Adopted by my teacher

Chapter 30 Summer Days

Aunt Casey was holding James, who, until now, had been sleeping soundly. His brown eyes were wide and bright as he was taking in his new surroundings. But now, after three hours of nothing but grassland to look at, James was getting restless.

"Daddy? Are we there yet?"

Phil patted his son's head. "No, not yet."

There was a pause, in which James hopped up onto the seat beside his dad.

"How about now?"

"No, James."

Another pause.

"What about-"

Casey, who had been sitting patiently this whole time, asked, "Soph, why don't you take James to go see if the dining car is ready for lunch yet?"

"Okay," I nodded while James bounced out the open door ahead of me as we headed in the direction of the dining car.

A moment later, James came bounding back with me trailing behind.

"Daddy! Daddy! Guess! Guess what!"

Phil stretched his arms behind his head. "Time for lunch?"

"No, but the-"

"Did you even go to the dining car?" Phil interrupted.

"We were on our way, but then-" I tried to explain before James cut me off.

"I saw the conductor! He'sh reawwy tall, and he wears a bwue hat and he hash a mustache like your friend Mr. Wallace and-"

"James," Phil called as he got sidetracked.

"-and he said" This time he was cut off by a sharp, loud whistle. "We're here! Yay!"

James and I both went running to the window.

Outside, I could see tall, leafy plants that shot up out of the ground, and deep green bushes that were spotted with colour from the exotic flowers.

"I can see why Mom and Dad love it here so much," Mom whispered. She was staring out the window too. Her crystal eyes started to blaze with excitement at the prospect of seeing her parents again, after four long years of being separated from them.

Arriving at my grandparents', grandpa answered the door.

"Girls! You could at least call when you're going to be early!"

"Sorry Dad, but the train was much faster than we were expecting," Mom replied as she gave him a hug, then stepped over the threshold. "Hey, Mom," she said to the older woman in the kitchen.

Mom replied by walking over from the stove and pulled her daughters in closer. "It's so good to see you girls! Did Austin come with you?"

Before Casey could respond, Austin came through the door. "Of course I came with them!"

"We didn't think it was safe to let him travel on his own."

"Casey!"

Suddenly, my grandparents' attention was now on me and the little boy who came charging through the door. He dodged grandpa's arms, but grandpa stuck out his hand and caught him, swinging him up high. James squealed with delight.

Grandma held me tightly in her arms as she held my chin up to get a better look at me. "Look how our little ones have grown," she awed, shaking her head.

"You know you can almost pass as ten," grandpa told me.

"But I'm 14?!" I exclaimed, staring wide-eyed at him, who was smiling back at me as everyone laughed.