Learn to Howl {Alex Vreeke | Jumanji}

18; & twenty seventeen

"Why does your dad have Christmas decorations up now?" Connie laughed, pulling up to the Vreeke family house. Alex snorted with laughter.

"It's the end of November, it's the perfect time to have Christmas decorations up." He turned to look over his shoulder at where their daughter was bouncing excitedly in her seat. "Right, Beth? Perfect time." He smiled brightly at her and the little girl nodded vigorously. She had Connie's long, brown hair, and Alex's perfect smile and boundless enthusiasm. She'd be a perfect little drummer one day.

"Perfect time! Perfect time!" She chirped back earnestly, grabbing onto the back of Connie's chair, bouncing with even more delight at the sight of her grandfather exiting the house. Connie laughed, parking and unclipping her seatbelt, but as she went to get out, she spotted a group of teenager gathered on the sidewalk by the house.

"Alex." Voice soft, she nodded to the gathering. Alex followed her gaze, eyebrows rising. "Do you think-?"

"Let's get everyone in to dad first, then we'll see." He said, and Connie nodded, suddenly nervous. Now she was Connie Vreeke, one year shy of forty, mother of two, owning her own veterinary clinic in Chicago. She's a different person, she has a different life. Mostly. Both she and Alex have a tattoo of their final life bar on their wrists, both have picked up habits from their characters. Connie's aim is impeccable, Alex makes incredible margaritas. Both of them have a taste for meat that's a little bit burnt.

"Come on, we gotta get you inside!" Alex lifts his eldest from the car, swinging her around, much to her delight, and letting her run up to give his own dad a hug, while Connie opened the back of the boot to let the dog that had been cooped up in the folded down back of the car out while Alex picked up the baby carrier.

"Hi Tet, we're here!" Connie gave the dog a kiss on the nose as she grabbed her leads, walking her through the front gate and receiving a hug of her own from Alex's father.

"Hello, dear." He fixed her with a fond smile, before bending down to scratch at the heads of the two huskies.

"Mommy!" Beth shouted from a corner of the yard. "Tetra hasn't been here yet can we go walk her later?" A pause. "To the ice cream shop?" She added, with a cheeky grin.

"Of course, munchkin." Connie agreed with a bright smile. Alex's hand came to rest softly on her shoulder, and when she looked to him, she saw the kids still watching them from the road.

"Dad, would you mind watching them for just a minute, we just have something we need to do." Alex was nervous, even if he didn't show it. When Connie handed over the leash of the husky, Mr Vreeke nodded, holding out his other hand for the baby carrier. After a pause, Connie leaned down and picked up her son, holding him as he filled her with a sense of stability. Together, the couple left the yard, walking up to the gathered teenagers.

"It really is twenty-seventeen." Connie muttered beneath her breath, hearing Alex chuckle quietly as he wrapped an arm around her waist. The kids looked like they had seen a ghost, and neither Connie nor Alex could blame them. Together, the six of them had saved an entire world, and now-?

Bethany waved.

The teenager named Bethany who saved Alex's life, who Connie almost killed, blonde and beautiful just as she had told them, waved.

"Bethany?" Alex asked, voice a little hoarse. She nodded in response. He kept identifying them one by one, Spencer, Fridge, Martha. All four of them. The adventurers. The heroes. As he got each kid's name right, their face lit up with recognition, and slowly, their eyes turned to Connie.

"Tetra?" Bethany finally spoke. Connie was suddenly lost for words, and she didn't realise there were tears in her eyes until she found it difficult to see.

"Yep." She managed, leaning against Alex for support.

"We're stoked to see you." He said, a little breathlessly, the party all starting to laugh with disbelief. "All of you."

"You made it back." Bethany said quietly, smile on her face.

"Yeah," Alex agreed. "Spit me out right where I started, so, 1996." He paused, before conceding. "It was weird, it was like I was in two minds;" he squeezed Connie's shoulder, "Jumanji me had had Connie disappear in '93, but she came back same as me, on the day she left and..." he paused, suddenly a little choked up.

"I waited." Connie admitted. "I waited for him, with him, without really..." she paused, the baby in her arms gurgled a little, "don't google me, I went a bit feral afterwards, with no-one to talk to about it." She laughs, but it sounds a little pained.

"But your parents, your house-?" Spencer asked, dark eyes wide and almost disbelieving.

"Yeah, all good." Alex grinned at him, and Connie chuckled.

"You're adults now," Bethany says it like she almost can't believe it, "you guys started a family together." As if realising, Connie's face lit up, and she brought her arms down to show of the inquisitive face of her son.

"Yeah, this is Stevie." She introduced, to which the teenagers seemed to fight down the urge to coo.

"And our daughter," Alex looked to Connie, pride in his eyes as he spoke, "our daughter's named Bethany." It's like he's eighteen again, able to get lost in her gaze, "We named her after the girl who saved my life."

Bethany lit up at that, tears in her eyes.

"We'd um," she sniffles a little, overwhelmed, "we'd better get going." The other nod, but no-one seems ready to leave. Connie gives Stevie to Alex, and pulls out her business card and a pen, scribbling down both her number and Alex's onto it.

"If you guys need anything, we're here." She said, giving the card to Bethany, who was quick to pull out her phone and put in the numbers.

"You're a vet?" Fridge asks, looking over her shoulder, and Connie laughs. "I've been thinking about getting into that sort of shit." He mused, and Tetra gave a laugh.

"Like I said, give me a call." She smiled brightly at the group, and Alex sighed with contentment.

"I'm so stoked to see you guys. So stoked." He said, and Connie nodded earnestly alongside him. Looking up at Alex, she remembered, if only for a moment, kissing him in the jungle for that first time, how unsure she had been, how safe he had made her feel, and her heart began to swell with love.

"Remember Jumanji?" She asked, softly. Alex looked down, that same love and adoration in his eyes that had brought her back into the real world.

"I remember you." He returned, kissing her as all the teenagers made outcries of disgust.

"I thought you would get less gross out of the game." Bethany rolled her eyes, the magic of seeing Alex and Connie finally wearing off. Connie just grinned softly, moving to gently kiss her son's head where he was resting against Alex's chest, her husband turning with that same rascal grin he'd even managed in-game.

"Not a chance."