Astronaut

Chapter Sixteen: Heading to Hyannis

Saturday 1st October

Bolting out of bed by the sound of his alarm, he goes into the bathroom to get a shower. Once he's finished, he comes back into his room with his towel around his waist and a smaller towel hanging around his neck to use so he can continue drying his wet hair; going over to his chest of drawers, he pulls open his t-shirt drawer first and rummages through before fishing out his Boston Bruins jersey, he goes to the next drawer down to take out a pair of dark blue jeans. With his clothes in his right hand, he takes them over to his messy bed, places them onto his bedsheet, and then goes into his underwear drawers to take out pants and socks to be put beside his outfit for today. Once dried and dressed, he goes into his cupboard to take out his black Converse high-tops which he slips onto his feet before going over to his bed again to make it. Afterwards, he takes his Red Sox cap from his bedpost and places it on his head forwards before going toward his room door to enter the hallway and see if the rest of his family are awake yet; he checks his siblings' bedrooms and finds the room doors open so that must indicate that the five of them are awake. He heads downstairs and makes his way into the kitchen hoping that his family are in there. Entering the room, he takes notice of his dads and siblings sitting around the kitchen table, he goes over to them and says in an excited tone:

"I can't wait to go on the Honey Fitz for the first time!" his dad turns his head to face him and replies with:

"I'm glad you're looking forward to it, Harv,"

"So, where is the yacht?"

"It's in Hyannis Port, not far from Grandma and Grandpas," replies John. Looking at both of his parents, Harvey exclaims with elation:

"We're going back to Grandma and Grandpas?! Yay!"

"We're not going back to the compound, Harv, it's just where your dad's yacht is,"

"Awww! Why not?" he whines childishly to his daddy

"We can visit them if you want?"

"Yay!"

"Why do you always get what you want?" four-year-old June complainingly questions her older brother

"I don't always get what I want," Harvey replies being on the defensive

"Yeah, you do," agrees Caroline

"No, I don't. Shut up!"

"Harvey, that's enough," his dad warns him

"But she —!" He argues back to no avail, looking at the stern expressions of his parents. Feeling as though there is no use in arguing with his dads, he goes over to the array of cupboards lining the worktop to get out a bowl and a box of cereal for himself, climbing up onto the worktop by lifting his feet above the ground by pushing himself up onto the surface with his hands and forearms; he goes into the cupboard where the plates and bowls are kept and takes one out. Jumping off of the worktop, he goes into the cupboard where the cereal is stored, peers in and selects the box of Froot Loops which hasn't been opened yet, he uses his index finger to slide it under one of the tabs sealing the red box, then with both hands, he takes ahold of the plastic bag containing the tricoloured circular cereal shapes. Pouring the cereal into the bowl, he reseals the box and puts it back where it belongs; going into the cutlery drawer and taking out a tablespoon, he puts it next to his bowl, then goes into the fridge to get the bottle of milk. Opening the fridge door expecting to see the milk bottle on the shelf, he mutters to himself:

"Where is the — oh, there it is!" he glances over to the worktop where the milk bottle is sitting just a few inches away from his bowl. Grabbing ahold of the bottle, he pours the milk in, careful not to pour it everywhere, he puts the cap back onto the bottle and then puts it back in the fridge. Walking back over to the kitchen table, he sits in between June and John, beside them are Rachel, LJ and Caroline, at the head of the table, is where his parents are seated. When he's finished his breakfast, he takes the empty bowl over to the sink to be washed along with everyone else's dirty dishes. He exits the kitchen, takes himself out into the hallway and ascends the stairs to his room to get his school bag and put some of his books into it to occupy himself when he's on the yacht. Entering his room, he goes over to his cupboard to take out his backpack, then carries it over to his bookshelf. Perusing the shelf, he selects his books on Stephen Hawking, Neptune and Venus, he opens up his bag and places the three books in then zips it back up again; he puts the straps over both shoulders, turns around and goes in the direction of his open door to exit the room. Closing his room door behind him, he descends the stairs and takes himself into the kitchen again to join his family. Entering the kitchen again, he doesn't see his family seated at the kitchen table anymore, so he comes out of the room and goes into the living room to look for them; he doesn't find them in there either but he hears the sound of descending footsteps, he lifts his head to the right and notices his dad coming down the stairs. Turning his head to the left to face Harvey, Jack asks him:

"Have you got everything that you're taking with you, Harv?"

"Yeah, I've got some books that I'm wanting to take with me. I've just been waiting on you guys,"

"Okay, well we shouldn't be too long now,"

"Okay." Just as he says this, he hears the sound of descending footsteps again, he sees his sisters Caroline and June bounding down one after the other, followed by his daddy with his two younger siblings, Rachel and LJ, and finally John. Shifting his gaze between his parents, he asks them impatiently:

"Can we go now?"

"Yeah, let's go," his dad replies

"Finally!" he shouts excitedly. Opening the front door and sprinting toward his dad's car, he exclaims to everyone:

"I call shotgun!" he hears his siblings complain in the background

"I wanted shotgun!" he hears John complain. Turning his head to face his brother, Harvey informs him:

"I called it first so I get shotgun!"

"Neither of you are sitting shotgun," Jack tells them

"Why not?!" the two boys question with irritation

"Because we're only driving to the airport, it won't take long," Jack explains to the five and six-year-olds

"Fine!" Harvey huffs out in frustration. With everyone in the car, Jack starts it and begins the twenty-six-minute drive to Dulles Airport. Only ten minutes into the journey and Harvey is already verbally fighting with his brothers and sisters.

"Stop touching my book page when I'm trying to read it!" he shouts at his five-year-old brother

"No, I didn't!" John retorts back

"I just saw you do it," eight-year-old Caroline agrees

"It's always you who starts these fights, Harv, then the rest of us have to listen to you whining about your dumb books," four-year-old June accuses her six-year-old brother. Whilst this is going on, the two two-year-olds have thankfully fallen asleep, so it's just the four older kids that are giving their parents a hypothetical headache. Wanting the fighting between his brother and sisters to be cut short, John tells them:

"Guys, shut up! We're almost at the airport," after noticing the sign for Dulles Airport. Harvey, Caroline, and June stop arguing with each other upon hearing John; Harvey glances out of the car window and notices the road sign for the airport.

"Oh, yeah, so we are!" he says to no one in particular. Once his dad parks the car, Harvey follows behind June, John, and Caroline as they follow behind their parents who are both holding Rachel and LJ who are still fast asleep, toward the small private jet on the runway. Once onboard and seated, Harvey goes into his bag and takes out his book on Stephen Hawking to read (hopefully in peace this time!) but just as he starts to read the first page, he feels as though he's being watched; he takes his eyes off of the page that he's reading and looks up to see John sitting in front of him, he looks at him with an annoyed expression and asks:

"What do you want now?"

"Nothing. I'm just seeing what you're doing, what's wrong with that?"

"Oh, alright, nothing's wrong it's just because the rest of you were annoying me in the car,"

"Oh. Well, I'm sorry for annoying you, Harv, and I'm sure Caroline and Junie feel the same,"

"Yeah. Well, I'm just reading about Professor Hawking if you want to learn about him,"

"Oh, okay, cool!" John then sits beside his brother to learn more about one of Harvey's favourite scientists. After the flight, they arrive in Hyannis Port and get driven to Hyannis Yacht Club by Ted, arriving at the Yacht Club, Harvey notices his dad's yacht by the name painted on the stern and its registered home port:

HONEY FITZ
WASHINGTON D.C.

Looking at the white vessel in awe, Harvey looks out the window of his uncle's car with his mouth hanging open, he turns to John and says to him awestruck:

"That looks so cool!"

"Yeah, it is. It's quite nice inside,"

"Oh, is it? I can't wait!" he says with excitement.