Here's Chapter 4...my apologies for taking so long to update! Life and a full-time job tend to get in the way of any creative writing.

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As always, nothing but the plot and any original characters belong to me!

4.

Sawyer and Kyle both breathed sighs of relief as they walked into the baggage claim area of the Tampa Bay Airport. It was wonderful to be back in the warmth of their own home state, but it was even more wonderful to be free of the cramped confines of the plane...not to mention also being blessedly free of the four year old boy with fiery hair (and a personality to match) that had kicked the backs of their seats off and on for almost the entire flight. They had endured nearly five hours of his incessant obnoxiousness, though it had certainly felt much longer than that.

They shook their heads as the heinous child made a bee-line for the conveyer belts. His frazzled mother managed to grab him just as he was leaping onto a moving belt. He screamed and kicked his displeasure as she yanked him back, but the woman was undeterred and held onto him with an iron grip. She whisked him away to the bathroom, much to the delight of those around them. Sawyer felt like cheering, but restrained himself. He did not think that such behavior would be appropriate - given the setting - but he also had a sneaking suspicion that this particular group of people would not even remotely have a problem with it. In fact, he was pretty certain that most - if not all - of them would actually cheer with him. He was tempted, but settled for just sharing commiserating glances with his fellow passengers as they all waited patiently for their flight's assigned belt to start bringing up the luggage.

"Thank God you were never like that, Sawyer!"

The young man looked up at his cousin. "Are you kidding? My mom would have KILLED me if I acted like that!"

"You got that right, kid."

Sawyer swung around at the sound of the familiar feminine voice behind him. "Mom!"

Lorraine pulled her son into a tight hug that he returned unreservedly. "Oh, I missed you, Sawyer!"

"I missed you too, Mom."

She pulled back, keeping her hands on his shoulders. "Have you grown? You look taller."

"I don't know…maybe."

She brushed his hair from his forehead. "Your hair has definitely grown. You need a haircut."

"Mooommm. It's not that long."

She ignored his comment and studied his face. "You've gotten some sun, too. You look kind of tan."

"Oh please! Sawyer? Tan? As if that would ever happen. Freckled, maybe…but tan? No way."

Sawyer looked over his mother's shoulder and grinned at the sight that met his eyes. "Hazel!" He stepped around Lorraine, crossed his arms, and arched an eyebrow at the impudent young woman before him. "You're one to talk about freckles."

Hazel ducked her head with a sheepish grin and unconsciously ran a finger down her nose. "Yeah yeah. I know." She glanced back up to her friend, only to find him watching her with an unreadable expression on his face. Her smile faltered slightly as she suddenly felt a little nervous, though she was at a complete loss as to why she should feel that way. What is there to be nervous about? This was Sawyer – her very best friend in the whole world – she never felt nervous around him. She loved him. Whoa...wait, what? Love? Who said anything about love?

She blinked and suddenly realized that she and Sawyer had just been staring at each other. That wouldn't do. Sawyer was finally home after three very long months away and she was beyond ecstatic about it. She was NOT going to allow their reunion to become awkward just because she was inexplicably experiencing some arbitrary musings.

Get it together, Haskett! Although it did take a bit of effort on her part, she managed to dismiss the confusing whirl of thoughts trying to make themselves at home and plastered on her usual exuberant smile. "Welcome home, Sawyer! I've missed…" Strong lean young arms wrapped around her, causing pleased surprise to cascade throughout her entire body. "…you."

Sawyer hugged his best friend tightly. He didn't even care that he could feel the beginnings of a blush creeping up his neck and cheeks as she returned the hug. "I missed you too, Hazel."

Lorraine smiled at the teenagers, then shifted her attention to her nephew. Kyle had been observing the reunion with unmasked interest - and a not so subtle grin - but quickly schooled his features when he saw his aunt turning towards him. She pulled him into a warm hug, just as she had done with her son. "Welcome home, Kyle. It's good to see you."

Kyle hugged her back. "It's good to see you too, Aunt Lorraine."

She pulled back, the smile still on her face. "Thanks for staying up in Boston to pick up Sawyer. I know your break started a couple of weeks ago and there was nothing else keeping you there. I want you to know that I really appreciate it."

"No problem! He's my favorite cousin, after all."

Lorraine crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. "He's your only cousin, Kyle."

Kyle grinned. "Like I told Sawyer, that's just a technicality."

Lorraine chuckled and shook her head. She then gestured towards the bathrooms where the exhausted mother had dragged her unpleasant offspring. "I'm guessing your flight was a little more eventful than you would have liked?"

Sawyer stepped back over to his mother, just as his cousin was about to answer. "Ugh. You have NO idea, Mom."

Kyle nodded. "That kid was…um...well…he was definitely something."

"He was evil, that's what he was."

Hazel walked over to Kyle, giving him a quick hug of welcome as Sawyer continued. "He kicked our seats practically the whole time. He wanted more than one bag of peanuts and screamed until he got what he wanted, then he threw them all over the place."

Kyle joined in, thinly veiled annoyance in his voice. "He spillled his drinks everywhere. He made a million trips to the bathroom. He ran up and down the aisles with his arms out like this..." He demonstrated by holding each of his arms straight out at his sides. "…pretending to be a plane and whacking everyone in the aisle seats." He grimaced. "I was in one of those seats."

Hazel glanced back and forth between the cousins in mild shock. "Wow…..that's awful! The flight attendants just put up with that?"

Sawyer shrugged. "They tried to stop him, but there wasn't a lot they could do. They don't want to get sued or anything. And it's not like they could've just asked them to leave."

"No kidding. Man, it was like you guys were trapped and tortured."

A rueful smile crept to Sawyer's face at Hazel's remark. "I think that's a pretty good way to describe it." He shifted his gaze to his cousin. "Wouldn't you say, Kyle?"

"Definitely."

Further conversation was temporarily cut off as the luggage belt behind them abruptly began its weary march, drawing the focused attention of all those clustered around it. The boys each alternately managed to snag their bags off of the moving track as it made its cycle. They slung the duffels over their shoulders, then followed the ladies out to the parking lot.

Lorraine draped her arm across her son's shoulder. "So, it's Christmas Eve…"

The expression on Sawyer's face clearly conveyed that he felt that she had just stated something pretty obvious. "Yeah, I know. So?"

"So, it's kind of a hassle to have to shop on Christmas Eve, and a lot of businesses even close early. If you want to get your shopping done in time, we'll have to..."

Kyle chimed in with a grin. "Oh, Sawyer doesn't need to do any Christmas shopping, Aunt Lorraine. He took care of that while he was away."

Lorraine threw her nephew a skeptical look. "While he was away?"

He grinned wider. "Yup."

Hazel looked as skeptical as Lorraine. "On a boat?"

Sawyer rolled his eyes. "Seriously, guys! I wasn't on the boat the whole time. Sheez!"

Kyle was amused, but did his best to contain it. He readjusted the bag on his shoulder and glanced out to the lot. "So, where did you park, Aunt Lorraine?"

TBC