PARENTHOOD
Chapter Twenty Four The leaves swayed gently in the breeze while the grass moved in the light summer breeze and a lone dragonfly moved over the surface of the water. Suddenly the low wheezing sound filled the air as the TARDIS materialized and the doors opened. Four backpacks flew outside as they landed on the ground and six year old Christopher and David carried the cooler outside, placing it on the ground. Chris was wearing a jean jacket, a blue Spiderman t-shirt, jeans and white converse sneakers and a blue baseball cap was on his head. David was wearing a jean jacket, a red t-shirt with a muscular chest and a six pack stomach muscles, jeans and red converse sneakers and a black baseball cap with HAMLET on the front sat on his head. They picked up the smaller backpacks as they placed the backpacks on their backs and picked the cooler up. A few minutes later Adam walked out of the TARDIS, pushing the sunglasses up with one finger. He was wearing a brown leather jacket, a gray t-shirt with #1 DAD on the front, jeans and white converse sneakers and he scratched the back of his head. Walking to the backpack, he picked it up then placed the backpack on his back and smiled at the boys. "Right, are we ready?" he asked. "Where's my daddy?" Christopher asked when Alan walked out of the TARDIS and held the mini camping stove in his hand. "Oh my..." Adam said as his mouth dropped open and the boys giggled. Wearing a tan khaki shirt, khaki shorts, white socks and brown hiking boots, Alan smiled as he walked closer and the camping stove gently thumped against his hip. "Crikey!" David said as Chris laughed and Alan arching an eyebrow at him, making them laugh harder. "This is perfectly acceptable camping gear!" Alan said as Adam walked closer, placing his elbow on Alan's shoulder. "Yeah, if we were camping in the outback," Adam said then grunted when Alan shoved the camping stove into Adam's stomach, walked to the backpack, picked it up and placed it on his back. "Now, I have checked the screens and the campground is that way!" Alan said as he walked down the path to their right and Adam looked at the sign post near the TARDIS. He half ran to him when he tapped Alan's back and he turned around, looking at him. "What?" "The campground is THAT way, Captain Trailblazer," Adam said as Alan nodded and headed down the path, going back to the TARDIS. He walked down the path while the boys half ran after him and Adam looked at the TARDIS' open doors, sighing. Closing and locking the doors, Adam placed the TARDIS key in his pocket when he watched it change into a small pine tree and smiled. Unlike his brother's TARDIS, his chameleon circuit worked and he noticed that it had one purple branch to help him find it later. The campground was slightly crowded while they walked toward the administration building and walked up the stairs. The screen door screeched as Adam looked at Alan and held up his hand. "Allow me," he said and Alan frowned. "Why?" he asked and Adam half smiled. "Because people are staring at you already," Adam said while Alan looked at the people looking at him and he did a little strut along the small porch. Rolling his eyes, Adam walked inside as the screen door closed behind him and he walked to the small desk. The young woman sitting behind the desk was looking him over as he half smiled at her and stood in front of the desk. "May I help you?" she asked and he saw SANDY on the small name tag on her shirt. "Yeah, I'm Adam Storm," he said as she typed on the keyboard and he watched the light sparkling off her auburn hair. She did a little smile when she opened the drawer to her left and pulled out a small envelope, handing it to him. "Here's your camping pack and your campsite is just down the path to the right," Sandy said as he nodded then headed for the door. The screen door squeaked as he walked outside then saw Alan leaning against the railing and the boys were sitting on the stairs. "Right, let's go," Adam said as the boys stood up and picked up the cooler. Alan started whistling as he swaggered down the stairs and adjusted the straps of the backpack. Adam opened the envelope as he looked at the map then at Alan, placed two fingers in his mouth and whistled, making Alan turn around and look at him. "It's THAT way!" "I knew that!" Alan said as he headed the other way and the boys looked up at Adam. "Why do I have a bad feeling about this," Adam sighed as they went to catch up with Alan and Alan softly whistled the Indiana Jones theme. The campsite that they had reserved was surrounded by trees and small bushes and a fire circle sat at the center of the campground. A portable potty stood at the far end of the campground and a tiny table for the portable stove was sitting near a small pump. "Now this is what I call a campsite," Alan said as he removed the backpack and placed it on the ground. Kneeling down, he opened the backpack when he took out a small box and looked around. Standing up, he walked a few paces then placed the box down on the ground and pushed the button on the top of the box. A soft humming sound filled the air while the box shook then moved and a tent rose out of the box. The stakes pushed themselves into the ground while the tent set itself up and Adam walked closer, smiling. "Ok, I admit it. Buying that was a good idea," he said as Alan smirked and opened the tent flap. The inside of the tent was large enough to fit all four of them and had four small cots, a small heater/ac, four little lanterns and a small trunk for their clothing. Adam walked inside the tent when he removed the backpack then placed it on the bunk to the left and sat down, taking his converse sneakers off. "Where do we put this?" Christopher asked as the boys came inside the tent and held the cooler between them. Opening the backpack, Adam removed a rope and placed it on the cot. Placing his converse sneakers on, he stood up then picked up the rope and headed out of the tent. "Come on," Adam said as the boys followed him outside and he headed for the trees. Looking at the trees, he tested the lower branches until he found two strong branches and hummed. "Put the cooler here." "Hold on," Alan said. "What's wrong?" "You're planning to hang our food and water from a tree?" "Yeah, that's what you're supposed to do." "But the bears will get into it." "Not if it's off the ground." "Yeah, but the bears can climb up the tree, walk across the branch and will knick the food!" "We're not dealing with Yogi and Boo-Boo, Alan. They're not going to come and steal our pi-ca-nic basket!" Adam said as he did an impression of Yogi Bear and the boys giggled. "I'm just saying that it's safer if we put the cooler in the tent." "Fine," Adam said when he handed David the rope and took the cooler in his hands, walking to the tent. Walking inside, he walked to the back of the tent when he placed the cooler down and walked out of the tent. Alan smiled as Adam sighed and the boys looked at them. "Now what do we do, Daddy?" Christopher asked. "Let's go for a walk," Alan said as they nodded and headed for the path. As they walked down the path, two large black bears came out of the bushes then sniffed the air and the bears lumbered toward the tent, going inside. "AH!" Alan shouted when they saw the demolished tent, ripped open backpacks, the camping stove and the table was trashed, the cooler sitting on its side and the scraps of food scattered around the campsite and Adam looked at Alan. "So, Mister "Let's Leave the Food in the Tent", what do we do now?" he asked and Alan sighed, looking at two very sad boys. "I'll be right back," Alan said when he ran down the path and the boys looked at Adam. "Where is my daddy going?" Christopher asked. "If he was smart, he'd go home," Adam growled as he sat on the log near the fire circle and the boys walked to him, sitting next to him. Smiling, Adam placed his arms around the boys as they placed their heads on his shoulders and he gently hugged them. "Right, here we go," Alan said when he walked toward them and the sun was starting to go down. He had a backpack on his back and a cooler in his hands and a new cooking stove was sitting on top of the cooler. "Where did you get that?" Adam said as they stood up and Alan placed the cooler on the ground. "I went back to the TARDIS, went to the camping store, bought all new stuff and food then came back," Alan said and Christopher ran to him, hugging his legs. "Does that make you happy, Son of Mine?" "Yep," Christopher said and Alan ruffled the top of Christopher's head. Adam watched as Alan set the tent back up, placed the camping stove on a new table he had taken out of the backpack and walked back to Adam with the cooler in his hands. "Ok, Ranger Storm, where should I put this," he asked. Adam placed a privacy block up so he didn't hear where Adam wanted him to put the cooler and took the cooler out of his hands. They watched as Adam walked to the trees while Alan followed him with a rope in his hands and Adam found the two branches he found earlier. Placing the cooler down, he took the rope from Alan, tied looped the rope through the handles of the cooler, tied the end of the rope into a tight knot then flicked the rope over the branch and pulled the rope until the cooler was high off the ground. He tied the rope around the other tree then walked away and Alan followed him. "So, how do we get the food down?" "We just lower it down and take the food out when we need it," Adam said and Alan nodded then noticed that Adam looked angry. "What's wrong?" "I just can't see how you traveled across the US and don't know the basics when it comes to camping." "I do know them," he said and Adam gave him a curt look. "I just forgot." "You are such a dunce," Adam said as he smiled and shook his head. "And you are such a Donna," Alan said and Adam's eyes went wide. "I'm a what?" "You are such a Donna," Alan said as he walked faster and Adam frowned. "What does that mean?" he said but Alan didn't answer him and walked faster. "Come on, what does it mean?" The next morning Adam walked out of the tent when he saw the boys sitting around the fire circle and was eating breakfast of sausages, eggs and ham slices. Walking to the camping stove, he placed some of the eggs, sausages and ham slices onto the plate and walked to the log, sitting next to him. They ate when Adam looked at the tent and blinked. "Where is your dad?" Adam asked, looking at Christopher. "He's behind that tree," Christopher said, pointing to the tree behind them. Nodding, Adam held the plate in his hands as he walked to the tree and looked down, looking at the plants around the tree. "Um, Alan, are you taking a piss or a shite?" he asked, looking at the leaves of the plant. "I'm taking a shite. Why?" Alan said and a slight smile appeared on Adam's face. "Are you standing up or squatting down?" "I'm squatting down. Again, why are you asking?" "Do you know what you're squatting in?" "No." "Um, well, you are squatting in poison ivy," Adam said when he heard a shuffling sound and Alan gasped. "You ok?" "No, I just fell into it!" Alan said as Adam pressed his lips together and Alan grumbled, coming around the tree and held the quickly dissolving toilet paper in one hand and his jeans in the other hand. He had pulled his briefs up as he looked at Adam and Adam's body was shaking from not being able to laugh. "You say one word and I will hit you so hard that you'll regenerate!" Nodding, Adam turned and walked away and Alan sighed, going back behind the tree. After Alan returned from the TARDIS, he sat down on the log and Christopher handed him a plate. Alan nodded when he started eating and Christopher sat next to him. "So, where are they?" Alan asked, looking around and tried to see where Adam and David were. "They went to the creek to do some fishing," Christopher said when they heard a soft sloshing sound and looked to see David and Adam walking toward them. Both of them were soaking wet as Alan slightly smile and stuffed some sausages into his mouth. "If you must know, I slipped on a smooth rock and fell into the water," Adam said and Alan nodded. "I fell in after trying to help him out of the water," David said and they walked to the tent, going inside. Alan shook his head then set up a privacy block and he and Christopher laughed inside their heads. The starts sparkled in the sky while Adam and Alan sat watching the fire in the fire circle and the flames crackled and popped, sending sparks into the air. The boys were sleeping in the tent and Adam stood up and stretched, his back made soft popping sounds. "Want some butter with that popcorn?" Alan teased and Adam flipped him off. "I'm going to bed," Adam yawned then walked to the tent, going inside. Alan stood up when he poured water onto the fire and stirred the ashes until he was sure that the fire was completely out. He walked to the tent when he thought he heard something then quickly looked around, shrugged and went inside the tent. A few hours later, a large skunk scampered out of the bushes when it looked around then headed for the tent and went inside. The morning was cut with the sounds of screaming while the skunk ran out of the tent and Alan, Adam, Christopher and David came out of the tent. Coughing and blinking their eyes, they looked at each other and Alan sighed, crossing his arms over his chest. "Right, I have had enough this. Let's go home," he said as they nodded and started to dismantle the camp. A few minutes later a low wheezing sound filled the air as the TARDIS dematerialized and the wheezing sound sounded like the TARDIS was laughing.
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