"I don't understand why I couldn't have stayed home," Aurora grumbled from the backseat of the car. "You didn't make Will join us on this family vacation," she stated, not happy to miss out on the first part of her summer vacation with her friends. The last thing she wanted to do was go on a road trip with her parents. They could have gone without her.
"Will had the choice because he's an adult, and he had other things going on that he can't get out of," Wade replied, using the rearview mirror to look at his 16-year-old daughter sulking in the backseat of the car. "Mainly his job," Wade tacked on.
"As unfair as this seems, we wanted to have time with our daughter," Zoe said, casting her daughter a look from the passenger seat. "We want to make memories with you, because one day we won't be here for you to make those memories with," she stated.
"Okay, I get that," she sighed, rolling her eyes. "But why a road trip? Surely we could have flown to the final destination," she quipped out.
"We could have," Wade nodded. "But your mom had a blast on her road trip with Grandpa Harley, and together we thought it would be fun to see what the states hold for our adventure," he explained.
"I know you don't think this is going to be fun, and you would rather be at home in Bluebell hanging out with your friends, but if you keep an open mind about this, you'll have a fun time, I promise you," Zoe advised her daughter. It doesn't seem like the most ideal family vacation, but she knows that once her daughter stops pouting and sulking over it, she'll have fun seeing what else is out there for her to explore. Aurora liked the little car trips to Florida when they were younger, this is still the same thing, just with a different destination in mind.
"Your brother will be joining us at the final destination and driving back with us, so there's that," Wade reminded his daughter. He, too, would have liked to buy airline tickets, but there was something about the open road he couldn't pass up.
"You guys can stop twisting my arm," Aurora sighed, unlocking her phone. "I'm here, and I'm not going to jump out of the moving car. I'll try to have fun," she stated with sarcasm coming through. Harley would have a good old time with Aurora, letting Zoe know that his granddaughter is just like her mother at her age. And that made Zoe smile.
Wade shook his head watching his daughter tune them out to whatever it is that had her interest on her phone. He'd give anything to have a road trip with his parents. To spend one more day with his mom, to have another day with his dad. He'd give anything to have that chance. He guesses you don't understand the time you wished you spent with your parents until they're no longer in your life in any capacity.
"All we can do is provide her the memories, how she handles them, is up to her. The more we force her, the more she's going to disconnect with us," Zoe shared with her husband, remembering all the times she had done the very thing when it came to spending time with her dad. Now she'd gladly take those times back and engage with him and not act like a spoiled brat that didn't want to spend time with her as she wanted to be with her friends instead.
"I know," Wade sighed, reaching across the car to place his hand on her knee, giving it a gentle squeeze. "No longer having my parents here, makes me wish our kids would see that we're trying to give them some memories they will be able to cherish after we're gone," he explained.
The car ride remained quiet, most of the noise coming from the radio. Zoe and Wade would make small talk from time to time on what they wanted to see and experience with Aurora. Where they wanted to stop for the night, because they're not in a rush to get to where they're going. They had told Will a day, and they'd be there at the airport to collect him, but that was still a few days away, so time is on their side with the trip. Aurora was either on her phone or sleeping when they pulled up to their hotel for the first night of their trip. Tomorrow they'd start on the fun part of the trip and stopping to see the fun small attractions.
They wanted to stop and enjoy the Great Smoky Mountains, but they wanted to do that with Will on the way home since he would be joining them. So instead they headed on through to Kentucky, where they found two different places to do a ghost tour, bringing back the memories from when they were dating. Aurora found it interesting and was pumped to go on the walking tour. If they have the time before getting too far through Kentucky, Zoe wanted to head over to the Mammoth Cave National Park, the rest of her family agreeing once they saw pictures of it, deciding it wouldn't be a bad spot to enjoy for a few hours. Wade wanted to visit the National Corvette Museum, but he got out voted. Zoe told him on the way home he could visit with Will, while Zoe had an outing with Aurora. She doesn't want her husband to miss out on something he wants to see and Zoe knows it's something that their son will enjoy with Wade.
Most of everything they wanted to do in Ohio, they wanted Will to be with them. The amusement parks, didn't feel right going to them without their oldest. With enough pouting from Aurora they did make one stop at Cedar Point and spent the whole day on rides. They'd be back. It was one of the rare days they got to see a smile on their daughters face, where she was happy to have been forced on the trip.
They let Aurora decide what they would do in Pennsylvania. She wanted to visit Hersheypark. So that's what they did for the day, creating memories that Aurora wanted to make with her parents. This trip wasn't just about them making memories with Aurora, they wanted her to have happy ones that she created with her parents. It's not just about what Wade and Zoe want, but rather what Aurora wants now that she's starting to have fun.
From Pennsylvania, they headed off to New York. Wade wanted to show Aurora all of his favorite hang-outs as a teen, only to discover all of those places changed into something else. As disappointing as that was, it didn't deter him, as they still had a few fun filled days. He met up with his friends. With a smirk on their faces, they told Aurora all the horror stories about her father, sending the young teen into fits of laughter. As horrible as the stories were to hear again, he liked seeing his daughter having fun. He did need to chime in from time to time to fix the holes and exaggeration in their stories. They made plans to hang out before the family left to head back home to Bluebell, as they wanted to see Will.
It was their third day in New York when Will let them know what time his flight would be in, as he got held up and plane delays added to everything else. So Wade was getting out of bed at 4 in the morning to go pick his son up from the airport. Will's flight was to get in at 5:45, but one never knows what could change, and he wanted to be early, just in case.
With Will finally with them, Aurora and Will took off to do some sightseeing without their parents. Will being put in charge of Aurora. With them off and instructed to check in through the day and where they would meet up for dinner that night, Wade and Zoe were left alone. Being back in New York, since his burial, the one place Wade was itching to go to the most was the cemetery. So with his wife's hand in his they headed out. Stopping to get two dozen flowers from his favorite flower shop, they were on their way.
"For once I have nothing to be sorry about," Wade smiled, adding the flowers to his mom's grave. "I wish I could visit you more, but I know that you're always with me," he said. As he visited his mom's grave, he watched as Zoe cleared the side of the headstone for his dad, making sure the flower arrangement was just right for him. He couldn't hear what she was saying as she talked to him quietly. "I do hope that you found dad up there and you guys are happy again," he said, kneeling down to the headstone. He kissed his fingers, placing it to the headstone. "Love you, Mom," he whispered, blinking away his tears. "Love you, pop," he said, clearing his throat and getting back to his feet.
"Love you, Earl, and not a day goes by that I don't miss you," Zoe shared, wrapping an arm around her husband. "I know I say it every time I am here, Jackie, but I am sure that I would love you. Just having heard stories made my love for the woman that created the person my husband is," she shared, kissing her husband's prickly jawline.
Leaving the cemetery they headed to get some lunch, checking to see what their kids were doing and making sure they were being safe. Just because Will was 21 and Aurora 16, didn't mean they stopped worrying about either one of their kids. If anything they worried a little more. Getting confirmation they were okay, complete with a selfie of the two of them, Wade and Zoe made their own plans to enjoy their time until they were to meet up with their kids for dinner.
Having a fun filled 4 days in New York, the family of four headed back south to Bluebell. Just like they said, they stopped to have fun with Will in Ohio at the amusement parks. They also hit a few parks along the way. Once in Kentucky, Wade and Will headed off to the Corvette Museum as Zoe and Aurora had a fun filled day with facials, massages and getting their nails done, with a little shopping tossed in for good measure. They made sure they had a few days to spend in the Great Smoky Mountains region, wanting to take all of it in. It was by far too beautiful to pass up to not see all of it.
They didn't get back to Bluebell until the early hours of the morning. They didn't even bother with grabbing their things from the car when they got home, just headed inside to crash for a few hours. They'd unpack once they've had a few hours of sleep in them. Furthermore, they had dropped Will off at his apartment in Tuscaloosa as he'd need to be at work in a few days' time, and it was easier to drop him off since he didn't have a way back once in Bluebell. He had made plans to come visit Bluebell the first chance he got.
Despite not wanting to go on the trip with her parents, she's glad that she didn't get a say in the matter. As horrible as Aurora thought the idea to be in the beginning, she had fun with her parents traveling through a few states and seeing what else is out there. Not to mention the special memories she will now hold dear to her heart of her parents. The first few weeks of her summer vacation had been beyond fun. She's ready to pack her things and head out to the west coast with her family to see what they can find on a trip to California or Washington, maybe. She'd have to plead her case to go on a road trip after her high school graduation.