Christmas in the Country (A Pocahontas FanFiction)

Day 2

The next day, Mr. Smith got the boys up early, "Feet on the floor, boys. We need to get back on the road." John sat up and stretched and looked over at Thomas. Thomas opened one eye, "Just five more minutes?" Mr. Smith raised an eyebrow, "'Scuse me?" John chuckled, on a busy day when they had to be somewhere, it wasn't very smart to ask for five more minutes, "Come on, Sleepyhead. When we finish breakfast and get to the car, you can sleep all you want."

John and Thomas talked while they ate, "I hope nothing like yesterday happens again today." Thomas told John as he worked his way through pancakes. John took a sip of orange juice, "Definitely, I was almost afraid we'd be out till midnight." Thomas took a bite and started chewing, "Midnight? I think that's a little extreme, don't you think?" John smirked, "Yea, and don't talk with your mouth full. It's rude."

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They were soon back on the road. Thomas took 1984 out, but eventually had to put it down since it was starting to make him dizzy and put his headphones on. John leafed through a Outdoorsman magazine and made occasional glances out the window. After five songs, Thomas put his headphones away and stared out the window. There wasn't much to see though, and he was getting bored. John looked up, "What's wrong you with you, kiddo?" Thomas sighed, "How much longer till we get out of the car again? I am so bored!" Mr. Smith checked the clock on the radio, "Exactly three hours." Thomas sneezed causing John to laugh, "Bless you."

"Thanks." Thomas felt his eyes get heavier. He yawned and, almost immediately, fell asleep. John smirked, "Sleepyhead." pulled a blanket over him and ruffled his tired brother's hair a little. John looked one last time at Thomas to make sure he would be okay, then took out his phone to check for messages. Pocahontas had messaged him asking him how the trip was going and how Thomas was. John giggled and took a picture of Thomas, "This is him about 70% of the time, sleeping like a baby." Pocahontas replied almost immediately, "Awwww! Cute! Nakoma says he looks like a sweet angel. Give him a kiss for her! Xoxo!" John covered his mouth to stifle a laugh, how exactly like Nakoma. He texted back, "I will." leaned over and gave Thomas a gentle kiss on the cheek. As he pulled up a game app, he could've sworn he saw Thomas smile a little.

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When they finally stopped for lunch at Cook Out, the boys' favorite restaurant, Thomas rubbed the sleep from his eyes. John took a bite of his burger, "You sleep okay?" Thomas nodded, "Yep." John smiled, "I know you'll feel much better once we get to Grandma's and we actually get to do stuff."  Thomas looked blissfully into the distance, "I can not wait till then, we'll finally get to really do something."

The boys stopped by the soda fountain to get drinks before they left. John highly suggested it so that Thomas wouldn't fall asleep so quickly again. It ended up working, Thomas stayed awake quite a while and he and John talked for hours. When John told him about Pocahontas' text, Thomas' cheeks turned as red as holly berries, "Gosh." They talked about the last basketball game of the year they would get to play. They would get one last appearance at the next pep rally to celebrate a successful and fun year.

The effect of Thomas' Coke worked for quite a while, he managed to stay awake until an hour before they stopped. John chuckled, patted his lap, and let Thomas get comfortable on it. As soon as John pulled the blanket over him, Thomas was asleep. John sighed, stroked Thomas' back, and started humming a song their Dad used to sing to them. John credited his great singing to come from their Dad. Because of it, the rest of the basketball team always insisted that they had to get him on American Idol.

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When they stopped for supper, "Thomas. Wake up, kiddo." Thomas yawned and started to sit up, "What's up?" John rolled his eyes a little and smirked, "We have to go get supper, silly." Thomas looked at John stupidly, "Oh, right. Where'd we stop?" John grinned and imitated the voice on the commercials, "'Golden Corral. The Best Buffet in the USA'." Thomas laughed, "You do that so well, John."

By the time they came out, the boys were so full, it was hard to walk. Mr. Smith gave them an amused look, "You guys that full?" Thomas nodded, "Yep. I don't know how many times we got new plates." Mr. Smith laughed, "Well, maybe you guys won't eat so much next time we go to a buffet." Mrs. Smith laughed too, "We'll be at the hotel soon, then you two can recycle your supper if you need to." Everyone had a good laugh.

Thomas did his best to stay awake until they got to the hotel. It was only a few feet, so he wouldn't have a lot of time to sleep till then. As soon as they got there, Thomas and John went to the bathroom almost immediately. Once they were both ready for bed, they promised their dad they wouldn't go above thirds at buffets. While their parents watched the news on TV, John took out he and Thomas' scrapbook and they had a look through it. John pointed out their first Halloween, "You remember that?" he asked. Thomas nodded, he always remembered, it was one of the most exciting nights and one of the few when they got to stay up past their bedtime. John was an adventurer and Thomas was a cowboy.

Once their mom was ready for bed, it was time for lights out. As she and their dad kissed the boys goodnight, Mr. Smith told them, "One more day and we'll be at Grandma's before you know it." Thomas smiled, it was about the best news he had heard since they started. Once the lights were out, John kissed Thomas' cheek, "Love you, kiddo." Thomas smiled, wrapped his arms around John, and fell asleep. John smiled at his brother's sweet sleeping face and gave him an extra kiss before going to sleep himself.