My trip with DJ Daniel O'Rourke O. A Novel. - Chapter ONE - FRIDAY

Yup, that's his name.

I cannot believe that Toronto happened. We came and went.

It was fantabulous. That's right - another new word. Just like boughten. Get over it.

So, as I said, on Thursday Amy and I piled into the Jetta and hopped on the road (mental image: car with bunny ears hopping). We drove until Sackville, with a stop in Sussex for a snack for Amy. When we arrived in Sackville I got a supper at le Subway to take on the bus, and a mirror to use for makeup and the like while traveling. Amy and the car got dropped off at Dan and Lisa's house, and I got a ride to the Irving to wait for my bus.

The bus was crowded, and the drive was long, but I sat beside a girl named Margaret and we talked the entire way, until she got dropped off at the airport. This provided me with some nice company to endure the trip with. She had been on the bus from Saint John, which I really pitied her for. Glad I had my car for the first half of the trip.

Dan picked me up at the bus station at twenty to eleven. I was tired by this point having only slept a few hours the night before and had been up since five that morning. I do not remember much more of that night from that point on. I cannot remember if I zonked out or if we stayed up late talking, but either way, it was a nice time, I know that for sure.

The alarm was set to go off at 5:00 am. It did not. Perhaps it was set wrong. You might ask Adam, as it seems that the alarm was unplugged when we got home, so I am assuming it went off SOMETIME. Anyway, our taxi was scheduled to get us at 5:30 I think. I woke up on my own at 5:10, I guess I have gotten somewhat into the groove of waking up early. I went over and gave Dan a kiss on the cheek. He looked over at the clock.

"Crap - the alarm did not go off".

Visions of missing taxis and planes and the expense of getting new tickets, or the disappointment of not going flooded my mind.

"WHAT?!?!" I yelled.

"It's okay, Laura. We just slept in for ten minutes, we still have loads of time."

Well, I had loads of time. Dan was not entirely ready to go. He ended up leaving some things at home. I just had to get dressed, do my hair, and close up my bag. We made a few bowls of Oatmeal, but did not have the time to eat much more than two half-spoonfuls, and I had to do my hair in the taxi. I also had to change my shirt in the taxi. This is one of my super-awesome-Laura-qualities: getting dressed without getting undressed. Yay ME!


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We got to the airport and did not have much time to wait around. We weren't rushed, but we weren't there for hours either. Our plane boarded at quarter to seven. Dan got our seats switched so I could have a window. This was so awesome for me, because it has been ages since I had been on a plane and it was as if I was experiencing this all for the first time. It was all so very exciting and grand.

We sat in seats 8A and 8B - and I got to watch Halifax disappear beneath the fluffy clouds, then watch the plane exit the whiteness until all I could see was perfect blue above a landscape of white fluffs. Dad had it right when he said it was as if flying low over the Arctic, as if the clouds were transformed into snow. It is precisely what it looked like. It was stunning.

I fell asleep on Dan's shoulder. I woke up just as the clouds were clearing and I could see something below me - possibly Quebec or somewhere in Ontario. My neck was sore - apparently my head had been falling off his shoulder the entire time. Every time my head fell, he would put it back. I guess I am a persistent sleeper.

I found it extremely interesting to watch the subdivisions below me. When Uncle Bob and Aunt Martha used to live in Ottawa, I found the subdivisions very intriguing then as well; such nice big houses crammed in as little space as possible, and yet they had lovely back yards. Houses looked so much alike.

From the air, this phenomenon was increased immensely. ALL the houses looked the same, so tiny, identical in size and shape. The backyards were laid out next to each other, as if a grid. The lots were one after another, in perfect lines on roads, back to back and side to side. When I first peered down, they seemed so small and so plentiful, I thought they were cars in a lot, rather than houses.

When we approached Toronto, and got closer to the ground, I could see swimming pools of such a magnificent blue colour. You could see where subdivisions were being built. It was such an interesting landscape, so beautiful from a birds eye view.

As we landed, my ears would not fully pop. The pressure in them was insane. Once I finally relieved them, we were landed and getting off the plane. As we went to get our luggage, which were very quickly off the plane, and one of the first to come along the conveyor belt, Dan spotted his Dad waiting for us. This heightened my nervousness a bit, especially since Dan told me about the likelihood of his dad actually coming out to meet us AT the airport was exceedingly low. Ro came too, which Dan said was also unlikely. He thought it was because they were excited to meet me.

Maybe.

Introductions happened and then we got into the SUV on our way back to Dan's Dad's place in Richmond Hill, north of Toronto. We drove up to a beautiful house, lovely and big on the outside. We got inaide and the 'VonTrapp children" met us on the stairs. I impressed all with knowing their names. Jesse, Sean, Blayne, Dean, and Liam. As soon as I got Dean and Liam organized, I had no problem the rest of the weekend telling them apart.

What sweet kids. I fell in love with them. I knew I would, eventually, but I never realized how quickly I would come to love Dan's family.

Jesse is the oldest, fourteen years old, and he seems like the teddy bear of the family. He loves his big brother so much, it is really beautiful to see. Jesse just seems so full of love. He is also such a gentleman. He could teach his big brother a thing or two.

Sean is just such a cutie. At twelve years old, he has that awkward teenager height. He seemed somewhat quiet, but I really hope that I can get close to him. He has a great smile, and I think he will definitely be one of those boys that all the girls have crushes on, but who doesn't realize it. Sean is a good kid.

Blayne is Molly's twin, I am sure of it. Both are nine years old heartbreakers, with energy coming out of the ying yang to boot. Both are such cuties.

Now we get to the twins - seven year old Dean and Liam. The little red-headed Monsters, "Satan" as Sean and Jesse so lovingly called one. What little personalities these two had. So distinct. When they are together the two play off of each other, that is for certain. They like an audience. Seperately however is a whole other ballpark.

Dean gave Liam the spotlight most of the time, He is the kid who is always there, but never right in the action. You'll look over into the corner, and there he is, playing his GameBoy. He was not as affectionate as Liam, but he wanted to play just as much.

Dan told me that Liam has a crush on me. He followed us around and would actually listen to me most of the time, if I really insisted. He was just the life of the party, the attention grabber. One night, while Dean was sitting on the couch nearby, and Dan was getting some drinks together, Liam and I went through years of photo albums. Liam was so excited to see everyone - all his brothers when they were little and especially to show me, and see DJ (Dan) when he was younger. He let me kiss him goodnight on the forehead after I read to him and Dean fairy tales.

Wow, each of them are so special. I cannot wait to get to know them more.


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After meeting the boys, and Honey the dog, Mia had Dan and I a lovely breakfast. This was nice, because we were both pretty starved after our bite or two of Oatmeal this morning. She had made us bacon and eggs and toast. It was restaurant quality! After breakfast, and a tour of the lovely house, we went out back and sat out by the pool as the boys tried to get DJ to swim with them. Unfortunately for the boys, we weren't able to.

Dan and I jumped into the Spier convertable, put the top down for giddy lil' me, who really got excited to drive around Toronto in a convertable, and drove to Thornhill (???) to meet Dan's Mom and LARRRRRY.

What a sweet lady Mamma O'Rourke is. She is beautiful and cute - two qualities which CAN go together, and her smile makes her face shine and her eyes light up. She has got a sweet personality! We sat and talked with them for a while, until Dan showed me around his house he grew up in. Although we did not mean to, we fell asleep soon afterwards, and had a lovely nap. I had not been feeling well anyway, so I ended up laying down, which is when the nap hit. Afterwards, we had a late lunch of Quizinos and got back on the road to Dan's Dad's house.

Back at the house, we got dressed up a little and the entire family headed over to the Country Club for dinner. Sean and Blayne came with us in the Spider. Both of them has girlfriends and I heard all about them. When we got to the Club, I sat between Dan and Blayne, Sean sat across from me, Jesse beside him across from Blayne, and Mia on the other side across from Dan. Beside Dan and Mia sat the twins, and Ro and Bill sat at the heads. Dean and Liam had a fantastic time teasing me and Dan about all his ex-girlfriends. They had already started earlier that night, and I played right along.

"DJ, remember your girlfriend _________?"

I look shocked. "Who is _________? Dan, you never told me about her!!!"

The kids (not just Dean and Liam) laugh. "And your other girlfriend _________!!!"

This goes on. I had a chuckle. At supper we started to talk about middle names. "What's your middle name, Laura?"

I laugh. "Guess!" I tell the boys. This is right after the ex-girlfriend teasing.

"L_________" one of them guesses (naming one of Dan's recent ex-girlfriend's name beginning with an 'L'. For those of you who don't know, I am part of a string of brunette L-names).

"Nope." I answer and laugh. "Close though!"

"L_________?" the other guesses another name of an ex that they remembered.

"Almost".

The twins look confused at this point. At seven years old they are having a hard time remembering past a few years. "Jesse would remember" Dan adds.

The boys think..... One shouts out "Louise!"

"Yes!" I say! Dan's dad and step mom laughed at this. That's right, a double L name. Laura Louise (hence the domain name ltwo.blogspot.com. L two).

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When we got home that night, I played a few numbers on the piano, Blayne showed Dan how he could play the guitar, then Jesse played a bit on the piano. The twins ran around, and I sat on Dan's lap. The sun was setting, and it was such a beautiful, relaxing night.

It was now that Liam wanted to show me pictures. I didn't mind, so we sat downstairs at the bar and pulled out photo album after photo album of the O'Rourke family, seeing pictures documenting the younger brothers' younger years. This also showed younger Dan - even some younger Dan when he was with Louise! (Gasp!). When Dan went upstairs I told Liam that the only reason I was looking through with him is that I could see pictures of his ex-girlfriends. Liam went and told DJ this - but that's okay. I thought it was funny.

At 10:30 pm, after all the rest of the boys had gone to bed, we finished looking through the pictures and the boys went to sleep.

Then, I promptly fell asleep. It had been a long, but fantastic day!