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Flying Back With an Injured Husband and a Feral Baby

After the ER episode, the fun didn’t stop. We gathered our stuff, packed and got ready for the long journey home, starting with waking up at 4 a.m. to take a taxi and catch the 6:35 a.m. flight to Paris.

Waking up Mark so early was a kind of sweet revenge for the night before, though. He went back to sleep in the plane and we all landed in Roissy more or less awake.

We had a four-hour wait in Roissy but it went by very fast between finding the right terminal, checking the bags, going through security, changing Mark and putting eye drops into Feng’s eye.

The flight to Toronto was packed and it was a long one too, 8 hours and 55 minutes. That’s when it went downhill. Feng and I were exhausted but Mark wasn’t and trying to keep him relatively still and quiet on my lap was hell. It felt like dealing with a feral cat in a small enclosed space—yes, I got scratched too.

Oh, he slept… a little bit. When the meal was served, for instance. “Oh, he looks so comfortable!” the steward commented. Yep, I’m sure he was… me, not so much.

I tried to doze off but it proved impossible with Mark kicking and moving. I tried to watch a movie (“We are the Millers”… pretty funny!). I tried to soothe Mark. I tried to make him walk up and down the aisle. And I kept an eye on the Sky Map—five hours left to destination, four hours left… time dragged on.

It didn’t help that I was so tired that I couldn’t think straight and that leaving France is always tough for me. Sure, I am not dreaming of moving back for tons of reasons, but Nantes is still a cozy safe place for me—and Mark. My parents can take care of him, I can get a break, and life is easier. So I am not exactly upbeat on a flight back to Canada with Feng out of service because of his eye and a very annoying kid who can’t behave.

Eventually, we landed. The entire flight felt like a black hole—I have no idea what we did for nine hours or how we made it but we did.

We went through immigration, picked up our bags and started to look for the “Lost & Found” office since I was hoping to pick up my laptop that was left behind on the way to France. Hurrah! I found it. This was the highlight of the day—seriously, only in Canada you can misplace your laptop in the busiest airport in the country and pick it up at the same place two weeks later!

The flight to Ottawa was delayed, which was just as well since we were late at the gate too. Mark showed no sign of slowing down and ran around the Terminal while Feng and I took turns to use the bathroom and taking a break.

Mark finally passed out for thirty minutes on the way to Ottawa and was very cranky when I had to wake him up. Our luggage took forever to come… and it didn’t help that I had my mother-in-law micromanaging the process.

And home we are. I am dealing with a ton of laundry, our phone line and Internet connection are out of service (thanks Bell!) and it’s freezing cold.

I wish I could go back to sleep and hibernate for a few months… but it’s not an option with Mark. Oh well.

At Roissy
At Roissy
At Roissy
At Roissy
In The Plane
In The Plane
Getting Cranky...
Getting Cranky…
... Me Too...
… Me Too…
... Me Too...
… Me Too…
Mark and his Damn Nails!
Mark and his Damn Nails!
Sunset in Toronto
Sunset in Toronto
Finally Passing Out
Finally Passing Out
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Zhu

French woman in English Canada.

Exploring the world with my camera since 1999, translating sentences for a living, writing stories that may or may not get attention.

Firm believer that nobody is normal... and it’s better this way.

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