Chapter 584

• Ben yawned and stretched as he left the immigration office in LAX with Gretchen. It had taken four and a half long hours to deal with the bureaucracy and he'd filled out countless forms with her assistance. It would have taken longer but the staff recognized him and for the cost of a few... dozen selfies with the excited office workers he was 'expedited'. He wondered how long he would have still been in there otherwise. He was dismayed to learn that after all of that effort they'd only earned a six month window. He would see if Hannah could do some magic at her end.
• The flight from Sydney to Los Angeles had been uneventful as the presence of Gretchen kept the flight attendants at bay. Their detour through immigration had caused them to miss their connecting flight.
• Ben got tickets on the next flight home for them and they dozed in the chairs by the gate. The flight finally boarded and they promptly fell asleep in their seats and only woke when they landed. It was the wee hours of the morning when they grabbed a taxi for home. Gretchen fell asleep against his shoulder.