"Who's idea was it to leave at 6 in the morning?" Sean says as he pokes his head out of his room
"I promised her that we would be in Vermont by lunch" Jack says as he looks out of his room across the hall "Come on dad" he yells
"I'm coming" Danny says as he opens up his door stepping out into the hallway
Meanwhile, downstairs Lauren is making a cup of coffee as the front door opens as a little boy comes running in "Hey Lauren" he says as he makes his way into the kitchen
"Hi Liam" Lauren says as she leans against the counter smiling at the little boy as she takes a sip from her cup
"Go on get in there" Lauren hears coming from the hallway as a teenage girl reluctantly steps into the kitchen followed by a woman around Danny's age
"Hi Maddie" Lauren says as she looks at the teenage girl before smiling at the other woman
"I don't do mornings" Maddie says as she walks over to the living room flopping down on the couch
"Neither do the men in this house" Lauren says looking over at the other woman "Good morning Alice"
"Lauren" Alice says walking over to give Lauren a hug as she sits a box down on the counter "Thanks again for inviting us for Thanksgiving, I can't wait to meet your siblings" she says smiling "I brought doughnuts for breakfast"
"Sounds great" Lauren says as she opens the box "So Maddie seems excited about the trip"
"I'm trying with that one" Alice says as she looks at Maddie who now has her earbuds in "And she's not even a teenager for another year"
"She'll get settled in and be fine" Lauren says as she hands Alice a cup of coffee
"It's just she's only twelve and has already been through so much" Alice says as she takes a sip of coffee "With Jerry being sick for so long before we lost him" she says looking at Lauren "And losing him they lost their daddy and I lost a husband" she says continuing "And then uprooting them to come out here from California for my counseling job at NYU"
"Well I know from personal experience that life doesn't always turn out how we expect it too" Lauren says looking at her
"Yea I never expected my life to turn out this way" Alice says taking a sip of her coffee "And I really never felt that I could feel for another man the way that I felt for Jerry, we were married for fifteen years before he was diagnosed with cancer"
"Dad has said the same thing about you" Lauren says smiling at her before Danny comes walking down the stairs followed by Jack and Sean as he puts his arms around Alice's neck as he put's his head on her shoulder
"Well their awake" Alice says as she smiles at Lauren as she rubs Danny's hair
"Barely" Jack says rubbing his eye as he puts his arm around Lauren's shoulder giving her a kiss
"Where's the coffee?" Danny says as he lifts his head off of Allison's shoulder
"I'll make some travel mugs up for the road" Lauren says as Jack helps her get the mugs out of the cabinet
"Oh yea we need to go" Alice says as she looks at her watch "We were supposed to be over at your dad's ten minutes ago"
"Don't forget the doughnuts" Liam says reaching as he grabs the box off of the counter
"Yea we can't forget the doughnuts" Sean says as he begins to lead Liam towards the door "come on buddy, let's go get in the car"
"I know how your going to make such a good teacher" Jack says as him and Lauren follow behind them "You have the same mindset as the kids"
"And we can't forget this one" Alice says as she walks over to the couch tapping Maddie on the shoulder "come on little miss let's go" she says as Maddie gets off the couch heading towards the door as Danny and Alice follow behind her
"Can I ride in the car with Charlotte and Emily?" Liam says as he jumps out of the car as they arrive at Frank and Henry's house as everyone is standing out front of the house
"You need to ask Jamie and Eddie that" Alice says getting out of the car followed by Danny and the rest
"Sure you can pal" Jamie says as he leans against the car as Eddie smiles from inside the car where she is watching the girls, "I think we have one extra seat just your size"
"The first road trip" Maddie says as she looks at them before going over to the car to look at the girls as Liam climbs in with Eddie
"So what is the car situation?" Danny says as he looks at them
"Well Pop and I are going to ride in the car with Jamie and Eddie and I guess Liam too" Frank says looking at them
"And Nicki, Alex and I are going to ride together" Erin says as she looks at them "Since we're going to leave from visiting with Lauren's family to meet Alex's family for a late Thanksgiving"
"And I guess that means we get the rest of them" Alice says as she looks at Danny
"Okay you heard the lady" Danny says looking at Jack, Lauren, Sean, and Maddie "Come on troops"
"Means I get to ride in the car with the lovebirds and miss drama queen" Sean says as he looks at them as Danny and Alice give him a look
"Okay and I texted the address for the inn to everyone if we get separated" Lauren says looking at them "and also the address to my brother's house"
"Let's go" Frank says as everyone starts getting into the cars "Next stop Shelburne"