Baby-Sitters Club: It still gets me where I wanna go (part six)
Title - It still gets me where I wanna go, part six. (Morning)
Fandom - Baby-Sitters Club
Characters - Mostly Barretts and Pikes.
Word count - 699
Rating - G
Summary - The morning after.
Author's note - It's over! Final part ahoy! Ahhh, it feels so good to finish something that's been an idea in the back of my head for so long :D (also feels good to finally get around to posting it at the fic journal. I'm really lazy with bsc fic, it tends to get posted to babysitters100 and then forgotten about :p)
This section is set during Chapter 21 of the source material and, as usual, a couple of dialogue lines are taken from canon. And a massive, massive thanks to ozqueen who has been an amazing beta and a brilliant cheerleader for this series ♥
Other parts in the series:
[ Tradition | Adult | Leisure | Situation | Hurricane | Morning ]
A patchy sleep and an inadequate breakfast have left her feeling lightheaded. There's no avoiding the post-hurricane rush, and the drive home feels like a parade route through a ghost town. Car after car after car inches down Main Street, against a backdrop of bright blue sky and motionless Ferris wheel.
Everything looks okay.
Soggy and windswept, sure. But okay.
"Looks like we were lucky." Dee rolls down her window, letting in the cool morning breeze.
---
"Anything yet?"
"Nope!" Stacey leans out the side window. "Are we doing something wrong?"
Natalie shakes her head. "It's not us, it's the electricity. Power's still out."
"Well, I guess we did just have a hurricane." Stacey grins.
---
"I don't think anyone in Sea City has electricity," says John. "It'll take a few days to get things going again."
Dee brushes her hair out of her eyes. "Things could've been a lot worse. Some minor property damage seems to be the extent of it. It hit Stoneybrook first thing this morning, but it would've been similar there, right?"
Natalie gasps. "I hadn't even thought about that!" Her stomach clenches, thinking of her little house on Slate Street. She's been too busy with the here-and-now to even give it a thought.
"Stoneybrook hasn't had much of a mention on the radio. Damn town, it's too small." Dee hesitates. "I suppose we could go home early? Make sure everything's okay?"
"Nope. Sorry hon, causeway's still closed."
Dee sighs. "Well, the phones'll be on soon enough. I guess we'll just sit tight until then."
"We'll have to. We don't have much choice beyond pioneering it the rest of the week."
"Pick another word," teases Dee. "You're no Charles Ingalls, John."
John rolls his eyes. "Fine, we'll rough it the rest of the week."
"Better."
---
"We've been through the worst. I think we can tough it out the rest of the way."
Natalie hides a smile when John's announcement is met with cheers.
Buddy turns to look at her, his face hopeful. "Us too?"
"Us too," she smiles. "It'll be fun! Cooking out everyday, reading by candlelight..."
"This vacation is the best!" declares Vanessa.
---
"Hot dogs!" cheers Suzi. "I love hot dogs!"
"Still? Well, that's a relief," says Natalie. It's day two of Operation Pioneers, and they're eating their fourth barbecued meal in a row. She's starting to think she can never look at a hot dog in the face again. But, really, it's not so bad. Not at all. She can cope with anything, as long as the kids aren't whining about it.
"Why don't we ever have barbecue at home?" pouts Buddy.
She wants to roll her eyes. She refrains.
---
On the last night, the entire crew packs into the Barrett living room. They bundle the kids into blankets and listen to Dawn spin a tale about the ghosts in her family's barn, candlelit shadows dancing on the wall behind her. Marnie's fast asleep, and Natalie keeps a close eye on Suzi to see how her second-youngest is coping with the suspense.
Dawn lowers her voice to a whisper. Suzi leans forward, wide eyed with a huge grin. Claire shrinks into Byron's lap, near-identical looks of apprehension on their faces.
By the time the Pikes stagger drowsily home, Buddy and Suzi are both fading. Yawning, Stacey carries Marnie into her little room off the kitchen. Suzi drops off as soon as her head hits the pillow.
When Natalie checks on Buddy, he's lying awake.
"You okay?" she whispers, sitting on his bed.
He hugs his pillow. "You know, I was scared when Hurricane Bill came. But now I think it was the best thing about the vacation."
Natalie laughs. "You were a great pioneer, Buddy."
"Yeah, like Davy Crockett."
Natalie starts to sing The Ballad of Davy Crockett, and Buddy chimes in for the snippets he knows.
---
The morning brings: clear skies, a working causeway, kids with end-of-vacation misery, a long car trip.
She pulls out of the driveway and follows Dee's station wagon, nowhere near as nervous as she'd expected to be.
She survived the awful trip to get here.
She survived driving in a hurricane.
She'll survive today. Probably.
"Bye, house," sighs Suzi.
Fandom - Baby-Sitters Club
Characters - Mostly Barretts and Pikes.
Word count - 699
Rating - G
Summary - The morning after.
Author's note - It's over! Final part ahoy! Ahhh, it feels so good to finish something that's been an idea in the back of my head for so long :D (also feels good to finally get around to posting it at the fic journal. I'm really lazy with bsc fic, it tends to get posted to babysitters100 and then forgotten about :p)
This section is set during Chapter 21 of the source material and, as usual, a couple of dialogue lines are taken from canon. And a massive, massive thanks to ozqueen who has been an amazing beta and a brilliant cheerleader for this series ♥
Other parts in the series:
[ Tradition | Adult | Leisure | Situation | Hurricane | Morning ]
A patchy sleep and an inadequate breakfast have left her feeling lightheaded. There's no avoiding the post-hurricane rush, and the drive home feels like a parade route through a ghost town. Car after car after car inches down Main Street, against a backdrop of bright blue sky and motionless Ferris wheel.
Everything looks okay.
Soggy and windswept, sure. But okay.
"Looks like we were lucky." Dee rolls down her window, letting in the cool morning breeze.
---
"Anything yet?"
"Nope!" Stacey leans out the side window. "Are we doing something wrong?"
Natalie shakes her head. "It's not us, it's the electricity. Power's still out."
"Well, I guess we did just have a hurricane." Stacey grins.
---
"I don't think anyone in Sea City has electricity," says John. "It'll take a few days to get things going again."
Dee brushes her hair out of her eyes. "Things could've been a lot worse. Some minor property damage seems to be the extent of it. It hit Stoneybrook first thing this morning, but it would've been similar there, right?"
Natalie gasps. "I hadn't even thought about that!" Her stomach clenches, thinking of her little house on Slate Street. She's been too busy with the here-and-now to even give it a thought.
"Stoneybrook hasn't had much of a mention on the radio. Damn town, it's too small." Dee hesitates. "I suppose we could go home early? Make sure everything's okay?"
"Nope. Sorry hon, causeway's still closed."
Dee sighs. "Well, the phones'll be on soon enough. I guess we'll just sit tight until then."
"We'll have to. We don't have much choice beyond pioneering it the rest of the week."
"Pick another word," teases Dee. "You're no Charles Ingalls, John."
John rolls his eyes. "Fine, we'll rough it the rest of the week."
"Better."
---
"We've been through the worst. I think we can tough it out the rest of the way."
Natalie hides a smile when John's announcement is met with cheers.
Buddy turns to look at her, his face hopeful. "Us too?"
"Us too," she smiles. "It'll be fun! Cooking out everyday, reading by candlelight..."
"This vacation is the best!" declares Vanessa.
---
"Hot dogs!" cheers Suzi. "I love hot dogs!"
"Still? Well, that's a relief," says Natalie. It's day two of Operation Pioneers, and they're eating their fourth barbecued meal in a row. She's starting to think she can never look at a hot dog in the face again. But, really, it's not so bad. Not at all. She can cope with anything, as long as the kids aren't whining about it.
"Why don't we ever have barbecue at home?" pouts Buddy.
She wants to roll her eyes. She refrains.
---
On the last night, the entire crew packs into the Barrett living room. They bundle the kids into blankets and listen to Dawn spin a tale about the ghosts in her family's barn, candlelit shadows dancing on the wall behind her. Marnie's fast asleep, and Natalie keeps a close eye on Suzi to see how her second-youngest is coping with the suspense.
Dawn lowers her voice to a whisper. Suzi leans forward, wide eyed with a huge grin. Claire shrinks into Byron's lap, near-identical looks of apprehension on their faces.
By the time the Pikes stagger drowsily home, Buddy and Suzi are both fading. Yawning, Stacey carries Marnie into her little room off the kitchen. Suzi drops off as soon as her head hits the pillow.
When Natalie checks on Buddy, he's lying awake.
"You okay?" she whispers, sitting on his bed.
He hugs his pillow. "You know, I was scared when Hurricane Bill came. But now I think it was the best thing about the vacation."
Natalie laughs. "You were a great pioneer, Buddy."
"Yeah, like Davy Crockett."
Natalie starts to sing The Ballad of Davy Crockett, and Buddy chimes in for the snippets he knows.
---
The morning brings: clear skies, a working causeway, kids with end-of-vacation misery, a long car trip.
She pulls out of the driveway and follows Dee's station wagon, nowhere near as nervous as she'd expected to be.
She survived the awful trip to get here.
She survived driving in a hurricane.
She'll survive today. Probably.
"Bye, house," sighs Suzi.