Jude glanced up when he heard his phone vibrate. He reached over across Connor, who was lying in bed with him, and saw a text had been sent to him from John.
"Who's that?" Connor asked tiredly.
"Our favorite author," said Jude, swiping the screen open. He clicked on the iMessage bubble on his phone and opened up the message from John.
Is it tomorrow yet!? John's text read.
Jude smiled at his cousin's impatience to return home. Not yet, goofball," he replied back.
A few seconds later, John replied, causing Jude to laugh.
I just want to come home and sleep in a place full of people I know! Is that too much to ask?
Yes. Jude replied back with a wink smile face. He grinned mischievously as he pressed "send."
"What are you two going on about?" Connor asked.
"John's impatient about coming home tomorrow," Jude said, giggling. "He's complaining about having to sleep in places full of strangers."
Rude! John texted back.
Jude giggled again. Love you, cousin! See you tomorrow at the airport!
John texted back quickly.
See you tomorrow, buddy! I can't wait to see everybody!
Jude put his phone down and lay back down with Connor. Connor pulled him close as they slowly drifted off to sleep.
"He should be appearing there any moment now," said Stef, glancing over at the escalators arriving passengers took when they walked to the baggage claim area.
They all were barely able to contain their excitement. John had only been gone two months on his book tour, but the house felt a little empty without his presence.
"He did text you, right?" Lena asked, sounding a little worried.
"Yes, my love," Stef said, sounding slightly exasperated. "That was only 10 minutes ago, and he has to wait for everyone else in front of him to get off. Plus, the walk over can take a few minutes. He'll be here."
As if on cue, John appeared on the escalators in front of them, glancing around for them. Jude and Connor held up a sign with his book cover on it. The caption below it read, "Welcome home to our favorite author!"
John burst into laughter when he saw the sign and Jude and Connor holding it up excitedly. He hurried off of the escalator and over to his family, reaching Stef and Lena first, who pulled him into the tightest of hugs.
"How are you, Love?" Stef asked, kissing him on the cheek.
"Glad to finally be home," John said.
"Safe flight?" asked Lena.
"Not too bad," John said. "I'm just glad it wasn't cross-country. Otherwise, I might be a little grumpy.
They all laughed as Stef and Lena broke off the hug, and motioned for the kids to come forward. One by one, John greeted Brandon, Callie, Mariana and Jesus with hugs. When he reached Connor, their hug lasted a little longer. Jude, however, seemed impatient and nearly threw himself onto John when he and Connor broke apart, holding his cousin tightly.
"I'm so glad you're home," Jude said as he held on to John.
"And I was the one getting flack for wanting to come home," John replied, causing Jude to snort. "I'm glad to see you too, Jude," he added, holding Jude closer. When they finally broke apart, Stef and Lena motioned for the kids to follow them to the baggage claim.
"So, how's the book tour been?" Stef asked.
"Hectic," John replied. "A lot of traveling, a lot of interviews with news folk and a lot of getting my picture taken at the most inopportune moments."
They all laughed. "But, I've just got one more signing after Ellen tomorrow and then I'm home free. Until HarperCollins asks me to write another one, that is," John said, causing them all to laugh again as they reached the baggage claim. John's flight had just started releasing the luggage, so John stepped forward to watch for his things.
"We're going out to dinner tonight, John," Lena said, stepping next to him. "Is there any place in particular you want to go to?"
"Anything's good with me," John said, leaning forward and grabbing his luggage. "And I'll be happy sleeping literally anywhere in the house. Heck, I'd even take the floor!"
Lena laughed as they returned to the rest of the family and started to walk to the cars.
After dinner, everyone had different plans for the evening, and all spread out through the house. Callie and Mariana were putting the final touches on their app for Callie's independent study and closed the door to not be disturbed. Brandon stayed in his room, too, working on a piece for school. Jesus started to do some workouts — he was due back at wrestling school for a quick tournament, and then he would return home for the rest of the school year. Stef and Lena decided to go up to bed early, both tired from the day.
Jude and Connor, meanwhile, were both wide-awake and joined John in the living room. John looked up when he saw them enter and smiled.
"Hey guys," he said, motioning for them to sit down next to him. They joined him on the couch, Jude right next to John, with Connor on his opposite side. The two held hands as John rummaged in his backpack.
"What'cha looking for?" Jude asked curiously.
"A little something I grabbed on the tour for the both of you," John replied, extracting two identically shaped presents in green wrapping paper from his backpack. He handed them each to Jude and Connor, who took them, looking confused.
"What's this?" Connor asked.
"It's a present, goofball," said John. "And no, I won't tell you what it is, you gotta open it like it's Christmas!"
Jude and Connor giggled and hurriedly unwrapped their gifts. John had given both of them hard copies of his book that were signed with personal messages for them both.
"I know you said you read my book," John said as Jude and Connor looked up at him, at as loss for words. "But, I wanted you both to have your own from me personally."
Jude leaned over and pulled John into a hug.
"You're the best," he whispered to his cousin. "We're so proud of you."
John smiled, patting Jude on the back. "I'm just so happy to finally be back," he said. "I really missed you guys."
"We missed you," Connor said, leaning forward awkwardly over Jude and trying to pat John on the back.
"But, I'm home now, and after tomorrow, I'm a free agent," he said. "How about we just spend some time together tonight, watch a movie or something, like the old days?"
Jude and Connor nodded excitedly. They all picked out a movie and sat together, holding each other close, as they watched and enjoyed the movie.
