7Chapter 2 - The Thanksgiving Drive From Hell - Part I
(AN: I would like to thank LoveRobin especially, Tennente, Neo, Eoraptor, and KGS for helping me out with the notes. It'll formulate what will happen to the Stoppables))
(November 20, 2 hours later, at the Pierre Smarty-Mart)
"Now let's see here, where is the turkey?" Drew asked to Sheila, whom now had both her overalls straps hooked.
"According to the map..." Sheila said, looking at her smartphone, "...it should be at Aisle 40, where the frozen turkeys are."
"Aww...it's so sweet that for the 20th straight year, you're getting your mommy a thanksgiving day turkey, Drewbie!" Mama Lipsky said with a smile, pinching Drew's left cheek.
"Ah...thanks, Mother!" Drew replied nervously. He was looking around the aisles and suspiciously and nervously at some of the other shoppers.
"I have to make sure that the vicious Turkey Car Monster doesn't get me!"
"Okay, Mama L, explain to me why Dr. L is panicky?" Sheila asked.
Mama Lipsky went to Sheila's level and whispered, "He usually gets scared about the Thanksgiving Turkey Car Monster that comes into his nightmares this time of the year! From what he has told me about it, it is usually distinct in that it is covered in feathers and has a horrible stench that can kill flowers within a 2-mile radius."
Drew was sucking on his thumb and whimpering, "Mommy! Please don't let that car get me!"
"Geez, Dr. L!" Sheila uttered, "Don't be such a big baby!"
"Anyways, Kimmie should give me a text on her whereabouts." she added. "I hope she and Ron are having a good time on the road."
(November 14, 6pm, Middleton, CO)
At the dinner table, Kim and Ron Stoppable were eating their dinner that Ron cooked with Justin picking at his vegetables and Alexa eating from her highchair. Kim was wearing one of her long-sleeved denim jumpsuits with high-heeled boots, a purple heart long chain necklace and golden hoop earrings.
"So we're gonna go to Mama Lipskys' this year for South Dakota?" Ron asked his wife.
"Yep, we sure are. Drew was the one who brought up the idea in the first place!" Kim said with a smile.
"I guess we're going to have to order plane tickets?" Ron asked.
"No, Ron...been there, so done that!" Kim sighed, "Do you know how long it took for security to go through my spy gear on our family trip to Chicago last year?"
"I remember that the line stretched from the security checkpoint to the entrance." Ron recalled.
"So don't wanna go through that again!" Kim replied while gazing out of the dining room window, "I kinda miss the nostalgia of going on the family road trips. Just me, Dad, Mom, and the Tweebs."
Ron cleared his throat and pointed to himself.
"Ahem, KS! Are we forgetting someone here!"
"You were on some of those trips too, Ron. Like when we took Nana to Florida all those years ago!" Kim replied.
"Kim, you usued to whine and moan about being cooped up for so long." Ron said, "Remember the Grand Canyon trip of '05?"
"No, I didn't!" Kim countered. "I want...no...need...to spend some quality downtime with you and the kids that doesn't involve deathtraps and such and nothing on this green Earth is going to prevent it!"
"Didn't your dad used to say the same thing before trips?" Ron asked.
"Well, yeah..." Kim admitted, "...but he had to deal with Jim and Tim! And you recall what Tweebs they used to be!"
"Let's check and see if the garage door openers will work this time." Kim sighed. "They've been acting up the past couple of days."
She and Ron went to the garage and saw their brand new 2018 SUV, the Sloth 4.0 that they normally commute to work with and the two 1960s station wagons that Ron had restored.
Kim tried to push the garage door opener buttons but the doors would just simply not open.
"Great...that only leaves one available vehicle."
She and Ron had taken the 1997 Drudge Tangerine before on many adventures. The Tangerine was their minivan that Ruben, Ron's cousin, gave to him shortly after he was married. He called it the "Stoppable-mobile" because it was so near and dear to his heart. As of now, it was the only vehicle in the driveway and they were ready to sell it. It has a small dent in its rear bumper, but nothing else.
They went through the front door to the chilly November weather to investigate the vehicle.
"The nice SUV we bought a couple months ago is nice and all, but the Stoppable-mobile has been in the family for a while. It deserves a last hurrah!" Ron replied, "Like a bon-voyage voyage!"
"You know, your viewpoints are weird. But I like weird!" Kim grinned.
(November 19, 8am)
"Ron, we don't want to be late! You got the reservations to the hotel?" Kim called out to her husband. She was wearing a pair of black baggy leather overalls with both straps hooked over a white blazer and a long trenchcoat. Kim added black flats , dangling earrings, a statement gold chain necklace with an gold-plated elephant head on it, two bracelets, a long golden heart necklace, and four rings including the wedding band. She also has her $1,800 Country Club Banana handbag. In fact, she had packed at least 6 long pairs of overalls for the trip. She color-coded them for when she was planning to wear them.
Kim was strapping Alexa into her car seat in the Stoppable minivan, as Rufus scurried out of the house and climbed up to his owner's shoulder.
"Heya, Rufus, ol' buddy!" Ron said with a smile, petting his naked mole rat on the head. "Why don't you go in the back seat with the kids while I lock up the house!"
"Yeah! Yeah!" Rufus squeaked.
Rufus then got into the minivan's middle row where the kids were at. He cuddled with them.
"Aww...that's totally cute!" Ron smiled while locking up the door to the house.
Since the Lipsky's house was located on the outskirts of Pierre, the capital of South Dakota, it'd would be a very long 8 1/2 hour drive from Middleton. To make things even for the Stoppable husband/wife team, Kim and Ron agreed to split the driving duties in half: Ron from Middleton to North Platte, Nebraska and Kim from that point to the hotel in Pierre. On the way back, it would be the other way around. She and Ron took the full Thanksgiving week off of work at Global Justice for this.
"I got the reservations, KS." Ron replied as he was getting out his suitcase, "All I need to do is to put this in the car.
Justin, now almost seven, was carrying his favorite toy into the van, a two-foot replica of a monster truck called Sabersaurus.
"Daddy, when are we going to see Sabersaurus in Pierre?" the young son asked. They had gotten tickets earlier to see the 40-foot tall monster truck that looked like a sabertooth tiger standing on its hind legs.
"We will see it after we check into the hotel, sport!" Ron grinned, pointing to the time on the ticket. "I'll just put this suitcase in here, and we'll be off!"
Ron did just that. He put his suitcase in the trunk and closed the door.
"Alright, we got everything!" he said, dusting his hands off.
He got into the drivers' door and closed it. His wife got in the passenger's side and removed her coat.
"And we're going to be there in Pierre!" Ron exclaimed as he put the ignition key into the minivan. The engine started up and Ron pulled the car in reverse.
"Ron, after fighting off those VILE agents a few days ago in Italy..." Kim said, "...it's glad that we got a few days off."
"Yeah, I'd thought we'd never recover those paintings in time." Ron added while putting the key in the ignition. It started up the engine.
He pulled out in reverse and added, "Besides, they weren't as tough as those WEE goons we faced when we rescued Dr. Director!"
"Are we trying to compare whose henchmen in the past we faced in the past?" Kim wondered.
"KS, in all our years of crimefighting, Dementor's were ususally the toughest!" Ron said, shifting the car's gear into drive.
"Yeah." Kim replied while kissing her husband on the cheek, "Now, let's begin this drive!"
The kids and mole rat cheered as the minivan began its 500-mile journey to the Lipskys.