Title: Vacation (Chapter 3) Author's Notes: The characters aren't mine-they belong to Nickelodeon. All I claim are my bizarre plot ideas.

HR

The two families boarded the plane and settled themselves in their seats near the front of the plane. Stu and Didi buckled Tommy and Dil in their seats next to Angelica, who was preoccupied with Cynthia. Didi pulled out a book to read.

The last of the passengers came aboard the plane, and the entry door was sealed. The plane took off, and Dil began wailing at the noise.

HR

The plane ride was fairly uneventful. Angelica was fairly bored by the time they landed. She had thrown Cynthia across the cabin several times. Each time a very embarrassed Charlotte went to apologize to the target of the missile. Tommy and Dil were sipping apple juice quietly.

It was late in the day, and well after sunset when the plane arrived in London. The pilot announced their approach, and Didi started rummaging around under the seats gathering loose items. The passengers began to feel the descent, and the noise of the engines filled the air. The clouds surrounding the plane faded away, and the landscape gradually came into focus as the passengers gazed out at the landing strips of the airport and the terminals beyond.

The plane pulled to a full stop on the runway, and the people in the cabin pulled their bags from overhead compartments and made their way to the door. Stu and Lou picked up the babies and pushed out into the cramped aisle. The eight of them left the plane.

They pushed their way through the crowded building, and out onto the curb. When they arrived in London, it was cloudy and windy. Angelica walked slightly ahead of her parents. They got to the underground station a few minutes later. They arrived at their stop, and walked a couple of blocks to their hotel.

When they arrived at the hotel, it began to rain, and they scrambled to cover their heads. Charlotte went inside and obtained the room keys for their suites.

They all went up to their rooms. Angelica, Tommy, and Dil were exhausted, so their parents put them to bed. After they had gone to sleep, Lou turned on the television, while the others left. Stu and Drew had gone to the pool downstairs, Didi went out to buy a newspaper, and Charlotte left to find an exercise center.

A while passed, and Lou got bored of the T.V. He started dozing off as Angelica was waking up from her nap.

Angelica yawned, stretched her arms, and got off the couch where she was laying.

"Where are Mommy and Daddy?" She thought. "I'm hungry."

While rummaging through her mother's purse looking for candy, she saw Lou drifting asleep. She went over to the chair by the window where he was sitting and grabbed at his pants to shake him awake.

"Where are Mommy and Daddy?"

"Huh? Wha." He blinked. "I don't know! They drag us halfway across the world, and don't even think to tell me where they are. Can't they just leave me alone sometimes?"

Angelica started whining. "I need something to eat!"

"Sorry, sprout, but there's nothing here," he said.

"Well, can you order me some pizza?"

"'Fraid not. I don't have any money."

Angelica moaned. "Well, I'll just have to find some food on my own," she thought.

Lou went back to sleep, and she saw Tommy beginning to wake up. He rolled over and off of the cushioned chair where he had been fast asleep. He landed on the carpet, and pulled himself into a sitting position. "Where are Mommy and Daddy?" he thought. He saw his cousin. "Get up, we're going," she told him, pulling him to his feet.

"Going where?" Tommy asked.

"I need to get some food, and you're coming with me." She pulled him to the door. She jumped slightly to be able to reach the doorknob. After she opened it, she walked out. Dil was left in the room, snoring soundly, with drool running down the side of his mouth. Tommy and Angelica made their way down the hallway.

"Are you sure you know where we're going, Angelica?" Tommy asked.

"Of course I know, dummy! There were cakes and cookies and candy where we came in, and I want to get some of it!"

"Okaayyy." Tommy still felt slightly uncertain.

It soon became somewhat obvious that Angelica did i not /i in fact did not know what she was doing. The doors they passed all looked the same, and the only food they saw was a mostly-eaten roll on a tray outside one door. It clearly didn't help that they were unable to read the signs posted at intervals. Tommy was getting worried, and wasn't certain they would be able to find their way back to their room.

Eventually, though, they found an elevator. A woman in a green shirt and blue jeans walked out when they reached it. They climbed in and the doors shut behind them.

"What do we do now, Angelica?" Tommy asked.

"We just have to wait. This thing will take us downstairs, I think."

"I hope you're right."

After a minute's wait, the elevator began to move. Tommy wasn't used to elevators that went that fast, and felt a bit queasy in his stomach. The elevator made a few stops. Each time, Angelica looked out the door and said, "This isn't where the cookies were." This continued for a few minutes, until they finally reached the floor where the lobby was.

"This is it!" Angelica exclaimed. She dragged Tommy out with her. They made their way past a party of women in tutus checking in. She spotted a man filling up a table full of pastries, cookies, and slices of cake. "There it is!" she said enthusiastically. "Come on!"

But Didi had returned, and spotted them. "How did you two get all the way down here?" she asked. "And Angelica, why are you out of the room? I know your daddy told you to you were to stay there."

"Sorry, Aunt Didi. I was hungry." She did her best to imitate a contrite attitude.

"Then we'll just get you some proper food. None of this sweet stuff before breakfast."

Angelica grimaced. She hated her aunt's idea of 'good food.' She just wanted the cookies.

Didi picked up Tommy and carried him off. "Come on, Angelica," she said. However, Angelica had not lost sight of the table of sweets. She walked over and grabbed some apple pie off a platter, shoving it rapidly in her mouth.

Outside, she saw a man walking by who looked like her father. "Good", she thought. "I know Daddy will buy me some cookies." She went outside. But when she got there, the man was gone. She was puzzled. "Huh?" she thought. "Where'd he go?"

She looked around. A couple doors down the street, she caught sight of the man, and ran after him. "Daddy!" she yelled, but the man did not acknowledge her.

"Daddy!"

"Daddy!"

"I wonder why he isn't responding to me", she thought. She ran up to him and tugged on his pants. He turned around and saw her. It was clear, however, that it was someone else entirely. The man had a small, unhealed scar beside the corner of his mouth, and his eyes were definitely the wrong color. Angelica backed away, and into a door she hadn't noticed was there.