Chapter 7

If Paul and Andi wanted to go home after landing in Orlando, the twins would not have been sad. They thought the Orlando airport was incredible and the highlight of the trip. The twins weren’t excited about the long walk from the airplane through the terminal, but when they got to the train station, they suddenly realized they were in paradise. They could see palm trees through the enormous windows and there was a little train waiting for them. Stepping into the section where you board the little train, they could feel the muggy Florida heat. Madeline turned and yelled, “Mom! It’s summer!”

Paul and Andi hauled their carry-on luggage and the twin’s car seats onto the train and slumped down in their seats. They looked at each other and sighed. “We made it this far, old man.” She held her hand up for a high five. As he patted her hand, she said, “This was the easy part.”

“I was afraid of that.”

The twins ran from side to side of the train car, looking out of the windows, and it wasn’t until they neared the main terminus that they noticed they were in front looking out of the front window and there was no driver on the train. “Who is driving?” demanded Sandy. “There has to be somebody driving.”

“It was your turn to drive,” said Paul, teasing Sandy. “Aren’t you driving?”

“NO! I can’t drive, I’m too little!” shrieked Sandy.

“And she doesn’t have her car seat,” said Madeline.

“There’s nobody driving,” explained Paul. “The whole train is a giant robot and the only thing it knows how to do is go back and forth, even if no one is riding.”

“That’s just silly,” scowled Madeline. “where are its eyes? Where is its mouth?” with the absolute certainty that all robots have eyes and mouths.

“Maybe they are at the other end of the train. Maybe it’s going backwards and you’re looking out of his butt!” grinned Paul.

Madeline smacked her hand down on Paul’s knee. “That’s just silly! You can’t look out a robot’s butt!”

“What?” demanded Sandy, who wasn’t paying attention.

“Poppa says we’re looking out of a robot’s butt!”

“You can’t do that; everybody knows you can’t look out of a robot’s butt!” said Sandy with absolute certainty.

“Robots don’t have windows in their butts!” agreed Madeline.

“Silly Poppa!” And with that they went back to watching out the front window as they approached the main terminal.

“Silly Poppa,” scolded Andi with a smile.

“Hey, they stopped worrying that we don’t have a driver,” grinned Paul.

“You’re settling into this Poppa job pretty well,” said Andi with a little kiss.

“Aww,” said an older woman, who watched the twins explore the small train car. “They’re adorable!”

“They’re slowly becoming Poppa’s girls,” said Andi, as she leaned her head on Paul’s shoulder.

“Is this your first trip to Orlando?” asked the older woman.

“Not mine, but it is theirs,” said Paul, signaling with his finger that he was talking about Andi and the twins.

“We’re on a Family Honeymoon,” said Andi. “We just got married,” she said as she kissed Paul.

“And I adopted her girls ... our girls,” said Paul.

“We’re going to Mickie’s house!” cried Madeline, throwing herself on Paul’s leg.

“Are you! What are you going to do when you get there?” asked the lady as Sandy sat down cross-legged in front of her.

Madeline jumped off of Paul’s leg and sat next to Sandy. and they began listing their planned adventures, starting with a planned tea party with Ella and Anna. Paul and Andi scooped the twins up as Paul reminded Madeline, “You don’t even like tea.”