The kids settled into watching the movie in the car with very little complaint. About thirty minutes later, though, a little voice spoke up from the back. "Mama, I need to go to the bathroom."

"You will have to hold it for a little while, Jude. We are not near an exit right now. Why didn't you go at Burger King?"

"I did try to go there, but I didn't need to. Now, though, I am having an emergency. We need to stop now."

Lena sighed. "Like I said, there are no exits close. You are going to have to hold it for a little while."

"But I can't, Mama! I can go outside if we just pull over. That's what Jesus and I do in the backyard sometimes. Mommy says it is okay because we are boys. Please?"

Lena glanced in the mirror to see that Jude was holding himself and wiggling all over his seat. He obviously did need to go. "Fine. We will pull over right over here. Brandon, will you get out with him and make sure that he isn't visible from the road, please?"

"Sure." Brandon said as the car stopped and he climbed out. "Come on, Jude." He took his little brother a few feet from the car.

"I think I need to pee, too!" Jesus announced loudly.

"Well, then get out and go while we are stopped." Lena looked back at the two girls. "How about you two?"

Callie and Mariana looked at each other disgustedly and Callie then spoke up. "No, thank you. I would rather have an accident."

"Let's not go that far, Callie." Lena said smiling a little anyway.

"Why are we stopped this time?" Stef asking rubbing her eyes a little.

"The boys needed to urinate and someone has told them that going outside is fine for them…"

Stef let out a genuine laugh. "That would be me. I was always super jealous of my male cousins and friends who could just whip it out and go anywhere. I would hate for anyone with that ability to not use it. Therefore I encouraged them to do that outside. It has saved us cleaning muddy footprints off of our kitchen floor several times along the way as well as giving them almost uninterrupted play."

"I see. My half-brother was too old for me to have learned things like that from him. Most of my friends were girls. People back east are also a little different."

"You really didn't know, Mama?" Callie said getting back into the conversation. "Brandon has peed outside as long as I have known him. A teacher at school had to tell Jesus to stop doing that on the playground once. Mom just had Jude play outside naked when he was potty training…."

"That would explain why he always wanted to take off his close at that age. I guess I had never thought about it before." Lena stopped as the boys were getting back into the car.

"Thanks, Mama!" Jude said settling back into his seat.

As soon as the car started moving again, the kids all sat back happily with their movie. Lena almost heard nothing from them again until the movie was over. "Should I start the next one?" She asked looking in the mirror.

"No." "Yes." She got as a response.

"I want to read my book." Brandon said knowing the Lena would always put reading above any other activity.

"Well, I want to watch a movie!" Jesus challenged.

"What if we took like a thirty minute movie break? You can read or work in one of the puzzle books we packed last night. How about that?"

"Mama! Reading makes me car sick! You know that!" Mariana said in a whiney voice.

"Well, we also brought those rubber band things you like to make bracelets out of. That is a quiet activity that I think you might be able to do in the car if you are careful. Callie, I believe the bag is at your feet. Could you either hand the loom and rubber bands to your sister or hand her the bag?"

"I am busy right now." Callie answered opening her book to where she had left off.

"Not busy enough to not obey me."

"She can get it herself. She is in the other middle seat. I am trying to read."

"Perhaps I did not make myself clear, Callie, you will hand your sister her things right now. You have a choice to do it now, or a choice to do it after I pull the car over and take your book as well as your IPod and DS. You will not be getting them back for the duration of this trip. Do you understand what I am saying?"

Callie set her book down. "Yes, Mama. I am handing it to her right now." She said reaching for the bag.

"Thank you. I knew you would make a good choice."

Everything was fairly quiet again for a while before Jude spoke up again. "Jesus is touching me. I don't want him to."

"Did you tell him to stop, sweetheart? Remember that many times you can stop a conflict before it starts."

"Jesus, quit touching me." Jude said and then immediately yelled. "He did it again, Mama!"

"I did not. I am sitting still. He is the one touching me."

"That's sort of right, Mama." Brandon agreed. "Jesus is holding a few fingers near Jude, not really touching him. But everything Jude moves, he touches Jesus's fingers."

"I see, thank you, Brandon. Jesus leave your hands to yourself. That means not even putting them near your brother. When we stop for lunch we will change seats again. Until then try to make this work."

"When is lunch? I am starving!" Jesus said taking his hands away from Jude.

"Well, probably not until closer to noon. So, about two hours from now. There are a few snacks in the bag back there. Callie, could you give a bag of crackers to Jesus?" Callie complied quicker this time. "Thank you. Now, we will put in another movie. If you don't want to watch, you can do something else, but I think some of you would like to watch. By the time the movie is over, we will be able to talk about lunch."

"Mama I thought we were going to make a stop before lunch." Mariana said from the back. "Now I have to go to the bathroom."

"We will take the next exit. I could put some gas in the car, too. Then we will put in the next movie."

At the gas station while Lena filled up the tank with gas, she sent the kids in to use the restroom despite the protest of the boys that they did not need to go. As the kids waited for her to join them in the little store they wandered around and made a few selections.

"No way Mama is going to buy that for you, Jesus!" Callie said looking at the large candy bar her brother picked up.

"Maybe I have my own money, you don't know what I have!" He argued back.

"I do so! Remember when we went to the arcade? You had no money then and we lost our allowance, remember?"

"Oh, yeah, but maybe Mama will buy it anyway…" He said less convinced.

"Mama is going to say that we already have snacks in the car. Our best chance of getting something is to pick out a drink. She wouldn't ever buy any of us any sort or soda, but I think if we work it right we can something other than water." Mariana said giving an evil grin.

"How?" Brandon asked suspiciously.

"Well, first, we sent Jude out to ask Mama if we can get drinks. When she says yes, we pick things that she would really object to. Then, we have a slightly better choice which she agrees to quickly." Mariana explained.

"Where do you get these things?" Callie asked in awe.

"This one came from a TV show that I watched at Lexie's house."

Jude was deployed to ask about drinks and he did come back with an affirmative answer. All of them quickly grabbed a drink Lena would hate and one she might say yes to. Jude had failed to mention that Lena only said yes based upon everyone getting water. They were ready when she walked into the store. "What are you all up to?"

"We found the drinks we want, Mama." Mariana said as innocently as possible. All the kids held up their drinks.

"Absolutely not. In fact, go put those back. We have an ice chest full of water in the back of the car already. I am not sure what I was thinking."

"But wait, Mama! Isn't this a better choice? Couldn't I get this one?" Mariana again spoke for the group.

"No. I told Jude water, but since you couldn't listen we are going to do it my way. Put those away and go to the car."

XXXX

As Lena predicted, when the second movie was over, everyone was ready for lunch. "I am really hungry!" Jesus complained. "I have already had a snack. Please, can we stop?"

"It really is time to stop this time, Bud. You guys watch for exits with food. When you can find something you can all agree on, we will stop." Lena said hoping for a quick agreement.

"You said we could have McDonalds for lunch, remember, Mama?" Jude asked.

"I do remember. If we find one that would be fine. If not, you may need to make another choice."

"I see a sign!" Brandon practically yelled. "It says it has a McDonalds! Are we going to stop?"

"Does everyone agree to eat there?" Lena asked looking in the mirror at her restless children.

"Yes." They chorused.

"It also looks like they have a Subway, so think carefully, babies." Lena offered hoping to go somewhere slightly healthier.

"No, Mama, we all want to go to McDonalds." Callie answered for the group.

Lena took the exit and quickly found the restaurant of choice. "Okay, I need for all of you to come tell me what you want and then go find a table."

"Are we allowed to have Sprite to drink this time, Mama?" Mariana asked sweetly.

"Sure, you may have Sprite, but nothing with caffeine."

Stef stirred as the car stopped. "Are we out of California yet?" She asked as she woke up.

"Not quite, but we are over halfway there. Are you going to eat with us?"

Stef looked at the clock. "Yeah, I think this would be a good time to wake up, that way I can actually sleep tonight, probably." Stef opened her door and stretched as the kids started piling out. "How is the trip going, Babe? I mean, I realize it is taking a little longer than we first added up."

"Not too bad. We are less than an hour off from our goal. I think we will make it to Flagstaff in less than three more hours. The kids have been doing okay for the most part. They have not fought as much as they do at home sometimes. Now that you are up, we can start all the classic car games I looked up online."

"First, we need to join our kids inside and get some food into everyone." Stef said taking Lena's hand and walking into the restaurant. "Then, I think I will move to the back and join the kids in the car games if you want to get a little time with Brandon in the front. Sound good?"

XXXX

"I spotted the X in exit first, Jesus! You can't claim it after I have already found it." Callie said leaning over Stef to argue with her brother.

"That's not true. You found the X on a different sign. I found it earlier, I just didn't say anything. I was waiting to win the whole game. Maybe you can't have my X."

"This game is not competitive." Stef inserted when she could. "We are all working together and we are all trying to find a Y. It actually doesn't matter who finds it first."

"Yes, it does, Mom! I have found ten letters, A, D, G, H, J, P, R, U, V, and X. Jesus only found nine, Mariana found three, and Jude found two. I am winning." Callie insisted.

"I see. I guess that means that if Jesus found the X first, he would have ten letters and you would have nine… However, the important thing is that you all are working together. You both need to understand that our family is one team. When we finish this game we all win." Stef looked between the two kids who were both giving her strange looks.

"I see Y on the billboard for visiting the Grand Canyon!" Mariana announced. "Now we are just looking for the z."

"That's not fair! Mom was distracting us from getting to look, so that doesn't count. Right, Callie?"

"Right, Jesus."

"It does, too!" Mariana said turning around and glaring at the other two. "Besides, we are all on the same team like Mommy said."

"Says someone who is going to lose." Jesus said quietly and promptly received a small flick to his shoulder. "Ow!"

"Watch what you are saying to your teammates." Stef said lightly getting on to him.

"I found a Z on that license plate." Jude said pointing. "Do I win?"

"No!" Callie and Jesus answered together.

"What they meant to say is that it has to be on a billboard or other sign. As a matter of fact, I spot on right now. Arizona has a Z in it and it is on that sign right there. This game is officially over." Stef announced sitting back in the seat again. "When we stop next, I am moving to the middle row. I agree that this seat in the middle of the back bench is not that comfortable."

"When we stop I get to sit up front with Mama, right?" Callie asked.

"Right. Then, our next stop is Flagstaff, Arizona for the night. We are really almost there." Stef pulled out the list of Lena's games again. "Let's see, we have don't the alphabet game and we did the Bingo cards Mama made…. That brings us to finding license plates from every state."

"Arizona!" Both Callie and Jesus yelled out while Jude looked perplexed. "California!"

"I think this game is too hard, Mommy! I can't read them that fast! What else is on the list?"

"How about we sing some songs?" Lena asked loudly enough for the kids to hear in the back. "You pick a song you know first, Jude."

XXX

"This is a much better spot." Stef commented to Jesus who was sitting in the other captain's chair in the middle row of the van.

"Much." He agreed.

"Hey, Mom, do you remember that time that Jude ate flour off the kitchen floor?" Brandon asked giggling under his breath.

"I did not. I would never do that!"

Stef laughed. "You did, Buddy. It happened when you were really little. Jesus was cooking with Mama. He accidently dropped a cup of flour on the floor instead of in the bowl. You toddled over to it and stuffed a handful into your mouth before anyone could stop you. I had sort of forgotten about that. The look on your face, though, was priceless."

Jude made a bad face. "Flour doesn't taste very good by itself. I still don't remember eating it like that, though."

"That's okay. When Brandon was about that age, he tried to eat an electrical cord once. Luckily he didn't have very many teeth yet or we might not now him now." Stef said reaching back to tousle his hair a little.

"What about me, Mom? Did I ever put anything in my mouth like that?" Jesus asked.

"Well, I didn't know you until you were nearly four, but as a matter of fact, yes. Just after you moved in with us, you ate almost a whole baggy full of homemade play dough. You said you liked the flavor and you thought it was food. Mama panicked, but we found out it wasn't toxic. It ended okay, but we did tell you to not eat it again. Mama wouldn't even let you near play dough for several months."

Jesus laughed. "It does taste good…. I remember when Jude ate a penny once."

"That's right, he did. Grandpa Frank left a penny on his coffee table. Mama and I both had to leave work to meet them at the hospital. We all fell asleep and wound up picked you guys up late from school. We were more careful after that."

Mariana eyed Stef carefully. "Until you both left me at school when I was in first grade. Callie had a dentist appointment and you picked her up a few minutes early. I was in my classroom wiping off desks and I didn't know that Mama was wanting to leave right after school. She thought I left with you. When I got to the office, Mary called Mama to come back for me. We went for ice cream because Mama felt really bad."

"Huh. I was never really left." Jesus commented.

"Mariana used to be very quiet and therefore could be missed. You were never quiet and therefore we always knew where you were. Callie got left at the park once, but that was halfway on purpose. I really just circled the park."

"I remember that!" Brandon said with a grin. "You just took the two of us to the park…. It might have been before Jesus and Mariana, I am not sure. Callie said she wasn't ready to leave, but you told her to get into the car. Then you said you were leaving her. She still didn't get in the car. I remember when we were driving away I thought we would never see Callie again and I was really upset. Then we went back for her and she ran to the car."

"It happened after we already had the twins. Mama had taken them and Jude somewhere. Remember that before we got them you were only five. I wouldn't have left a four or five year old at the park alone. She was more like seven."

"I bet Mama was still mad." Jesus said smirking at his mom. "I bet you had to sleep on the couch a whole week after leaving one of her babies at the park."

Stef leaned toward the kids to speak where only they could hear. "I bet we didn't tell Mama about it at all." The four kids in the back cracked up laughing.

"It is a shame you shared it with me now, Babe." Lena said looking back with a grin.

"I brought her back to you unharmed, so there is no real issue now. Next time I said it was time to go, she got in the car. My method was effective, right Callie?" Stef said winking at Callie who had turned around from the front.

"Right… At least that time. I remember another time that you grounded me from the kitchen. Remember that one?"

"How could I forget? You decided to make a midnight snack. Instead you wasted quite a few groceries and left the kitchen a huge mess. We made you clean the kitchen up the next day and then I said you were grounded from it for a week. I think that one lasted less than a day."

The kids again giggled a little at this memory. "I couldn't take my turn doing dishes or help Mama make dinner. I also couldn't get water to drink unless I asked someone to get it for me. Mama got frustrated and ungrounded me while you were at work."

"But you didn't leave the kitchen in that kind of mess again, so I still think my methods are effective…"

"Whatever make you sleep at night…" Jesus said playfully ducking away from Stef's hand.