For the Last Time?

Kelsey sat in the car with her cheek on her fist and her elbow on the armrest. Brian--her husband--had been inside the Resident Hotel for almost an half hour talking to the hostess about getting a room. He had, unfortunately, taken the keys with him, so the air was thick. Sweat poured down the sides of her face and dampened the hairs on the back of her neck.

She had long since tuned out the cars that lined up behind them in the drop-off area. Their horns and shouts for them to move had faded along with their attempts to get her attention. Too quickly their displeasure had been overtaken by the three young humans in the backseat.

Her bucket seat jerked forward as Easton--her youngest--kicked it from behind. "I'm bored. When are we going to leave?"

"He's been in there forever," Stasia said. "Should I go check on him?"

"No," Kelsey said in monotone. She wiped her wet bangs from her forehead as she blinked out the windshield. "I'm sure your dad will be back soon."

"I don't think so," said Judah, her oldest. "They probably don't have any rooms left, so now he's calling around trying to find the nearest hotel that has openings."

Kelsey agreed, although she would not say so out loud. Part of her was still hoping that some other guest had changed their plans and cancelled a reservation. Maybe one of the disgruntled arrivals behind them would decide to go elsewhere. It was pure "wishful thinking," but she had little else to hang on to right now.

They had made a reservation for the hotel--or rather she had--for three days, two nights, and tickets to the nearby water park included. It was a good deal and the plans were made. She and her husband had both gotten out of work. They had informed all the kids, packed suitcases, loaded the car, and even left on time-ish.

Spirits had been high and in spite of the five hour car ride to get there and they had arrived with less complaints and negative attitudes than she had expected. Brian had gone in to get the key to their room then texted her with the dreaded news--there was no room booked under their name.

Confused, but confident, Kelsey had pulled up their confirmation number and proof of a charge to their credit card and sent that back. Brian called her phone in response. The reservation was for next week.

"What!?" she exclaimed. Her volume tipped the kids off and the car grew silent. She pulled up the email that had been sent that morning to remind them of their upcoming trip. She clicked the link and was rerouted to suggestions for nearby restaurants and activities as well as upgrades to their package.

Kelsey stared at the screen as the words blurred. It was a long enough silence that Brain had asked if she was okay. She nodded even though he could not see her.

"So do they have the dates wrong or do we?" he asked.

Kelsey swallowed the lump in her throat. "No, I think," she took a deep breath. "I think you're right. Do they have any openings or a way to adjust our stay?"

"I don't think so, but I'll check."

That was the last she had heard from him. Kelsey rubbed her eyes as Easton continued to kick her seat and complain about the heat.

She wanted to crawl into a whole. The heaviness in her chest threatened to surface in a wave of tears. Her hopes that this trip would be a nice break--a distraction from all that was going on--had dissolved faster than ice would on the dashboard. She had wanted a chance to forget that she was forgetting things, that it was getting hard for her to concentrate, and that numbers and letters were becoming more jumbled in her mind faster each day.

This had been her attempt to create a good memory of the family all together--something they could hang onto before things got worse. But she should have known this would happen. She should have let Brian handle all the details or at least let him check things over before she committed to it. He had offered, but she had been stubborn, offended that he thought she could no longer function on her own and needed his help for everything.

Part of her still wanted him to check even though she had told him not to. Yet if he had, she knew she would have gotten upset with him for doing so. Apparently he had known this and had chosen the path he felt least likely to upset her--which was what had gotten them into the situation here.

She brushed away a tear suddenly mindful that the car was quiet. Stasia was in the back seat between her brothers shushing both of them. Kelsey took a deep breath.

"It's okay, mom," Judah said. "These things happen."

Easton grunted his displeasure as he kicked the seat again. Stasia told him to stop and Kelsey could picture his pouted lips.

"I'm sorry, guys," she told them without looking back, "but I think your mom has messed this whole vacation up."

Stasia nodded. Easton groaned. Judah once more assured her it would be okay.

Brian came back from the hotel lobby and climbed into the car with a stack of papers. Kelsey released a long breath as he turned on the AC. "So I messed it up, huh?"

Brian stuffed papers into the space between them then turned to her. "They are fully booked," he said. "And there's not much around here that isn't this time of year."

There was another groan from the backseat.

"But," Brian continued. "The other couple that was checking in said that their kids had decided not to come with them so they have four tickets to the water park for today and tomorrow that we can have if we want."

"Really?" Judah sat up straighter, as did Stasia and Easton.

"But--" Kelsey began before Brian waved her to stop.

"The clerk that was working the desk said that we should be able to purchase a single ticket at the gate to the water park if we wanted to."

"That's great!" Judah interjected.

"But," Kelsey began.

"Hold on," Brian said. "The gal I was talking to also said that her parents own a rental home nearby. She made a call and it's open tonight and tomorrow. She said that she could refund our reservation--minus the deposit and service fees--and if we wanted to we could book the rental house for the next two nights."

He turned in his seat. "How does that sound to all of you? It won't be the hotel, but we could still go to the water park."

"Yes," came the chorus from the rear.

"Does that sound okay to you?" he asked Kelsey.

She bit her lip. It was not what she had envisioned, but it was better than having to disappoint three kids, her husband, and herself by turning around. She nodded.

"Good," Brian said as he strapped in and pulled one of the papers out. "Because I already made the reservation and have directions. We'll be there in ten minutes and can head to the water park after that."

"Finally!" Easton called from the backseat. "I was about to die back here."

With a shake of her head, Kelsey smiled at her husband. "Thank you." She wanted to say more, to explain herself, but everything she would say he already knew.

Brian blew her a kiss then pulled the car from the hotel. All was not lost yet. And if this experience taught her anything, it was that even bad things could still be salvaged--so maybe, so could she.