A Wise Investment: Nica
August was coming to an end, Poppy’s birthday was coming up quick, and our plans still needed to be solidified. We had already decided to skip the big party this year and make our annual Disney trip a “Poppy’s Fourth Birthday” trip instead. And I had been doing a lot of thinking and mental planning about it already.
It was usually Riley’s job to do the planning and the checklist-ing, but this year, I had a major idea that could be a game changer.
After that first Father’s Day weekend, we made the two subsequent annual Disney trips in February. Putting the trip off until September this year meant Riley was already going to be on edge measuring the logistics of the end-of-peak season business in comparison to pre-spring break season. Even still, Disney was the one place that he just relaxed and lived in the moment rather than clutching an armada of devices in his hands and turning a vacation into a tactical mission.
I heard the metallic thud of the latch on the front door followed by the sound of footsteps and the click of the door shutting back that signaled Cole and Riley’s return from the dinner shift at Stella Cucina. Their voices were low and soft, carrying up the stairs as they moved from the foyer into the kitchen. I gathered my laptop and my notebook and left my room.
I peeked into Poppy’s bedroom for a minute before I hit the stairs. Her crib had been traded for a pale pink daybed with floral sheets last month. The fairy garden mural of her name — Persephone Magnolia — was still stretched across the main wall though. The fairy lights strung across her ceiling cast soft glows and shadows across her room and illuminated her sleeping face. Her big fairy tree still sat in the corner — the trunk a hovel for all of her toys now.
A small smile curved my lips and I stepped carefully down the stairs and joined my guys in the kitchen. Riley had the coffee machine running while Cole was digging in the freezer for something to eat. “How was work?” I asked softly, pressing a kiss to Riley’s cheek, then to Cole’s, his hair falling loose around his jaw now, soft and shaggy around my hand.
“A nightmare,” Riley answered, reaching for his favorite mug.
Cole nodded in agreement, shoving his hair back from his face as he pulled a box of burgers out of the freezer. “Want one?” he asked. “Rye?”
I shook my head while Riley answered, “Two. Please. I’m starving.”
“We had an eighteen come in twenty minutes before closing, and Greg was there from ten to eight.”
“Jeez, he never stays that late,” I frowned, my nose wrinkling. I had no issues with the district manager myself, but I always hated the way his presence put everyone else on edge.
“I know,” Cole deadpanned, giving me a look that I knew wasn’t actually meant for me while he reached to turn a stove burner on.
I placed my laptop and my notebook on the island counter and slid onto a stool, watching them. The exhaustion was heavy in their bones, but the conversation was too important and we were too close to Poppy’s birthday to put it off.
I waited until Riley had his first sip of espresso. I knew Cole was already halfway to yes without even knowing what I’d been thinking about. Riley was the one I’d have to convince.
I watched as the first drop of espresso hit his tongue. His blue eyes closed and his shoulders eased an inch. “So I’ve been thinking…” I started, watching him closely. “About the Disney trip for Poppy’s birthday.”
“We can’t change the days, Nica,” Riley said immediately, not even opening his eyes. “We already got the days off approved, and it’s too late to request anything else off until the end of September.”
“It’s not that,” I countered quickly, trying to keep my tone calm and my excitement contained.
One eye cracked open, silence lingering between us for a moment, only interrupted by the sizzle of oil in Cole’s pan.
“What if we didn’t just do tickets?” I suggested. “What if we got passes instead?”
Riley lowered his mug.
Cole turned around, spatula in hand. “Like… annual passes?”
I nodded, unable to keep the smile off my face. “They’re good for 365 days from the date of purchase. We’re already going for Poppy’s birthday, and we’re definitely going at least once next year.”
“Those aren’t cheap,” Riley stated, sitting his mug down now.
“Neither are four multi-day tickets every time,” I countered gently. “I ran the numbers. Roughly.”
Riley pinched the bridge of his nose, his glasses lifting as a result. “Roughly is doing a lot of work in that sentence.”
Cole grinned. “I’m hearing ‘more Disney,’ not ‘problem.’”
Riley shot him a look. “You hear ‘more Disney,’ and stop listening.”
“Correct,” Cole said cheerfully, turning back to his burgers.
I waited, my lips pressed together in a line. After a moment, I said, “She’s about to be four. This isn’t like the first couple of trips. She’s going to start remembering things.”
“She already does,” Cole pointed out, still looking at his task. “She talks about Ariel like that’s her best friend.”
I smiled, then looked back at Riley. “Remember the first trip, when she walked to Ariel? That wasn’t just cute. That changed something.”
Riley’s jaw tightened slightly.
“You barely checked the time. You didn’t rush us once,” I continued.
“You only checked your apps when we asked what was next,” Cole added.
“And… I didn’t die,” Riley said slowly.
“You didn’t die,” I echoed. I opened my notebook to the rough list of costs comparing a week at Disney without the pass and how we would benefit with the pass. Especially if we went in February of next year too. I slid the notebook across the counter to him.
Riley exhaled, long and careful, like he was setting something fragile down. “I don’t want it to become… noise,” he finally said. “I don’t want it to turn into something I have to manage.”
“Then don’t let it,” Cole said immediately, turning around again. “We already proved you can survive the vibes. Remember the vineyard?” He sighed happily, a look of bliss on his face as he undoubtedly thought about the museum-worthy tub he’d soaked in.
Riley snorted despite himself.
“This doesn’t have to be every weekend,” I said, tapping the paper. “Just look at this way…we already have the money for the passes because of Poppy’s birthday, we don’t even have to pay all of it at once. You can make payments. And if we go in February next year like we have been, that makes next year’s trip even cheaper. And we can go for Christmas, and Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween. And when we do decide to do weekends, they’ll be more doable because we can drive to my dad’s, and then it’s only two hours from Kingsport instead of six hours from here.”
“Okay,” he said, finally. “We’ll look at passes. But I’m turning this,” he gestured at my notebook, “into a spreadsheet first. Honestly, Nica, how do you even know what you wrote?”
“Deal,” I agreed.
“But no color-coding,” Cole teased, flipping a burger.
“Absolutely color-coding,” Riley scowled, picking up my notebook to carry to his computer alcove in the dining room.
“She’s going to lose her mind,” Cole grinned over his shoulder at me.
“So did he,” I said quietly. “The first time.”
