Christmas in the Country (A Pocahontas FanFiction)

First Day of the Journey Home

"Boys," Mr. Smith came in the room and switched the light on, "come on and get up, we gotta ready and get on the road."  John sat up and stretched.  Uncle Lon came up and noticed Thomas still sound asleep.  He came over and gave Thomas a gentle shake, "Thomas, get up.  You gotta get ready to leave."  Thomas opened his eyes and muttered, "Just five more minutes?"  Mr. Smith gave him a puzzled look, "What's made you so tired?"  Thomas rubbed his head, "I stayed up to finish 1984.  When I finished, it was about five in the morning."  Everyone gapped as John tried to find his voice, "You stayed up till five in the morning?  Must be that good of a book."  He got out of bed and lifted Thomas up by his sides, "Come on, Sir Sleepy.  When we get in the car, you can sleep all you want.  Right now, we need to get ready to go."

The boys hurried downstairs and grabbed breakfast.  They were both glad it was fresh pancakes, bacon, and juice.  Just the thing to start a day getting back home.  Grandma smiled when she saw them eat so heartily, "You'll need it for such a long road trip."  John smiled, "Thanks, Grandma."  He looked over at Thomas and held in a laugh, "Thomas, kiddo?" Thomas looked up, "What?" John passed him a napkin, "You've got syrup all over your mouth."

After breakfast, the boys went up to change and do their chores.  That done, they loaded up their tolietries and took their suitcases to the car.  Once Mr. and Mrs. Smith were ready, everyone said goodbye.  Thomas was almost in tears as he said goodbye to Uncle Ben last.  Uncle Ben rubbed Thomas shoulder, "Come on, kiddo.  It's okay."  Thomas sniffled and listened, "We'll always have chances to be together."  He gave him one last squeeze, "Take care of yourself now, you hear?"

"Yes, sir."

With that, the boys got in the back seat and waved one last goodbye out the window as they got on the road.  John looked over at Thomas, he was still quite forlorn, "You need a hug, kiddo?"  Thomas nodded.  John smiled and held out his arms, "Come here, you." and wrapped Thomas up.  John kept hold of him, knowing how he felt.  After a while, he found Thomas asleep.  John smiled and rolled his eyes, Thomas was never able to travel without sleeping.  John patted Thomas back, left his hand there, and checked his phone.

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An hour later, Thomas woke up and lifted his head, a bit dazed, "John, how far down the road are we?"

"About an hour."  Thomas woke up, but it was a fake wake up.  He was back asleep in a few minutes.  John giggled and took a picture.  Just then, Pocahontas texted him, "How was your Christmas? Did you and Thomas have fun?"  John texted back, "A real Christmas to remember.  Had tons of fun.  Mom took lots of pictures.  Just started on back home."  he sent that, then attached the picture he just took of Thomas and added, "I bet you can tell."  Pocahontas replied later, "Awwww, he looks so sweet! Nakoma says 'Too cute! Give him a kiss for me!'"  John laughed and texted back, "Will do!" Once he put his phone away, he planted a kiss on Thomas' cheek.

John was just texting the picture to Uncle Lon when their dad asked where they wanted to go for lunch and read off what was coming up.  John looked down at Thomas, "Hey, Thomas," Thomas eyes opened a little, "Where should we go for lunch?" he whispered.  Thomas shrugged, "I don't know, why don't you pick and I'll pick where we should go for supper."  John nodded, "Good deal."  He looked up while Thomas closed his eyes again, "Uh, how 'bout Wendy's?"

"Wendy's it is."

Once they had lunch on the table, the boys went to get drinks.  Their dad always had them do this at fast food restaurants so they wouldn't be drinking before getting their food and having to get up for refills.  John knew exactly what Thomas would get: Strawberry Dr. Pepper.  He always it was like Dr. Pepper with strawberry Starburst.  While they ate, the boys talked about their visit and what they would do when they got home.  Thomas said he would go out to the backyard and run around.  John agreed, he would do the same thing.  Before getting back on the road, the boys got drinks to go.

Back on the road, Thomas did his best to stay awake.  He took out his Robin Hood book and read a little, but had to put it down when he started to get dizzy.  John took out Battleship and they played a few games with John hardly being able to guess where Thomas' things were.  Then they played a few games of Guess Who.  By that time, they'd finished their drinks and Thomas' eyelids were getting heavy.  John put the game away and Thomas quickly fell back asleep.  John threw a blanket over him and his phone went off: Uncle Lon texted him back.  John opened it, Uncle Lon sent a laughing emoji 'How very Thomas. Hug him for me.'  John smiled and texted back, 'Will do.', sent a smile emoji, and pulled Thomas into a hug.  Thomas smiled and put his arms around John.  John smiled, set his head on Thomas', and stared out the window.

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About supper time, John woke Thomas up, "Thomas, where should we go for supper?"  Thomas didn't open his eyes, but thought for a second, "Uh, how about Dairy Queen?" he muttered and fell back asleep.  John shot his head up, "Did you get all that, Dad?"

"Yep.  Dairy Queen.  Right up here on the next exit."

John gave Thomas a gentle shake, "Come on and wake up, kiddo.  We're gonna stop soon."  Thomas lifted his head, started to stretch and yawned.    

While they ate, John asked where they would stop the night, "There's a Comfort Inn coming up, we'll stop there the night."  John took a bite of his burger, "So, Thomas.  What's the first thing you'll do when we get home?"  Thomas took a sip of his Coke and thought for a second, "I think I'll video chat Nakoma, read without getting carsick, and get ready for New Year's Eve."  Mrs. Smith smiled, "Oh, that's right.  New Year's is coming up."  Mr. Smith smiled, "You boys and I need to remember to stop by the fireworks stand.  You two wanna invite Pocahontas and Nakoma?"  The boys nodded eagerly, "You know we will.  They always enjoy the fireworks you get." John replied.  "You happen to be a fireworks genius!" Thomas added.

John and Thomas refilled their drinks and they headed out to the car.   Back on the road, Thomas checked his phone and found a text from Nakoma, "How are you, sweetie? John told me you were so tired."  Thomas grinned and texted back, "Yea, I don't travel very well.  I think, by the time New Year's comes around, I'll be ready for the stay-up.  You, Pocahontas, and your folks still coming, speaking of which?"  Nakoma texted right back, "You know we are!"

"Sweet! Get ready for a cookout and the most awesome fireworks spectacle in town!"

"Awesome! Daddy says drinks are on us!"

"Cool!"  Thomas looked up from his phone, "Daddy, Nakoma just texted me.  Her daddy says 'drinks are on us' for New Year's."  Mr. Smith nodded, "Great, tell'em I said thanks."  Thomas started a new message, "Daddy says 'thanks'."  A new text came immediately, "Daddy says 'anytime'."  Thomas grinned, "He said 'anytime', Daddy."

Thomas did his best to stay awake, but by the time they reached the hotel, he was nearly half asleep.  Once they checked in and got to their room, they took turns using the shower and laid down.  John and Thomas got their drinks, which they drank little of in the car, and switched the TV on.  The Princess Bride was playing on ABC Family, they turned it on just in time for the beginning.  Since their parents liked it too and it wasn't that late, they stayed up for the entire thing.  By the time it was finished, the boys had finished their drinks and it was time for lights' out.  Mr. and Mrs. Smith kissed them both goodnight and the boys kissed each other goodnight.  Thomas looked around as their dad turned out the lights, "Hey, John?" he whispered.  John put an arm around him, "Yea?"

"What's the weather suppossed to be like?"  John checked his phone on the bedside table, "There's a chance of snow tonight.  Why?" 

"I just hope the roads won't be too slick.  Also, it's kinda pretty when it's snowing during the night and the moon isn't new."

"I agree."  He squeezed his baby brother and gave him an extra kiss, "Goodnight, kiddo."  Thomas smiled and curled up next to him, "Goodnight, Big Brother."