Finally Home

53. Samantha

We cleaned up from presents and Uncle B and I went into his studio and he did a Twitch stream where we said merry Christmas to his fans. We stayed online for a while, talking with his fans and then he played some Fortnite.

"Alright, we should probably go get ready for dinner. And your surprise should be here. Or will be soon," he said.

"What is it?" I asked.

"A surprise," he said, not letting on anything. I frowned at him and he laughed. "You will love it, I think."

We walked into the house and there was something different. I heard extra voices. We turned the corner into the kitchen and standing there, chatting with Aunt Sarah was Uncle Josh and Aunt Debby!

I stopped and stared in awe.

"Merry Christmas!" Uncle Josh said, grabbing me in a hug.

"She's speechless," Uncle Brendon said, laughing.

"What are you doing here?" I asked.

"Surprising you. And crashing your Disney trip, if you don't mind," he said.

"Of course not!" I said, hugging him.

Uncle Brendon was grinning like a fool watching me.

"Surprise!" He said. I hugged him and we all laughed.

Dinner was amazing. And so much fun with Uncle Josh there, too. Everyone was happy and laughing. It was amazing.

Uncle Brendon suggested I go to bed a bit early since we were getting up for Disney in the morning.

I did have a bit of trouble falling asleep because, well, Christmas, and Disney. But eventually I did.

Before I knew it, Uncle Brendon was waking me up to get going. Aunt Sarah made sure I had something to eat first and then we left. I had a backpack packed with extra insulin, a hat, a change of clothes and a bathing suit. I had my crutch, too, even though we were getting me a wheelchair.

I climbed into the back seat of the car to find Uncle Josh and Aunt Debby already sitting there.

"Hi!" Uncle Josh said, brightly.

"Hi." I said, tiredly.

He pulled me to him and I leaned into him as I put on my seatbelt. Uncle Brendon pulled away from the house and before we even hit the highway, I'd fallen asleep again.

Uncle Josh was bugging me awake as we pulled in to the parking lot. I groggily looked around, forgetting for an instant where I was and where we were going.

"You snore," Uncle Josh said.

"I do not!" I said.

"You do. And it's very cute," he smiled. I frowned at him. He laughed at me.

We got out of the car, met Zack and Kala and we all went into the park. We met with our staff escort and then we got a wheelchair that Uncle Brendon had arranged ahead of time. The escort looked at me and at the wheelchair and looked like she was wondering why I needed it. Despite the fact that I had my crutch with me and had used it from the parking lot. I was glad we got the chair.

We had the best day. Even though it was busy with holiday travellers, we had fast passes and special access. Uncle Brendon insisted on pushing the wheelchair, which meant I wound up motion sick. Okay. Not really. But he did push me all over the place. And very fast.

"You're going to kill me!" I said after one close call with a fountain. "And you know Dad will never forgive you!"

He laughed maniacally. 

"Oh boy," I laughed.

We had a great day. A few fans found Uncle B, and some recognized Josh, then realized who I am, and it was very weird.

We stayed through to the fireworks and as we were walking to the car, Zack picked me up. I was limping a bit more than usual because despite the wheelchair and my crutch, I did a lot more walking than I was used to and my leg was tired. Zack carried me bridal style and Uncle Brendon took my backpack.

We climbed into our respective cars and I fell asleep on the drive home.

"I got her," I heard Uncle Josh whisper as I felt myself gently pulled from the car. I didn't want to wake up fully because I was tired, so I let myself be carried into the house and upstairs.

"Good night, String Bean," Uncle Josh whispered and kissed my head. I heard him close the door before I rolled over and went to sleep.

The rest of the week seemed to fly by and finally it was Friday and the night of the Fall Out Boy concert.

I'd played a little paintball with Uncle Pete and Uncle Brendon and Uncle Josh. It was so fun. We only played for about an hour because of my leg. I wasn't using my crutch to play, so I tired out a bit faster.

Thursday we went to the beach just to relax. And we did. I didn't go in the water beyond my knees.

But Friday was awesome. We stayed around the house in the morning then went out for lunch. After lunch we headed to the venue and went backstage to hang out with the band. Uncle Patrick and Uncle Pete were so fun but the best was Andy letting me use his drum kit. In fact insisting I show him what I can do. So I did. I don't think I'm good but he was nodding.

"You have talent," he said. "How did that feel?"

"One thing I love about the drums," I said. "Is that even though I'm pounding the crap out of them, it's so relaxing. Anything that's bugging me, I can channel into bashing the hell out of a drum kit."

"True," Andy smiled.

"Andy?" I asked.

"Yup?" He said, distracted as he set up his kit again for the show.

"Can I call you Uncle Andy?"

"Of course, Kiddo. I'd love that," he smiled. I gave him a hug. He hugged me back. "I've kinda been hoping you'd ask."