Noah, Cody, Trent, and Nicole began walking off the plane as they had made it to their final destination - back home in Toronto after the end of the tour. The end of the tour had been bittersweet for everyone involved, and it was an experience nobody would ever forget. On the last night of their tour, the band ended up staying an hour over their regular end time, and they took the time to say goodbye and take photos with every single fan that waited for them outside of their tour bus. The record label had even given them goodbye parting gifts, despite being worried they were leaving on the wrong foot by not accepting their tour extension and contract renewal deals. After going through customs, the four began to walk to the luggage carousel, lost in thought.
"What a summer, huh?" Trent said.
"Yep. Now it's back to stocking books at the library for me." Noah replied.
"When are you guys leaving to university again?" Cody asked Trent and Nicole.
"I'll be going up in a few days for student orientation, but I'll be coming back and staying in Toronto with my mom until September when Nicole and I have to go back up." Trent said. He pointed over to some suitcases that popped up in the carousel. "There's our stuff!" The four of them grabbed their stuff as they began walking out to find Bethany and Joshua waiting for them at the exit. Bethany was four months pregnant by now and had a small baby bump. The two of them smiled as they held out their arms to greet the group.
"Hello!" Bethany said as she hugged Nicole and Noah. "I'm so happy to see you all." As Joshua was saying his hellos to Trent and Cody, they switched, and Bethany gave a hug to Trent and Cody as Joshua hugged the twins.
"How was America?" Joshua asked.
"It was great." Nicole said as she smiled.
"I had such a good time." Trent said.
"I'm just happy to get to sleep in my own bed." Noah retorted. "Where are the kids?"
"They're back at the house with Candice." She waved her hand behind her, trying to get everyone to follow her as she turned around. "Now come on, we're having dinner tonight and everyone's invited!" The four of them followed Joshua and Bethany, and Nicole began to stand next to Bethany as they walked to the parking garage, luggage in tow.
"So, how has your pregnancy been?" Nicole asked her.
"Well, the morning sickness is finally going away." Bethany praised. "But other than that, it's been going great. The kids are so excited to have a little brother or sister."
"Have you found out what you're having?" Nicole asked as they got to the van.
"Not yet, we're waiting for the next appointment." As Joshua came over and helped load the suitcases in the car, she walked over to the van door and climbed in the back with Trent while Joshua drove, Bethany sat in the front, and Cody and Trent sat in the middle.
"It's weird to see this van without car seats." Noah said as Joshua reversed out of the parking spot.
"Yep. Spencer is 9 now and doesn't need it, and I took Hannah's out to make more room for you all." Bethany said as she peered her head over the seat. "I can't believe my babies are going into grades 2 and 4. They grow up so fast."
"Speaking of, how did they handle the news of Cody and I moving out?" Noah asked. While they were in their last few weeks of touring, the two of them had started to look at places for them to live that were pet-friendly, so Noah could take Van Doggo with them, and they had a few appointments to look at some places this week. Joshua looked at Noah and Cody through the mirror.
"We didn't tell them." Joshua said.
"You didn't tell them?" Noah repeated.
"We wanted them to hear it from you."
"We could be moving out any week now, though, we're looking at some places tomorrow."
"No, I know, and we should have told them, but-" Bethany began to interrupt Joshua.
"They've had a lot of changes this summer, first with you and Nicole you away in the states for the summer, then with the news of the baby… we just didn't have it in them to break the news."
"Haven't they asked where the baby will sleep? It's not like you have room in that house without our room." Noah suggested.
"The topic has… not come up." Bethay lied. Noah paused at what Bethany did and began to chuckle.
"Is this revenge for that time Nicole and I took Hannah and Spencer to Chuck E Cheese in the middle of the day and left them for the night with you after loading them with pizza and junk food?" Bethany began to laugh.
"Maybe so." She said.
"Man, that is messed up." Cody joked.
The subject began to change to their United States adventure, and the five of them talked about everything from their experience with Justin, to the different places they traveled, and all the mishaps that happened along the way, and before they knew it, they were home. Everyone got out of the car as Joshua began unloading the suitcases, and they all took their suitcases to the door as they braced themselves for the screaming and hugging that would happen as they walked to the kids at the front door. Joshua unlocked the door and they all walked in, with the kids looking over to the door from the TV and screaming over to Nicole and Noah as they realized they were home.
"Uncle Noah! Aunt Nicole!" They screamed as they ran up to hug both of them. They could also hear the dog come running up to Noah's feet, and he kneeled down as he wagged his tail at him.
"Hi Van, hi boy." Noah said as he pet him by the ears and spoke in a baby voice. "Who missed me? You missed me! I missed you, too!" Hannah walked over to the dog and Noah.
"Uncle Noah, Aunt Nicole, I lost a tooth, see!" Hannah gave a smile as she stuck her tongue in a hole where the bottom front tooth used to be.
"I got a cavity, see?" Spencer took his right finger and pushed his mouth back to show a silver crown in the back of his mouth. "Dad let me pick out a toy for being so brave!"
"That just means you just have to brush your teeth more often, bud." Nicole said to him as she ruffled his hair.
"Aren't you going to say hello to Cody and Trent, too?" Bethany asked. The kids noticed them in the corner of their eyes and came over to give them a hug as well. They were more used to Cody, as Trent only came over when Nicole was home from university, but they enjoyed Trent's company as well.
"Oh yeah!" Hannah said. She went over and gave Trent a big hug. "Hi Trent."
"Hey, Hannah." Trent said back to her as he knelt down and hugged her. "It's good to see you again."
"Hi, Trent!" Spencer said he fist-bumped Trent. He went over to Cody and fist-bumped him. "Cody! I can't wait for another piano lesson from you!"
"And I can't wait to teach you again!" Cody said to him.
"Uncle Noah, do you and Cody want to play video games with me?" Spencer said as he pulled his hand towards his room. Hannah looked over to Nicole.
"I want to show you my new dolls, Aunt Nicole!" She began to pull Nicole in the direction of her bedroom, but Bethany and Joshua took the kids' hands and pulled them away from Noah and Nicole.
"They just got back from a summer-long tour, how about we let them unpack first, okay?" Bethany said as she nudged their shoulders. The kids frowned.
"Okay, I guess so." The kids went back over to the TV, and Candice emerged from the kitchen as the commotion died down.
"Hi guys!" Candice squealed as she gave a hug to Nicole, who she hadn't seen since her trip home during spring break.
"Candice! It's so good to see you again." She said.
"It's good to see you too, girl!" She walked over to Trent, Cody, and Noah and gave both of them a hug.
"The Drama Brothers!" She sang. She looked at the five of them. "I didn't think you had it in you, Noah. I saw some of the videos online."
"To be fair, I didn't think I had it in me, either." He chuckled.
"Oh please, you did a great job." Candice said to him.
"I am going to get started on dinner. Candice, would you like to stay?" Bethany asked.
"Oh, I wish I could, but you know me. Duty calls."
"Maybe next time, then. Well, thank you, Candice! Next week is the beginning of school, so we'll be back to our regular schedule."
"No problem!" She began to wave goodbye to the kids, who were already back in their television trance, and she grabbed her keys as she waved goodbye to everyone and walked out the door.
"It's always good to see Candice." Nicole said. "I miss her cooking."
"Well tonight you've got my cooking, so try not to be too disappointed." They all laughed as Bethany went over to the kitchen.
"After being on the road all summer, a home cooked meal sounds perfect." Trent said.
"Should we go put our suitcases away?" Noah asked. Hannah came over to Nicole and Trent, and she was pulling on Nicole's arm.
"Aunt Nicole! Can you and Trent come play now?" She begged, ignoring her mother's wishes to leave them alone. Nicole looked over to Noah.
"I'll meet up with you later." Nicole and Trent began walking over to Hannah's room as Noah and Cody walked into their room with their suitcases. Bethany and Joshua had left it just as it looked at the beginning of the summer. The two of them had a lot of packing to do before moving into their new place, so Noah was relieved he left the space clean.
"Can we just lie down for a bit?" Cody said. "I'm feeling a bit jet lagged."
"Yeah, of course. No problem." The two of them flung themselves onto the bed, with Noah assuming the big spoon and Cody getting into the little spoon position. Noah could tell something was up with Cody, and he wrapped his arms around him. "You've been really quiet today." Cody faced Noah, still wrapped in Noah's embrace.
"I'm just really sad that the Drama Brothers is over. I feel like everyone has a plan post-tour, and I don't."
"You have a plan. We're moving into our own place together."
"But that's our plan." Cody mentioned. "What about my plan? The Drama Brothers was something to fall back on after Total Drama ended. What am I going to do now, stream video games in my room until 4am again? I don't know if I want to go back to that lifestyle." Noah frowned. He hardly ever sees Cody not look at things on the positive side, and it was hard for him to see him like this. He tried to take a page out of Cody's book and held him tighter.
"Whatever you end up doing, I'll be here for you." Noah said. Cody smiled at him as he stroked his jawline, and gave him a passionate kiss. He then turned around, allowing himself to be comforted in Noah's embrace. The two were silent for a few moments, but it was a comfortable silence.
"Hey, Noah?" He noticed Noah didn't answer back right away. "Noah?" He turned around to see Noah had loosened his grip and fallen asleep. Cody then smiled, and turned back around, shutting his eyes for a quick nap with Noah.
