"I can't believe your dad let you skip school to go to Disneyland."
Henry shrugs. "Well, I haven't missed a single day since the school year began, so I guess he figures I've earned it or something. Besides, he knows that this is, like, a bonding experience for us."
"A bonding experience?" I say with mock horror. "If I had known that there would be bonding, I never would have agreed to this."
"Oh, shut up," he laughs.
"You know, I thought that we had already bonded quite nicely. After all, I've known you for two years."
"Yeah, but we haven't done anything just the two of us since before the breakup. We need to re-bond," he tells me as we get off of the near-empty tram and walk up to the main gate. "After all, I had kind of given up hope that I was ever gonna really hang out with you again."
I cringe. "Sorry about that, mate."
"No problem, *mate*." Henry loves to tease me whenever I use my Brit-speak. "The important thing is that you're back together and I get to drag you to a theme park today."
"Indeed." I pull out my wallet so I can pay the entrance fee, but Henry stops me. "What?"
"It's my treat," he says, pulling some bills out of his jeans pocket. "I've been saving my allowance for this."
"Are you serious?" This kid is too much sometimes. "Henry, it's almost seventy dollars for both of us."
"Yeah, I know." He hands the money to the cashier and we get our tickets. "Look, it's something I wanted to do. Just enjoy yourself and pay for whatever snacks we get and then we'll call it even, okay?"
I ruffle his shock of blue hair, making him stick his tongue out at me. "Okay. Thank you."
"You're welcome. Now where do you wanna go first?"
*****
"Okay, am I dreaming or did a life-size Minnie Mouse just walk by?"
"You're not dreaming," Henry giggles. "There are life-size Disney characters walking by all the time."
"This is extremely bizarre," I observe as we go to stand on line for the Matterhorn roller coaster. "Was Walt Disney high when he thought up this place?"
"I somehow doubt that. Besides, it's just an alternate universe like 'Lord of the Rings'. You might as well say that Tolkien was sniffing glue when he wrote the book."
"Well, he *did* write about pipeweed. Whatever that was." Henry laughs. "Okay, so tell me about this roller coaster. It goes through the little mountain thing?"
"Yeah. It's not really scary, but it's fun as all hell. It's Exene's favorite ride."
"Can I ask how many times you've been here?"
Henry thinks for a moment. "Sixteen. I go every year for my birthday, and then once in a while we go just for the hell of it."
"And you don't get tired of it?"
"Never. It's always different for me each time. Like the last time we were here, I gave Donald Duck the finger just for the hell of it and then yodeled when we got to the Switzerland part of the It's a Small World ride."
I stare at him. "You're a very strange child."
*****
The Matterhorn *is* scary -- at least it is to me. Henry neglected to tell me that halfway through, a Yetti-like creature roars as you come around the bend and its eyes glow red. I shrieked so pathetically that I made Billy sound like a contra-bass. Afterwards, we go on Mr. Toad's Wild Ride (which really isn't that wild), and then to the Spinning Teacups, which is a lot of fun. It's like being drunk in a world where everything is pastel.
Henry is whooping with excitement as we exit our baby blue teacup, and skips over to a cotton candy stand. "Can I get this for breakfast?"
"You already had breakfast."
"I've had one, yes. What about--"
"Second breakfast?" I interrupt with a roll of my eyes. "Sure, you can have cotton candy for second breakfast."
"That's five dollars," the vendor tells me, and I raise my eyebrows as I hand her the money. Five dollars for pink sugar? "Hey, isn't that second breakfast thing from 'The Lord of the Rings'?"
"Yup," Henry says with a grin as he takes his cotton candy. "The coolest movie ever. Aragorn rocked, but Legolas really annoyed me." I kick his shin and he glares at me.
"The elf? I thought he was cute."
I thank the vendor for the cotton candy and drag Henry away before he explodes into a fit of giggles. "She thinks you're cute," he says in a sing-song voice.
"She thinks *Legolas* is cute," I correct him. "She didn't recognize me at all. And what was that business about Legolas annoying you?"
"'We must move on. We cannot linger'," Henry recites. "No shit? You mean we *shouldn't* stand here and wait to be slaughtered by orcs? Wow, thanks for bringing that to our attention, Legolas!"
"Thank you for that wonderful assessment of my character," I say dryly.
"Hey, it's not *your* fault. It's just that every time Legolas spoke, I wanted to say, 'well *duh*.'"
"Remind me why I just spent five bucks to buy you cotton candy?"
"Because I'm utterly adorable and no one can say no to me." He gives me an impish smile.
"Sorry, kid. That's *my* line."
*****
"So this is Tomorrowland?" I ask as I look around.
"Yeah. Disneyland was built in the fifties, so their concept of the future was kind of campy. You know, it was in that era when people thought we'd colonize the moon by the year 2000 and we'd engineer ferrets to serve us."
"Ferrets?"
Henry laughs. "Something like that. Anyway, the place to go to in this land is Space Mountain. It's the best coaster in the park, at least in terms of speed. And it's good that we're here on a Thursday, cuz the line shouldn't be that long."
Henry must have jinxed it because the line is fairly long and we get stuck watching the bizarre 'futuristic' news station that plays on the TVs overlooking us. "Okay, this sucks," I proclaim after half an hour.
"I think we're almost there."
"You've already said that twice."
"I'm *positive* that it's around this corner, Orli."
"Wanna bet that it's not?"
"Sure. What are the stakes?"
"Hmm." I think for a few seconds. "Well, if you're wrong, you can never make fun of Legolas again."
"And if I'm right, you have to buy those mouse ears and get your picture taken with Mickey Mouse."
"Deal." After all, I'm convinced that it's not around this corner. Good, now we're moving, we're walking, and . . . shit. I have to wear the bloody mouse ears and pose with Mickey because we've reached the actual ride. And Henry is cracking up. "You'll get yours, Henry Mortensen," I warn.
"Uh-huh, sure." We settle in for the ride, and right before it starts, Henry taps my shoulder. "Having fun?"
I smile at him. "I'm having an insane amount of fun."
His face lights up at my words. "Good."
*****
"I can't believe how idiotic I feel," I grouse as Henry adjusts my mouse ears hat. Although I have to admit, this is kind of cute in a kitschy way.
"Hey, you lost fair and square. Nothing you can do about it now except pose with a giant rodent wearing a bow tie."
We locate a giant Mickey Mouse and I paste a cheesy smile on my face and wave to the camera. I might as well go all-out, so I have Henry snap a picture of me hugging Mickey. We then decide that lunch is in order, so we stop to grab some popcorn and Diet Coke -- today isn't a day for three balanced meals.
"Where to next, o scholar of Disneyland?"
Henry grins. "Um, we have a few choices. We could go back to Fantasyland and check out some more rides there. Then there are coasters in Frontierland, and New Orleans Square has some neat stuff."
"I defer to your judgment."
"Then I say we go to Splash Mountain. It's got an awesome drop at the end, plus it's a water ride."
"Sounds good."
We walk and talk and munch on popcorn. Henry talks about an anime series he likes, his mum's upcoming tour, and his efforts to learn Spanish so he can argue with Viggo in two languages. I talk about the latest movies I've seen, my plans to go surfing with Dom and Lij next week, and how strange it is to receive fan mail. He teases me about my wardrobe selections and technophobia, I tease him about his taste in music and ever-changing hair-color. It's easy, it's comfortable.
I realize for the first time that while I came close to losing what I had with Viggo, I also almost lost my friendship with Henry. After all, who would want to hang out with their dad's ex-boyfriend, no matter how cool he is? As he chatters away about how excited he is for the next 'Star Wars' movie, I can't help but smile. I'm so lucky to have this wonderful kid in my life.
"Whatcha thinking about?" he asks as we approach the next ride.
"Nothing much." I smile at him. "Thank you for taking me here today, Henry. It means a lot to me."
He smiles. "I'm glad you came with me. It means a lot to me, too."
*****
After Splash Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, we go on the Indiana Jones ride, It's a Small World, and back to Space Mountain for another trip. The Haunted House is a lot of fun, and now we're floating through the very cool Pirates of the Caribbean. It's amazing how intricate the ride is, with all these mechanical pirates firing fake cannons and chasing around tavern wenches. This seems to be one of the rides that's randomly here even though there's no movie associated with it.
When the ride ends, we get sandwiches and soda in one of the New Orleans Square 'bistros' and sit down at an outdoor table. It's a Thursday in early March, so it's not very crowded; in fact, the only other people sitting ath the outdoor cafe are an elderly couple wearing matching Goofy tee-shirts. For dessert, we buy frozen bananas and wander around for a while. We ride the Matterhorn again and then decide to do some shopping on Main Street.
"You know what would be really cool?" Henry says.
"What?" We're strolling leisurely down the street under a canopy of darkening sky. It's after eight now, and we'll only be here for another hour or so.
"A 'Lord of the Rings' theme park."
"Yeah?" Actually, that does sound neat. "What would it be like?"
"Well, you could have different sections, like Mirkwood, and Hobbiton, and Rohan, and so on. And there would be awesome rides."
"Such as?"
"Well, you could do a freefall based on Gandalf's fall in Moria, or ride along with Glorfindel -- or Arwen, if you're going by the movie -- as Frodo is taken to Rivendell just ahead of the Nazgul."
"There could be an interactive Fangorn Forest," I suggest.
"Exactly! Or a crumbling staircase ride, sort of like what happens in Moria."
"A light show every night based on Gandalf's fireworks."
"Use virtual reality to ride on an eagle like Gandalf when he escapes from Orthanc. Or maybe a water ride based on traveling down the Anduin."
"You've given this a lot of thought, haven't you?" I ask with a smile.
"Yeah. I just like the idea. I mean, if you had restaurants, you could rename soda and juice 'Gaffer's home brew' and 'Ent draught', and all sandwiches could be served on lembas bread."
"Okay, say that there was a 'Lord of the Rings' theme park -- would you rather go there or to Disneyland on your birthday?"
Henry grins. "I'd probably still go here."
*****
The trunk of Viggo's car is now stuffed with keepsakes of the trip to Disneyland. I felt compelled to buy gifts for each member of the Fellowship; the hobbits each get Disneyland shot glasses, Bean gets a CD of Disney songs for if he's ever in the car with Evie and she wants music, John gets miniature (translation: Dwarf-sized) Donald and Daisy Duck dolls, and Ian gets Disneyland jelly beans so he can indulge his sweet tooth. I also got presents for Atti, Mum, and Sam, plus I bought Henry a Disney photo album so he has a place to put all the pictures we took today.
As we get onto the Freeway, Henry fiddles with the radio before finding the station he likes and leaning back in his seat. "This okay?"
"Yeah, it's fine."
I look at his face as the shadows flit over it. "Thank you for today, Henry. It was wonderful."
"You're welcome."
"So what are your plans for the weekend?"
"Well, I'm going to a birthday party for one of my friends on Saturday night."
"Will Jemila be there?" I tease.
"I never should have told you I have a crush on someone," he says with a shake of his head. "And yes, she'll be there, probably looking absolutely perfect."
"Ah, to be thirteen again."
"You're only twenty-five," Henry reminds me.
"Yeah, but I remember being at the age when nothing seemed to matter but girls."
"Girls?" He looks at me curiously. "You used to have girlfriends?"
"Yeah, I did."
"I didn't know that. You were straight when you were younger?"
I chuckle. "Yes, I was. Or I was in complete denial."
"So what happened?"
"I met your dad." Henry laughs. "He was brilliant, funny, kind . . . he actually cared about what I had to say. And suddenly things like gender didn't seem important because I fell in love with who he was."
"You kind of turned your world upside down for him, huh?"
"Yes, but in the best way."
Henry's quiet for a few minutes, then he turns down the radio and shifts in his seat so he's looking at me. "You know, there's a reason I've been wanting to take you to Disneyland for a while now. It's not just because I thought you should experience the joys of Splash Mountain and Pirates of the Caribbean."
"Then what *is* the reason?"
"Disneyland is special to me. I can't explain why, but I just love it there. The only people I've ever been there with are Dad and Exene; I've never gone there with any of my friends, not even for my birthday."
"Why make an exception for me?" I ask softly.
"Because you've become a part of my family. I kind of wanted to make it official in my mind, so I thought that going to Disneyland with you would be perfect. I'd be sharing something that means a lot to me with you. You're not a parent, but you're way more than a friend. I can't define exactly what you are to me, but you're special. And I love you. That's why I took you today."
"Henry . . . I love you, too."
What an amazing kid.
*****
"Did you have a good time?" Viggo hugs both of us as we walk through the front door. "Was it worth missing school?"
"Of course it was," Henry says, stifling a yawn.
"Tired?"
"A little."
"Before I forget, Exene called; she wants you to call her back."
"Okay. Then I'll say goodnight now, cuz after that I'll probably just fall into bed."
Henry says his goodnights and then goes to his room. "So did you enjoy yourself?" Viggo asks as I fetch a beer out of the fridge.
"It was wonderful, Vig. Really, I had a great time; we both did."
"I'm glad." He kisses me as I sit down next to him at the table. "What was your favorite part?"
"Honestly? Just spending time with Henry."
"Yeah?" Viggo's smile is wide, and it's obvious how happy he is that his son and I are close. "That's great."
"We had a terrific time together, as usual. And I ended up getting gifts for pretty much everyone I know. Those gift shops are addictive."
He laughs. "What about me? Do I get anything?"
I kiss him briefly on the lips. "You mean besides me?" Viggo chuckles. "Yes, you get something." I walk over to where the shopping bags are and pull out photographs of me and Henry, the kind that you take in those do-it-yourself photo booths. "Here you go. It's from both of us."
Viggo smiles as he looks at the pictures. "Thank you."
"You're welcome." I finish my beer and put the bottle in the recycling bin. "I'm going to get ready for bed. I'm exhausted."
"I'll be there in a minute," he says, still grinning.
"Okay." I pause. "You know, Henry really is one of the most special people I've ever met."
"I may be a bit biased, but I'd have to agree with you."
"Of course," I say with a grin, "his dad is pretty great, too."
