The Reincarnated King (ManxManxMan)

Chapter Two: A Normal Family

~Chapter Two: A Normal Family~

The day before I leave for my trip to Wales with Tom is Thanksgiving, which means spending the good part of a day driving to Ohio to enjoy the holiday with my family. Normally, I would have taken half the week off work so I could drive down the night before and spend up until Sunday in my childhood home, but since I am about to go on a week-long vacation, I am lucky I was able to even get half of the day off so I could start driving early enough to hopefully make it in time for dinner.

The biggest downside to having to work a half-day before making the drive, though, is that my dream-filled nights already leave me tired, which is not the best condition to drive in; add in the exhausting work I had to do before the drive as well as the unexpected snowstorm brewing on the state lines of Michigan and Ohio, and the conditions become downright dangerous.

In hindsight, probably should've just stayed home.

Because if I had opted to just call my parents and let them know I would be staying home this year - no matter how much it would suck to break the long-standing tradition my brothers and I have of always visiting them for every major family holiday - it would be better than nearly driving myself into a tree because I start falling asleep at the wheel.

Thankfully, no one is around to see me swerve to avoid a tree that seemed to pop right out of the road, mostly because it did not, in fact, pop out of the road; it was on the side of the road, which I drove off at some point and failed to notice. Worse yet, if there was someone around, there is a very high chance that I would have hit them, and that is...that is a horrible thing to think about, which is why I spend twenty minutes parked on the side of the road following the near miss with the tree, breathing deeply into my hands.

I'm a horrible person, I decide, in that moment. And my license should be revoked.

Still, with almost two-thirds of the drive over, turning back now would honestly be the stupider choice, especially since there is a large snowstorm that is now between me and my apartment. So, I just drive a bit slower and make a stop at a gas station to grab a cup of really strong - but horribly bitter - coffee. It gives me the jitters because it has been a while since I ate anything, but it gets me through the drive.

A drive that, had I been thinking clearer, I never would've taken.

The weather when I reach my parents' house is a lot clearer and nicer than where I live or where I travelled through to get here, but it is still cold. So, it is a bit of a surprise that someone is waiting on the porch, huddled up in a thick jacket with the fur-lined hood up. They wave when I park at the curb, since the driveway is occupied by a silver rental car that is probably being used by my oldest brother, Trent, because he and his family fly in from Florida, and there is also a black truck that belongs to my other older brother, Aaron, who lives alone, only a few cities over from here. My parents' cars are probably in the garage.

As I climb out of my car, I grab the small travel bag - my actual suitcase for the flight is in the trunk - out of the backseat and start up the path along the driveway towards the front door. As I approach the porch, my sister-in-law pulls back the hood of her jacket, and she steps forward to greet me with her signature bearhug.

"Hi, Jasper," she says, after a little maneuvering since the jacket is very deceptive in its ability to hide her baby bump, but it can offer little as an actual buffer.

"You're as gorgeous as ever, Sam," I greet, just a little teasing. That is not to say that she is not a beautiful woman, as her flawless black skin, curly brown hair, and long legs have been turning heads for as long as I have known her, but we both know where my true appreciation lies, and it isn't in women.