CHAPTER ONE: THE DRIVE
Lots of college students carpool home for the holidays. Unfortunately, December in the northern hemisphere often has bad driving weather. When that happens, trips either get cancelled or delayed, or just take longer.
Ann, Betsy, Chuck and Darin had what would have been a 10 hour drive in dry weather. The forecast had a small chance of rain or snow, but seemed safe enough when they started. The first half of the trip was only partly cloudy, but the further they went the more ominous the sky became and the further the temperature dropped. Then it started raining, and the rain turned to sleet. There was enough traffic that the road wasn't freezing, yet.
"My aunt and uncle are about half an hour ahead," Ann said. "I'll call them and see if they can put us up til this clears."
"Sounds like a plan," Darin said from the driver's seat.
Ann placed the call. "Hi, Aunt Jane. It's Ann. I'm heading to my folks house with three of my classmates, but this weather is getting nasty. Can you put us up til it's safe to drive again?"
"Sure, dear. It'll be a little cozy but come on over."
"Thanks, Aunt Jane. Should we stop at the grocery store on the way into town?"
"That would help, especially since I don't know what your friends might like."
Traffic started slowing as visibility worsened. Darin had to crank up the defroster to keep the windshield from icing up. What would have been half an hour to the exit turned into two hours, then another hour to Aunt Jane's house.
There was a grocery store on the road to Aunt Jane's, so the students stopped and got what they thought they might want to eat the next few days. Darin also gassed up the car since there was filling station there as well.
CHAPTER TWO: SNOWED IN
They got to Aunt Jane's just as Uncle Jack was pulling into the driveway. He helped them get their stuff into the house.
"Your aunt told me we'd have houseguests," Uncle Jack began. "I'm glad you brought some extra groceries, because even though we try to be prepared for this kind of weather it wouldn't last long with 6 people."
"You also weren't expecting us, and we appreciate the hospitality," Ann replied. "We each got our own breakfast and lunch stuff, since we tend to go for quick meals. We got things that will work for family suppers, though."
"You always were practical, Ann," her aunt replied as she stowed the cold groceries in the fridge and arranged the dry goods on the sideboard in the dining room. "I see you got something quick for tonight, which is smart given the hour."
Their luggage was in the living room for now.
"It's a modest house, although each of the three bedrooms has a bed that will accommodate two people. The couch in the living room could open up to another double bed. That means some doubling up," Uncle Jack said with a hint of a smile. "I assume you're all at least 18."
"We'll figure something out, Uncle Jack," Ann replied, with more than a hint of a smile. She knew Chuck and Darin had been wanting to get into her and Betsy's pants for a while now. "The guys and I are 19, Betsy just turned 20."
"Your uncle and I remember college, dear," Aunt Jane added with an obvious wink. "Now, let's see about supper."
The kids had gotten a couple of pounds of pasta and ground beef and the makings of a decent sauce, which Aunt Jane started to prepare.
"Do you need any help, Aunt Jane?" Ann asked.
"No thanks dear, this kitchen is a bit tight. However, if you would set the table that would help."
Ann and Betsy got the table set for six fairly quickly since Ann knew where all the dishes were.
Uncle Jack got the boys settled into the living room and began the usual getting to know college students routine. The girls joined them after setting the table.
"Where do you all live?" He asked.
"We're all within half an hour of Ann's folks," Darin replied. "We went to different high schools, but all wound up at the same college. This trip was set up using the school's ride-share program. We're grateful for the place to stay til the weather clears."
"What are you majoring in?"
"I'm heading for physics. Chuck is looking at Civil Engineering. Betsy's got her heart set on premed. Ann I think is leaning toward political science. The first two years for science majors are pretty much the same, so we've got some classes together. Ann we rarely see in class since the liberal arts students only have to take a few science courses and the science/ engineering group only has a few liberal arts classes," Darin said.
"I see," replied Uncle Jack. "What living accommodations are you in?"
"We're all in dorms," Chuck replied. "They all went coed years ago, some by floors, some by wings."
"I was in a men's dorm," Uncle Jack noted. "There were times at meals that it was hard to tell, though, given the number of women eating with us. There were some women spending the night with their boyfriends, too. That was a lot easier to arrange than for the guys to stay in a women's dorm since my dorm had a bathroom shared by two double rooms or four single rooms. The women's dorms at my school all had communal bathrooms."
"We see our share of couples practically living with each other. The easiest ones are when two pairs of roommates swap out. Otherwise, it gets a bit more crowded. Some couples who are really serious get apartments off-campus."
"Dinner's ready, everybody," Aunt Jane called from the dining room.
Uncle Jack and the kids moved to the dining room. Uncle Jack took his seat at the head of table. Ann and Chuck sat on one side, Betsy and Darin on the other.
"Should we call you Aunt Jane and Uncle Jack, or would you prefer something more formal?" Betsy asked, at long last.
"Aunt Jane and Uncle Jack will be fine," Jane replied.
The table was quite for awhile as they all dug into supper.
"We have two small bathrooms, but plenty of hot water since getting the tankless heater a few years ago," Uncle Jack said once they'd finished eating. "We're usually up by 6AM to get ready for work. Tomorrow it looks like we'll both be working from home due to the weather. I've got a meeting at 7AM I'll need to call into, so I'll need the corner bedroom/office for that."
"That's okay," Ann replied. "We're usually up pretty early to get a little studying in before our first classes of the day. If we do manage to sleep in, just wake us up and we'll get out of your way."
"If you'll each take your dishes out to the kitchen, that would help," Aunt Jane requested.
Chuck and Darin each too three sets of plates and cutlery. Ann and Betsy each took one of the big serving bowls. Aunt Jane got the leftovers covered and put them in the fridge, then put the rest of the dishes in the dishwasher, added soap, and turned it on.
They all retired to the living room and got comfortable.
"What are your plans after graduation?" Aunt Jane asked.
"I'm not sure if I'll wind up in grad school and then a big research lab or in some corporate lab straight out of college," Darin started.
"I had an internship with a bridge building company last summer that went pretty well," Chuck continued. "Whether I wind up there or someplace else depends on what I find between now and graduation and who's hiring."
"Pre-med is pretty obvious," Betsy added. "Right now I have no idea what I'll focus on in med school. There's a lot of talk about trying to get doctors into rural areas, so I'm already looking at those programs."
