Charming's Queen

35. Arrival

With a heavy sigh, Lynne adjusted the the sound coming from the radio as Thomas started to cry. She looked over at Juice, then back at the road as she continued to drive.

"What is it, Tommy?" She asked softly and reached one arm back, rubbing his foot with her hand. "You just want attention, huh?" She cooed as he started to calm down after a few minutes of Lynne rubbing his foot.

Lynne flicked her blinker on and quickly merged onto the highway, sighing softly. "It's going to be a long ride with the two of them." She said softly.

"Well, let's hope they both sleep." Juice chuckled and looked over at Lynne.

"Mama? Uncle Ju?" Abel spoke up.

"Yes, Abel?" Lynne spoke up and glanced at him in the rear view mirror.

"I'm hungry," Abel whined and looked over at Juice, who immediately unbuckled himself, turned in his seat and reached behind to open the cooler.

"Do you want some fruit snacks?" Juice asked as he dug through the bag, "Or goldfish?"

"Go fish," Abel spoke and grinned when Juice pulled out a package of goldfish, followed by a Juicy Juice. He opened it for Abel, then put it in his cup holder.

"Make sure not to squeeze it, bud."

"Okay, uncle," Abel said happily as he shoveled goldfish into his mouth.

"Thank you," Lynne smiled at Juice, as he turned back around in his seat after zipping up the bag.

Juice nodded at his best friend, as a way to say you're welcome and buckled back up.

Lynne looked in the rear view at Thomas, smiling when she saw him sleeping away, she pulled her arm away and put it back on the wheel. With a small smile, she turned the radio up a little bit and accelerated.

"I can't believe you fixed your relationship with your parents." Juice spoke up and licked his lips, taking a sip of his water bottle.

"Yeah, me neither." Lynne nodded and hummed along to the sound on the radio. "It was surprising to me." She cleared her throat, "But I'm tired of the drama; I'm hoping it'll be less toxic this time around."

Juice nodded and set his water bottle down in the cup holder. "I'm sure." He spoke softly and glanced in the rear view mirrors at the boys. "I hope it would be, not only for your sake, but for the kids."

Lynne nodded and nibbled on her lip, looking straight ahead. She watched a few cars pass by, then quickly changed into the other lane to pass. "Me too." She said softly, "You know, I just got this car and I'm going to need another one in about eight months."

Juice nodded, "Crazy how life works." He smiled over at his best friend, "Maybe get a Jeep Wrangler? And install another row of seats in the back?." He suggests.

"Good idea," Lynne nodded, "Obviously the two front seats, then two rows of three. Or the last row can just have two seats." She spoke and looked in the rear view at the boys. "Abel will be old enough to sit alone in the back when the baby comes, but he could sit in the middle too." Lynne took the exit and checked both ways before continuing back onto the highway. "But he would be smushed in between two car seats."

"That's definitely something to think about." Juice nodded.

"It's going to be hectic having three kiddos in car seats at the same time." Lynne sighed, "Thomas will be in a convertible car seat by that time, hopefully and Abel will be in a booster. Then we'll have the baby in a newborn seat, obviously.." Lynne quickly got up to the speed limit and looked at the navigation screen, "It'll be horrible taking them all out for shopping and everything."