The Meaning of Family: The Collections

Family Vacation (2/9)

"Uncle Kookie!" The second Jungkook stepped out of the car, he was attacked by an eight-year-old girl.

"Hi, Sammie!" Jungkook squeezed the young girl in a bear hug.

Sammie pulled back to smile at her favorite uncle. "We get to spend the whole week together!"

"I know!" Jungkook exclaimed back to her. "I'm so excited!"

"Okay!" Jin got the entire family's attention, Presley propped on his hip as he had already claimed the infant for the duration of the trip. "Now that Kookie's here, we can head out!" Various cheers left the mouth of some of the family members. "It's a little after 8:00 right now, the plan right now is to try to get into Texas by lunch time, and then Hopefully we'll be in Houston by midafternoon and we'll stop there for the night. Has everyone gone potty?" Jin directed his question to his grandchildren.

"I have!" Taehyung raised his hand, smiling playfully at his dad.

Namjoon decided to play along. "We're so proud of you, Tae!"

Once the joking was done, they divided themselves up among vehicles, wanting to take as few cars as possible. Presley, of course, was with Jin and Namjoon, as Jin refused to let her go back to her parents for the time being. Jungkook and Jayden opted to ride with the couple too, at which point Sammie decided to go with her grandparents too, wanting to spend as much time with Uncle Kookie as possible. Jimin decided to ride with his twin and that family, while Hoseok went in Yoongi's car. Once all the luggage had been transferred and everyone was situated, the three vehicles with the Kim family began the seven-hour drive. The drive itself went as smooth as it could with five young children, reminding Jin of the last time they took a long trip like this one, his and Namjoon's honeymoon.

Close to 1:00 was when they finally stopped for lunch, opting for a barbecue restaurant. Over lunch, the conversation surprisingly went to school, starting with Sammie expressing her excitement to start her summer reading list. "I'm already way ahead!" Sammie shared with excitement as the family waited for their food. "I finished the first two books of The Babysitters Club series in the car!"

"I remember your mom reading those books when she was your age." Jin commented, having memories of weekends that Sophia would come over to play with Yoongi, but would instead curl up on the couch with one of the classic books.

"I wanna read!" Chloe pouted, feeling envious of how her older sister could read whole books but she could only read a few words.

"Don't worry, babe," Yoongi lightly tickled his daughter's ear. "We'll work on it this summer."

"That's right," Jin chimed in. "You'll be the best reader in your kindergarten class."

Once Chloe was cheered up, the conversation switched to the jobs Taehyung and Kortni would be starting when they got back from their trip. Taehyung had applied at the Kids First school in Morrilton at the beginning of the year before he'd graduated and had been hired as an occupational therapist upon earning his degree while Kortni had landed a job at the elementary school the five boys had gone to, the same one Sammie went to and where Austin and Chloe would be starting school in August. "I want Daddy to be my teacher~" Caleb whined as their food was brought out. "Why can't I go to that school?"

"Caleb, we talked about this," Taehyung said calmly as he squirted ketchup onto the preschooler's plate. "The school I work at is for kids who need special help, remember?"

"Besides, Caleb," Sophia jumped in, "if you went where your daddy works, you wouldn't get to hang with me! We'll have lots of fun!"

They spent the rest of their lunch focused on their food before heading back out on the road. They arrived in Houston shortly after 5:00 and went straight to their hotel, taking time to reenergize and freshen up after being stuck in a car for the day before heading to dinner. They went to the Cheesecake Factory, where Sammie got free cheesecake for dessert for her upcoming birthday, and Jin and Namjoon got free drinks for their upcoming anniversary. Everyone else, sadly, had to pay for their dessert and drinks that night. Most of them brought their cheesecake in to go boxes back to the hotel to save for later, as they wanted to get an early night to get an early start on the road the next day.