I didn't plan to update this, but due to computer troubles I am currently unable to work on any of my other stories. So 'Vacation' wins by default. This is less of a chapter than an interlude.
The standard disclaimer applies, of course-All characters in this chapter belong to Nickelodeon, and so on.
Didi walked back to their hotel room, somewhat annoyed. Angelica had been told to stay in their suite, and she deliberately disobeyed them and went down to the lobby. Didi was inclined to give the girl a spanking, but she knew that Drew and Charlotte would be far more indulgent with their only child. She went up the stairs to the fourth floor and went past the small gym and on to their room. Room 453, she thought to herself. This is it. She dug in her pockets for her room key, but didn't find it. She knocked on the door instead.
"Who is it?" she heard Lou ask.
"It's me, Didi."
She heard footsteps in the room and a moment later the door opened. Lou stuck his head out. "Come in, come in."
"Pop, why weren't you watching Tommy and Angelica? I found them wandering in the lobby." She shifted Tommy in her arms and then put him down on the floor to crawl around. "And Angelica here"-she gestured behind her-"was trying to snatch cookies off a table downstairs."
Lou looked confused. "Here? Whaddya talking about? The little squirt isn't here at all."
"What?" Didi exclaimed. She spun around and looked behind her. "She's gone!"
Lou snorted. "You mean you lost her?"
Charlotte was sitting by the window with her briefcase lying open on the desk. She was reading some papers when she heard Didi's exclamation. Getting up, she went to the door. "What's going on?" she demanded.
"Didi here seems to have lost Angelica," Lou commented.
"What?"
"I-I came in the lobby, and she was there with Tommy, trying to grab some cookies off a table. I told her to come with me. I thought she would listen, but she's not here."
"Well then we should be looking for her."
"Yes, yes of course." Didi set her purse down and addressed Lou.
"Do you know where Stu and Drew are?"
"No, I don't never know where anyone's gonna be. I ain't the one you need to ask."
Didi sighed. "Then just keep an eye on Tommy, will you, Pop? And don't let him wander off again."
With that, Didi and Charlotte hurried downstairs to search for Angelica. Slightly out of breath, Didi headed towards the pool area, and Charlotte started inquiring whether anyone had seen her daughter, earning herself several derisive looks from people nearby.
Halfway to the pool room, Didi was looking frantically, and was focused on little else. She ran straight into a woman balancing a suitcase and a large shopping bag in her arms.
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