the full story

THE MEETING
Me and Amy met in July 2008 over an internet social networking site called ‘vampirefreaks’, purely by chance. Amy happened to have stumbled upon my profile and commented. Lo and behold, comments turned into inbox messages, messages turning into exchanging email addresses, pictures, videos, AIM and MSN! We just clicked so naturally, and we talked for hours on end about anything and everything. We didn’t share the exact same morals, views, or interests, (though they weren’t far off) but that’s what made our relationship interesting. Weeks and months past, and we both finally built up the courage to talk to each other over the phone. It was the way we kept our love alive, we lived 4655 miles apart.
I found myself waking up every morning, only to be excited about/looking forward to the end of the day when we usually spoke on the phone. Amy was all I talked about and, admittingly, all I wanted to talk about.

THE GREETING
After months of talking to each other, we both decided to meet on the 27th December, where we would stay in London for 2 nights and then spend 3 nights back at my house. She always said she wanted to visit London.
I woke up at 5am to take the train down to Gatwick to meet her in time, and I was not in the position to complain as Amy had to endure a 13 hour plane ride when she was (until quite recently) an aviophobic.
I happened to have arrived at the airport about twenty minutes early, only to find that Amy’s plane was half an hour delayed, which in a way was lucky for me as it gave me time to plan how to give a warm British welcome. I had these big cardboard signs, placards if you will, that had various messages written and numerous pictures posted across them (to be explained later). Once I went through the placards to check that they were all there and went through the greeting mentally, I was approached by two police officers. They asked to look through my bags and my placards and asked me to explain what my intentions were for being there at the airport. I had to fill out some forms as I was checked under the stop-and-search act – I was nervous enough with meeting Amy for the first time, and the incident with the police did anything by calm me down. They thought I was a terrorist with the big placards being a signal to blow off a bomb or something which, to say the least, was fairly amusing given my position. So, I explained myself, and they seemed quite touched with my greeting to Amy and my general manner, and left when Amy’s plane arrived.

Two hours pased, and there was no sign of her. I shrugged off all the pessimistic thoughts of the whole meeting being a complete hoax and continued to wait.
Few minutes after that, the intercom went and I knew it was going to be about her. It just seemed how my luck panned out that day.
“Could the person meeting Amy Soileau please report to Airport Information”
I ended up being on the phone to Gatwick’s customs and border control. Because Amy was under 18 (by like a month), she was still classified as a minor, and they had to double check that I was a legit person by asking me what my intentions were, and if my parents knew about her stay, where I live etc. Turns out that they suspected me of being a paedophile, a murderer, a kidnapper, and thought I was going to sell Amy off to slavery…
After the call, I waited another 20 or so minutes just staring at the archway where the arrivals walk through, and before I knew it I saw a slender figure wearing this knitted French béret grasping three huge bags in the corner of my eye, running up behind me. Physically, I jumped as she dropped her bags and ran up against me with her arms wide open. I resisted and held her back without saying a word, and she gave me a grimaced heartbroken look. I then took out the signs, holding them all, as I was saving them for this occasion.

Her name was the first sign; it then dropped to the floor and behind it followed general “normal” messages such as ‘Welcome to England’ and ‘I’m so glad to see you’ etc. It then led on the something else, with the signs ‘I’ve set up a surprise’ – ‘…and it’s right behind you!’
Amy didn’t looked very convinced, because behind her were huge windows that looked out upon the runways, but she turned around anyway. At that exact point, I moved in towards her and landed a kiss.
I can’t remember how long it lasted.
I then stepped back, and revealed the last card that read, ‘I’ve always wanted to do that’.
The plan went swiftly, and we had coffee at the airport before we made our way back to the hotel. As expected, after a few seconds of nervousness, we got on like old friends, and no one would have guessed that it was the first time me and Amy met in person. There was no hesitation.
Upon arrival at the hotel, apparently the double bed room I booked ran out of useable showers, so I could either have a double bedroom without a shower, or a twin bedroom with a shower, so being so stressed, I just said the double bedroom. I mean there was a shower outside of the rooms somewhere, so I wasn’t particularly bothered. However, the double bedroom that I said I’ll have was on the top floor – level 5, and there were no lifts, so we had to carry the luggage up the stairs, and the shower was below ground level. Even then, the drain in the shower was blocked and the water was accumulating, turning the place into a swimming pool, seeping out onto the carpet outside! We had to wrap towels around ourselves and run up to our room because the shower was totally unsuitable for getting changed in.

After complications of getting to the venue, finding out that certain stations were closed, and swearing taxi drivers, that evening we went to watch Edward Scissorhands at the West End. I kind of bought the tickets blindly and didn’t really read into it, and bought them only because me and Amy like the movie, and besides, it had limited showtimes, so that must mean that the show’s good, right? Turns out it wasn’t a musical nor was it a play; it was interpretative dance.
Not the best thing to watch after being awake for over 27 hours!
Afterwards we had a late Indonesian meal and headed back to the hotel…
Throughout the rest of the week, we visited the Tate Modern, Chinatown, Bodyworlds exhibition, Camden Market, and spent New Year at my friend’s house where we slept in my car. Though it may not sound appealing, it’s those events I will never change and those memories I will never forget. We took everything in a happy-go-lucky manner, and just laughed along to all the things that backfired. Little things like that just made our connection stronger, and is the reason why I’m totally loyal, totally committed, and totally content.

THE FUTURE
The question now was what to do in regards to our relationship- we both couldn’t bare to be apart from each other again, and initially Amy was going to attend university in England, but it would be less complicated if I went to university over in the states.

It’s been almost two years since the birth of Sebastian, the cutest baby ever to exist. Sebastian is her son, and Amy didn’t tell me about Sebastian until we both arrived back at our homes after the week we were together. She wanted me to know who she was inside before having a predispositioned thought about her being a teenage mother, and I can understand that.
Either way, she told me that I wasn’t obliged to stay with her because it’s not my child. She was afraid that I was going to leave. She believed that I was going to leave, and wanted to be with me that week in December/January before potentially not seeing me ever again. Amy was about to hang up the phone until I told her not to.
I’m not leaving, as you can tell. The child needs a father, and that’s where I step in, and I will be the best possible father I can be for this child, and will love him as if he were is my own. Besides, Amy having a child isn’t going to change how I feel about her. If anything I admire and respect her even more because of how brave she was to decide to give this child the best possible life she could, even without support from the father.
I can’t wait to help raise Sebastian; I’ve even spoke to him on the phone, and he babbles and he blows me kisses on webcam all the time, and now even calls me ‘Dada’!

Come 20th July 2009, I will be living with Amy and Sebastian Soileau. It’s taken me 6 months to get into an American university, and will be attending the University of Louisiana at Lafayette doing Psychology, and will there until 2013. We have a cute little townhouse that is both decent and affordable, and will be where we raise Sebastian for the years to come.
What will happen after 2013? Only time will tell. But one thing is for sure – I’m not leaving Amy or Sebastian ♥

This blog is for my friends and family, and anyone else, to catch up with my progress in America. The university experience, the adventures of me, Amy and Sebastian, and everything in between. This blog will be updated constantly, to keep my family at ease, and to keep in touch with old friends, all of who I promise to visit with Amy and Sebastian as soon as I can.