"Mm," Megan moaned with pleasure as the chocolate melted on her tongue, and she smirked at her brother. "This stuff is still good, and I can't stop eating it."

"It's great, isn't it?" Kevin chuckled while he rested on the bed.

"Yeah." Megan's cheerful mood dimmed a little bit. She had so much to say to Kevin, so much to ask. While she had to admit their family did mistreat Kevin at times, she did want him to know it was not usually personal, it was just how things were. At the same time, there were a lot of things she wanted to be forgiven for.

In the time she had been in New York with her younger brother, Megan had come to see that despite his youth and sometimes lack of maturity, Kevin was extremely focused and always had a plan in mind. She had been to the bathroom, and even if she was….a little bit creeped out by the clown thing (like everyone else, she loved her grandparents deeply, she had to ask herself if they were just so overwhelmed by the number of kids they had as grandparents), she had to admit only her brother could come up with something like that.

But then a knock came on the door, "Housekeeping," a reedy voice said from the other side.

Kevin sat up.

Megan did too, "It looks like you were right about someone from the hotel staff coming up," she observed as she jumped off the bed while Kevin turned everything off, and they headed for the bathroom. In truth, Megan hadn't liked what Kevin had in mind for this little prank, but he had argued that even if she was able to get whoever it was at the hotel off of their backs, this might be the ticket.

They headed for the bathroom together. They had blown the inflatable clown up, and Kevin had rigged a system of pulleys with string he had in his packet to make it dance.

-8-

A few minutes ago, Mr Hector, the concierge had been standing in the elevator. His ears were still ringing with the McCallisters' reservation call - all calls to the hotel were logged and recorded for training purposes and to help make it easier for law enforcers in case one of the guests was a criminal and they needed voice identification - and his suspicions about the two children had only deepened.

The concierge had no problem with children staying at the hotel, but he did draw the line when they checked in alone; while their story did have some logic to it, there was something not quite right.

His suspicions and concerns had only grown as he had seen the boy place that credit card in his jacket pocket, and while Cedric had largely failed spectacularly in his simple task, the concierge had let him off when he had made it clear the two children had luggage satchels in their bags.

Something was not right, and he was going to get to the bottom of it.

As he stepped off the elevator when it reached the right floor, he had everything worked out in his head. He walked confidently and slowly to the door to the McCallister's suite, and knocked, "Housekeeping."

He thought he heard shuffling inside, but after a few minutes, he opened the door and walked in.

-8-

Megan and Kevin both worked quickly. While Megan was putting the clown into position, Kevin was readying the recorder before he took notice of where his sister was. Megan turned on the shower, cranking up the temperature to make it really steamy and hot.

-8-

It never failed to amaze Mr Hector that children could be so disgusting. The suite was a mess; there was junk food everywhere, and he pitied the staff who would be responsible for cleaning up the mess when the time came.

But that was not his area; right now, he wanted to be sure if his suspicions were true or not. He had a feeling they were not as they claimed, and so far the evidence was mounting up in his mind. As he walked deeper into the suite, he didn't see any sign of the two children.

Suspicious, he went through the hotel room, hearing the sound of running water from the bathroom….

-8-

"Do you really think this will work?" Megan hissed staring at the inflated clown, seeing it was more ghastly inflated than it was flat.

Kevin's idea did have some degree of merit to it, but as she stared at the simple collection of string lines holding the clown up and controlling it like a marionette puppeteer holding up a puppet for a show, she wondered if she was in Wonderland or something. Megan and her siblings knew Kevin had a knack for making things like this, and he had been teased about it, but seeing him quickly thinking on his feet made her realise he was a lot smarter than he'd been credited for.

But what worried her the most was what he was going to use to get their unwanted guest away from them. She wasn't sure it was going to be nice to listen to.

"Only one way to find out," Kevin replied before he pressed play.

Megan flinched and stood next to her brother and watched as he deftly moved the handles and made the clown dance, the loud, sub-human sounds of Uncle Frank filling the air.

"We know a guy who can do the cool jerk We know a guy who can do the cool jerk," Megan had to bite down her laughter as she peeked around the curtains and saw the man who'd come in, a dark-haired man wearing a suit with a grey waistcoat and cravat, the look of confusion only made this even funnier. "This cat they're talkin ' about I wonder who could it be 'cause I know I'm the heaviest cat, the heaviest cat you ever did see." Megan had to bite down her lip when she saw the look of disgust on the man's face, watching him cringe in honest confusion as he watched this spectacle. "When they see me Walkin ' down the street none of the fellas want to speak... Hey, hey, hey….," Megan snorted, ignoring Kevin somehow managing to ram his elbow delicately into her side, but she couldn't help it, this was hilarious, "On their faces they wear a silly smirk 'cause they know I'm the king of the cool jerks."

Kevin pulled on the strings, and the clown twisted around, and it raised its hand in time to be in sync with what Uncle Frank had said next. Megan risked a quick peek and chuckled when she saw the hotel man gasp quietly and gawp in horror.

"Get out of here, you nosy little pervert, or I'll slap you silly!"

With a final gasp, the man slammed the door shut.

Ignoring the smirking Kevin who was smug and satisfied with what he had done, Megan hurried over to the door while the song kept playing but she barely paid it any mind, she had heard enough of her uncle's so-called songs in the past that it didn't bother her.

She opened the door, barely listening to the song and hurried after the man quietly, chuckling behind her hand as she watched him hurry away, wondering why he simply didn't run with a bit of effort. "Uh… Oh, you're cooking, Frankie…"

Megan had to clap a hand to her mouth as she watched him rush into a small table, knocking it over.

"Oh, my foot!" The hotel guy moaned in pain, and he bent down and picked it up and put it back where it stood, with Megan ducking her head around the corner so he wouldn't see her, but she listened carefully, paying no attention to Kevin's recording and she peeked around again and saw him limping again to the door and leaving the hotel suite.

Megan went to the door and she locked it, just in case he decided to come back again later when things had calmed down and when everyone else in the hotel was fast asleep. Looking around for inspiration, pouting in thought, Megan brightened and dragged a chair out and jammed it underneath the door knob - it might not be the safest option, especially if there was a fire, but that was unlikely to happen - and she stood back and admired her work for a moment before she walked back to the bathroom.

Kevin had fortunately turned off the Walkman by that point, and he was now dismantling his little booby trap. He looked up curiously as she came in.

"Where did you go?"

"I went to see if he was still around; he tripped on a small table, and he limped to the door," Megan said as she lifted the clown out of the shower.

Kevin nodded his thanks. "Did you get a good look at him?"

"Yeah, I think he's a hotel manager, or something," Megan replied, "I locked the door and jammed a chair underneath, just so he doesn't come back."

"Good thinking," Kevin complimented her as he slowly and carefully bundled up the string he'd used.

Megan watched him with a quirk on her lips as she tried to figure him out, "You've done this sort of thing before, haven't you?" She commented.

She knew that Kevin had defended the house from burglars, especially after the Chicago police had messed everything up by not bothering to check properly if he was okay, but now she was starting to have a good idea.

Kevin frowned as he went still, knowing what she was talking about. "I used tricks against Harry and Marv if that's what you mean, and I did set up nastier traps for them."

Megan frowned, knowing he had used some nasty traps, but she wanted a few more details. "What kind of tricks did you use?" She asked slowly.

Kevin didn't want to talk about this. To him, this was bringing back bad memories when they were supposed to be having a nice holiday.

"Well, the first night I was alone," he began, thinking back, "I woke up and saw their silhouettes outside the house."

Megan nodded, feeling her insides twist in horror, knowing that she had been right; Kevin had been little and helpless, and all because of some stupid twist of fate. "What did you do?"

"I just turned the lights on; I didn't have anything else, and I hid under the bed," Kevin looked down, ashamed and embarrassed by how stupid and childish he had been at the time. "Next they came during the day, and I played the first gangster movie, where Johnny killed Snakes."

Megan lifted a brow, this was only reaffirming her belief she needed to talk with him about his tastes. "Go on," she urged.

"Well, I also ignited some firecrackers to get Marv away, and it worked…but then they planned to come back at 9," Kevin said as they lifted the clown and dumped it in a corner of the bathroom where it wouldn't bother them.

"Are we gonna dump this?"

"Yeah, but we can worry about that in the morning; it might come in handy again."

"Do you think that trick will work a second time?" Megan asked sceptically. "Just because it worked once, doesn't mean that guy won't be prepared for it a second time." But even as she said that she wondered if he would try to get into the room a second time. Megan wondered if it would be a better idea if she just told the hotel staff what they wanted to know, and hopefully come to an arrangement, but she would think about it for a little bit longer and hope they were reasonable enough to let her and Kevin stay.

"I dunno," Kevin replied before he looked at her. "Erm, let's get ready for bed," he went on, "you can go first."

Megan sighed with relief. She was tired, and now bed was mentioned her fatigue was coming back to her. "Okay, thanks, Kev."

"You're welcome. Don't be too long," Kevin said as he walked out.

"I'll take as long as I need," Megan rolled her eyes and went to grab her toiletries.

-8-

Over in Miami, the rest of the McCallister family were not asleep. They were all wide awake and horrified by what they were seeing. Their arrival in Miami had been a disaster, and if any of them had a chance to think about it, they would have known even if Megan and Kevin had still been with them, they would have arrived to much the same disaster.

For a start, it was still raining heavily and it looked like it wouldn't ease up for a moment. Secondly, the attempts of Kate and Peter to raise the morale of everyone else by going sightseeing did not last long, and their hopes of getting to a nice restaurant had been more successful but only just.

But they weren't happy right now. All of them had been curious about where they were going to be living while they were on this vacation, and to say they weren't happy was an understatement.

It was a motel, surrounded by old trucks and building materials that had just been dumped there so the workers could escape the harsh weather. The motel itself looked very tacky, and as the airport van slowed down as the driver took them as close to the place as possible so they wouldn't get too wet, the McCallisters stared at the place in disbelieving horror.

"Didn't look this bad on our honeymoon," Uncle Frank broke the silence in his usual deadpan manner.

Everyone in the van turned and stared at him in horror.

"Your honeymoon?" Kate repeated in horror. "Frank, this is what you had in mind the whole time?"

Frank, typically, ignored the danger signs. "Yeah, why?"

Even Leslie groaned. "Frank, they didn't want to spend time in the place where we had our honeymoon."

"But there was a good deal going on," Frank protested.

Peter shook his head. "Frank, I gave you the money to book and pay for a hotel," he said in disgust. "I gave you the simplest job, and this is the result…"

Why hadn't he learnt his lesson? He and his brother Rob knew exactly how touchy Frank was when it came to money, and even more so when it came to making the cheapest decisions when they could have afforded it. He had pictured a lovely Florida hotel, not this seedy dump (there was even something for ADULT MOVIES for heavens' sake, not something he would ever want to expose to his family).

"Yeah, I know, you've paid good money for this trip, before your kids wrecked it for us," Frank snapped.

Peter and Kate turned on him furiously.

"Don't bring them into this!" Kate hissed furiously.

Leslie automatically tried to play peacemaker. "Kate, Peter, please don't."

But Peter overrode his sister-in-law. "What happened with Megan and Kevin was not their fault, it was an accident. One we won't be having again, because right now I'm rethinking going on holidays that involves planes."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Frank snapped as he began losing his temper.

"I'm tired of our holidays being disasters," Peter snapped back, just before they got out.

The inside of the motel was - blissfully - rain-free, and there weren't any drips, miraculously, but the decor of the place was a ghastly salmon pink. What made it worse was the rooms themselves were so small they would have to live on top of one another. The moment Kate realised that, she sighed inwardly in disgust; from what she had heard last year, it hadn't been any better. It was bad enough that whenever Frank and Leslie's mob came they took over the house, making it a miracle in itself that their home could even accommodate them all, but to have the same thing during the holidays…

Kate sighed and sagged.

She was tired.

She'd had a rotten day, what had started more less well, had turned into a disaster. Two of her children were missing, and she had no way of contacting them to find out what had gone wrong. She shook her head in disgust when she saw the fake White Christmas tree in a corner, looking lopsided.

It seemed the people who worked here didn't care, but right now neither did she.

Linnie came up behind her. "You okay, mum?" She asked hesitantly, looking at the tree, wondering what it was about it that made her disgusted.

Kate pulled herself together and smiled at her daughter. "I'm fine," she began, but Linnie's pointed look made her sag, "I'm not fine. I've just had a horrible day."

Linnie nodded. "It's been horrible for us, too, Mum," she whispered, "but why were you looking at the tree as if it were your mortal enemy?"

Kate turned to the tree. "Before we left, Kevin asked why we were heading for Florida since there weren't any Christmas trees," she explained and Linnie nodded in realisation, knowing of her little brother's obsession with Christmas trees, "You know that little quirk of his, and now it looks like he's right, about the trees, and this trip. Kevin wasn't happy we were going to Florida after a while because of Frank, now his point's been proven."

Linnie nodded, remembering how Kevin had made it phenomenally clear he wasn't enthusiastic about all of this. Now it seemed he had a good point, she only hoped that it stopped raining.

"Mum, you've got to relax," she commented, "The police have been told and the credit card companies have been told about the cards Kevin's got; if he and Meg check into a hotel, we will know."

Gently she wrapped her arms around her mother's chest.

-8-

In the Plaza Hotel, Kevin was going through his father's address book. He stopped on an entry.

"Hey, Uncle Rob lives here," he commented thoughtfully, already making plans to drop in on a visit. "If they're back from Paris, we'll drop in on them. They usually give pretty good presents."

"Who gives good presents?" Megan's voice came from the door, and Kevin looked up.

"Hey, how's the shower?"

"Very nice, thank you. Anyway it's free for you," Megan came over to sit on the bed, and she smiled at her brother. "So, who gives good presents?" She repeated.

"Oh, Uncle Rob. I've got his address."

Megan frowned, "I thought they were still in Paris," she remarked.

"Are they?"

Megan shrugged, "I dunno," she said, "We haven't heard back from them for a while, so they may have come back; but last we heard, they'd left New York because they were renovating their home here, and they got bored. Still, we can check on them."

"Yeah," Kevin smiled, but it fell off when he came across a photo of their parents and siblings. Megan watched her little brother closely, seeing how his expression became sadder, more melancholic.

"You regret it, don't you?"

Kevin looked up, "Sorry?"

"The argument. The pageant. You regret it, don't you?" Megan felt as if a weight had been lifted, she had been meaning to speak to Kevin about this, but it seemed like a year ago.

Kevin took a deep breath. "I regret a lot of things; I don't regret what I did to Buzz, or lashing out at Uncle Frank. They deserved it. But I do regret what happened to everyone else at the pageant; especially the teacher playing the piano, she didn't deserve that. I spent so long trying to get that solo perfect. I worked with my music teachers for hours. I practiced for hours in the treehouse, hoping to get it perfect…and it was all destroyed in a moment. All because of Buzz," Kevin shot her a hard look that made her shudder, "Why is it Buzz is allowed to get away with everything? I had no intention of saying sorry, it was only clinched when Buzz called me a trout sniffer."

"Is that what he said?" Megan wasn't surprised that Buzz had said something, but if that was the best he could do she was disappointed. What disappointed her even more was how pathetic he was.

Kevin scowled at the reminder.

Megan looked at him seriously. "You scared us, Linnie and me, Kevin. You looked like you wanted to murder Fuller."

"If he had wet the bed with me in it, I'd have gone mad," Kevin didn't feel he needed to go further into it.

Megan sagged and looked down. "To be fair, you did have a lovely singing voice…in the first few seconds. I'm sorry I laughed," she said sincerely.

Kevin looked up at her and hugged her. Suddenly he pulled away walked to the window, and looked out. Curious she followed him. Kevin was staring at a star on top of a building in the distance, reminding her of the Christmas tree love he had.

"Good night, Mom," Kevin mumbled before he went back to bed.

Megan watched him go, and then she looked back out and waved at the star as if her mother were really there. "Good night, Mum," she whispered before going back to the bed, and she stopped and stared at Kevin, biting her lip in thought. "How would you feel if I joined you tonight?"

"What?" Kevin said in surprise.

"I don't want you to be on your own tonight, Kevin," Megan said seriously. "Can I?"

Surprised, Kevin nodded shyly and Megan slowly got into bed with her brother and she waited until he got back from the bathroom to hug him. She smiled in the darkness. Kevin's warmth was nice as he cuddled into her.

She missed this, Megan had hugged him regularly when he'd been younger, less annoying…but he'd been cute, and she'd loved him anyway.