Chapter Text
“I don’t feel good!”
“Hang on, Gilbert, we’re almost there…” George was in a race against time. They weren’t far from the closest store to the campground, but he had a very carsick five-year-old in his back seat… And he didn’t have any containers to catch puke in.
“Okay….. “
George quickly pulled into the first free parking spot he found and jumped out, hurriedly opening the back car door and pulling Laf out. “Do you still feel like you’re going to vomit?”
Laf nodded a bit. “Oui, but not so much now…”
“Okay, we’ll sit here a moment then go in.”
They sat for a moment, to let Laf’s stomach settle before entering the store. “Okay, first off is clothes.” George gently tugged Aaron’s shirt back over his shoulder, wondering how they’d made it this far without someone ending up naked.
Finding clothes for James, Alex, Aaron, and Laf didn’t take too long, as they all found things they liked pretty quickly. Thomas on the other hand was much more picky about his clothing items. He ran his fingers along each and every one before discarding it or deciding it was acceptable.
George got each boy several outfits, as well as pajamas and underclothes. He figured he could always go to the store near his house if they needed more clothes. Shoes were a bit harder, as all the boys had to try on the shoes they liked until they found just the right size. And then George had to keep John from climbing the displays and jumping off, he was sure if he wasn’t the President, they would have been kicked out long before now.
After the clothing department was done, he swung by the baby aisles and grabbed diapers for James, and after taking a quick look at Aaron, grabbed pull-ups as well. He figured everything else could wait until they got home, aside from car seats. He was able to find those with a bit of help from an employee, and herded his small charges to the bathrooms to get some more appropriately sized clothes on.
Alex eagerly changed out of James’ borrowed clothing and into the stuff George bought, even though he had protested and said he should pay. It felt great to be out of the slightly oversized clothes and into ones that fit better. And they were much more his style, not that James’ was bad per say… It was just not his type. And shoes! He didn’t have to walk around barefoot on the hot concrete anymore!
“Alex, can you tie my shoes?” Gilbert asked, holding out his foot.
“Sure.”
“Merci!”
After a long struggle, and help from several store employees to get the car seats installed correctly, George and the boys set out for his home. He turned to Alex, who was sitting in the front seat. “Well, I haven’t told Martha about.. Er.. this. But I know she’ll be excited.”
Alex raised an eyebrow. “And you’re telling me why?”
“Just so you know.”
They were interrupted by the sound of Laf gagging in the back. George quickly pulled the car over and got out, hurrying to where Laf was sitting. “Hold on a minute, buddy…” He quickly unbuckled Laf and pulled him out of the car, where he proceeded to anoint the side of the interstate with the contents of his stomach.
George gently cleaned his mouth when he was finished. “Do you feel better now?” When Laf nodded, George put him back in the car and handed him a plastic bucket with a trash bag inside. “If you feel like you need to vomit again, use this, okay?”
“Okay.”
George chuckled fondly and drove off, though not for long. No more than five minutes after they stopped, they hit heavy traffic. George frowned. “It’s not often there’s so much traffic on a saturday afternoon here…”
Alex glared at the road. “I despise traffic.”
Aaron squirmed in his seat. “How much longer, Papa?”
George nearly slammed on the brakes in surprise before replying much more calmly then he felt. “I don’t know, baby. Why?”
“I need to tinkle.”
“Can you wait until we get home?” George silently prayed that the traffic would clear up quickly, since he knew there wasn’t any place to stop between here and his house.
“No, I gotta go right now!”
George sighed, realizing he should have made them all pee at the store. “Okay, I’ll pull over as soon as I can.” He looked at the side of the road for a bit before pulling over near a heavily wooded area. It would be the best privacy that they would get, he decided.
He pulled Aaron into his arms and looked at the others. “Does anyone else need to pee?” Seeing that none of them responded, he looked at Alex. “We’ll be back soon, Son. Don’t let anything happen.”
“I’m notcha son!” Alex was indignant, though secretly he was pleased that George trusted him enough to leave the others in his care.
George sighed fondly before hurrying off to the woods with Aaron, even at thirteen he was still the Alex he knew and loved.
Back at the car, Alex was having his own problems. Thomas had decided to get out of his seat and sit in his lap. And much to his dismay, as much as he despised the man, he had to admit he was a cute five year old. “Can you go back to your seat?”
Thomas shook his head and grabbed the fuzzy blanket George had bought him. “No, I want cuddles.”
Alex groaned. “You’re going to have to go back to your seat when George comes back.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
John piped up from the back. “George and Ronny are coming back now!”
Alex gently pushed Thomas off his lap. “You have to go back now.”
Thomas whined and clung to him as George buckled Aaron back into his seat. “Are we all ready to go?”
“No.” Alex looked at him. “Thomas won’t get in his seat.”
George sighed and lifted Thomas out of Alex’s lap, putting him in his seat. “You need to stay in your seat until we get home, Bud. Okay?”
Thomas nodded and sleepily stuck his thumb in his mouth, clinging tightly to his blanket.
George rubbed his temples and got back in the driver's seat, hoping he wouldn’t fall asleep in the car. “Okay, Now we’re ready.”
Despite George doing his best to avoid the traffic, it still took them nearly two more hours to reach home. Poor Laf was miserable the whole ride, as John tried to comfort him in the back. Thomas fell asleep five minutes after they started driving, and James was just content to suck on his foot.
As they neared the house, George wondered how he would tell Martha about this. She had no idea he was bringing home five little boys, and he wasn’t prepared for any questions. Since he himself didn’t know what had happened.