A/N: This chapter has been sitting on my computer since I started this story and was one of the first I wrote. It's changed a lot since it's first draft. I just thought it would be fun to see this day from another perspective.

Enjoy!

"Alright, everyone ready?" Kevin asks, slamming the trunk of their car and clapping his hands together. It's pretty early in the morning, and the neighborhood is still waking up, so the closing trunk echoes loudly around the street.

"No," Grace pouts, wiggling further into her grandmother's side. She doesn't want to leave! Grace loves spending time with her grandparents at their beach home in Florida; especially since the ocean isn't to far away from their front porch.

But when Mommy and Daddy told them that after their time with Mimi and Papa they would be going for a whole week to Disney World with Aunt Lanie and Uncle Javi and Aunt Kate and Uncle Rick and all of the little kids, Grace couldn't wait to leave.

The last time they had gone to Disney was when Kieran was a baby and she was just tall enough to ride the Big Kid rides and Daddy had to take her on most of them because Mommy had to stay with Kieran because he was too little. But this time; this time was better. Kieran was bigger and could go on more rides and all of their cousins would be there. It was going to be great!

But she was still sad to be leaving Mimi and Papa's house.

"You guys are going to have so much fun," Mimi cheers, leading Grace to the car and helping her get buckled in while Papa does the same with her younger brother.

"I'll miss you," Grace says, her face falling.

"I'll miss you too. But we'll see each other soon." And with one more hug and kiss, Mimi turns away, making room for Grace's Papa.

"Don't be sad, little one," Papa says, using a finger to lift Grace's chin. He smiles and pulls funny faces, trying to get his granddaughter to smile, and after a minute Grace cracks a smile. "I'll see you later. I love you."

"I love you too," Grace replied, hugging her grandfather once more before he closes her door and steps away.

She can hear the muffled conversation between her parents and grandparents outside and sees them give each other hugs.

"We'll call when we get there," Jenny answers her mom's question, opening her door and getting into the passenger seat while Ryan slides into the drivers' side and turns the key in the ignition.

The first chance she gets, Grace rolls down her window.

"Bye!" She calls as they pull down the driveway and into the street.

"Bye, honey!" her grandparents call back.

Grace waves out the window until she can't see them anymore.

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Two hours into their drive, Ryan pulls off the highway into a gas station. The car is quiet, the muffled dialogue from the kids' DVD player and dimmed music coming from the car speakers are the only sounds.

As he fills up, Ryan looks into the car windows. Kieran is asleep, head tilted against the side of his car seat; Jenny is also napping, using the strap of her seat belt as a makeshift pillow. Behind his wife, Grace is still awake, listening to the movie and concentrating on the picture she is coloring on her lap.

"Hey, Gracie," Kevin whispers, getting his daughter's attention. "Do you want to come with me?"

"Yeah," she replies, slipping her marker back into its case and reaching over for the catch of her seatbelt.

Father and daughter meet at the back of the SUV, and Kevin takes Grace's hand as they walk across the busy parking lot.

A chiming bell marks their entrance into the convenience store, and they make a beeline for the bathrooms at the back.

"Meet me out here, okay?" He asks, and his eight year old nods, turning into the women's bathroom while he enters the men's across the hall.

She's waiting against the wall when he comes out of the bathroom, arms crossed on her chest, people watching as patrons come and go from the store.

"Ready? Let's go pick a snack." He lays a hand on her shoulder as they start to walk.

"Can I get pop?" the girl asks, knowing that she's normally not allowed to have the carbonated drink.

"Yeah, sure. Why not," Kevin shrugs, heading over to the coolers and picks out drinks for himself and his wife while his daughter decides on her own.

Grace grabs a Cherry Coke for herself and a Spiderman juice for her little brother because if she's not allowed to have pop, then Kieran is really not allowed. Even if it is a special vacation treat.

After they had picked their drinks, the duo wander the aisles grabbing packets of chips and Goldfish and bags of candy to complete their snack run. The lady at the counter rings up their order, and then they head back to the car to hit the road again.

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"Grace Jennifer! Leave your brother alone," Jenny scolds her daughter.

Kieran had woken up from his nap in a very foul mood, and his sister bugging him was not helping in the least to bring him out of it.

"But he's taking my markers!" Grace argues.

"Then you need to share with him.'

"But he has his own! Why can't he use those? Why does he have to use mine?!"

"Share with your brother or I'm taking them away."

The only response Jenny gets is a huffed breath, and she sighs, rubbing the bridge of her nose.

[] []

"How much longer!?"

She's whining; everyone knows it.

The adults in the car share an annoyed eye roll at the routine that had been going on for the past ninety minutes.

"Fifteen minutes," Ryan answers, changing lanes.

"How long is that!?"

"Half an episode of 'Bug Juice'," he says, using Grace's favorite television show as a measurement of time.

"Ugh! That's forever!"

[] []

Five minutes later, Grace was too occupied spotting the signs and billboards that had been popping up along the road to be bored.

"Look! Another one! See? Kieran, look! It's Mickey Mouse!"

The siblings, now over their earlier tiff, look excitedly out their windows for the signs that keep getting closer and closer together as they get nearer to their destination.

"Look, mommy! It's Mickey Mouse!" Kieran shouts.

"I see, baby," Jenny replies, reveling in her son's enthusiasm.

As the GPS starts giving them final directions to their hotel, they drive under the sign heralding: "Disney World: The Happiest Place on Earth." And the kids go absolutely nuts. They are so excited that after so long in the car they are finally there.

A couple more turns, and Kevin is pulling up the driveway to their hotel: Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge. Instantly they are immersed in a whole new world; they're not in Florida anymore, they are pulling into an African village, getting set to go on safari and look for rhinos and elephants.

Grace is the first to take off her seatbelt and get out, her mom right behind, as her dad parks under the overhang. A pair of staff members rush over to meet them, smiles plastered on their faces.

"Hello! Jambo!" one of them says, shaking Jenny's hand before moving to Grace. "Jambo, Princess," he smiles to her. "'Jambo' means 'hello' or 'welcome' in Swahili."

"Hi," Grace says, suddenly shy.

"Hello!" The other of the pair had gone to help Kevin with their bags and was slapping five with a now happy Kieran, the two already becoming fast friends.

"Aye! This one is coming with us," the second Cast Member says, pushing a luggage cart with the family's suitcases on it, pointing to Kieran, who is smiling.

"No!" Grace shouts, rushing to her brother's side and taking his hand. "You can't have him." The adults laugh at her, but Grace is being totally serious, not picking up on the humor.

"It's alright, little Princess," the first one, who had talked to her, says. "You little brother is not going anywhere."

They follow the two up to the curb, where they tell them where to go to check in, and their bags go one way and the Ryan family goes another.

"Don't we have to take out stuff up to our room, dad?" Grace asks, watching their black suitcases be wheeled out of her sight. That's the way they always do it when they stay at other hotels. So why not here?

"Nope, they are gonna bring them up for us," Kevin answers, looking around the enormous lobby for the rest of their group.