Andy and Jack walked into Amelia's room where she sat awake, waiting for them. "Hey, there's our brave girl", he greeted as both he and Andy went over to hug her.
Andy glanced up and over at her mother, "Mami, how has she been? Please tell me she's better than she was last night, pain wise. I don't think I can deal with seeing her in that much pain again"
"A ton better than last night. Whatever they're giving her now seems to be helping", Elena assured as Andy kissed Amelia on the top of the head. The night before had been nothing short of a nightmare once the crew left. Neither Andy nor Jack got any sleep with Lia waking up every five seconds to tell them that she was in too much pain. Neither of them knew what to do, and even laying with her didn't seem to help any. It wasn't until Helm came in to give her a dose of something new that she finally fell asleep. Andy and Jack passed out next to her for a good solid hour until their alarm went off. They didn't wake up for it and would have slept through the meeting if it hadn't been for Elena walking through the door and waking them up. They quickly got ready in the small bathroom in Amelia's room and left before she woke up.
"How are we doing this morning?" Jack asked Amelia as he set the bag of books on her table.
Amelia grinned from ear to ear as she gestured towards the empty cups of playdoh and cutting tools on her table. "Better. Grandma played all morning with me", she expressed, excitedly. "We maked cookies and, and brownies and flowers"
"They look great! I'm so sorry we weren't here when you woke up honey, but we're here now and not going anywhere", Jack apologized.
Amelia scrunched her little face in confusion and asked, "What were you and Mommy doing?"
"Running a grown-up errand. You'll find out when DJ and Ro get here", he assured as she sighed, poised to say something about having to wait. "Hold your horses, I'm sure Lexie will be here any minute"
Amelia laughed, "You're so silly, I don't have any horsies"
"It's an expression. It means have patience and wait until your brothers come. Then I'll tell you what Mommy and I were doing", he explained as Amelia rolled her eyes dramatically and fell back onto the pillows. "And no amount of 'Pwese Daddy' is going to make me tell you any earlier", he stated as she crossed her arms in typical Amelia fashion and burrowed herself into the stack of pillows behind her. "That won't work either Lia Mia", he added as Amelia silently admitted defeat and went back to her playdoh sculpture or whatever she had been making.
In the meantime, Elena had been talking to Andy about the morning and how Amelia had eaten a whole thing of green Jell-O and kept it down. Andy was so overjoyed that she practically cried. She offered to go down to the cafeteria to get more. Elena smiled and put her hand over Andy's, sharing a knowing, motherly look with her, "No need. I'll go grab lunch for all of us, and I'll get some while I'm down there. You just enjoy being with Lia and the boys. I can't wait to meet them today" Elena expressed enthusiastically, wondering what they would be like. So far, she had only known them through Andy's description and pictures. Today was the day she would be meeting them for real, and boy was she nervous. She hoped that they would like her, and she hoped that she would be a good grandmother to all three of them. Elena wiped sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand, "I hope they like me"
"Oh, Mami, they'll love you. Lexie just texted me that they were on their way. Trust me, we'll hear them when they get here", Andy chuckled as she put her phone away. She knew her boys and knew that the sound of yelling and running feet down the hall was a sure sign that they were in the area. "Did Miranda come in yet? She said that she was going to try and get Lia moving today", she asked as she turned her attention to Amelia and brushed her fingers through her hair.
Elena nodded, "She came in about an hour ago. Amelia was so eager to get up and get moving. She did amazing".
"Thank God", Andy sighed, relieved. She had been preparing herself to hear that Amelia refused to get up, considering the amount of pain that the poor kid had been in the night before. They worried while they were at city hall, that Amelia would cry, or hurt herself further. Andy had tried to be the calm one, but Jack's fears plagued her mind and caused her to worry too. "She wasn't scared, was she?" Andy asked as she kissed the top of Amelia's head. "Were you scared baby girl?" Andy asked Amelia.
"No Mommy. Aunt Bailey and Auntie Mer were here with me so I wouldn't be scared. I was brave like you and Daddy in that building", Amelia explained seriously.
"That's because you already have the Gibson Spirit. You're invincible", Jack explained as he leaned over to give her a fist bump which she gladly accepted.
Andy was about to add something when she heard the sound of wet flip flops hitting the ground over and over again and someone yelling "I did NOT fart in the car", at the top of their lungs. "Did too", another voice answered back. Andy looked at Jack, and then at Elena and chuckled to herself. "Here they come. Are you ready Mami?", she warned as both boys came bounding into the room, hair sticking up all over the place from the humidity. Lexie came running in behind them, looking as if she had just run a marathon.
"Admit it Rowan, you farted in the car, and it smelled so bad, Lexie had to roll all the windows down", DJ teased, with his hands on his hips.
"Stop talking about it, before I make you", Rowan answered, holding a fist up to DJ's face. DJ laughed, throwing his head back. "What's so funny?", Rowan asked.
"If you hit me, you'll get in trouble", DJ reasoned as Jack came between them. "Yes Daddy?", DJ asked in his most innocent voice.
Jack ran his fingers through his hair and sighed, "Enough you two. I mean it. Also, DJ, dude, you know that voice doesn't work on me anymore". DJ and Rowan looked at each other and sighed, hugging it out as they always did after a fight. Jack waited for Andy to finish talking to Lexie and send her on her much-deserved day off to unpack from her Tacoma trip at home, before introducing Elena to the boys. However, DJ beat him to it, asking about Elena's presence before he had the chance to say anything.
"Who's this lady?", DJ asked as Andy cleared her throat and shot him a look meant to convey her displeasure with the way he asked.
"Dalton James, manners much? Is that how we greet people?", she asked as DJ shook his head and turned back to Elena, this time introducing himself properly, or as properly as he saw fit.
DJ extended his hand, to which Elena took it and shook it. "Sorry Ma'am. My name is Dalton James Herrera Gibson, but everyone calls me DJ. Nobody calls me Dalton unless I'm in trouble or they're a teacher, or they want to get punched in the….", he explained seriously as Jack stopped him.
"DJ….", he warned, only for DJ to continue.
"One time this kid at school called me Dalton and wouldn't stop so I punched him in the face and Daddy had to come get me even though he wasn't my dad then. Boy was Jenna mad", DJ carried on. "Anyways, I'm six, almost seven so I'm kind of a big deal", he explained with a big smile spread across his face. "Now tell me who you are. Please?" he asked as Andy opened her mouth to say something, only to be discouraged by Jack.
"At least he said please, I'm not arguing that one", he told her tiredly.
Elena chuckled as she messed up DJ's hair, "You are absolutely adorable DJ. I'm your abuela, Elena. Do you know what that means?"
"Mom taught us last week that Abuela means grandmother in Spanish. Remember?", Rowan reminded him as he shook Elena's hand. "My name's Rowan. I'm the oldest, and the smartest, and it's very nice to meet you Abuela Elena", he introduced. DJ scowled at him and muttered something about how he was a show-off, but Andy and Jack couldn't hear it.
Andy smiled as she knelt down beside DJ and Rowan. "That's correct Rowan. Someone is going to ace their Spanish class next year", she mentioned as he hugged her and thanked her. She planted a kiss on his cheek, only for him to wipe it off, exclaiming that there were people in the hospital and that he was too cool to get kisses from his mother in public. Andy chuckled as she introduced Elena even further, "This is your grandmother, my Mommy. She's been so excited to meet both of you"
Both boys went up to Elena and hugged her until Rowan stopped and looked her over, "Wait a minute. How come our Mommy didn't talk about you? How come Gigi came to my cello concert but Abuela didn't?", he asked Andy as she tried to come up with a reasonable explanation for him.
She didn't want to tell him that she kept them a secret because of Elena's less than enthusiastic way of taking information that was new and or shocking. She didn't want him to know about the millions of times she ran the scenario through her head where she told her mom about them and her reaction was anything but one of love for her grandkids. She closed her eyes and exhaled before putting a hand on Rowan's shoulder and smiling, not a hint of displeasure in her voice as she talked to both boys, "I had a big fight with Abuela last year when Carl died and we weren't talking for a little bit. But now we are and now she's going to be a part of all of our lives"
"Really truly?", DJ asked.
"Really truly", Andy repeated back as DJ threw his arms around Elena, catching her by surprise.
"Yay! I'm going to get two grandmas. Gigi and Abuela!", he cheered.
Elena chuckled as she held him close and smiled bittersweetly at Andy, "Hopefully with them, I can make up for the childhood I missed with you. I may not have been anywhere close to a perfect mother, but I will try my hardest to be a good grandmother".
"I'm holding you to that Mom", Andy added as she too hugged Elena.
Amelia, having been quietly playing with her playdoh up until this moment, chimed in with her own thoughts on Elena, "You're gonna love her. She tells stories about when Mommy was little"
"Good ones I hope", Andy wondered aloud as Elena nodded affirmatively.
"Only the very best", Elena chuckled as she glanced at Andy. "I told her the story of how we all camped out with Ryan in the backyard and your father had you guys convinced that there were bears in the yard. You two must have been about Lia's age"
Andy laughed at the long-forgotten story from her past, and frowned thinking back to her father. What she would have given for him to be here, to meet her and Jack's kids and be the picture-perfect grandfather. She sighed as her mom put her arm around her and held her close. Andy hugged her, "I miss him, so much. I know he was awful to you and I'm sorry but he's still my hero and I can't help but wish he was here to meet his grandkids"
"I know mijia, me too", Elena answered sympathetically as she kissed the top of Andy's head.
Amelia, bored by the adults' conversation, burrowed into her pillows and turned to face Jack. She glanced over at Rowan and DJ and remembered how Jack had told her that he would talk about his and Andy's grown up errand when they came. Her little eyes filled with curiosity as she turned her attention back to him, "What was your grownup errand?". Jack chuckled, remembering that sometimes Amelia was too smart for her own good. She never missed a beat and he could never get away with forgetting anything with her. "Please Daddy, Ro and DJ are here now", she begged giving him a look that he found it very hard to say no to.
"I guess now's a better time than any. We are going in two weeks", he caved as he exchanged a look with Andy. Andy smiled and nodded at him in agreeance. Jack was correct, now was a better time than any to talk to the kids about their big trip. Everyone was together and nobody was distracted by toys or games or jobs. Elena, who had been making conversation with the boys about sports and cello practice alike, checked the time and excused herself to pick up everyone's lunch at the cafeteria.
Jack scribbled their orders on a sheet of paper and handed it off to Elena along with a few bills that she handed back to him, "Oh no mijo, that's your money. Lunch is on me. I'll be right back".
"You've never called me that before", he answered, perplexed. Since the engagement and subsequent wedding, him and Elena had been on rather rocky ground with one of them always managing to stir up some disagreement or another that got out of hand and always ended with Andy and her mom yelling over each other in Spanish. He knew very little Spanish himself but understood that mijio was the pet name for 'son'. He looked at Elena as though she had nine heads. The same woman who thought he was the devil himself a year ago was now calling him her 'son'. "Elena?", he questioned
Elena simply smiled and laughed, "You're my son-in-law, that makes you my son"
Jack wasn't going to argue with that logic. He was simply thankful that the two of them were on better terms, especially in front of the kids. "Thanks Elena", he smiled gratefully as she picked up her purse and left the room. The wind from the rain outside and the open windows caused the door to slam shut when it closed, snapping both boys out of whatever game they had been previously distracted by. They looked up at Jack and took out the headphones. Knowing that he had their undivided attention, he turned to a smiling Andy and then back to the boys, "So I have some news for you about our vacation. We're not going to Coney Island anymore"
Instead of waiting for him to explain why, DJ immediately interjected, trying to figure out if he had done anything worth getting the family trip cancelled, "Are we in trouble or something?". DJ thought back to his clean room at home and figured that it couldn't possibly be that. His mother had praised him after seeing the pictures that Marsha sent. He thought about the incident that morning where he accidentally spilled a whole jar of Maya's protein powder in the bathtub, thinking it was like the bath fizz Andy put in his bath after a long day at school. He nodded, thinking to himself that the power incident must be it, that Aunt Maya to his mom and now he ruined the family trip. Maybe apologizing will get our trip back, he thought to himself. "I'm sorry for dumping Aunt Maya's protein powder in the tub. I thought it was bath fizz. Honest Mommy", he explained, bringing out the innocent eyes.
"You did what?" Andy asked trying to hold back laughter. Maya hadn't told her about that one. She could only imagine Maya walking into the bathroom to find DJ dumping to contents of the blue bucket of Vanilla protein powder into the bathtub. She snickered, picturing the look of horror on Maya's face when she found her bathroom and her pseudo nephew covered in the stuff. She looked at DJ whose face was ghost white and motioned for him to come closer so she could hug him and reassure him that he wasn't in trouble. "Aunt Maya must have been thrilled to find that mess little man", she chuckled as he hopped into her lap and snuggled up to her.
"She was. I had to help her clean the whole entire tub. And it didn't even smell good", DJ explained before tuning to Jack. "Wait, if we aren't in trouble, why did you cancel vacation?"
Jack chuckled, "Relax DJ, vacation isn't canceled. Mommy and I just thought you guys might want to go someplace different. Someplace way cooler than Coney Island"
"Where are we going?" Amelia asked
"We're going on a drive in an RV across Pennsylvania to a little town called Kersey", Andy explained as the kids all looked at her, confused. She expected that reaction considering she and Jack had never even heard of the place before, prior to today. She didn't expect the kids to know it or be filled with as much excitement right off the bat as they were when they heard they were going to someplace as well known and well respected as Coney Island. The only one that looked even remotely excited was Amelia, still at the age where even a vacation to the next city over would excite her.
"What's Kersey? Where is it?", DJ asked, almost immediately turning to Rowan. Rowan was basically his encyclopedia or his trusted go to for any information he didn't want to look up. "You know everything, tell me where it is", DJ demanded as Rowan held his hands on his hips, expecting something before he dropped his knowledge or all things PA. "Pleaseee Ro?" DJ begged.
Rowan scowled at his brother, "What do you think I am, a walking map?". DJ looked at him with his 'puppy dog eyes'. His glistening blue eyes that adults and older brothers found irresistible. Rowan sighed and shrugged, his voice softening, "I dunno where Kersey is little bro. I know where Philly is, and Pittsburgh, and where the Amish people live, but I don't know where Kersey is. You won't believe this but I've never even head of Kersey myself"
Jack chuckled as DJ stared at Rowan, his mouth agape in disbelief that his role model older brother didn't know the answer to something. Andy shot him a 'Tell them already' look while he pulled up a picture of the campground at the pond on his phone and showed them. Both boys and Amelia looked at the picture in awe while Jack explained the area, "I was born there. It's in a forest in the northwest area of the state. You guys are going to have so much fun there. There's something for everyone there. There's a pond for swimming, an amusement park, and loads of hiking trails. We're going to be staying in an RV on a campground with other people"
Rowan's eyes lit up like fireworks at even the mention of the RV. He had never been in one before but had always wanted to after seeing them on TV and parked in front of homes in the various neighborhoods he lived in. Before Andy and Jack adopted them, he had been begging Carl and Jenna to take a vacation with one, but they always said the Amelia was too small or that Jenna wouldn't be able to take the time off, as she was a busy ER nurse when she wasn't at home with them. He grinned at DJ so hard that Andy thought the smile would pop off his face. "DJ, we're finally going somewhere in an RV", he shared excitedly as DJ's eyes lit up too.
"Are those the cars on TV with the tables and beds? They're so big that whole entire families can live in them for a long time?", DJ asked as Jack showed him and Rowan a picture of the one him and Andy rented. "Woah", DJ marveled as he swiped through the pictures, with Rowan and Amelia looking on. "So whole families can live in here?" he asked again.
Andy was nothing but smiles as the boys pointed out different things that they liked about the RV in the pictures. "I don't know about whole entire families living in one for a long time little man, but I do know that the five of us will be able to live pretty comfortably in this one for two weeks. Dad even made sure that there was a loft bed for you two up above the driver's seat", she reminded him as she scrolled to a picture and showed them the loft. They marveled again, but a frown formed on DJ's face when it set in that because of the RV trip, they would be forging the museum he wanted to go to. "What's up buddy? Why the long face?" Andy asked.
"It's nothing", DJ sighed, dejectedly, having hoped that they would all stop at the Ripley's Believe it or Not museum where he could see a real human head or a human foot that got chewed off by a cow. He wanted to see the interactive exhibit on the guy that was stung by 1000 bees and lived to talk about it. In his monthly magazine, he had been actively circling the different attractions he wanted to see at the museum, hoping that one day Andy would finally relent and say yes. Andy gave him a look that let him know she knew he was lying. DJ sighed again and shook his head; his mother was too good. "I'm just upset that if we go to Kersey, we won't be able to see the museum. Kersey is at the whole other end of the state", he confessed, as disappointed as only a six-year-old boy with an interest in all things unusual could be.
Andy messed up his hair and smiled empathically at him, "Sorry buddy. I know how badly you wanted to go there and see all of those very, very interesting things". She hugged DJ while giving Jack a look of relief and mouthing "Thank God". She had red through some of DJ's magazine and was moderately disturbed by the things she read. She wasn't sure if it was the morning sickness or the content that nearly made her throw up as she read about a real-life vampire or a horde of cats the populated one US town completely. Half of the stuff depicted in the magazines would give Amelia and hell even her nightmares for weeks. She didn't know how DJ could watch it at such a young age and be completely unfazed. "I'm sure there will be a lot of interesting and fun things to do in Kersey and on the drive there. We can take a drive to the chocolate museum", Andy suggested.
"I guess that's fun. I mean I was going to see a real human brain in a jar. Dustin says it's not true and called me a liar liar pants on fire. He said that brains can't fit in jars, but I told him I would take pictures to prove it", DJ explained, still disappointed. After waiting for a response and seeing that neither of his parents were willing to change plans, he relented. "Will the campground at least be fun?", he asked.
"It's on a pond so you and Rowan will get to swim all…", Andy started, only for DJ to cut her off.
"Swimming? Forget the weird stuff museum, I get to swim all day long", he laughed. The disappointment about the museum was now a distant memory. DJ realized that there would be other chances to go later on, but only one chance to spend two weeks in an RV with his family.
Jack chuckled as he talked to DJ, "I knew that would change your mind. Also, here's a tip. If you want to see a real brain in a jar, you know you can ask Aunt Mer or Uncle Owen, right? Did you forget that Mommy's friends with a whole bunch of doctors?"
"I guess I did", DJ answered as he thought about their trip.
"When are we going?" Amelia asked, yawning, tired from all the excitement that had happened that afternoon.
"As soon as you're better honey. A week after Aunt Maya and Aunt Carina's wedding party", Jack explained. "I'm so glad everyone's excited to go now. I know it's the woods and a small town and nothing like Coney Island or New York City, but I feel like there will be something everyone can enjoy"
Rowan chuckled to himself before answering his father, "And I'm excited to finally get to go in an RV. Wait, if we're driving when we get there, how are we getting there?"
"We're taking a plane", Andy explained as all three kids looked at her in awe, having never ridden on one before. Before now, they had only heard about them in books or when Jack pretended to be an airplane for Amelia in the morning. Now, the whole family was going to take to the skies. This vacation kept getting better and better.
"Double woah", Rowan and DJ exclaimed at the same time. "This is going to be the best vacation ever", Rowan stated as the family came together for a group hug.