Lazy Summer Days

A/N: Just to let you all know that I know this story doesn't seem too realistic, but I thought it would make a good story anyways. It's an AU, so anything can happen. Another note: This is the chapter where everything falls into place, and to do that I need things to go smoothly (or will they?) and there's a lot of stuff I don't know about sneaking out, so if there is anything that just kind of sounds weird to you, let me know! Constructive criticism is welcome. Enjoy!

TABBY'S POV

Packing… man I never thought I would have to do so much packing! We would be gone overnight, and we already had one suitcase each. It was 12:30 a.m. when we finally finished, and we had 4 hours to sleep. Allie looked exhausted when she lied down on her bed, and I didn't feel like walking a couple doors down to my own bedroom, so I crashed on hers.

"Al?"

"Yah?" she mumbled. It was pitch black, but I knew she was annoyed.

"Are Landon and Danny asleep? I want to make sure Danny knows the plan inside and out, same goes for Landon…" she sighed, and turned to face me.

"Tabitha, Daniel knows the plan. I gave him a copy of everything before he went to bed, and he is going to wake up at 5:30 to make sure we are gone. Landon will just sleep in I guess, and they will go through with it."

"But… I thought we are leaving at 4:30?" I asked nervously. This whole plan seemed like it really wasn't happening, and I was getting really freaked out.

"Geez, we are. We are leaving at 4:30 but he can't wake up at the same time as us because our combined noise could wake Mom up. If we get up at separate times, there will be less noise. Understand? We have four hours to sleep, I suggest we do that. We will need all of our strength tomorrow." She rolled over back to where she was, and snuggled deeper into the covers. I smiled to myself when I realized just how much she reminded me of Mom.

ALLIE'S POV

BEEP, BEEP, BEEP, BEEP!

"Ugh, five more minutes…" I muttered to myself as my alarm clock rang out. I heard Tabby grunt in agreement, but reality soon hit me and I realized why it was ringing in the first place. Today was the day that could change our lives forever.

"Tabby! Wake up!" I said, as I hit the snooze button. I sat up, stretched, turned the alarm completely off, and then fell back down.

"Is it four thirty already?" she groaned.

"Yeah, it is. Let's get up. We are going to have to walk a little ways to the bus stop. We have to get dressed and grab our things, let's go!" I stood back up again, and began to get dressed. I decided I would wear the Knicks jersey my dad gave me last year with a pair of jeans. I pulled my hair into a ponytail, and then decided to leave it down. Dad always told me he liked it better down. While I brushed my teeth, Tabby dressed in a black jacket with a pink shirt, and capri's. Soon, after about 15 minutes, we were ready to go. As carefully as we could, we crept down the stairs, and out the front door. This was just too easy.

The more we walked, the more I wished I had brought my bike. The nearest bus stop was a half a mile out of our neighborhood, and we had to pass a main road to get to it. Anyone could see us and tell our mom and get us busted. Tabby and I hid our faces as well as we could, and as the bus stop approached, we hoped to God no one recognized us.

We paid our bus fare, and sat down in the back. There were only a few people on it, and we didn't know any of them.

"Ok, so you know where we are supposed to get off, right?" she asked me. I nodded, and ran over the plan over and over again in my head.

"We have to take this bus into the city, and take the metro to a city just outside the city where the beach house is. Then, we take another connecting bus to the beach, and when we are there we can hail a cab and give him the address we got." I smiled, proud of myself.

"Ok. It's 5:05 now, so when we get to the city about to get on the metro I will call Danny's cell phone and check in."

"Alright. In the meantime, wanna play 20 questions?" we both grinned, and I started first.

TABBY'S POV

"What time is it?" Allie asked for the 3rd time in 10 minutes. I rolled my eyes, and glanced at my watch.

"It's only 5:25. Ask me one more time and see what happens…" I said threateningly. She sneered, and turned to look out the window. She's just jealous I beat her in 20 questions, I thought.

We soon approached our stop, and grabbed our suitcases before stepping off the bus. In silence, we made our way to the metro station, and I called Danny while we waited.

It ringed twice, before someone answered. "Tabby? Why are you calling Danny's cell phone? Where are you?" It was Mom. Fear rose in my stomach, and Allie listened in.

"Hey, ma… Look, I can explain…"

"Danny told me you are at Natalie's, why so early?" Ah, good. Our plan wasn't ruined.

"Yeah, Allie and I are both here. Um, you see, we are planning a special birthday present for you, since it's your birthday next weekend, and this is the only day Nat can help us. We figured we would get there as early as possible so we can work on it all day. So like, don't expect us home until later tonight…" Whoa… I did it. I actually lied to my mother. I never would have thought the first lie I have ever told in my entire life would mean so much.

"Ok… that's fine I guess… But why didn't you tell me?" I knew she believed me, because after all, she knew I wouldn't lie.

"Um, well, it's because it's your present, and I didn't want to spoil the surprise."

"Oh… okay, well, there is something I have to tell you four when you get home, okay? Be home around 9 or 9:30 at the latest, alright?"

"We will, Mom. Call our cells if you need anything. Can you put Dan on the phone?"

"Yeah, sure. Bye sweetie." She said before handing the phone to Danny.

"Oh my god, Dan! Why did she answer your cell phone?" I almost screamed.

"I'm sorry, sis, but she heard me get up and try and make coffee. My phone was right beside her, and she got to it before I did! At least she knows though." He sighed, along with me and Allie. Just then, our metro pulled up, and I said goodbye to Danny. Once I hung up, and Allie and I were seated, we realized at the exact same time: We were on the wrong train.

"Oh my God, ALLIE!" I screeched. "We're going the wrong way! We are going to get lost and we'll never get to Dad! Oh, if only I had been paying attention… ugh, we've ruined it!" I wailed, and put my head in my hands.

"Hey, Tabs, chill. We haven't ruined anything. I still know what train we need to be on and there is a map over there. I'm going to go check it out. You stay put, okay?" I nodded. She left, and came back almost instantly. "Tabitha, move. Quickly! Go as far back as you can go and sit behind those people. Mom's friend Luke is over there on his way to work! He knows us!" I jumped up and ran to the back of the metro with Allie hot on my heels. We waited for the entire ride, and when the doors finally opened we bolted right out. That was close.

We knew we were late, but called to check in anyway after we got off the last metro. All we had to do now was get on a bus, and hail a cab and we would be seeing our dad after all this time. While Allie was buying us a couple of hot dogs, I called Danny again.

"Dan?"

"Yeah it's me."

"How are things going? I hope Matty isn't being too bad…"

"No, he isn't. Things are on schedule. Vanessa is decorating now so she can play with Matt for the rest of the day so he doesn't get bored. It looks great! It's clean, and as much as I hate saying this, the bedroom looks very romantic." He gagged. "But anyway, Landon and I decided to make Mom's favorite: lasagna. She told you guys a funny story about that, or at least that's what Landon said… anyway, once dinner is ready we will just leave it in the oven so it'll stay warm for tonight."

"Wow… so you guys have everything under control?" I was very pleased with how this was going so far, but for some odd reason I had this strange feeling that something was wrong.

"Um… yes. Everything is great. There is just… one thing. Uh, you see, I told Aunt Phoebe the plan, and she is very pleased with us. She's proud, I guess. She and all the adults just left 15 minutes ago to go to breakfast and to a movie and other stuff. I think they are going to their favorite hangout from back before our time… Um… Central Perky? Something like that. But uh… They will be back at 6, not 9. Mom didn't want to leave us alone for that long, and she's gotten really protective since Dad left and all… She says there is something she wants to tell us, too. I don't know what, though."

"Ok… uh… thanks for the update. We'll be in touch. Hopefully we can get to Dad in time. We'll try. Bye, Dan."

"Bye." Crap. I knew something was wrong.

ALLIE'S POV

I fell asleep on the bus, while leaning on my sister's shoulder. I was exhausted, and it just took over me. I will never forget the nightmareI had. It was just clips, really. Allie and I going into the house, looking for Dad, not finding him. That panicy feeling was embedded in us. I remember looking at this picture of Dad partying at some strip club, and a note right next to the picture. They were both sitting on the counter. Party tonight at 8:00. I remember my stomach sinking, and the realization that we had failed. Everything after that was a blur. Tabby woke me up, and we stepped off the bus. I told her about it in the taxi, and she brushed it off, saying it was only a dream. It just seemed so real.

TABBY'S POV

After continuous bus rides, metro rides, walking, and taxi's, we had finally made it. I almost didn't believe it. It was 3:30, and we had made it on time. We had gotten lost several times, and we had been traveling all day, only stopping twice for food and bathroom breaks. We were both exhausted.

As I looked up at the beach house, I noted that our Grandma (who we still had not met) must be filthy rich. The house was 2 stories high with white siding, and a huge wrap-around porch. It had a three car garage, and when I peaked over the fence, I saw a huge swimming pool. No wonder Dad came here…

After taking a deep breath, grabbing Allie's hand, and walking up the stairs to the front door, we knocked hesitantly. No answer. We knocked again, a little more loudly, and still no answer. Impulsively, I turned the doorknob with my free hand, and we both gasped when the door opened. Cautiously, we stepped inside. I wanted to snoop so badly, but my instincts told me not to. We slowly searched the house, but saw no signs of Dad.

As I stepped into the final room upstairs, the study, I saw something up on his computer screen. It was his email. Only one message was in his inbox, and it was from Uncle Joey. Making sure no one was watching me, I sat down in the chair and opened up the email attachments. There were tons of pictures. I almost started crying as I viewed them one by one; pictures of us kids when we were babies, pictures of Mom holding us when we were born, birthday pictures, even the ones of mine and Allie's when Dad left us. Then, as I came to the final picture, tears began to stream down my face, and I realized what would happen if we were to fail our mission. The final photo was of Mom and Dad on their wedding day. She had her arms around his neck, and he was smiling down at her, and they were dancing. Slowly, you could tell. I gazed at the photo for a few minutes, pretending they were still as happy as they looked in the picture, and for a moment I almost didn't hear Allie calling me from downstairs.

"Tabby! Come here!" she yelled. I sighed, exited out of the email, and trotted down the steps.

"What's up?" I said sadly. She gave me a sad look, her eyes watering, and handed me a slip of paper from the counter.

"What's this?" I asked.

"Just read it."

I looked at it, read it over, and I understood.

"You must have Aunt Phoebe's gift," I said. She nodded sadly, and put her head in her hands. Dad had already left to go to a party, the note said so. We were too late.

ALLIE'S POV

We stayed at Dad's for about an hour after that. I guess you could say we were waiting for him to come home, although we knew he wouldn't just yet. The party wasn't one of those late ones that end at midnight; just a get together with one of his friends. It said 3 – 6 on the piece of paper, and we knew if only we had kept it at 9 we could have been successful. While Tabby took a short nap in Dad's bed, I went through his clothes. I soon found my favorite t-shirt of his that I always used to wear, ever since I was a baby, balled up at the bottom of his closet. It was a simple t-shirt, just grey with a pocket on the chest. I loved it though. Dad always told me that when I was about 4, I found it and put it on thinking it was a dress, and he couldn't get it off of me since. Up until I was about 11, anyway. That's when I started following trends, and caring about my looks. No "cool" girl would be caught dead wearing her father's t-shirt, even if it was just to sleep in.

I pulled it over my head on top of my clothes, and smelled it. It reminded me of Dad. I soon started to cry, and left the room as quietly as I could so I wouldn't wake up Tabby. I just huddled myself into the fetal position in the connecting bathroom and stifled my sobs. Almost right after I went in there, Tabby followed. She hugged me, and stroked my hair. She knew I was close to Dad, and soon the anger Tabby had been feeling 2 weeks ago was starting to grow in me.

Knowing there was nothing else we could do, we decided to leave. Most of our money was used up, and we had just enough to get us back without food, so we grabbed some bags of chips and turkey wraps from the cabinets and the fridge. As a father, he still had the right to feed us. With one last look at the beach house, we turned the corner, and started walking to the nearest bus stop. What happened next as we almost arrived surprised both of us. Never in our wildest dreams had we imagined this happening. We passed Dad.

We didn't notice him at first, but we soon realized it was him. He had sunglasses on along with baggy clothes. All 3 of us turned around at the same moment, and just stared at each other. He dropped his bag, as did Tabby and I. Our jaws went slack, and my breath was caught in my throat. For an instant, we only stood there, but after a second or two, I ran to him. He caught me in a big hug, and wrapped his strong arms around my small frame. We both cried, and I could tell Tabby was just standing there, still staring. I always loved the smell of my dad, and as I took a deep breath, his cologne calmed my nerves, and I almost forgot where I was. Slowly, we both pulled away, both of us wiping at our eyes.

He looked at Tabby hopefully, but she only stared with her big blue eyes. He nodded, and put his arms down. After clearing his throat, he finally said something.

"Girls, what on Earth are you doing here? Does your… does your mother know you're here?" I gave Tabby a look before turning back to Dad.

"What are YOU doing here? We thought you were going to a party..." I said. He lowered his eyes.

"Well, I was. A friend of mine is trying to help me out. I told him I wasn't ready, and started walking back home. But you never answered my question."

"Dad, we have to tell you something, but I don't want to do it here. Your place is only a couple blocks away, so let's walk there and we'll explain, okay?" he nodded, and we walked in silence back to his place. Actually, we didn't say another word until we were in his living room. He was seated on his couch, cracking his knuckles nervously, while Tabby and I stood in front of him.

"Ok, what is going on?" he asked. We both took a deep breath, and told him everything.

"Dad, let me just start off by saying this: we love you. We miss you so much. All four of us kids, and our aunts and uncles and cousins all forgive you. We want you to come back home more than anything in the world."

"I really appreciate you saying that, Allie."

"I know, Dad. And I mean it. Now, as to why we're here… When you left, Mom became a wreck. She drinks all the time, sleeps all the time, never cleans, and never cooks. We have been living off everyone in our family's cooking except for Mom's these past 2 weeks. She has been so sad, and we hate seeing her like that. So, yesterday, I came up with a brilliant plan."

"And this plan involves risking your lives to come to me?" he said hysterically.

"Dad, we're not risking our lives…"

"Yes, you are. Coming here on buses and taxi's and metro's… that's risky!" I snickered. He still had that overprotective "Dad-ness" still with him.

"Ok, you're right. But that's besides the point. Basically, we left this morning to come find you, and luckily we were able to get your address. Vanessa, Matt, Danny, and Landon are setting up the house as we speak. We are supposed to get you home at 6. Aunt Phoebe is in on it too. She has all the adults out, and she most likely told Aunt Rachel, Uncle Ross, and Uncle Joey, too."

"So… let me get this straight. You come here to find me and bring me home, and everyone else is setting up the house… Are you trying to get your mom and I back together? Are you hoping we will just reunite, just like that?"

I thought for a moment.

"Yeah, daddy… we are. Aren't you?" His eyes began to well up, and he put his head in his hands.

"More than you will ever know, Allison."

Tabby wiped at her eyes, and sat down next to him. She wrapped an arm around him, and whispered, "Everything is gonna be fine, daddy. Mommy still loves you, I know it."

A/N: Well, thats it for now. Review for another chapter! Hope you liked this one!