Chapter Two: A Surprise Vacation

Liz's phone buzzed insistently in her purse as she sat on a shaded bench on campus, watching a pretty, long-haired blonde sketching a tree a few benches away. She pulled it out. Her dad. Flipping it open and pressing the button to accept the call, she brought it to her ear. "Yeah?"

"Liz?" her mother's voice came through. "You're on speaker phone, conferencing with all of us and Charlie and Lorraine."

"Hey guys," she said at large as she was greeted by a chorus of hellos from her siblings.

"Okay!" her dad's voice rose above the others, "Now that we're all here, your mother and I wanted to announce that we've rented the big house at Lake Winnetka for one more family vacation! We're going over Labor Day!"

Stunned silence greeted this until Jake's voice muttered, "Dude, I was gonna hang with my friends this summer."

"Dad, I'm going to be very, very pregnant then," Nora added.

"And I'll be apartment hunting in New York in August," Lorraine's unmistakable voice objected.

"Yeah, well, I love the lake," Charlie interjected, "I'm in."

Liz smiled into her phone. She wasn't surprised that Charlie was the first to agree. He'd always loved the time they spent at Lake Winnetka. Some of their favorite memories were from those lazy summers at the lake. "I'm with Charlie," she put in, loud enough to be heard over the commotion. "I love the lake."

"Bingo!" her dad cried, "There's two!"

One by one the others agreed that it wouldn't be so bad to spend a couple weeks up in Wisconsin. Even Lorraine agreed to come after being needled and cajoled by the younger kids. The decision was made: they were going to Lake Winnetka.

Several days, one plane ride and one long drive later, Charlie, Lorraine and Liz pulled up in front of the old lake house, where they were accosted by the enthusiastic greeting of the rest of the family. Liz allowed Mike to throw his arms around her neck, while Charlie scooped Jessica up and hugged Mark and Kim at the same time. Both of the twins broke free temporarily to kiss their mother and get a hug from Dad.

"Ungh," Lorraine groaned as she climbed out of the car. "It still smells the same here. Like dead leaves, unwashed animals and murky lake water."

Liz grinned affectionately as her younger sister accepted a kiss from their father, who reminded her, "That's called fresh air, sweetheart." He hugged all three of them again before turning to address the whole family. "Alright, let's eat!"

They settled around the table and dug into the hot pancakes and eggs. Once they'd all eaten something, Tom Baker called their attention. "Okay, after we eat, we're going to fix this place up. Who wants to help me put up the tire swing?"

"I'm going boarding with Eliot today, dude," Jake put in hastily.

"Kenneth's got video games," Mark added.

"Jess and I were going to use the Murtaugh's internet hookups to research for the Academic Decathlon," Kim supplied.

Jessica agreed swiftly. "Precisely, we need the extra hours."

Surprised, Liz leaned over to Sarah, who was sitting next to her. "The Murtaughs are here?"

"What about you, Sarah?"

Sarah jumped and spun around to face her father. "I was going to go boarding with Jake. And – and Eliot," she said, coloring slightly as she mentioned the Murtaugh her age. She dropped her eyes and turned back to her food. Liz watched her little sister intently for a minute before focusing on her own food, a small smile tugging gently at the corners of her mouth. She couldn't believe it! If she read the signs correctly, her tough little tomboy Sarah had a crush on Eliot Murtaugh. She hadn't seen him yet, so she wasn't sure how good-looking he was, but he'd obviously made an impression on Sarah. It was too cute! Her heart flipped a little as she allowed herself to think of another Murtaugh who might be vacationing at the lake. Calvin… Would he remember her?

Author's Note: Dun dun dun!Cliffie! I like those...

Anyway, thanks to everyone who reviewed on the first chapter, even though there wasn't anything exciting to review on. On a quick side note: The Zimmermans won't make an appearance until the fifth or sixth chapter (not sure exactly), so don't get too antsy while waiting for them. I have some other plot situations to set up first before throwing them in. :) REVIEW PLEASE:)