Mitchie awoke early and quickly showered and dressed. Knowing they had to get Shane's parents in about an hour and a half, she decided to wake the boys up, knowning Caitlynn would be easier to get up.

She knocked on the door. Jason answered. "'Morning," he greeted her. "We're all up…except Shane. But Tizzy is even up!"

Suddenly, Mitchie remembered the tiny rat dog Terrier Jason owned. "Oh, no!" she said. "Did we forget him last night?"

Jason picked up the dog and petted his head. "Nope, he was in here already, curitsy of Barty. Even had his travel litterbox." ( Tizzy's shame: Using a kitty litter box at night.)

"Oh," Mitchie smiled. "Good. So I guess it's my job to wake up Shane?"

"Please!" Nate begged, coming up behind Jason. " I've been trying for 15 minutes and I'm starving. And after you wake him up, can you get him to tell me where he hid the camera?"

"Cannot promise anything, buddy. I'll get him up, though." Mitchie sidestepped the boys and walked to Shane's bed. Sometime during the night, he'd shed his shirt. Mitchie didn't blame him; it was terribly warm here at night.

He now slept on his stomach with his hands curled under his pillow, his long hair falling over his face. Mitchie hesitated, then shook his shoulder.

"Shane!" she whispered. "Shane, get up!"

He moaned. "No," he mumbled.

"But we have to get to the airport. Your parents are visiting, remember?"

He rolled on his back and flopped the pillow over his face. "All the more reason to stay in bed," he replied, his voice muffled.

Mitchie shook him again. "Shane, really."

No answer. No movement.

She rolled her eyes. Sudden inspiration hit her. "Hey, Jason," Mitchie called. "Bring Tizzy here."

Jason looked up from looking at his collection of boots, debating which pair to put on. "Why?" he asked.

"Just come," Mitchie mouthed, then pointed to Shane.

Jason grinned and picked up the dog. Mitchie slowly pulled the pillow off Shane's sleeping face and left it on his chest. Then, she took Tizzy and placed him on the bed next to Shane's face. True to the good doggy code, Tizzy immediately began licking his face.



Shane's eyes flew open. "Ah! Dog slobber," he said, jerking away. Unfortuantely, this sudden movement caused him to fall off the other side of the bed, hitting is head on the beside table in the procces.

Jason scooped the little mutt up and gave him a kiss on his ears. "Good boy," he said. Nate emerged from checking his blood sugar ( he had diabetes) to see them standing there.

"What happen to Shane?" he asked as Mitchie crawled across the bed to the other side.

Mitchie peered over the side and groaned. Shane had fallen back asleep, or so it seemed, on the floor.

"We got him out of the bed, at least," she said.

The boys crawled next to her. Jason shook his head, sighing. They sat back on their heels. Nate stared at Tizzy. He snapped his fingers. "I got it!" he said. "Maybe we can get Tizzy to drink some water and…"

"NO!" Shane shot up, eyes wide. "NO way."

The others burst into laughing, Mitchie probably the hardest. Shane glowered at them from his spot on the floor.

"So you've gone to the dark side, eh, Mitchie?" he asked, raising and eyebrow.

Mitchie shrugged, laughing in to Jason's shoulder. "I don't know," she managed to get out.

"Here's the farewell package." Shane threw the tangled sheets off his legs and lunged at Mitchie. She laughed and tore out of the room, Shane right behind her.

Nate and Jason glanced at each other. "Dude!" Nate called after him. "You might want a shirt!" He picked up the dicarded shirt off the floor and sighed.

Meanwhile, Shane had managed to tackle Mitchie, gently, to the floor. He grinned and started tickling her.

Poor Mitchie had always been ticklish. She shrieked with laughter trying to get free. "Shane, stop!" she gasped out between giggles. "Stop! Uncle."

Shane shook his head. "Tickle!" he said.

Caitlynn, of course, chose to wake up right at that moment. She sat up to see the two of them, Mitchie apparently held captive, on the floor.

"Uh…" she said slowly. "I'd ask but I really don't want to know."

They immediately stopped, Mitchie going red, as usual. Shane helped her to her feet and cleared his throat, also embarrassed.

"Good morning, Caitlynn," he said. "Thanks for the wake up call Mitchie." With that, he crossed the room and left, closing the door behind him.



"Okay, what was that?" Caitlynn demanded a few minutes later as they walked out of the elevator towards the dinning room.

"Shane, er," Mitchie blushed. "…didn't like my wake-up call this morning."

Caitlynn snickered, then caught sight of Nate leaning against the wall in front of them. She grinned and waved.

"Hey, guys," Nate greeted them. "Finally. Did Shane let you up?" he asked Mitchie.

"Yes, thanks to your girlfriend," Mitchie jerked her head at Caitlynn. "BTW thanks. I thought he'd make me explode."

"Shane's a good tickler," Nate agreed, walking with them into the dinning room. "Last Christmas, I had the experiece."

"What did you do?" asked Caitlynn.

"Oh…nothing," Nate shrugged. "I just, sorta, threw frozen mints down his back."

"Why were they frozen?" asked Mitchie as theygrabbed plates for the small buffet.

"No reason," Nate said off handedly. "I, you know, wasn't planning it all December."

"Wait, how many did you put down his back?" Caitlynn interjected, grabbing a banana.

"I forget," Nate answered truthfully. "Somewhere between 30 and 60."