A7X One Shots

I loved days off from work. To be fair, I think most people did. It wasn't that I hated work... I actually loved them... it was just days off meant I got to spend time with my kiddos. Today, I was going to surprise them and pick them up from school.

When the bell rang, I saw my two boys look around. They were probably looking for Kelly. Their mother was the one to normally pick them up and get them home. Since I had the day off though, I had told Kelly to go take a day with the girls. All of the Avenged women were on a spa day which left the dads in charge. I think Zacky, Matt, and I were the best prepared because our boys were older. It was funny that all the Avenged men had boys. I swear, the next one to have a kid and it be a girl... that girl is never getting a partner.

My oldest, Kyle, was the first to notice I was there. He ran right to me and leapt into my arms. His little brother, Mike, was close to follow. They both stayed in my arms as I walked to the car. Kyle was jabbering about what happened in class while Mike just clung to me neck. I think they were both excited to see me instead of Mom.

I loved Kelly very much and was very thankful that she was able to take care of the boys while I pursued what I loved, but I did love when the boys were with me. It wasn't very often that I missed their lives because of technology now, but I was glad we had this day.

"What homework do you boys have?" I asked after buckling them into their seats.

"I only have some multiplication tables," Kyle said.

"I have to color a fractions page," Mike said, "Why?"

I smiled at them through the rear view mirror. "I have a surprise after the homework is done."
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When their homework was finished and I had checked it over, I put the boys in tennis shoes and shorts. We were going to meet Matt and Zach at the surprise place. We were taking our boys to Disneyland.

The beauty of being famous but only in certain circles is that we could go to places like Disneyland with our kids and not get approached by too many people. We were also lucky that the park was open until midnight and that today was Friday.

The boys hopped into the car and buckled themselves. I think they were really excited to see what the surprise was. Luckily Disneyland was only an hour away from us, and even luckier was that today had been an early release day. We had a whole eight hours in the park if all five boys could make it that long.
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Kyle, Mike, Cash, River, and Tennessee lead the charge into the park. Of course, the dads lagged behind, not quite as young as we once were. Matt was leading our charge, making sure the boys didn't get too far ahead of us.

"This may have been better if we weren't outnumbered," Zach said with a smile. "I don't think Cash and Ten can go on too many of the rides."

I nodded. "Mike just really wants to see Pooh Bear and Tigger."

Matt handed over the tickets and then whistled for the boys. All of them found a grown-up hand to hold onto and pulled us into the park. Once we were inside, I think I was just as excited as my boys were. I hadn't been to Disneyland in a long time, but I think going with my kids was going to be a lot of fun.

"Dad, can we ride Splash Mountain?" Kyle asked.

Shaking my head, I tugged him closer to me. Luckily, there weren't too many people in the park. "Splash Mountain has to be the last ride. You guys don't want to be wet and cold the entire time we're in the park."

"You guys brought a change of clothes for the drive back, right?" Matt asked as he consulted the map. I knew a lot of people thought of Matt as the hot-headed guy of our group, but he was actually very level-headed and logical.

"Yeah, you texted me like thirteen times to remind me," Zach said with a grin. "We should start in the Alice in Wonderland ride. It's gentle and will get Cash and Ten used to the rides."

Matt and I nodded our heads and practically got dragged to the right part of the park.
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Kyle and Mike smiled as we waited in line for Splash Mountain. We were all going to ride right before the fireworks. This way we could see the show and then leave the park and get home before it was too, too late.

Mike held onto my hand. His smile hadn't left the park since we had arrived. Kyle was the ringleader of the entire group, helping the little guys conquer their fear of some the rides and walking up with them to get the autographs from the Disney characters.

"Daddy, is Splash Mountain scary?" Mike asked as the line moved forward. The three families were almost to the front.

"No! It's a fun ride with a drop. It's like the Matterhorn. You liked that one." I smiled down at my youngest.

"It's the long ride, Mikey!" Kyle grabbed his brother's hand and squeezed it. "If you get scared, just hold on to me and Dad, kay?"

Mike nodded and took another tentative step forward. Mike wasn't the only one afraid of the ride. Tennessee was having a hard time getting over leaving Pooh Bear. He and Cash loved that yellow monstrosity.

"How many?" the freckle-faced kid asked me.

"We have eight," I said and waited as he told us where to sit.

The weird thing about Splash Mountain was there was no belt or bar. There were handles to hold on, but the beauty of the ride was that gravity kept you in your seat because there were only two drops. One of the drops was about fifty feet and took your picture.

When all of us were settled, our little log took off and entered the ride. It started off outdoors with the characters from Song of the South talking and singing to us. Mike's grip loosened as he saw how gentle the ride was.

We passed through all the gentle outdoor parts and then entered inside. Characters started to sing Zippee Dee Do Dah to us and warn us about the drop. Mike grabbed onto my hand again and then screamed as we dropped down the fifty foot part and got covered in water.

By the end of the ride, all eight of us were soaking wet but had really enjoyed the ride.

Notes

I cannot remember Brooks' boys names, and I felt really creepy Googling that. So... I made them up. Sorry y'all, but hey look! An update!