"Jae... Hey Jae!" Jula hissed impatiently to her sister after pulling one of Jae's earphones out. "Wake up! We're landing!"
"Huh, what?"
"Dumbass, we're landing!"
"Oh, right, cool..."
Stuffing her iPod nano away in her pocket, Jae leaned back and looked out the window as the plane descended down towards the airport runway below while Jula covered her eyes.
"I hate flying..."
"Wuss.." Jae whispered.
"Whatever, I wasn't the one who was yelping like a puppy during the thunderstorm at Middleton Place."
"Shut up Jula, that's literally, in the past."
"So? It still happened."
Jae rolled her eyes.
"Just.. nevermind."
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About fifteen minutes later, Jae, Jula and their parents were just getting out of the terminal when Erik Barrington's cell phone went off and he quickly answered it. It was his brother, Jason, who was already at the front end of the airport and wondering if they had arrived yet.
"We just got in, so we'll see you in about ten minutes."
"Uncle Jason?" Jula asked.
Erik nodded and replied, "Let's go."
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Nearly ten minutes later, after fighting their way through a couple of crowds, Jae, Jula, Erik and Richelle finally arrived at the front of the airport where Jason was waiting. A tall man, nearly ten years younger than his brother, with short black hair and gray-green eyes, and an athletic build, Jason greeted Erik with a warm smile, revealing perfect white teeth; then he turned and cordially greeted Richelle before turning to Jae and Jula to wrap them both in a crushing bearhug.
"Hey Uncle Jason, I can't breathe!" Jula squeaked.
"Yeah, I'm gonna die!" Jae gasped.
Jason laughed.
"You two say that every time!"
"Yeah, well you're only six foot three and over 200 pounds of muscle! Good god!" Jae exclaimed while her uncle only shook his head and smiled in response.
"So, are we all ready to go now?" he asked.
"Heck yes we are!" Jula replied.
Erik rolled his eyes and replied, "I guess so..."
"Ah, come now man, am I really that bad?"
"Well..."
Jason rolled his eyes.
"Don't even think about replying. I already know what you're going to say." he said with a smirk.
"Good. But yes, let's go."
Jae sighed in mock exasperation.
"Finally... god..."
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Approximately two hours later, the Barringtons found themselves at Jason's large Georgian style house, which sat in the middle of a large expanse of property, including horse trails, which he frequented with his thoroughbreds, Sangre, Ignatius, and Divino.
Parking his SUV in the driveway, Jason helped Erik, Richelle, Jae and Jula unload their luggage and carry it into the house.
"Well, I'm assuming you all know where you're sleeping..."
"Yes, we do." Erik replied. "Just please tell me you didn't short sheet the bed in our room before we came."
Jason smiled mischievously in response and Erik groaned.
"Hey, I didn't say anything, you two will just have to find out when you get up there.."
"Did you do our beds too?" Jae asked.
"Go see..."
Jae looked over at Jula with an excited glint in her eyes, and the two rushed up the stairs to their rooms, jumping on the beds, which were indeed, short sheeted, when they got to them.
"God I love this place!" Jae shouted excitedly to no one in particular. "The beds are so soft, and they're four-posters too!"
Suddenly there was a loud sharp bark and Jae turned to see her uncle's white doberman standing in the doorway looking at her, wagging his stub of a tail, a jubilant look in his eyes as he held a large bone in his mouth.
"Hey Aries! Come here!"
Aries dropped his bone and bounded over to Jae, leaping on her in a fit of excitement and toppling her to the ground.
"Boy, you're huge!"
Aries barked in response and licked Jae's face.
"Eeewwwww! Dog drool!"
Shoving Aries off of her, Jae almost got up when Jason's other dog, another doberman with a rust colored coat named Blaze charged in and knocked her over, barking loudly.
"Blaze! Sorry buddy, how could I forget you?"
Blaze cocked his head and backed off of Jae, allowing her to stand up, wipe her face off and pat him on the head as he wagged his stubby tail while Aries looked on with a jealous glint in his eyes.
"Oh come on, Aries, you know I love you too."
"Jae, Jula, come down and eat!" Jason's voice echoed from downstairs.
Quickly, Jae rushed out of the room, nearly tripping because of Aries and Blaze, and sped down the stairs and all the way to the kitchen, where her mother and father were already sitting as her uncle set out a large roast on the table.
"Mmmm..."
"Sit down and have at it."
"Heck yes!" said Jula, stepping into the kitchen.
Jae nodded.
"Time to feast.."
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After a more than filling supper, Jae rushed upstairs to take a shower and then got dressed in a pair of pajama pants and a black shirt which had the phrase 'can't touch this' emblazoned in white lettering on it; then crawling in to bed, she was just about to turn off the light when her cell phone rang. It was Aidan.
"Hello?"
"Hello Jae. Tell me, are you at your uncle's yet?"
"Yeah, we are."
"That's good. Are you enjoying yourself?" Aidan asked, masking the eagerness in his voice with a light tone.
"Oh definitely. I love it here."
"Have you talked to your parents about the 'tour' yet?"
"Yes. They said this Saturday. Do you think you could get us in?"
"It's done. And remember, you're not paying for this."
"Cool, thanks. Oh, and if they ask, I won a contest, and that's the reason for the free tour."
Aidan chuckled.
"I've got it. Jae, you are one smart girl."
"Thanks." Jae replied, blushing slightly.
"Well, now that that's settled, I should probably let you go to bed."
"Yeah, I'll talk to you later."
With that Jae hung up the phone, turned off the light and fell into a deep and peaceful sleep.