It was two hours to midnight and I was exhausted. I'd left the house at eight that morning, and had been driving ever since. My goal was to make the trip in one day, but that was seeming less and less likely as the night went on.
My brother Eric and his wife had had their baby three weeks earlier, and I'd finally been able to get away from work long enough to go visit them. I'd timed the trip with my sister Emma's spring break, and I'd picked her up at her dorm along the way. We were both stoked to meet the newest member of our family.
The road trip was a blast, and it was nice catching up. Emma filled me in on how her first year of college was going (good), and I caught her up on how things were going with my job (also good) and wife (great). After that we took turns picking podcasts and which music to listen to. We'd managed to make the trip fly by pretty quickly. It was hard to maintain high energy over a fourteen hour drive though, and I wasn't sure how much longer I could keeping going.
"Come on Bryan, let's stop for the night," Emma said.
"I'm alright," I said, rubbing my eyes. "We're almost there."
"No, we aren't. We have three hours left, at least."
"Yea, but we've been driving all day. What's three more hours?"
"If you fall asleep and we die? It's an eternity," she said seriously.
"That's not gonna happen," I said, trying and failing to suppress a yawn.
"You're right, because we're going to stop for the night."
"When did you get so bossy?" I asked, laughing.
"I've always been bossy," she said, correctly.
Emma was the baby of the house, and seven years younger than me. I still remember mom telling me she was pregnant with Emma, and how excited I was to have a baby sister on the way. It wasn't long after Emma started talking that she'd realized I'd do pretty much whatever she asked. I adored her, and as we grew up, that dynamic never really changed. Thankfully she didn't abuse it. Not too much anyway.
"Alright," I said. "I'll stop at the next town."
It was another fifteen miles before we saw motel sign. By the time I'd pulled off the highway I could barely keep my eyes open.
"You made the right call," I begrudgingly admitted.
"I usually do," she said with a grin.
The motel looked like your typical middle-of-nowhere dive, but I wasn't in any state to be picky. The clerk was a tall Latino girl with long black hair and a pretty face. She smiled and greeted us, and I perked up just a little.
"Good evening! How can I help you?" she asked, in a tone just a bit too chipper for how I felt.
"Looking for two rooms," I said.
"Two? That's a waste of money," said Emma.
"You sure? It's no big deal to book two rooms." We'd slept in the same room plenty of times before of course, but she'd always been a kid. She was a young woman now. I'd assumed she'd want her own space.
"I'm sorry," the clerk said apologetically. "We actually only have one left."
"Well I guess that settles it," said Emma.
"I guess so. Two beds at least?" I asked.
The clerk cringed.
"I'm sorry. It just has the one."
"We could keep going," I said to Emma. "See what else we can find."
"You can barely keep your eyes open. We'll be fine here."
I signed the paperwork and paid for the room. Emma offered to pay half, but I turned her down. I was the one with a job after all. We unloaded our stuff from the car and made our way to the room. It was... less than ideal.
"Cozy," said Emma, surveying the room. "Very cozy."
"That's one word for it." I probably would've gone with cramped.
"Oh come on. It's not so bad," she said, pushing me playfully on the shoulder. "We're only going to be here a few hours."
That was true. I just needed to get some sleep and we could be on the road again. We didn't need anything fancy.
"You're right," I said, smiling at her. "It's not so bad."
We got situated as best we could, then Emma went into the bathroom to change. I traded out for a more comfortable t-shirt, but was otherwise in a bit of a bind. I always slept in my boxers at home, and hadn't brought any pajamas. I hadn't worried since I'd have my own room at Eric's, but tonight it looked like I'd be sleeping in jeans.