Christmas in the Country (A Pocahontas FanFiction)

Day 1

Thomas woke to find John standing over him giving him a gentle shake, "Thomas, rise and shine! We need to go ahead and grab breakfast and get ready to go. Today's the big day!" Thomas sat up and stretched, "Okay, I'm up." John gave Thomas a hand out of bed and the boys went down for breakfast.

As they came downstairs, the smell of eggs and bacon greeted them. Thomas came up to their Mom for a hug, "'Morning, Mom." Mrs. Smith put her free arm around her son, "Good morning, sweetie. You and John have a seat and breakfast will be ready."

As the boys worked their way through breakfast, Mr. Smith came down, "Hi, boys. Are you two excited?" Thomas gulped some milk and nodded eagerly, "Uh-huh!" John swallowed his last bite of bacon, "How long d'ya think it'll take?"

"Only about three days, not very long." John nodded, "Okay, Thomas and I were planning for a long trip." Thomas agreed, "It'll definitely feel long. I promise I won't ask the question though." John giggled, 'the question', of course, was 'are we there yet?' A question Thomas asked almost way too often on road trips. Eventually, you can only ask it so many times before it gets on your nerves.

The boys rushed upstairs to get ready. Thomas came out of his room trying to get his left shoe tied and get his pants buttoned as there seemed to be a rush to get out the door. John laughed, "Hang on, kiddo." he squatted down to Thomas' shoe, "Let me help you with that. You take care of the pants, I'll take care of your shoes." Thomas panted, "Thanks, John."

Next thing they knew, they were out on the road headed for their grandma's.

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John looked around as they moved down the road. They'd just had lunch at Burger King and everyone was feeling pretty full. Thomas was dead asleep. John smiled, he credited himself as being the only kid in the family who could stay awake on a long road trip. He covered his brother with a blanket and planted a kiss on his cheek. That done, he pulled out his phone to see if Pocahontas or Nakoma had texted him. Nothing. He plugged in his headphones and was about to turn on a song when, "John?"

"Yea, Dad?"

"Everything okay back there?"

"Yep."

"Is Thomas asleep?"

"Sleeping like a baby."

Mrs. Smith turned around and saw Thomas sleeping peacefully in the back. John grinned and put a hand on Thomas' lap, "I'll make sure he gets up when we stop for supper." Mrs. Smith smiled and patted Thomas' cheek.

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As soon as they pulled up to the gas station, John gave one last check on Thomas and got out, "Mom, I'm heading to the bathroom."

"Alright, just come right back."

As soon as he did, John noticed something funny about the car, "Um, Dad? I think you should come look at this. We got a flat." Mr. Smith came around with a perplexed look. John pointed to it, "Right there, and it looks exactly like the cartoons." Mr. Smith had a look, "Alright, we'll pull in the parking lot next to the Denny's and see if we can call a repairman." He patted John's back, "Go ahead and load up, John."

"Yes, Dad."

As soon as they pulled in, Mr. Smith checked the time, "We'll need to stop in for supper. John, go ahead and wake up Thomas. I'll call a repairman as soon as we get in."

"You got it." He gave Thomas a gentle shake, "Thomas, kiddo." Thomas' eyes fluttered open and he yawned, "W-what happened?" He listened while stretching and rubbing his eyes, "I'll bring you up to date, Thomas. We got a flat tire, we'll stop in here and get supper and Dad'll call a repairman." Thomas shot him a worried look, "Are we gonna be okay?" John put a hand on his shoulder, "We'll be fine."

As soon as they got in, their Dad got them a table and explained the situation they were in. The hostess gave them a worried look, "Do you actually need to order anything or do you need a place to sit while you wait to get your car fixed?" Mr. Smith was surprised, he never imagined they would get asked that, but told her they were going to order something. Thomas was having to work his hardest to stay awake, he was so tired. John put an arm around him and rubbed his side, "You okay, kiddo?" Thomas yawned, "Yea, I'm fine."

Thomas started to perk up a little as soon as they started eating, John smiled at him, "Feeling better?" Thomas nodded, "We have to remember to tell everyone about this when we get to Grandma's."

Before they knew it, the repairman had come, the car was fixed, and they were ready to get back on the road again. John and Thomas took drinks to go and they all thanked the hostess before leaving. They even learned that the repairman was on the road to breaking an addiction to pain relievers. He was making great progress.

John and Thomas talked the whole way to the hotel. It was getting late and Thomas' sleepiness was starting to catch up to him again. Once they got to a room, John and Thomas took turns using the shower, brushed teeth, changed, and got into bed. Thomas kept Corduroy next to him so, deciding he could do it too, John got his penguin, Jackie. Thomas took out his book 1984 and started reading while John checked his phone. Once their Mom was out of the shower and ready for bed, "Alright, lights out boys." Mr. Smith told them. The boys put their things away as their parents came around and gave them each a goodnight kiss, "Tomorrow's gonna be another long day." Thomas didn't need any encouragement, he was out as soon as he and John kissed each other goodnight. John gave him a hug and they were soon both asleep.