Taylor Hanson nervously played with his long, thin braid as he stepped off the plane and into the John F. Kennedy International Airport. With a sigh, he shoved his dufflebag onto his other shoulder and headed off to what he hoped was baggage claim. It was bad enough that his parents had pushed him off to someplace he had never been before, let alone with people he had never met before. Clara Johnston was his mother's roommate in college; but then she had been Clara-Anne Brown. After college she had moved to Queens, New York, where she still lived with her second husband, four children, and eight cats in a penthouse apartment.

Tay reached into his pocket and pulled out the most recent picture of Clara. Although it had gotten crumpled, he could make out a nice looking, short woman with a charming smile and laughing eyes.

Still, all of this had happened so fast and Tay wasn't entirely sure he was ready for all of it. Nervously shifting his blue eyes around the huge airport, Taylor managed to find all of his luggage and drag it off to a seat nearby. Collapsing into the chair, he pushed his long hair out of his eyes and looked around. No one was paying much attention to him, nor did anyone seem to care. In all of his fifteen years, Taylor had never felt so alone, or so afraid.

Taylor closed his eyes and tried to think about the last thing Zac had said to him. "At least you're going to a place with actual people! For the next how ever many days, I'm going to take up residence with a bunch of cows!" Zac then look madly around and cried, "Not our relatives, mom, the real cows! You know, moo...moo?"

"Taylor?" A soft voice interrupted his thoughts. "Excuse me, are you Taylor Hanson?"

Taylor opened his eyes and found himself face to face with a timid looking woman. "Yes, are you Mrs. Johnston?"

The woman smiled. "Yes! But, please, call me Claire! These are my two of my children, Jack, who's 13 and Robbie, who's 11."

Taylor smiled broadly at the shy, dark-eyed boys. "Hello!"

"Wassuh?" The older one mumbled.

"That translates into ‘what's up', just so you know," Claire said smiling. "I couldn't get these boys to talk properly if I paid them!"

"Yeah yous could!" Robbie spoke up. "Wes i'd do anyting for money!"

Claire rolled her eyes and picked up one of Taylor's suitcases. "Let's get a move on boys! Your sisters are going to be antsy as it is!"

Jack and Robbie each took a bag; leaving Taylor with only his dufflebag and a small suitcase. Relieved that he had some help with his 2 ton bags, Tay quickly followed behind Claire as she dodged through the massive airport crowd.

Sooner than Taylor expected, they were outside on a curb, impatiently waiting for the small yellow cab Claire had hailed to meander over. As soon as it pulled over, Claire had the cabbie pop the trunk, and she shoved all of Taylor's luggage in the back. The four of them then proceeded to squeeze into the back of the cab; luckily the boys were skinny and the seat was wide.

"Where to lady?" The cabbie asked, with a think Brooklyn accent.

"Queens," Claire replied. "73rd street."

The cabbie grunted a reply and pulled out into traffic-of which Taylor had never seen so much. There were cars everywhere, and almost half of them were honking their horn. New York was definitely going to be different, Taylor decided. He would have almost preferred going to the middle of nowhere with Zac, but his mother insisted that the city would be fun and a good experience for him.

As they passed all the huge buildings that made New York New York, Taylor's mind once again drifted to the day Zac left. He had almost cried; seeing his best friend and partner in crime leave. Isaac's flight didn't leave until a few hours after Taylor's did, but the sadness in his solemn brown eyes was almost too much for Tay to take. They had never been separated before; at least, not for this long. It was almost like losing a part of himself...

"Here we are!" Claire suddenly announced.

Taylor's eyes flew open and he glanced around. The cab had stopped outside a huge building - most likely the apartment building. Claire and the boys had already gotten out of the cab; and from the way Tay's neck felt, he knew he had fallen asleep. He crawled out of the cab and grabbed his dufflebag from the trunk.

After Claire had paid the cabbie, she smiled and said, "We don't usually ride the cab all the way to the building, but we figured tonight was a special occasion."

Jack rolled his eyes and said, "What my poor, confused mother is trying to say, is that she figured at this time of night, it'd be safer."

Taylor barely managed to join in the laughter that followed. He couldn't believe how tired he felt, and stumbled behind Claire and the boys as they hurried to the elevator.

As they sped to the top of the building, Claire said, "As soon as we get upstairs, I'll show you your room, Taylor."

Taylor gave her a grateful smile and tried his hardest to stifle a yawn.

The elevator slowed to a stop, and the two boys practically flew out of it. They walked down a hallway, until Claire approached a door, which she unlocked and opened.

"MOMMEEEE!!" Two voices shrieked.

From around a corner, two blond haired children ran up and threw themselves at Claire. She laughed and kissed both of them before saying, "Taylor, I'd like you to meet Angie and Kristen. Angie's 4; and Kristen's 2."

"Hi!" Taylor said, attempting to sound at least semi-cheerful.

The little girls gazed up at Taylor, giggled, and buried their faces against their mother.

"Give them some time and before you know it, they'll attach themselves to you," Claire laughed.

"Yeah, like leeches!" Robbie snickered.

"Leeches that have to be surgically removed!" Jack added, looking smug.

"Boys," Claire warned. "Oh, Taylor! This is my husband, Tom. Tom, this is Diana Hanson's second oldest, Taylor."

A tall, sandy-haired man stood up and shook Taylor's hand. "It's very nice to meet you Taylor. I've heard a lot about your family."

Taylor smiled. "It's nice to meet you too, sir."

"I'm going to show Taylor his room then I'll put the girls to bed," Claire said to Tom.

He nodded and turned back to his newspaper.

"Right this way, dear," Claire said, heading down a hallway. She stopped at a door and flung it open. "Boy's, I thought I told you to clean this up!"

Jack and Robbie looked around. "It is clean!" Robbie protested.

"Cleaner than it was before," Jack finished.

Claire rolled her eyes and pushed Taylor's luggage against the closet. "I'm so sorry that you have to sleep on the floor, but you and the boy's will rotate every few nights."

"It's no problem, really," Taylor was fighting a losing battle with his sagging eyelids. He knew he'd be asleep standing up pretty soon...that is, unless he fell over.

"Here's an air-mattress and some blankets. Your pillow's right here-" Claire paused. "The bathroom's across the hall. Pleasant dreams, Taylor."

"Thank you, ma'am," Taylor mumbled.

Claire smiled and left the room, softly shutting the door behind her.

Taylor walked over to his suitcases and began searching for his boxer shorts and tank top. "While I'm at it," he thought. "I guess I should find my toothbrush."

"So...Taylor," Jack said. "How old are you again?"

"Fifteen," Taylor sighed. He was not in the mood for a conversation.

"Your hair's pretty long," Jack continued.

"I know," Taylor said, yanking his boxers and tank top out of the suitcase. "That's how I like it."

"Makes you look like a girl," Robbie said.

"Sorry," Taylor said, grabbing his toothbrush and toothpaste and heading to the bathroom. As soon as he was done, he walked back into the room, only to find the light out. He threw his clothes on top of his suitcase and put his shoes beside his "bed". Settling down on the air-mattress, he felt something poking in his back - which turned out to be a Barbie doll.

"Very funny you guys," Taylor growled, tossing the doll across the room. He was in no mood to deal with this tonight, but was starting to get the feeling he'd rather sleep with Zac's cows.

Almost as soon as his head hit the pillow, Taylor fell into a deep and dreamless sleep.

Chapter 2
Tay's road
Story page
Hanson page
Main page