It was mid-day and the Williams family car was cruising down the highway having long left the main cities traffic behind. They were now driving past mainly lush farming properties and everyone inside the car was now staring out at the scenic views before them. Richard was at the wheel with his wife Helen beside him and their two offspring in the back.
Helen was daydreaming now, feeling quite nostalgic about the significant day it was. Eighteen years ago today she and her new husband where at the hospital waiting for the surprise package to arrive. They were to be young parents, both being twenty years old and couldn't be more excited about it.
It came as quite a shock when Helen gave birth to not just one, but TWO healthy babies!
Twins! One boy and one girl.
Their ultrasound had only shown up one heart beat so this was one heck of a surprise to the two newlyweds.
Medical equipment wasn't quite as accurate back then as it is now days thought Helen.
Either way they took it in their stride, thanking their lucky stars that they had picked out a boy AND a girl name seeing as they hadn't found out the sex of the child and left it to chance.
So they named them Haley and Alex.
Fast forward back to today and the twins had been fast asleep in the back having been pulled from their individual beds at around seven in the morning, far earlier than any teenager would prefer to be awoken.
Richard and Helen had planned a surprise camping trip to Dubbo for the Twins birthdays and where quite excited about it.
The couple loved camping when they were younger. They could only be described as nature lovers, very outdoorsy and down to earth. However since the kids had come into their lives and with various other work commitments, camping trips had become far less frequent. So although officially this was for their kids' birthdays, realistically it was more for themselves.
Alex had now begun to stir from his slumber.
"Are we there yet?" He asked as his sister also slowly opened her eyes beside him.
"Your timing is impeccable as always!" Shouted Richard from the drivers seat as he brought the car to a halt outside the reception of the camping park.
"I'll go check us in, won't be long." He said as he exited the car.
Haley had now become fully alert from her sleep.
"Remind me again why we are here..." Asked Haley in a very unimpressed tone.
"Now now Haley." Said Helen "Your father and I have been looking forward to this for a while now!"
"Yeah I can't think of anywhere I would rather be." Alex said sarcastically to them both.
To be fair, the twins probably had a right to be a bit annoyed at their situation. After all, a traditional eighteenth birthday in Australia meant you were officially allowed to drink alcohol legally. So being hauled to a camp site in Dubbo wasn't exactly the ideal place for this birthday to take place considering the area wasn't exactly known to be thriving with clubs and pubs.
They were especially irritated seeing as their friends had organised for them to hit the city that night and now that they were around five hours from Sydney, there was absolutely no chance of that plan happening now.
Richard had now finished checking in and was being guided to the camp site.
The car now came to its final destination on a decent sized patch of grass. There were trees everywhere with birds and other various wildlife making pleasant ambient noises to suit this nice outdoor setting.
It was actually quite a pretty area even though it was the last place the twins wanted to be. Being no strangers to camping themselves they both had their own individual tents and sleeping equipment and had this been any other day, they would have actually been grateful for the experience.
So everyone lumbered out of the vehicle, unpacking their stuff as they went to organise the camp site. By the time everything was set up it had begun to rain. It was ok but, Richard had checked the weather report before they left and had come prepared. They had put a camp table in the centre with a mobile gazebo to provide them with cover from the weather then erected three dome tents around the makeshift eating/living area, two smaller tents for the twins and one larger tent for the parents to sleep in.
Richard was now cooking up some sausages on the little camp BBQ they had brought with them while his wife and two teenagers settled in around the table. It was a low line table, not even tall enough to slide proper sized chairs under it so they had to sit cross legged. Everything was downsized to fit everything and everyone under the cover making it a very cosy setting.
"I can't believe you guys RUINED our eighteenth birthday party by bringing us here." Said Haley as she scowled at her parents.
"Yeah you guys KNOW about the party our mates set up for us!" Said Alex who had sat next to his sister.
"Oh come on..." Started Richard as he was placing the meat on a plate to bring to the table. "I'd hardly call club hopping a party!"
"Who CARES what you call it dad!" Said Haley "We're finally legally able to drink and you kidnap us for a camping trip?? It's just so unfair!"
"Since when has being 'legal' stopped either of you anyways?" Said Helen "You're trying to tell us you've never had a drink with your friends before?" She said snorting out a laugh.
Alex and Haley looked cautiously at each other at this statement from their mother.
The table went quiet for a few moments before Richard broke the silence.
"God you're like two Deer's caught in the headlights!" He laughed at them "You two really think we haven't noticed the occasional late night 'goodnight' slur to us before you stumble down the hall to your bedroom??"
The twins remained speechless, both too worried to speak uncase they got into any more trouble.
Helen sensed their unease. "Relax guys..." She started in a soothing tone "We were young once too you know. Your father and I just thought it would be fun to unwind around a camp site and have your first official LEGAL drinks as a family together." She said with a smile.
Richard now opened the esky to withdraw from it two beers and some red premix vodka bottles. He handed Alex one of the beers keeping one for himself then gave the other two drinks to his wife and daughter.
"I wasn't sure what your poisons where but I figured I couldn't go wrong with beer for us men and lolly water for the girls!" Richard said as he smiled at everyone before cracking his beer open and taking a deep gulp from the bottle.
Alex and Haley continued to exchange concerned looks.
Their confusion wasn't exactly without warrant, up until now they both viewed their parents as 'by the book' and strict almost to the point of being uptight! They rarely saw them drink although they would occasionally come back home after a night out to themselves looking a bit unsteady on their feet.
Not to say that they didn't get along with their mum and dad, being young parents they got along well with their kids. It just felt awkward to see them go from being responsible adult figures to actually laughing about the fact that they had knew the two teenagers had been engaging in underage drinking!
Soon the atmosphere moved from awkward to happy and relaxed as the four of them got into their second then third drinks. They talked about nothing in particular. The twins would tell their parents about how school was going then Richard and Helen would tell them how work was.
All of a sudden Helen pulled another bottle from the cooler.
"So who wants to do shots?" She said as she held up the bottle to everyone revealing it to be tequila.
Alex and Haley looked at their mum, again taken by surprise.
"You serious??" Haley remarked in surprise.
"You guys ever had tequila?" Asked their dad.
"None of the parties we've been to have had straight alcohol, just beer and stuff really." Alex said.
"Niiiiice..." Said Helen "This should be a new experience for you two then! I have to admit I was a little disappointed that we didn't get to share your first drinks."
"This is so weird hey." Said Haley "Mum and dad having drinks with us. It's just not right, you guys are usually so responsible and what not!" She said with a smile.
"Look we just felt we needed to be good role models to you both, so we toned down any unruly behaviour around the house in your presence." Said Richard "To be very honest, your mother and I had a fairly reckless youth all the way up until you two where brought into our lives. It was only then that we decided to get our lives together, but we really found it quite hard finding a good job with our bad grades from school and no qualifications or work experience."
"Yes so we decided to give both of you the best chance at life we'd have to leave our silly behaviour in the past and act like 'grown ups' for our kids to take after." Said Helen with a laugh. "But we trust you enough to know you'll both be fine."
With that Helen grabbed some lemon to cut up and handed everyone a piece.
She then lined up four shot glasses to fill up and moved the salt over to the table.
"It's called lick-sip-suck" Said Richard as he grinned at the twins "You shake some salt onto your wrist, lick it off before you take the shot of tequila and suck on the lemon afterwards!"
"Alriiiight..." Said Alex and Haley in unison.
So they followed their parents lead and mimicked their actions as they licked the salt and down the liquid.
The twins coughed and gagged after downing the alcohol.
"Suck the lemon!" Shouted Helen in laughter "It takes the edge off."
As the two sucked the sour fruit they calmed down a bit.
"That was HORRIBLE!" shouted Haley at her parents who where now just about rolling around in laughter.
"Hey you keped it down and didn't throw up, that might as well make you a natural!" Shouted Richard in laughter "Again?"
The twins shrugged and looked at each other "Why not?" Haley said now starting to laugh herself.
They all took another shot, the twins handling it better the second time round now knowing what to expect from the fiery liquid.
By now everyone was well and truly feeling the effects of the alcohol they had consumed. It at completely lightened the mood. Alex and Haley had all but let go of their anger towards the impromptu camping trip and where now starting to enjoy the company of their parents.
"So when you say you where 'reckless' when you were younger, what do you mean by that?" Asked Haley.
"Yeah, care to elaborate??" Retorted Alex.
"Oh, we just spent pretty much our entire teenage years under the influence of one thing or another. Hopping from party to party, just generally getting into mischief." Said Helen smiling at her kids.
"Under the influence of one thing or another??" Queried Alex.
"Yeah mainly alcohol or weed." Said Richard "Although we did occasionally get into some of the more sinister stuff. Remember that time your brother found us some magic mushrooms honey?" Said Richard looking to his wife, although it sounded more like he was reminiscing over good times than actually asking a question.
"Oh yeah..." Started Helen "That was an interesting night!" She laughed back.
"No WAY!!" Alex and Haley said together in astonishment.
"Nup. I don't believe you, I call bullshit!" Haley said in disbelief.
