AN: Hi! I'm really just writing this for fun because I'm bored and I don't expect anyone to read this. Oh well. If you do end up reading this, I would love a review! Thanks!
DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN THE SERIES.
Malloy POV
"Alright, listen up girls," Coach Malloy said at the dinner table on a cold Friday evening in December. The three Malloy girls stopped talking and turned to their father. Coach Malloy shared a look with his wife and said, "We've decided that we're going to take a Christmas vacation this year."
"Where to?" Beth asked, her blue eyes still a little glossed over from just finishing another book.
"Well," Mrs. Malloy started. "We're going on a cruise around the Caribbean."
"Alright!" Eddie, the oldest, yelled while Caroline and Beth started squealing. Her blond hair was tucked under her infamous baseball cap, which fell off as she jumped up, celebrating.
"Just think." Caroline, the youngest, began. "There are all kinds of stars and producers that go on cruises. This could be my big break. Imagine it. Caroline Lenore Malloy, a young star, discovered on a-"
"Caroline! Can it!" Eddie said, but she still had a smile on her face.
"When do we leave?" asked Beth, her short blond curls bouncing with excitement. She couldn't help imagining all sorts of things that could happen on a cruise.
"A week from tomorrow." Coach said. "So you might want to start planning what you're going to pack. Our cruise is 12 days long, so-"
"Is anyone coming with us?" interrupted Caroline. The Malloy parents shared another look. They almost looked… guilty?
"Oh no." Eddie muttered, only loud enough for her sisters to hear. "Alright, who is it?" she asked her parents. They all gave their parents questioning looks.
"That's not important right now. Now, if you girls have finished your dinner, you can wash your plate and go upstairs to get a head start on packing."
"But who-" Beth started.
"You heard your mother girls." Coach Malloy said sternly. "No more questions. Think of it as a surprise."
"Oh, alright." Eddie said, taking her plate to the sink and giving her sisters a look. They followed her to the sink and up the stairs, where they all went into Eddie's room.
"So," said Beth. "Who do you think it's gonna be?" She loved a good mystery and was rather curious about who would be joining them.
"I don't know, but whoever it is, expect the worst," Eddie said firmly.
"But who would be so bad that Mom and Dad don't want to tell us?" asked Caroline. "Could it be…?"
"No! Mom and Dad wouldn't do that to us! Besides, we haven't seen them in 3 years." Beth said.
"But it's possible" Eddie put in.
The girls shared a grim look, not wanting to believe it, but knowing that they very well could be spending Christmas with the Hatfords.
Hatfords POV
"Jake! Josh! Wally! You boys come down right now and help Peter set the table! Do not make me ask again!" Mrs. Hatford called up the stairs for the 100th time.
"One minute Mom!" Jake yelled back. The three oldest boys had been invited to go skiing in Colorado with the Bensons over Christmas break, and they were upstairs in the twins' room brainstorming ways they would convince their parents to let them go.
"JOSEPH! YOU WILL COME DOWN RIGHT NOW!" Mrs. Hatford exclaimed.
"Of course Mom!" Josh yelled back, clamping his hand over his twin's mouth before he could say anything else. "We'll need her favor if we want to pull this off." He reasoned.
"Okay, okay." Jake said. The boys got up and made their way downstairs to the table. Once they were all seated, the twins looked at Wally. He sighed, wondering why he had to start the conversation, but thought about all the fun he would have with Bill and Danny Benson. With those thoughts in mind, he turned to his parents.
"Mom, this spaghetti is delicious." he said, shoving another bite in his mouth.
"Seriously!" Jake jumped in. "Is this a new recipe?"
"You must be a food genius or something!" Josh exclaimed.
"Or something." their mother said, very proud of her cooking, "I decided to add a very tiny bit of-"
"Alright boys," Mr. Hartord cut his wife off, knowing very well that his boys were not food critics, and didn't even pay much attention to what they ate. "What do you want?"
"Whatever do you mean?" Jake said, trying to sound extremely innocent. Mr. Hatford gave them a look.
"Oh, okay," Josh said. "We just wanted to speak to you about Christmas break, that's all."
"You see," Wally said. "We were over at the Bensons today, and they were talking about their vacation plans."
"They're going to Colorada," Josh explained. "They'll be staying at a ski lodge."
"And they were wondering if Josh, Wally, and I would like to go with them!" Jake finished.
"Hey!" Peter yelled. "No fair! I wanna go skiing."
"Peter," Josh started. "You wouldn't like it."
"Well, I might!"
"Boys," Mrs. Hatford said. "That is quite enough. Now, although it is very nice of the Bensons to offer, I don't-"
"They said they would pay for everything!" Wally put in. "And we would leave the day after Christmas, so we would still get to spend it with you!"
"Plus we won't miss any school!" Jake said. "And we'll do all sorts of chores before we go."
"We'll be on our best behavior," Josh promised. "And we'll get free skiing lessons before we do anything on a real course."
"It's completely safe!" Wally said. "The Bensons will take care of us."
"Boys!" Mrs. Hatford interrupted. "While I have no doubt that the Bensons would take great care of you, it just won't work out this year." She shared a look with her husband before continuing.
"This year, we are going on our own vacation." she exclaimed.
The boys, who had all had defeated looks on their faces, looked up with a mix of excitement and astonishment.
"We are?!" Jake asked incredulously. "Where to?"
"We are going on a cruise in the Caribbean." Mr. Hatford told them. "And as much as we would like to let you go with the Bensons, our cruise will be taking up most of Christmas break. We'll be stopping at all sorts of islands, even one with a small water park!"
"Woah!" Peter said, both wowed and ecstatic. Wally looked at his brothers' faces. They all had the same look of excitement.
"But," he started with fear in his voice. "A cruise is a ship, right? Just like the Titanic."
"What's the Titanic?" Peter asked.
"It was a ship with a bunch of people that hit an iceberg and sank in the ocean." Wally explained. "I do not want to go on a ship."
"It sank?!" Peter exclaimed. "I don't want to either! I don't want to swim with sharks!"
"That happened a long time ago, and won't happen to us." Mrs. Hatford comforted Peter, shooting Wally a glare. "Besides, there aren't going to be any icebergs where we're cruising."
Peter, who was feeling good about the cruise again, went back to looking just as excited as Jake and Josh, but Wally wasn't convinced.
"Well, when do we leave?" Josh asked.
"The first Saturday of Christmas break." Mr. Hatford told him.
"That's only a week from tomorrow!" Wally said. He wasn't sure if he would have enough time to write his will.
After dinner, Peter stayed downstairs to watch TV, but the others went straight back to the twins' room.
"Well, that failed." Josh flopped onto his bed.
"Who cares?" Jake said. "We're going on a cruise! Gosh, this is gonna be great! I'll bet they have a great workout room and a ton of pools!"
"I've heard they offer art classes too! And the food is supposedly amazing!" Josh said, catching Jake's enthusiasm.
"I'd still rather go skiing with the Bensons." Wally grumbled.
"Aw, you're just scared." Jake laughed. "This is going to be much better than just skiing for 5 days. You heard Mom and Dad. This cruise is most of the break!"
"I'm not scared! Just… concerned. Plus I wanted to hang with the Bensons." Wally was honestly surprised that Jake was taking this so well. He hates being told no. But he had always wanted to go on a cruise.
Josh and Jake started planning all the stuff they might want to do on the vacation, but Wally just sat there, wondering what he did to deserve the horror of going on a cruise.