Welcome to Chapter 10 of Daddy's Little Princess! This chapter ended up getting split into two for multiple reasons, so it is a tad short, but hopefully none the less entertaining. While there have been a lot of awesome guesses to who the villain is, no one has guessed correctly yet, but lovely ideas! And no, they won't be turning younger, but there will be a rather nasty side effect latter down the road.
Disclaimer: I do not own Lab Rats.
"Road Trip!" Adam declared, running around downstairs after his father told them that they were going back to the island.
"Come on Chasey, we need to go pack!" Adam exclaimed, grabbing his brother's arm.
Little Chase groaned. "Adam! First, you know I hate it when you call me Chasey, second, We haven't even really unpacked yet, so there is little to no need to pack again," he pointed out.
Adam scrunched his eyebrows. "You are so annoying,"
Donald walked back in the front door. "I have the van packed up outside," he told Douglas.
"Uncle Donnie! You are coming with us?! Yay!" Adam cheered.
"Why are you here?" Chase asked.
"I came back to see you guys, of course," Donald grinned.
While her brothers were goofing off with Donald, Bree stayed glued to Douglas.
"Are you all ready to go honey?" Douglas asked her gently.
Bree nodded quickly. "Yeah,"
"Hey, Dad, what are we going to do for breakfast?" Adam asked loudly over every other conversation in the room.
"Well, considering that we haven't been grocery shopping since, I figure we should just grab something to eat on our way out of town," Douglas replied.
Donald nodded. "Sounds good. Why don't we grab any stuff left here and head out?"
Douglas scooped up Bree. "Got it,"
Bree giggled. "Daddy!"
"Let's go then!" Douglas laughed, grabbing his laptop bag with his free arm and walked out the front door to the drive way.
The boys and Donald followed them out the van and hopped in.
"Wait, why are you driving?" Douglas asked.
"Because I don't want to play babysitter," Donald grinned, turning on the car as he brother hopped in the middle with Bree, not sitting in the front with Donald because the boys were in the very back, and they needed supervision or else this road trip would be a disaster.
"How long do you think it will take us to get all the way to California? Should we book a hotel for tonight?" Douglas asked.
"That would probably be a good idea," Donald agreed, pulling into the parking lot of the grocery store. "I'll stay and make the arrangements over the phone and you can take the kids in to grab something to eat,"
"Fine, leave me to do the hard part," Douglas grinned, helping the three children unbuckle.
Donald smiled, hoping his brother would realize the reason for giving him so much time with the kids.
While his brother was making the reservation, Douglas lead Adam, Bree, and Chase inside the grocery store. Picking out actual breakfast did not take very long, but the "extras" took quite a while.
"Oh, look licorice!" Bree cheered, throwing five different flavors into the cart.
"Don't forget about the chocolate, we need to have all food groups to be healthy!" Adam declared throwing a mix of chocolate treats in as well.
Chase raised an eyebrow. "You aren't seriously counting chocolate as part of the dairy food group are you?"
Adam shook his head. "No, the candy food groups," he insisted, "Chocolate, Sugar, Licorice, Caramel, and Peanut Butter,"
Chase looked up at his father with his big hazel eyes. "Daddy, please stop this nonsense!"
Douglas picked Chase up. "Relax Chase, some people are just illogical and there is little we can do about except hope that Adam grows out of it," he replied with a smile.
Chase, just a tired little boy, frowned in defeat and rested his head on his father's shoulder.
"Do you guys think that we have everything we need?" Douglas asked the kids with a chuckle, seeing all the candy treats, pop tarts and snacks in the cart.
"Maybe a few more Little Debbies?" Adam asked with a mischievous grin.
"I think we have more than enough," Douglas responded, heading towards the check out area.
Adam twitched his nose and slid the box of treats into the bottom of the cart.
It took a while for Douglas to take all of the food out of the cart and onto the register's belt, and then for the cashier to get it all accounted for. They put all the bags into the cart. Right before Douglas slid his credit card, the cashier interrupted him. "Uh, sir, I think you may have forgotten something," the teenage girl pointed to bottom platform of the cart.
Douglas leaned down, picking up the box of mini chocolate cupcakes, noticing little Adam looking away with guilt. "Adam, did you forget to tell me something?"
"I t-thought if you didn't see it, then we could take it with us," Adam murmured.
Douglas quickly put the cupcakes up and paid for them with the rest of groceries. Without a word, he headed towards the car, all three children in tow. Chase and Bree were goofing around, but Adam remained silent.
Douglas silently helped Bree and Chase into the back of the van, and the groceries into the trunk, save for the breakfast and immediate snacks the two kids decided that they wanted now.
Douglas closed the trunk and turned around to face and teary eyes Adam.
"I-I'm sorry d-daddy," Adam sniffled.
Douglas knelt down in front of him. "Adam, do you understand why I wasn't happy about you hiding those snacks?"
"Because I didn't tell you?" Adam assumed.
"Yes, and when you didn't tell me, I couldn't pay for them. Then what would that be?" Douglas asked.
"Stealing," Adam replied.
"Yes, that would be stealing. And is stealing ever okay?" Douglas questioned.
Adam shook his head. "No, it isn't,"
Douglas smiled. "So, next time we go shopping are we going to hide anything else?"
"No! I won't!" Adam promised.
"Good Adam. Now, are you ready to get going?" Douglas asked.
Adam nodded. "So, you aren't going to leave me here? I get to come with?"
Douglas raised an eyebrow. "Of course. Why would I ever leave you behind, you are my son and I love you. You even get to sit next to me in the van," he smiled, ruffling Adam's hair.
Adam grinned and jumped into the middle seat beside his father.
"Everyone ready to go?" Donald asked from the front seat.
"Yep!" Bree giggled. "Let's get this show on the road!"
160 Miles Later
In the space in between Bree and Chase they kept the snacks hoarded. Douglas couldn't help but laugh as Bree was handing out everyone's 11o'clock licorice ration.
Bree didn't find his laughter entertaining. "Daddy! This is serious! We must share to survive and survive to share!"
Douglas and Donald couldn't help but laugh.
Bree crossed her arms and huffed.
"I'm sorry honey, we just can't control ourselves when you do that," Douglas told her as he and Donald continued to laugh.
Chase handed his sister some more licorice. "It's okay Bree, I understand the importance of rationing nutrients on such a long journey,"
"Nutrients?" Donald asked with a raised eyebrow. "You do realize that those snacks are mostly sugar, fat, and processed stuff, right?"
Chase shrugged. "I'm only 4 and a half you know,"
BACK TO MISSION CREEK, CALIFORNIA
After getting Donald's call that they were stopping at home, Tasha was rushed to get things ready. Mainly, her phone fully charged and the camera ready. She had to admit, little Bree was super adorable, and Tasha desperately wanted to see what the boys looked like at such a young age.
Suddenly the door burst open to three hyper children and two exhausted fathers.
Little Bree super sped up to Tasha and hugged her. "Aunt Tasha! We're here!"
Tasha laughed and smiled at Bree. "I can see that,"
Bree waved to her brothers to come over. "Adam, Chase, this our Aunt Tasha," she introduced. While the kids gravitated towards Tasha, Donald and Douglas collapsed onto the couch.
Adam waved excitedly. Chase shyly gave Tasha a small smile. "Hi,"
Tasha gave them a warm smile. "Hey Adam, Hey Chase, it is so good to finally see you,"
"Aunt Tasha, are you going to come with us to the island?" Bree asked hopefully.
"It would be nice to have an extra set of hands for a little while," Donald murmured from the couch.
Tasha smiled back at Bree. "Of course I will come with. When do we need to leave?" she asked, turning to Donald.
She, however, got no reply because both of the grown men had fallen asleep sitting on the couch.
"I think we have some time to play a game then," Tasha grinned mischievously.
Thanks to all of those who have made it this far in the story! I know there was not much action in this chapter, mostly fluff, but there is more excitement to come, I promise! Please review and tell me what you think. Thanks ~AzulaTano