Chapter 2: Vacation Time
After about a week, everything was planned out. Heath and Abbey, Frankie and Jackson, Draculaura and Clawd were all coming on vacation with Deuce and Cleo, along with Valentine and Howleen. And of course, everyone was bringing their children.
"Tell me again why you're letting the kids come along?" Deuce inquired of Cleo as she packed a suitcase.
"Because," she grabbed a handful of Q-tips and shoved them into a plastic bag. "Viper and Dusa need more children to be around. The only children they ever seem to play with are their schoolmates and the servants' children, and you know we just can't have that," she picked up a silver flask and gave Deuce a questioning look. "Do you need this?" when he nodded, she put it in the suitcase. "Anyway, I feel like it would be nice for our girls to have some playmates so they can stop focusing on each other all the time, don't you agree?"
Deuce shrugged, looking away. "I guess," he looked back. "So, honey, I know it's a bit late to ask you this but…would you mind if we brought my mother along?"
Cleo gave him a look that was almost a shocked one. "You want to bring your mother along? Goodness, why?"
"Well, it's been a while since we went anywhere with her, and I just thought it would be nice if we-"
"Don't be silly, Deuce."
"What?"
Cleo rolled her eyes, folding up a few dresses and tucking them away. "She's your mother. You wouldn't want her following you around and telling you to do things for her, would you?" she picked up a small basket of her underwear and handed it to Deuce. "Would you put this in the wash, sweetie?"
Deuce started to leave, but then he turned back. "Come on, please?"
Cleo sighed, leaning against the wall and chewing on her lip. "All right, fine. But she'd better not cause problems! You know how your mother can be."
Deuce called up Medusa and asked if she wanted to go, and despite how last minute everything was, she agreed. That next morning, everyone met at the bus stop to wait for the travel bus to pick them up.
"Is everyone here?" Cleo inquired, looking over the group of friends who'd gathered. "Nobody's missing, right?"
"Well, Cleo," Frankie spoke up, a little nervous. "I-I actually invited somebody extra, if that's not a problem."
Cleo waved her off. "Oh, don't be silly. The more the merrier! So, who did you invite?"
Before Frankie could answer, a sleek, black car pulled up next to where the group was standing. The door swung open, and out stepped Toralei .
Outraged, Cleo turned to Frankie, her eyes full of fury. "You invited her!?" she hissed through clenched teeth.
"Cleo, come on," Frankie sighed. "We're not in high school anymore. And besides- she said she'd pay for everything herself."
Cleo snarled quietly in the back of her throat, but nevertheless turned to greet Toralei. "Hello, Toralei," she said with a smile that looked as if it were made out of rubber. "So glad you could join us."
Toralei gave a smug grin. "Glad I could be here," she turned back to her car, calling, "Tigerclaw! Come on, you can't stay in there all day."
The door opened, and a small werecat who was maybe nine years old stepped out. He looked very much like Toralei, with her markings and hair. Yet his fur was the color of seafoam with black stripes, and his eyes were a lovely sky blue. On top of all this, there was a birthmark of a star right in the center of his forehead. The others in the group didn't have to gaze at him for very long to know who fathered this child. Napoleon.
Tigerclaw went right to his mother's side, grinning up at her with beautiful teeth. She smiled back and brushed a few hairs from his face, and turned to the group. "This is my son, Tigerclaw. Tigerclaw, these are my old classmates."
Tigerclaw walked up and shyly shook hands with some of the friends, smiling at Icer and Valentina, who he recognized from his first grade class.
"Now," Cleo said suddenly, drawing the attention back to herself. "There are a few rules I'd like to go over before we leave for my brother's resort. Number one: Make a good impression. Number two: your children must behave! Ramses isn't that fond of children, so don't irritate him. He's very short tempered. And number three: whatever you do, don't make yourself look bad in front of the Grand Island regulars. They're very rich and-"
"Wait just a moment," Medusa spoke up, getting an irritated look from her daughter in law. "What do you mean by 'regulars'?"
"The people who live there, of course!" Cleo stated with contempt. "Not to mention the people who work at the resort, though most of them are just bums in need in work. Whatever the case, act your age. That goes for you, too, children."
Flarah, Heath and Abbey's two year old daughter, held up two fingers and said enthusiastically, "Two! I am two. Two years old." This was usually what she said on a regular basis, and her parents believed it was because she just liked the sound of her own voice.
Icer, who was used to his sister's babblings, just patted her head. "We know."
The very fancy travel bus pulled up after a few moments, glossy and dark with a sort of 'bling' covering the sides of the windows. Upon seeing this, Cleo whipped around and shouted, "All right! Grab your bags, we're going to Grand Island!"
As everyone boarded the bus and took a seat, Dusa inquired to her father, "Daddy, are we gonna be on the bus the entire time?"
"No, sweetheart," Deuce explained quietly as they sat down. "We're gonna stop in about an hour at a harbor, and then we're gonna get on a ferry. We'll be at the island in about three hours, okay?"
Dusa accepted this and pulled out a coloring book, amusing herself. Viper, however, fell asleep instantly in the padded seat.
The interior of the tour bus was extravagant. It was lighted, the seats were comfortable, and there was even a place for serving drinks toward the back. Cleo saw this and went to it immediately, setting the station up.
"Does anybody want anything to drink?" she asked, but no one got the chance to answer. At that moment, the bus jolted violently and the drink glasses spilled all over the floor.
From the front of the bus, the bus driver shouted, "Sorry! I hit an armadillo!"
Dusa looked over at her sister, seeing that hadn't woken her up. "Is Viper dead? Why didn't that wake her up?"
"She's not dead, honey," Deuce sighed, looking away. Medusa clicked her tongue, shaking her head.
"This will certainly be quite an experience," she murmured, opening her magazine and beginning to read.
The children were surprisingly very quiet for the majority of the bus trip. All they really did was sleep, do puzzles, or color in coloring books, and Deuce breathed a sigh of relief when Dusa and Viper didn't fight once.
After an hour or so, the bus stopped at the dock, and the group boarded the ferry. They soon realized that they weren't the only ones going to Grand Island, for when they stepped on the ferry, they saw travelers of several races, species and cultures all going to this vacationing spot.
Though, the ferry ride was somewhat uncomfortable. It was crowded with loud tourists and even a few barking dogs, and the biggest shock of all was when little Flarah found a cockroach inside the bathroom.
"Lookin' at me!" she squealed, burying her face in Heath's jacket. "Make it stop!"
The frightening moment was put to a stop when Abbey bent down the best she could (for she was pregnant again) and froze the roach to its spot. When Flarah realized the danger was over, she went on her merry way and looked out the ferry window with her brother.
Two hours later, the ferry stopped and the passengers stepped off. Dusa grasped her father's hand as they approached, her mouth falling open as they neared the resort.
"Woah," she breathed, and Deuce picked her up so she could get a better look.
Grand Island really was grand.
Why hello! Fancy seeing you again.
I hope you all had a very merry Christmas! I sure did! I stayed at home and helped make roasted squash, and then my brother and I talked about music while we ate fancy cheese with olives.
Thoughts on this chapter and the story so far? How do you think the vacation will turn out? What are your thoughts on the characters so far? Let me know in your review!
Until next chapter, my fellow monsters!