Ava's Family Vacation

Chapter One

"Honey, we need to leave in ten minutes or we will be late, do you have everything you need packed? What is taking you so long?"

Ava Williamson heard her mom call up the stairs, sounding somewhat frustrated, as she scrambled to pack all of her necessary belongings into her suitcase. It was August and the family was headed for their annual summer trip from where they lived in Massachusetts to Myrtle Beach. It was a 14-hour drive there and Ava, at 13, wasn't quite sure if she was dreading the ride, or having to spend one of her last weeks of summer without her friends and just with her annoying family.

"Just a sec mom," Ava called down as she put a couple more bikinis and a few more outfits into her suitcase and brought it downstairs.

"You sure you have everything?" her mom asked.

This was one of the first years that Ava had to pretty much pack herself. Now that she had just become a teenager her mother was trying to teach her to have some additional responsibilities.

"Yup", Ava responded nonchalantly. She headed to the family SUV in the driveway, put the suitcase in the trunk, grabbed a can of La Croix from the fridge and made her way to the back seat of the car, where she would have the last row by herself. Her eight year old sister, Michaela, shared the middle row with the car-seat of their six year old brother, Daniel.

In a matter of minutes the family was off. It was about five o'clock on a Friday afternoon, and the plan was to drive through the night, and arrive at the townhouse they were renting in the morning, allowing the kids to sleep in the car overnight, while the parents shared the driving duty. Ava put her headphones in and put some music in, ready for the boredom of the long car ride.

Next thing she knew the car was pulling off the highway, at a rest stop. It was about 9:30, and the parents saw that the kids were starting to doze off so they figured it would be a good idea to stop for a bathroom break and to get them comfortable to sleep in the car.

Mr. Williamson pumped the car with gas, while Mrs. Williamson grabbed a bag containing pajamas for the younger kids so they could change into their PJs for the night portion of the ride.

Before going in she pulled Ava off to the side to talk.

"Now is probably the time to change into your protection, honey." she said. "Why don't you grab your stuff from your suitcase and come with us."

Ava still at the age of 13 was an occasional bed wetter, something that still was embarrassing for her but something that she had grown to be somewhat okay with especially around her family and very close friends back home. It was a bit humiliating that both her younger siblings were able to be night trained by the time they were five, but it was something she had grown used to and okay with. She simply put a GoodNite on right before bed, and disposed of it in the morning. It had become a non-issue.

That being said, though, her mom mentioning this at this point caused Ava to panic. Had she forgotten to pack her Goodnites for the trip? She hadn't even thought of that while packing, subconsciously assuming that her mom would pack them for her.

Ava hesitated for a second, and then proceeded to ask her mom,

"You packed them, right"

Immediately Mrs. Williamson had a look of partial panic and partial frustration with her daughter, not helping was the fact that everyone was exhausted.

"Ava Marie. Honey, you were supposed to pack for everything. No I didn't pack them..."

Ava was embarrassed, and felt bad about her lack of responsibility. "Well, what are we supposed to do now?"

"We'll have to find a place to stop to buy some," her mom replied.

They went inside to get changed into PJs, get a snack and use the bathroom and eventually everyone rendezvoused back in the car.

"Honey can you find a grocery store or something, Ava forgot to bring her protection," Mrs. Williamson asked her husband.

"Ava, you forgot your diapees?" teased Michaela.

"Enough, Michaela. No teasing." Responded their mother

Mr. Williamson plugged in the closest grocery store on their GPS.

"There's a store that's open 24 hours off the next exit, we'll stop there." He replied, sounding somewhat annoyed.

Ava was embarrassed, normally this issue wasn't really even an issue, but the fact that it was, for this night, a nuisance for the family, she felt bad and ashamed that she still couldn't always stay dry at night.

They pulled of the exit and there was a grocery store that was open.

"I'll run in and grab them." Said Mrs. Williamson.

She went into the store and went to the babycare aisle knowing that was where they stocked the Goodnites. She looked on the shelf and noticed that they seemed to be out of L/XL Goodnites for both the boys and girls size. She knew that the last time this happened that they tried the S/M ones and they didn't work, at all. They ripped in the middle of the night, leading to wet sheets and embarrassment.

She knew pull-ups were going to do the same thing. She scanned the shelves once more to make sure there wasn't a store brand or anything she could buy. There wasn't. It was a pretty small grocery store and not a very large selection. It was getting late at night and there was no way they were stopping again, they needed to get back on the road. Mrs. Williamson thought for a second and figured that she would try something, she was pretty sure it would work.

Mrs. Williamson checked out and headed back to the car where it was pulled up front. Ava looked out the window, expecting to see a bag of goodnites for her to change into, but what she saw was different and it, upon first reaction, mortified her. Her mom was walking to the car with nothing in her hands but a bag of Size 6 Luvs baby diapers.