurate, don’t forget highly accurate,” I play-whisper to her.
Peter is followed by the rest of the family. “I already saw everything there is to see,” he says, looking a little underwhelmed.
“Did you see Large Robert?” Juniper says with a raised eyebrow, making me laugh.
“Large Robert? What the heck are you talking about?” Peter looks skeptical.
Juniper points to Big Ben and giggles again. “Show us something else, Mr. Henry.”
I wasn’t prepared for a show, but if some sort of lunatic tour will make the kids laugh and possibly endear me to their aunt, then so be it.
“If you look past Large Robert, you’ll see Buckingham Palace.”
“That’s where the King lives,” Juniper provides.
“He actually lives in Clarence House,” I tell her. “Buckingham Palace houses hundreds of male deer and thousands of pigs.”
The kids look up at me in confusion. The joke has not landed with them, but the adults chuckle. I look up and meet Ivy’s eyes, and they are the most open and interested I’ve seen them be, yet. I can’t help the smile I send her way.
“Male deer are usually called bucks,” Val tells her children. “And ham comes from pigs.Buckinghampalace.”
