Episode 17

"Family Traditions"

I don't own these characters, but it would be nice if I did.

Wait...In this story, I created some of the characters, so I will actually own them.

Anyways, I do promise to keep them true to themselves.

And as to the ones I create, who they are is up to me, so...

New Haven

About three o'clock that Sunday afternoon, Cody and Bailey finally arrived back at their dorm room in Berkeley North. In years past, they would have been back much earlier to work on any school work they had to do, but this year, they had nothing pressing on them to do once they got back. While others on campus were starting to freak out that finals were now only two weeks away, Cody and Bailey barely even gave them a single thought. Of their four classes they had semester, their EP&E senior project had already been turned in, and all they already already finished the Computers and the Law project before Thanksgiving and then their remaining homework for the class while they had been back in Boston. That just left them with two classes they had to worry about, and all one of them required was to keep monitoring their Biology experiments. And for their Psychology of Food class, they had already turned in their group project in there, and their final was still a week and a half away. So, that Sunday afternoon, they just hung around their dorm room enjoying the fact that they finally had some time alone without any interruptions. Well, they did for a couple of hours until Cody received a phone call from his soon to be father-in-law.

"Clyde? Hey, what's going on?"

"Uh huh...Uh huh..." Cody paused. "You want to know if I own camouflage clothes? Why?"

"Oh...OH..." His eyes went wide. "Well, I appreciate you thinking of me, but I'm going to have to run that past your daughter first. I think we both know her feelings on that matter, and to be blunt, sir, I'm the one who would take the brunt of her anger..."

"Well, okay...I'll talk to her and call you back later..."

As Cody hung up his phone, Bailey looked over at him with a questioning look on her face. "What did Daddy want?"

He paused again. "Well, Bails...it seems he and your brothers-in-law want to take me out hunting while were in Kettlecorn over Christmas break..."

Her eyes went wide. "They want you to do what?"

"They want to take me hunting. I really have no interesting in going, but I didn't want to be rude and just tell them no. I know it would be a good way to bond with them, but I also know what your position on that subject is..."

Bailey shook her head. "What did they want you to go out hunting for exactly? Do they want you to shoot some innocent looking deer or squirrel or rabbit?"

Cody paused. "Actually, no. They want me to go hunting for something called a snipe. What's a snipe?"

"Oh..." She paused too. "I think I understand now. Snipes are these pests...kind of like rodents...that try to eat up all the food for the farm animals that we've stored for the winter. Those things are evil and deserve to be hunted!"

He just looked at her in surprise. "Really?"

"Yeah..." She smiled. "So, I don't have a problem if you do go with them. As long as that's all you guys go looking for..."

"Well...Okay. I'll call your Dad back then. I guess I'm going hunting for the first time in my life..." He paused again. "And you won't hold this against me?"

Bailey laughed. "I promise..."

So Cody pulled out his cellphone to call Clyde back. And Bailey just sat there on the futon trying her best not to bust out laughing again. Fortunately, when she called her parents on Thanksgiving, her Dad had mentioned this little outing to her to forewarn her. Seems this was a tradition that her father and brothers-in-law did to essentially initiate all of the new members of the family. Having seen what had happened in the past, Bailey could hardly wait to see how Cody would handle this.

Come Monday, everyone at Yale began their final full week of classes for the semester. By Thursday, they had finished all of their homework for their Psychology of Food class and only had their final on the following Tuesday left to worry about. Of course, with having no classes on Friday or Monday, they were planning on spending four straight days studying for it. They figured that would give them a leg up on doing better on it than the rest of their classmates. Well, almost all of them. They didn't think that test would rank on the list of things Theo was currently worried about. And the following Tuesday, they were officially done for the semester. Their exam was over by 10:15, and in their final class of the semester, their Computers and the Law professor let them know their A's for the semester were already marked down without having to take the finals. He did say they could take it for kicks if they wanted to, but they declined his offer.

That evening, Cody and Bailey headed out again with Tapeworm and Gertie for their final trivia night of 2014. Of course, with how stressed Gertie looked from her final week and a half of classes, they figured it would be a good idea not to mention to her that they were officially done and could go home whenever they wanted. But, it was nice to win some more cash prizes as they did still have some Christmas shopping to do once they got back to Boston. And, they did all celebrate only having one semester left with a champagne toast before heading back to the dorm to officially begin reading week.

And until the following Monday at noon, Cody and Bailey focused all of their attention on their Biology experiments. Well, almost all of it. On Sunday afternoon, Trixie did ask for one final study session with them as her organic chemistry final was the next morning. But that next day, when they left the lab to go grab lunch, they officially cut themselves off from doing any more experiments. Whatever they had done by now would just have to be good enough for Professor Cole. That evening, before dinner, while Bailey and Gertie were in their final self defense class of the year, Cody and Tapeworm were working out for the last time that semester. And that's when Cody dropped the bomb on his friend, and Tapeworm could only shake his head in disbelief.

"You guys are really heading back to Boston in the morning?"

Cody grinned. "Yeah. We've actually been done since Tuesday at noon..."

Tapeworm just shook his head again. "Un-freaking-believable! I already thought your schedule this semester was a joke, but this is just flat out ridiculous!"

Cody laughed. "Yeah, I know..."

Tapeworm smirked at him. "Let me guess. Next thing you'll tell me is that you two have already begun doing homework for next semester already..."

Cody paused. "Well..."

He rolled his eyes. "Oh, for the love of God! You're kidding me, right?"

"Well, not really doing homework yet per se. You remember how I wanted to take our Food class this semester, and Bailey gets to pick a class for us next semester?"

Tapeworm nodded. "Yeah..."

"Well, turns out there will be quite a bit of reading in that class, so we stopped by the professor's office this afternoon hoping to pick up a copy of the reading list for next semester. Turns out, there are twenty books on it..."

His eyes went wide. "Twenty books? Are you insane? You're willingly taking a class the last semester of your senior year that requires you to read twenty friggin' books? Cody, I think you've finally lost your mind!"

Cody just shrugged. "A promise is a promise, and Bailey really wants to take this class. Trust me, there is one book on the list that I would rather drill a hole in my head with a power drill than to read, and Bailey is already giving me a hard time about it. Fortunately though, of the twenty, I've already ready sixteen of them, and Bailey has read seventeen of them. The one more she's read is the one I really don't want to. And since we'll be flying to Kansas, we've decided to pick up the ones we haven't read yet to read on the plane. Hopefully by the time next semester starts, we'll have all twenty read..."

"Yeah, while I guess I can see that, I have two words for you - Cliff's Notes!"

"I've never used them before in my life, but for this one book, I think I would. Unfortunately, they don't make them for it..."

"Sucks to be you then..." Tapeworm paused and grinned. "But we're all still taking that other gut class though, right?"

Cody just laughed. "You bet we are! I've wanted to take that class since our freshmen years! Finally my three years on the boat will come in handy..."

Tapeworm looked up at the clock in the gym. "Well, I need to get back to check on my program before dinner. Hopefully its done by now, and I can compile it while we eat..." He smirked again. "As you can see, some of us aren't lucky enough to be done quite yet..."

The next morning, Cody and Bailey packed up their things. Fortunately, they found an open spot at a parking meter that Bailey stood in and saved while Cody went to get their car. After they fed it several quarters, they began the long process of loading up the car. Before they left to head back to Boston though, they had one final brunch with Tapeworm and Gertie. Cody and Bailey wished them good luck with their finals, a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. After everyone hugged each other goodbye. Cody and Bailey headed back for their car as their friends headed back to studying. But before they could exit the dorm, someone ran up and hugged Bailey.

"Thank you both for your help on Sunday! I think I did really well on my final!"

The next thing they knew, Trixie released her embrace on Bailey and threw her arms around Cody. Unfortunately, that was the exact moment that Ox walked into the lobby and saw the site before him. It was like a bull seeing red, and he stormed over towards them as fast as he could.

"What the hell is going on here!"

Cody heard his voice, and his eyes went wide. But before he could say anything, Trixie pulled away from Cody and shook her head at her boyfriend.

"I was just thanking them both for helping me study this semester. You really need to work on your jealousy issue, Oxie..."

Cody shook his head. "Besides, for the millionth time, I'm ENGAGED to Bailey here. I'm going to marry her next summer. Quit acting like I'm the anti-christ for tutoring Trixie...Sheesh!"

Bailey was trying not to laugh, but Ox was still glaring at Cody. "So says you! I..."

"You'll do nothing! Bailey and I are done for the semester, so we're heading home. I think you need a new year's resolution of getting anger management. You have a great girlfriend who actually puts up with you. If you aren't careful, you're going to drive her away..." Cody shook his head and turned back to Bailey. "Come on...lets go home."

And with that, they headed out the door and to their car. Five minutes later, they were on the road back to Boston, less than two weeks after they had just been there. But as they drove, both had big smiles on their faces as they realized they only had one more semester of college left.

Boston

The following Friday was December 19th, and Zack and Maya found themselves inching closer to the finish line of their own finals period at BU. When Cody and Bailey returned back from Yale on Monday afternoon, they vowed to try to stay out of Zack and Maya's way as much as possible. But Maya had a better idea and soon put them to work helping her study for her exams in her Clinical Medicine I and Functional Anatomy classes. So, that is how three of them spent the rest of the day before BU's finals began on Tuesday morning. By the time Zack and Maya met up to grab some lunch after their finals on Friday morning, Maya had finished three of her five finals while Zack had finished three of his four. After they had placed their orders, Zack turned to Maya and sighed.

"I had almost forgotten how much of a pain in the butt these finals can be. I sure am glad I graduate next spring..."

Maya smirked at him. "Oh, shut up! You have one final left on Sunday morning, and its in your class that was only a two credit one. Don't try to get any sympathy from me right now!"

He just shook his head and laughed. "Well, unlike you, I haven't had my own personal set of tutors helping me study for mine..."

She just smiled. "Hey, over the summer, they helped me study for and nail my physics classes. And it just so happened that I had two more classes this semester that covered things they were well familiar with. Don't hate the player...hate the game." She gave him a look. "Besides, aren't you happy for me that I think I aced my Functional Anatomy exam this morning."

"Don't get cocky here. Not my fault they don't know too much about the classes I'm taking this semester..." He grinned. "Of course, my last exam in on Sunday while yours is on Monday afternoon. What should I do on Sunday evening while you still have your nose buried in a book..."

"As long as you don't get in my way, I really don't care. But if you do bother me, you might need a sweater due to how frigid it will get in the suite..."

Zack laughed. "Okay, okay. I won't interrupt you unless the hotel is on fire. But I can say one thing for sure. I won't be spending it like those two have been. They've had their noses buried in books more than we have, and they've been done with their semesters since last Tuesday!"

Maya sighed. "Yeah, that must have been nice to have had everything done so soon..."

"I used to think Tapeworm was just whining about their schedules, but that was ridiculous..." He laughed again. "Maybe I should get them to schedule my classes for me next semester? Maybe they can work some of their magic for me?"

"If they can, send them my way too..." She paused. "Though, I'm not sure if they will be receptive to helping you after you constantly keep slapping Cody upside the back of the head."

He held up his hands. "Hey, I'm not doing that because I want to...well, not entirely. Back in high school, He told me to slap him if I ever saw him reading one of the Twilight books, so that's what I've been doing."

"I doubt he was being literal when he said that..."

"I haven't seen him complain yet. And I can tell he hates reading it. What's the big deal with those books and movies anyways? Vampires and werewolves can be cool, but when you make them big wussies like that, what's the point?"

Maya laughed. "Must be a girl thing. You know, kind of like how you love all those stupid Adam Sandler movies..."

Zack's eyes went wide. "Hey! Those are some awesome flicks! Especially Big Daddy! The little boy in there reminds me of how Cody and I used to look when we were younger..."

"Oh, settle down. Besides, Cody isn't reading that book because he wants to. Bailey told me its on the reading list of a class they are planning on taking next semester. She says she enjoys listening to him gripe and complain about it though..."

He rolled his eyes. "Well, he deserves to get slapped upside the head then! Didn't they get enough of doing homework for a class they weren't in yet this past summer?" He shook his head. "I swear, they both must have overachieving in their DNA somewhere..."

She laughed again. "Well, since you two are twins, wouldn't it be in yours too?"

"Of course not! He must have gotten the mutated nerd gene while I got the cool one..."

"Uh huh...so says the guy going for his MBA after he graduates."

"At least I'm not going to worry about next semester until next semester..."

Maya just shook her head. "How about we change the subject to something a lot more pleasant? Like, how about the fact that Christmas is less than a week away." She gave him a look. "Since you didn't go with us on Black Friday, have you got your shopping done yet or will you be out with the other guys on Christmas Eve?"

"While I'm done quite yet, I will be well before then..."

"Let me guess...you plan on doing that on Monday while I'm doing my last minute cramming for my last final?"

Zack grinned. "Of course. But, I have to be done by two so I can pick up Mimi at the airport at three. And from there, we'll head back over here to BU to pick you up once you're done. Besides, she says she can't wait to see all of us again."

"I can't wait to see her again either. I'll never forget when I was still fighting to get myself back into your life how warm, kind and supportive of me she was. That really meant a lot to me."

"Well, she's very protective of her grandsons and only wants what's best for them. She immediately liked Bailey too, so once she knew Cody was in good hands, she turned her attention to me. She knows I'm in good hands now too, so she's turned her attention to bridge and canasta." He laughed. "So, if she asks you to play, you've been forewarned."

Maya laughed. "I'll keep that in mind. And speaking of relatives coming into town, my parents say they can wait to spend Christmas with us here in Boston too."

He shook his head. "Have I mentioned lately how incredibly lucky your Dad is? I mean, seriously? He's gotten all of us tickets for the Christmas Day game at the TD Garden between the Celtics and Lakers. Babe, that's going to be awesome!"

She laughed again. "I know...I might even root for the Celtics for once. As much as I dislike the Celtics as a Knicks fan, I hate Kobe Bryant even worse. I still can't believe he won't retire yet or that his wife took him back..."

"Because he still gives her over twenty million reasons a year why..."

"True I guess..."

"Anyways, I know my Mom can't wait to finally meet your parents. I sincerely hope that goes well and everyone gets along..."

"Don't worry, they will. My parents really like you, and your Mom seems to really like me too. I bet it will go just as smoothly as when you finally met them..."

Zack just gave her a look. "Have you forgotten that I almost soiled myself when your Dad told me he knew you were going to Vermont with me?"

Maya grinned. "No, but they do know we're living together now, so there aren't any more bombs like that to go off..."

"I sure hope so..."

"Well, we need to hurry up and eat so I can get back to the Tipton. Cody and Bailey are packing up to head back to Kansas tomorrow, so I want to get them to help me for as long as they can..."

Kettlecorn

That next day, Cody and Bailey caught their flight from Boston to Tulsa and landed in Oklahoma's second largest city about five o'clock that afternoon. After getting their rental car, they loaded it up and began the drive north towards Kettlecorn. As opposed to previous Christmas trips back, they found this one to be by far the easiest. They certainly didn't miss having to deal with layovers in Atlanta or freak weather that would cause them to spend endless ours in the Hartsfield Airport. And despite in being late December, the weather outside was a overcast and about forty degrees. Just before dinner time, they finally pulled in front of the Pickett family farm house. And like usual, Clyde was outside working when they got there. He told them to head on inside as dinner was just about ready, and he'd see them there in a few minutes. An hour later, everyone had eaten and was still sitting around the kitchen table.

Clyde grinned at Cody and Bailey. "So, I'm betting you two are on cruise control now with having only one semester of college left to go and your wedding all planned."

Bailey grinned back at her father. "I think we finally are. The last thing we had to take care of was to find a place for us to live next year near Harvard's medical school, and London helped us out with that. So, our list of things to do before we get married only has registering and graduation left on it. And London is taking us out to register after the first of the year. So, we're hoping we can just enjoy our final semesters at Yale."

"Well, I guess that doesn't give us much time to finally see what that place looks like, huh?"

Cody spoke up. "Have you seen the most recent Indiana Jones movie?"

Clyde nodded a little confused. "Yeah, why?"

"The place they used as a college setting in the beginning of the movie was Yale's campus. The library they road the motorcycle through is right next to our dorm."

"Whoa...that's pretty cool!" He paused. "Well, except for how bad that movie sucked..."

Cody could only nod. "Yeah, that was bad..."

Eunice just shook her head and laughed. "Anyways, the ones of us that can make it have already booked our plane tickets and hotel reservations so we can be their for your graduation in May. I just wish we hadn't been so busy still recovering from the twister to make your high school one." She turned to Cody and smiled. "And it will be nice to see your mother again. Plus, I can't wait to finally meet your father and grandmother."

He smiled back. "They can't wait either. All my Mimi could talk about in her last phone call to me was how proud she was that her grandson and soon to be granddaughter were about to be college grads. Fortunately, our graduation at Yale is on a Monday, and BU's is the following Saturday. Thankfully, they don't conflict with each other."

"That's good. We're due to fly out on a Saturday and land in Hartford."

"Just let us know when your flight is supposed to arrive, and we'll be there to pick you guys up."

Eunice smiled again. "Will do..." She paused. "Speaking of taking trips though, I think what you two have chosen to do for your honeymoon is very responsible. Putting it off until right before you start medical school sounds like a wonderful idea. You should both be well rested before orientation."

Bailey spoke up before Cody could as she remembered his response to when she said the same thing. "We were thinking the exact same thing, Momma. Plus, this way, we won't have to fly halfway around the world from Honolulu."

Clyde shook his head. "Well, I admire you two. I don't know if I would have had the guts to do it if I were you guys, but I respect that you two are heading back to Paris for your honeymoon."

Cody smiled. "Well, we figured we should give it it another chance there. Paris is supposed to be one of the most romantic cities in the world, but we royally screwed that up the last time. Hopefully, this time we'll be able to enjoy the city a lot more and write over the past memories we have there."

Bailey squeezed his hand. "I already know we will. I can't wait for us to go back."

Eunice paused. "Cody, you aren't planning on doing anything this time are you?"

He laughed. "Trust me, I've learned my lesson. I am trying to arrange for us to have a romantic dinner on top of the Eiffel Tower, but I can promise you that I won't try to practice it this time. I should have known then that an evening I get to spend with Bailey would already be perfect no matter what."

"Good."

Bailey smiled. "Besides, we're only going to be in Paris for four days before we head off to Majorca."

Clyde frowned. "Where?"

"Majorca. Its an island of the coast of Spain in the Mediterranean Sea. There is a Tipton resort there that supposedly is Wilfred Tipton's favorite place to vacation. In fact, we're going to have his private villa there for ten days. Its on the edge of the property, and is separated from the rest of it by an electric fence..." She paused. "According to London, he really likes his privacy..."

Cody laughed. "But, we'll still have use of the entire property as well as a golf cart to get us back and forth between the main building and the villa. And it has its own private cove, so we'll have our own private beach while were there. Essentially, we'll have the best of both worlds."

Grammy grinned. "I bet you will...if you two ever..."

Bailey cut her off. "And once we get back from there, we'll have a few days to re-acclimate to Boston before orientation." She paused and turned to her sister Amy. "Speaking of first year orientation, have you made a decision yet on where you will be matriculating to next fell?"

She shook her head and sighed. "Its like I keep telling everyone else...when I know, I'll let you know. I'm still weighing the pros and cons of Yale, Brown and Harvard..."

"Well, just remember, if you choose Harvard, you'll have us there in Boston just across the river..."

Amy nodded and teased her sister. "I know...I'm still debating on whether or not that would be a good or bad thing."

Clyde just shook his head and laughed. "Either way, it looks like I'll have two daughters at an Ivy League school." He just smiled and nudged Eunice. "You know they get that from me, right?"

Everyone at the table just stopped and gave him a look. Eunice shook her head. "Anyways...do you two have big plans for New Year's Eve yet? Two years ago was New York City and last year was Miami. Where to this year?"

Bailey smiled. "Actually, we have no plans as of yet. I think this year we're just going to play it by ear. The past two years we've seen the extremes of weather from freezing our butts off in Times Square to sweating them off on South Beach. But I wouldn't mind to just stay in this year and watch the ball drop on TV. As long as I have Cody there with me, I really don't care..."

Clyde looked over at his soon to be son-in-law. "Speaking of time, be ready to head out tomorrow evening at sunset. The snipes don't come out while the sun is still up."

Cody nodded, but he missed the looks everyone else had on their faces. The next evening, Cody was dressed up in Zack's old fatigues that he borrowed and was ready to head out. And when his soon to be brothers-in-law all finally showed up, all of the men headed out.

Grammy couldn't help but to laugh. "That poor boy..."

"Grammy, I know Cody. He's tougher than he looks. He'll be fine..."

"Oh, I know...but you know how he is about cleanliness..."

Bailey paused. "True..."

About ten o'clock that evening, the ladies were sitting around the family room when Clyde walked in with a big smile on his face.

"We're back! Bailey, you're up!"

She just nodded, and everyone followed Clyde out to the barn. Standing there were her brothers-in-law with Cody tied to a post in the barn - covered in mud from head to toe.

Clyde grinned again. "Cody, I hate to tell you this, but there are no such things as snipes. We took you out and gave you a hard time as kind of an initiation into the family. Everyone else here has gone through this exact same thing, and from now on, you will be a part of it too - on the good end. I hope you won't be too upset with us, but this is a family tradition of ours. But, there is one part left. With you covered in mud, your soon to be bride must still be willing to kiss you. Bailey, are you willing to do that?"

She smiled. "Of course I am, Daddy..." She walked over and laid a very passionate kiss on Cody as everyone else gave them catcalls. When she was done, she pulled back and had mud on her face as well.

Clyde laughed. "Cody, you're now officially a Pickett. Welcome to the family!"

Cody just smiled. "Thank you, Clyde."

"Now, its cold outside, so we're all heading inside, but Bailey will stay out here and hose you off. She should have some clean clothes for you to put off once you're clean..."

And with that, everyone else left to head inside leaving Cody and Bailey alone in the barn. She smiled at him. "Sorry about that, Sweetie. But like Daddy said, its a family tradition. Everyone else has been through this too."

He shrugged as best as he could. "Its okay..." He paused. "Besides, its not like I didn't know it was coming..."

That surprised her. "You did? How?"

Cody laughed. "Did you forget that I used to be an amateur ornithologist? I used to be in the birdwatchers club my freshman year at Cheavers. Bails, when you said would be hunting snipes and that they were rodents, my internal alarms went off for the second time that day. I wasn't quite sure what a snipe was, but I was pretty sure that it was a type of wading bird..."

"Oh..."

He kept grinning. "Of course, I did look it up on wikipedia to make sure I had that right. And wouldn't you know it, there was a link to something called a snipe hunt. It was then that I realized I was going to go on something akin to a wild goose chase. But, it said it was usually used as a right of passage, so I figured I would just play along..."

Bailey smiled at him. "Well, thank you for doing that. And I'm sorry I had to deceive you about this..."

"Oh, I'll get my revenge as soon as you untie me..."

She laughed. "Wouldn't be the first time I've had a mud bath..." She paused as she thought of something. "Wait a minute! You said your internal alarms went off for the second time that day. What set them off the first time?"

"Oh, that was an easy one. You were agreeable to be going out hunting. When I heard you say that, I definitely knew something was afoot!"

Boston

Thursday finally brought with it Christmas, and that morning, much to Zack's relief, things went well with the Bennetts finally meeting Carey and Mimi. Of course, the game that after made things even better as the rebuilding Celtics were able to knock off the Lakers in dramatic fashion. And to celebrate, Mr. Bennett took everyone out for a very nice dinner. Unfortunately, Maya's parents couldn't stay longer as there was an NFL game one Mr. Bennett's clients was playing on Saturday in San Diego. And everyone else understood. If they had their choice, they'd rather be in San Diego than Boston in late December. So, for the next couple days after Christmas, everyone was taking it easy around the hotel. By the time Sunday came around, Zack and Maya were lounging on the couch just watching television. But both of them weren't paying much attention to what was on as they were both on the verge of falling asleep. And just before she did, Maya yawned and turned to Zack.

"What time is it?"

Zack groggily pulled out his cell phone and checked it. "A little after three..."

"What does does Cody and Bailey's flight get in tonight?"

"We need to leave her by a quarter after nine to pick them up..."

Maya nodded yawned again. "Perfect. I have plenty of time to slip in a nap and still be up well before we have to leave to go pick them up..."

Zack yawned too. "Sounds good to me. Why is it the holidays always wear me out?"

"I don't know, but they do the same to me. Though, I do have to say Christmas was a huge success..."

"Yeah, it was..." He grinned. "The C's beat the Lakers!"

She rolled her eyes. "You know what I mean. Our two families seemed to get along pretty well with each other..."

"Yeah, they did. Of course, I think my Mom would have stowed away in the overhead compartment on their flight so she could have gone to San Diego with them. And then from there, there heading over to Tempe Arizona for the Fiesta Bowl. I seriously doubt they'll see any snow in either of those two places..."

"She wasn't the only one who would have! Have you seen the weather report for New Year's Eve here in Boston? When they talked about the potential snowstorm we're going to get, I heard the word feet instead of inches!"

Zack shrugged. "It happens. Hopefully, it will all be gone before we start back to school."

"Tell me about it. Even though we use the subway, I'd prefer not to be outside at all if the weather is still that bad then..."

He turned to her. "So, if it does hit us like it could, what do you want to do for New Year's?"

Maya paused to think about that. "You know, to be honest, if it does, I'd be just as happy to stay in that night. At least we'd be some place with heat and food..."

He nodded. "Works for me..." Zack yawned again. "I better set the alarm on my cell phone just in case. I feel a major nap coming on right now..."

"Same here..."

"I'm almost looking forward to going back to work tomorrow morning. I love Christmas and all, but it will be nice to get back into our normal routines again..."

"You can say that again." She yawned. "See you in a couple of hours, Babe..."

Several hours later, both of them woke up to the annoying alarm on Zack's phone and and wiped away the remaining sleep from their eyes. Both could have used a few more hours and figured going to bed once they got back sounded like a really good idea. An hour later, they were waiting with the car idling a out front of the Logan Airport Departure exit. About fifteen minutes, when they finally saw Cody and Bailey walk out, Zack popped the trunk for them.

"You guys have fun in Kansas?"

Bailey yawned. "Yeah, but we're both exhausted. And its not like we actually did anything..."

Cody shook his head. "Speak for yourself, Sweetie...You didn't go snipe hunting."

Zack and Maya just looked at each other when they heard that and busted out laughing.

New Year's Eve

New Year's Eve was that Wednesday, and everyone spent the entire day inside the hotel. Not because they wanted to, but because they had to. The weatherman had actually been right for once, and everyone woke up that morning with the ground blanketed with snow with even more of it continuing to fall. And as it approached noon that day, there were no signs of the blizzard letting up any.

Zack just shook his head. "Good thing we didn't have to work today..."

Maya just nodded. "Tell me about it. I think I would have called in snowbound anyways..."

"Yeah, it hasn't snowed this hard here in a long time." Cody paused and began laughing. "You remember the last time it snowed like this while we were here at the Tipton, Zack?"

He paused to think. "Was that the Christmas we we're supposed to go away with Dad, but we ended up getting snowed in here?"

"Yeah..." He shivered and turned to Bailey. "Looks like you're going to get your wish of just staying in tonight..."

She shrugged. "Fine with me. But with us snowed in, do we have enough food in here to fix ourselves some dinner tonight?"

Cody stopped to think. "No, we don't. I say we call downstairs and get a reservation in the dining room for later. I would go out to the store to get things to fix us something, but I don't want to go outside..."

Zack nodded. "I don't blame you. We might want to call room service now to go ahead and order a bottle of champagne for later too. With everyone else here at the hotel likely stuck inside too, they might run out later."

"Good call. You call room service, and I'll call the dining room."

Fifteen minutes later, they had reservations for dinner at 8:00 and a few bottles of champagne chilling in the refrigerator.

"Well, that didn't take long...What should we do now?"

Bailey spoke up. "We could play some board games?"

Maya shook her head and laughed. "Been there before and got creamed. How about some video games instead?"

Cody laughed this time. "And I've been there before and got creamed."

Bailey paused before smiling. "How about we head down to the game room and play some ping pong?"

Maya shrugged. "Works for me..."

Zack paused though. "I don't know. Something is telling me this is not a good idea..."

"Oh, come on...it'll be fun."

Halfway through the first game, Zack and Maya were down 15-3. He just shook his head and smirked at her. "It'll be fun she says! Now I remember why this was a bad idea. Those two were on the their college's intramural ping pong team!"

Bailey grinned. "And not to brag, but we were four time intramural champions..."

Zack sighed. "I should have seen this coming. I even went to one of their matches once..." He glared at them. "I hope you know that we will demand a rematch in something else!"

Cody grinned this time. "Darts then?"

"Uh uh. I remember you telling me that Bailey is a dead eye in that too. We'll choose the field of battle though!"

"That's fine. Too bad we don't have a miniature golf course here like we did on the boat..."

"True..." Zack paused and laughed. "I still remember seeing the captain's face when I replaced his ball with one made out of baby powder. He about freaked out when it exploded on him." He shook his head. "Ahhh...the good old days..." He turned to Maya and grinned. "That reminds me...I still owe you one."

She grinned back. "You think so, huh?"

"I know I do. And I just might pull in the Codester and pick his diabolical mind for ideas..."

Cody held up his hands. "Hey, leave me out of this..."

Bailey nodded. "Yeah, less talky and more game playing!"

Zack rolled his eyes. "Fine then! Foosball it is!"

Unfortunately, they weren't the only ones who remembered the game room and thought it would be a good way to pass the time stuck indoors. Before long, the game room began to get too crowded as there were long lines waiting to play every game inside of there. So, the four of them headed back up to the suite to take advantage of another perk of living in the hotel – movies they could order on the TV. Of course, finding one they could all agree on took a few minutes, but they finally did.

As the afternoon finally gave way to the evening, everyone checked the weather once again. And just as they had saw at noon, it was still snowing heavy.

Zack shook his head. "Times like this I'm glad we're up on the 23rd floor...We'd have a while before the snow gets this high..."

Cody just looked at his brother in disbelief. "If the snow ever got this high, we'd have much bigger things to worry about than that..."

Bailey nodded. "Exactly. That much snow up on the roof would would weigh a whole lot and cause the entire hotel to collapse on to itself. We'd all be crushed to death..."

Maya shuddered. "That's a pleasant thought..."

Cody checked his watch. "Anyways, I say we start getting ready for dinner. Its almost seven o'clock now."

Dinner that evening was a welcome a distraction from the weather outside. And it turned out to be a lot of fun as Carey and Mimi joined them, and everyone took their time enjoying their dinner and desserts. Of course, Carey had the look on her face that only a mother could have as she watched her children drinking a glass of wine for the first time. And she could only sigh when everyone said they had enjoyed the pinot noir they had for dinner and ordered another bottle to take back upstairs with them. It was close to ten o'clock before they all headed back up to the twins' suite to officially ring in the new year.

From there on, the final two hours of 2014 were spent hanging out and watching all the hoopla unfold on TV. Unfortunately, it just wasn't the same without Dick Clark anymore. However, they did notice that Boston wasn't the only major city getting hit hard by the blizzard as New York City was as well. Everyone in Times Square, except for the ones who were already drunk, looked absolutely miserable.

Bailey shivered. "I sure am glad we're not there this year..."

Cody wrapped his arm around her tighter. "You can say that again..." He paused and smiled. "But here's a pleasant thought for you. This time next year, we'll be preparing to spend our first new years as husband and wife..."

She turned and smiled at him. "Yeah, we will. I can't wait for that...And we'll be able to go up to our roof top deck and watch the local fireworks display...you know, if it doesn't get snowed out then too."

Eventually, it grew closer to midnight. And about ten minutes before it did, Zack and Maya headed into the kitchen to open one of the bottles of champagne and pour a glass for everyone. After handing them out, they all stood around the TV as they watched the ball finally began to drop. When it did, both of the couples shared kisses before everyone hugged each other and wished them a happy new year.

And that was when Mimi spoke up. "I'd like to propose another toast. This one to both of my grandsons and the ladies who make them both so happy." She looked down at her empty glass. "I think we need more champagne though."

Cody headed towards the kitchen. "I'll get it." He pulled out the bottle, but the cork on this one was being a little stubborn and refusing to twist out. "Guess I'm going to have to get the corkscrew for this one..." He went over to the drawer to get it when he noticed something else lying on the counter. That something was an envelope, and he picked it up.

"Ummm...Zack? What's this?"

Zack looked over at his brother. "Oh that...Its a letter to you from Harvard that came while you two were in Kettlecorn. I guess I forgot all about it...My bad."

Bailey frowned. "Did I get one too?"

"I don't think so..."

Cody looked at the envelope closely. "Don't worry, Bails, I didn't get one either. Zack, just how closely did you look at this?"

He shrugged. "I saw the Harvard logo and tossed it on the counter. Why?"

"Well...for one...this envelope isn't addressed to me. Its addressed to you..."

Zack looked up at him in confusion. "It is? Are you serious?"

"Yeah, and its from the Harvard's business school, not its medical school..."

"Huh...I guess they didn't forget about me after all..." He shrugged again. "Oh well, its probably just a form letter telling me thanks for applying, but then asking me in a really nice way what I was thinking..."

"Well, open it then and see what it says. I didn't even know you applied there, Bro..."

He walked over to the kitchen and grabbed the envelope from his brother's grasp. "Not like I ever had a chance to get in anyways..." He opened it and pulled out the letter inside. "Dear Mr. Martin...yadda yadda yadda...We would like to officially..." He paused and his eyes went wide.

Maya walked over to him. "What is it, Zack?"

Zack turned to look at her with a look of complete look of shock on his face. "Harvard accepted me. I got in..."

To be Continued...

AN: For the family induction ceremony, I may have borrowed the basic premise of a fraternity lavaliering ceremony. So, that's why Cody was tied to a pole. And, I'm pretty sure most people saw the end of this chapter coming for a while now. But don't worry, not everyone will be happy about Zack getting accepted.