A/N: A one-shot that takes place eleven years after the events of the 1990 film "Home Alone".

Gregarious Only Goes So Far

"So you're the kid!" Gus Polinski said, smiling broadly as Kevin McCallister told him about how his family had left him alone one Christmas vacation. "I'm the one that gave your mother a ride back home when she couldn't get a flight from Scranton. Wow, you've grown up alright. Was that really eleven years ago this week? Sometimes I think we've been on the road for too many years." Gus continued driving the passenger van that held several other musicians as it made its way through the snowy December countryside. A small unassuming trailer followed behind the vehicle.

"Yeah, it's been a long time. I think Mom told that story about a million times."

"Your mom seemed great. Why'd you want to leave home, anyway? Got a girl somewhere? Going to school? Maybe a job?"

"Nope, nothing like that - I just had to get out of there. Mom is great; the trouble is she's too great, now. She can't say 'no' to anyone and now there's a zoo at home and I just had to leave" Kevin said as he shrugged and looked out the window. "It was either that or go crazy staying there."

"Well, the radio's busted so I've got time to listen" Gus observed as he played with the knobs to emphasize his point; several musicians were taking advantage and sleeping in the rear seats. "Tell me about it - if I remember right you guys have a pretty big house."

"Not big enough for the whole family. It was okay for Mom and Dad and my four brothers and sisters, but then my Uncle Rob and Aunt Georgette had a house fire and moved in with their two kids. I got shuffled up into the attic when that happened."

"Ah, that's bad luck kid. But still, an attic can be a neat place, right? Away from everyone else, no one coming in when you don't want; kinda like my den used to be until my wife turned it into a sewing room. God I miss that room." Gus laughed but there was a tinge of nostalgic longing in it.

"It was pretty okay. Until my cousin Tracy dropped out of school and came to live with us while bringing her boyfriend along; they got the attic and I had to move out to the shed we had fixed up as a guest room in the backyard. That worked until there was some sort of toxic accident next door to my Uncle Frank and Aunt Leslie and they had to find a place to live for a month with my four other cousins. Mom couldn't say no, and then I was sleeping on a couch after I got shuffled out of the shed. I asked to live in the treehouse but mom was worried I might walk in my sleep. Who could sleep? If old man Marley was still alive I'd try to live at his house; he was a neighbor."

Gus tried counting on his fingers and gave up. "Sorry kid, I lost track. How many people are we talkin' about now?"

"We would have had eighteen but Buzz had enough and starting staying with a friend, so seventeen I guess. Plus Tracy didn't come home except to sleep so it was more like sixteen" Kevin said, trying to do the math for himself. It was almost like trying to count worms in a tub of bait; you kept loosing track and having to start over again. "Give or take one or two."

Gus whistled. "We've driven through towns that were smaller than that."

"When I was left alone that Christmas I had just wished for my family to go away. Then I was happy to get them all back. But it's too much! So the way I look at it, I just freed up a bed for someone else. They probably won't even miss me."

"Come on kid, sure they will. Well, maybe not your cousins. Or your aunts and uncles. And I don't know about your brothers and sisters, but your parents will - eventually. Maybe after the holidays wind down; probably around March, I figure. What are you going to do in the meantime?"

"I don't know. You're the first ride I got, and I don't care as long as it isn't some place stuffed with people."

Gus laughed. "You just described most of our audiences, even in Sheboygan. Tell you what - it pays almost nothing, and you'll be sick of bratwurst and potato pancakes pretty quick but you can come along with us for a bit if you want. We're getting older and we can always use some help moving our equipment and packing it in and out. Christmas is our busiest time and we've got a some appearances lined up in the next two weeks. Can you play a triangle?"

Kevin smiled. "Equilateral, isosceles or scalene?"

The (original) End

A/N: I only saw the first movie, but when I thought of how big Kevin's extended family was I thought to myself just how much family he had and what would he think if he jumped extremes and went from alone to everyone at once. But there was one loose end that I forgot to tie up - hence the next chapter.