This is a Little Brother fanfic. Little Brother is a fairly new book, so I don't expect anyone to actually have read it yet. It takes place in the house of "Severe Haircut Lady" and is a little off time. Pretend the bombing happened about three hours later…okay?
Disclaimer-Nope. I don't own anything. Except Tom, Daniel, Lauren, Chase, and Denise.
"Carrie!" Tom exclaimed. "Come look at this!" he was perched at the window, grinning in a silly way. I grabbed two cups of coffee and some cookies and headed over there. I handed him his mug and set the cookies between us, sitting myself next to him.
The sight before me warmed my heart. Daniel was teaching Chase how to ride his "big boy bike" and Lauren was dancing around the yard with Denise. My children…all bonding like that. Getting along for the sake of it.
Daniel and Lauren's 17th birthday was coming up soon. Chase had just turned 5 and Denise was 3. I stood and placed my arms around my husband's waist, burying my face in his shoulder. He smiled and turned around, placing a soft kiss on my forehead.
I stood on my tiptoes for a real kiss, connecting my lips with his. He smiled against my lips and deepened the kiss. We broke apart when the door banged open. Our children flooded in, looking dirty and hungry. I had set the table with food already so they raced to the kitchen sink to wash up. I saw that Chase had skinned knees, hands, and elbows and clicked my tongue, hurrying over to clean him up and bandage his scrapes.
I pulled the first aid kit out of the drawer next to the sink and scooped Chase up, plopping him on the counter. He looked at me sadly before tears streamed down his dirty face, leaving clean little trails.
"Does it hurt badly?" I asked quietly.
He sniffled. "Yeah."
I shook my head gently as I leaned over his knees and got started, dabbing some anti-bacterial on it and wiping the little blood dots off his legs. I put a green band-aid on each knee, followed by a kiss. I repeated the steps on his hands and elbows, then scooped him up in a hug, cradling him close.
Tom came over and placed a kiss on his head of bristly blonde hair and took him from me, putting him in his chair. Daniel, Lauren and Denise were already in place, waiting for me to join them. I came over and slid into a chair, then everyone dug in.
As dinner was finishing up, Daniel had an idea.
"Why don't we go down to the beach below the bridge before bed?" he asked.
Choruses of "Yeah!" and "Why not?" erupted from my family. They all looked at me, as I had the last word…always…and I nodded, with a smile on my face. The kids raced out to get their shoes and jackets on and I looked at Tom.
"Are you going with them?" I asked. "I need to do some work…but I don't want them going alone."
"Alrighty," he said. "I'll do it." He leaned over for another kiss, then hurried out after the kids. I sighed and leaned back in my chair, then started cleaning up from dinner, which my family had oh so conveniently forgotten to do.
I shook my head with a grin and flipped on the radio, dancing my way around the kitchen as I cleaned up. That's when it happened. There was a huge blast and the house shook. I raced to the window just in time to see the bridge collapsing. I felt my eyes widen in shock when I realized my family was all down there. I grabbed my cell phone and dialed Daniel's number, he always had his phone on him.
Rrrrrr…rrrrrr…rrrrr…rrrrr…Hey, it's Daniel. I'm not here right now so leave me a message…I might answer you…if I ever check my messages…haha. Anyways. Leave me a message.
I listened to his voice with tears in my eyes. Then I tried Lauren's phone. She usually had hers too.
Rrrrrr…rrrrr...rrrrr…rrrr…Hi! You've reached Lauren! I'm not at the phone right now…I'm probably sleeping or at school. Leave me a message and I'll get back to you with a call or a text! Thanks! Bye!
Tears were falling now. I tried Tom's. It rang from his coat, hanging in the hallway. I kept listening anyways.
Rrrrrr…rrrrr…rrrr…rrrr…Tom here. I'm not in so leave me a message and I'll get back to you.
I then placed the phone on the counter. I grabbed my jacket and slipped on my shoes and ran down to the bridge. It was wreckage. A frantic woman came up to me, begging me to find her son. I wondered why she was asking me and then realized I was wearing my DHS jacket. I knew that Daniel, Tom, Lauren, Chase and Denise probably didn't survive, so I put on a steely face and told the woman off. If my family couldn't make it, then why should I care if hers did?
There we go. I wondered why Carrie was so angry all the time…I just had to come up with a reason for it.
xoxoxo
Spack