Author's Note: Don't worry..I will do more one shots on this little family and on Lester and Chesi. I was bored and had an idea.. Enjoy
Germany Bound
"Dad, are we there yet?" Ava asked her father. He shook his head glancing over at his wife and almost three year old son. They both had just fallen to sleep and Dios, he didn't want them to wake up. Ethan hated how the plane popped his ears and his wife well she was just all around cranky. But then pregnancy can do that to you.
He faced his daughter. "No, we have another three hours before we're there." He replied.
She nodded. "How long is that? We haven't gotten that far in class yet." She told him.
How to put this so his eight year old daughter would understand just how long it would be before they landed in Germany. She had a mini DVD player in her hands so he went with it. "What are you watching, Ava?"
She raised her left eyebrow in question, mimicking her father. "The Smurfs, Silly." She replied.
He smiled. Of course, the reason they were headed to Germany. "One of the movies or the cartoon?" He questioned.
"The first movie, Daddy. My favorite." She said like it was the dumbest question ever to ask.
He shrugged. How was he suppose to know? They came out with new movies every damn day. And no movie was safe. They were re-doing practically every old movie out there. Steph was waiting for Ghostbusters and I was holding my breath. But the smurf movies were a favorite in the Manoso household. And there was three separate smurf movies plus countless cartoon episodes and cartoon movies. And he knew them all.
He nodded to his daughter. "Two more movies and we'll be in Germany." He told her.
Her little lip curled and her nose wrinkled. "Two movies. That's a long time, Dad."
"Not as long as you think, Ava."
She nodded and went back to her movie. Ranger went back to the folder in his lap. He had promised Steph that once they arrived in Germany he would no longer do any work. But they wasn't in Germany yet. And business was booming so he could always do a little extra work.
"Daddy?" Ava's voice called him away from his work and he was happy. He would rather talk to his daughter than do work any day.
"Yes Ava?" He responded once he met eyes identical to his own.
"I wish we were already there."
"Me too, Ava. Me too."
"Oh Carlos, it's beautiful!" Steph exclaimed; going in circles to take in as much as she could. Ranger had booked them in the Queen Anne Hotel in Brussels, Belgium. He had over done himself. Their hotel room was simply gorgeous and Steph was pretty sure she was never gonna wanna leave.
Ranger stepped up behind her and pulled her into his arms. "I'm glad you like it, Babe."
"Oh I love it." She told him.
"It's better than our hotel in Rome, Dad." Ava told her father.
He raised an eyebrow. "It is, huh?"
She nodded and grabbed Ethan's hand. "Ethan thinks so too, don't you?" She asked her little brother.
Ethan nodded in agreement. "Much butter." He replied.
"Better Ethan not butter." Ava corrected him while rolling her eyes.
"Dat's what I said, Ava." He told her; blowing out a breath of annoyance.
Ava shook her head. "You said butter. It's better. Bet. Ter." She told him.
His dark eyes narrowed and he put his hands on his hips. "Butt. Out." He threw at her.
Ranger could see the steam coming out of his daughter's ears and he knew he had better intervene before she went into rhino mode. Like her mother.
"Ethan. Apologize to your sister."
His button nosed crinkled just like his older sister's. "Do I haf to?" He asked.
Ranger nodded. "Yes you do." He replied from over his wife's shoulder.
Ethan looked at his sister. "I sorry."
She cocked her head to one side. She then shrugged. "That's okay." She told before leaning over and kissing his forehead. "Let's go check our rooms." She said before grabbing his hand again and pulling him out of the room.
Ranger kissed Steph's neck. "She takes after you, Babe."
Steph nodded. "Well he takes after you." She responded.
Ranger rubbed his hand over her still flat belly. She was only three months pregnant but this had so far been the easiest pregnancy ever. "Do you think this one will be a boy or a girl?" Ranger asked her.
Steph shrugged. "Doesn't it matter?" She questioned.
Ranger nipped her ear lobe. "Not at all, Babe."
"Did you call, Babe?" Ranger asked as Steph joined them at the front doors to the Belgian Comic Strip Center.
Steph nodded as she shoved her phone into the pocket of her favorite dark blue jeans. "She said that the girls are already up and playing but both of them are still running fevers. She said that Lester hasn't even woke up enough to eat yet."
Ranger frowned. He didn't like hearing that. His cousin Lester and Lester's wife Chesi and their two daughters were supposed to join them on this trip to Germany, but three days before they were getting ready to leave, their twin two year old daughters, Gwen and Adelaide or Addy as they all called her had came down with the flu. In fact, it laid them out. The day before they were getting ready to leave, it had knocked Lester completely out. Chesi had been the only one unaffected. They tried to cancel, but Chesi had refused. She wanted them to go. So they went.
"We could have stayed home, Babe." Ranger offered.
She shook her head. "Chesi wouldn't hear of it. She's too sweet for that." Steph replied and Ranger nodded. He knew this.
"Daddy?" Ava tugged on his hand.
He looked down. "What Querida?"
"Is Addy and Gwen gonna be okay?" She asked.
Ranger crouched down to her level. "Your cousins are gonna be just fine. And so is Uncle Lester."
Her eyes narrowed. "Are you sure?"
He nodded. "I'm sure."
She nodded in return. "Alright, Dad. Let's go."
He smiled as he led his children and his wife inside. "The Belgian Comic Strip opened its doors on October six in 1989. Its in the heart of Brussels in Germany and housed in an Art Nouveau temple. The architect who designed it was Victor Horta in 1906." Ranger started in on his facts. He had become known for them when they first went to London and continued it in Rome. And now in Germany.
"It big." Ethan exclaimed; his dark eyes wide with awe.
Ranger smiled and picked up his son. "It is very big, mi hijo." He replied.
They entered the Reading Room and almost instantly both of his beautiful children were entranced. They loved books and they loved to read. Ethan immediately went to wiggling to get down so Ranger let him go. Steph grabbed his hand and he pulled her against him. She laid her head on his shoulder. "Any facts for me, Carlos." She wondered.
He smiled. "There is a selection of over three thousand books here and they are all permanently at the disposal to all readers, young and old." He replied.
Steph laughed silently and they watched together as their children sat down next to a giant smurf in the corner of the room. Both of them had a book in their small grasps. Ava was reading to herself while Ethan was flipping through what was probably a picture book. Every now and then Ava would look over at Ethan and his book and say something. Or she would show her little brother something in the book on her lap.
"They get along so well, don't they?" Steph asked.
Ranger nodded. "They do."
Ava looked up and motioned for her parents to join them. Ranger and Steph smiled but joined their daughter and son. "What are you reading, Ava?" Ranger asked as he pulled his eight year old in his lap.
"The Bee and the Dream." She responded.
Ranger nodded and turned the book to look at the cover. "It's a Japanese tale, Ava." She nodded and went back to reading.
Steph grinned at Ranger then turned her attention to Ethan who was now sitting in her lap. "What are you reading, Ethan?" She asked.
He turned the cover to show his mother and her grin got wider. "The Boy and the Three Year Nap." She read the cover before looking at Ranger. "Another Japanese tale."
Ranger had a feeling. "Are you two trying to tell us something?" He asked.
Ava looked up and shrugged. "Where will we go now, Daddy?"
"Japan." He offered.
Ava and Ethan smiled as they nodded. "We like it." Ava told him.
Ranger and Steph smiled. Their children were world travelers. And Japan was next.