Almost Paradise
Brianna Parker- Single mother of four, lives in Paradise Montana, runs her own mail order business from her home.
Make all natural soaps and lotions. Divorced.
Chase Driscol- five years old, self proclaimed man of the house.
Tucker Driscol- four years old ,Here come trouble, dare devil, risk taker and always in trouble.
Cameron Driscol- three years old, shy boy of the family, he's a mama's boy, who sticks close to his mother for the most part.
Keely Driscol- the only girl and the youngest at fifteen months, she a sweet little ray of sunshine.
Mark Calaway- Decided to retire away from the limelight, to a house he bought in Paradise, little does he realize his life is about to be turned upside down by a gang of kids, when all he was looking for was some piece and quite.
Summary. "Retired wrestler Mark Calaway is looking for some peace and quite away from the lime light after years of being in the spotlight, when he has to put up with constant bombardment from some stray kids, he begins to think moving to Paradise was a big mistake.
Mark cursed and jumped up from his recliner. He had bought this house in Paradise, because it was a small town isolated, no one around, it was a damn nice house too, two story brick home, five bedrooms three full baths, swimming pool and a big back yard surrounded by woods.
He had loved the property when he first seen it, there was apple trees, wild berries growing, it was aptly in the town called paradise, the property was paradise, except for the elusive little devils that had been plaguing him for a week.
They were too quick and he hadn't got a good look at either of the, just the back of them rushing back in the woods, he knew they were kids. They had pelted his house with rocks. Soaped his windows, scattered toilet paper in his yard, then to top it off today, spray painted big black splotches on the side of his house. He would have to take the pressure washer to it, this was turning out to be any thing but Paradise. Mark vowed, he was going to catch the little punks next time and when he did, it was not going to be pleasant.
Brianna walked out of the big barn, her youngest two children were with her. She smiled at Cameron and Keely, they were stirring a small pot of lotion , she let them do a little on their own, it kept them occupied and made them feel important.
Paradise All Natural soaps and lotions, was taking off, she was just a one woman operation, she had a few high schoolers that worked for her on the weekend, that helped her do the packaging, but that was it.
Two years ago, when she had told her husband Stewart Driscol, she was pregnant with Keely, he had looked at her, told her he didn't love her no more and wanted a divorce.
Brianna was in shock, she knew that Stewart wasn't the most loving husband and father in the world, but he worked , paid the bills and was reliable, at least she had thought so.
He had walked out that night, she had received the divorce papers three months later, she signed them with no contest, she didn't want a man that didn't want her, what she didn't expect was for him to abandon his kids, but he disappeared, she had filed for child support, but the man had effectively vanished from site, after a year she gave up, she knew she had to do something to take care of her children.
She did have two years of collage chemistry under her belt, she bought the old falling apart house, renovated the barn, and put her chemistry knowledge to work, making the all natural soaps and lotions that were all the rage right now, she did a booming business and was finally carving her spot in small boutiques and mail order business.
She made descent money, but with four kids and the mortgage on the house, she still had a time making ends meet, she was working in the small local bar on the weekends, the tips were great, but word about Tucker got around fast, he was a wild one, and no one would baby sit him anymore, she sighed, she had good kids, but the oldest two, could do with a little guidance from a man, Tucker was a wild daredevil, that found trouble at every turn, Chase really tried to be the man in charge, but he was a five year old little boy, he still managed to find his share of trouble with Tucker egging him on.
So until she could find another sitter, that was out.
"Mommy, look."
Brianna looked down at her son. "Cam what smell did you come up with?"
Her son grinned up at her, he had brown eyes and brown curly hair. "Smell."
She smiled and bent down pushing a few stray brown locks out of her face. "mmm Smells good, blueberry, right?"
The boy grinned."Yep Mommy booberry."
Brianna hugged the boy tight and looked at her chubby fifteen month old daughter. "Did you help to Keely?"
"Yes." The little girl nodded , her long curls dancing around her face.
Brianna got up and sighed, she knew the two older boys played on the property. She had yellow tape along the areas they were aloud to play, and they knew not to cross the yellow line.
Still they had been gone a while. Just then the two boys came bursting from the edge of the woods. They ran at top speed and came to a screeching halt in front of her. "Hey mommy." Tucker said grinning up at her.
She looked at the blond haired, blue eyed boy, he looked just like his daddy. "Where have you two been?"
Tucker smiled. "Just right through those trees, playing soldiers."
Brianna looked at her oldest son, with his brown curls and blue eyes. "Chase?"
Chase hated lying to his mother, but he knew if she found out what they were up to, she would most likely spank them, that wasn't what worried him though, he didn't want her to be disappointed in him, mommy needed him, and didn't want to upset her. "Yes Mommy, just playing, we never go past the yellow line, you put up."
Brianna smiled. "Can you guys take Keely and Cam back up to the house, I'm closing up the barn for tonight.
Chase nodded and took his little sister's hand. Tucker took off running for the house and Cam got up and followed his big brother.
Brianna sighed and went back in the barn to cover the cooling soap, still in the molds, she would remove it tomorrow, then wrap them in their packaging , then they would be boxed up and UPS would be called to come by and get them to deliver them to their destinations.
She locked the barn up and walked tiredly back to the house, her day started at four every morning and she was usually up past ten.
Tucker would start School in the fall and she was thinking of putting Tucker in pre-school, but she was scared he would get kicked out.
She just hoped things would get better as the boys got older.
"Tucker Driscol, stop jumping!" Brianna yelled up the stairs.
The noise stopped and Brianna sighed and walked back to the kitchen, she grabbed a oven mitt and pulled the chicken out of the oven and the set the macaroni and cheese and Broccoli on the table.
She turned and picked up her daughter putting her in her highchair, setting a small plate of food in front of her. She called the boys and Cam and Chase came in the kitchen. "Did you wash your hands?"
The two nodded and their mother set their plates in front of them. "Wheres Tucker."
Chase looked at the roof. "Upstairs."
Brianna walked out of the kitchen into the hallway. "Tucker!"
All of a sudden their bulldog came bounding downstairs howling and about run over her, Tucker running fast behind him. "Come back Blue."
Brianna caught her son around his waist, Blue was trying to crawl under the couch, but he was too big, she could see he was covered in pink gel. "Tucker what did you do?"
"I was giving Blue a shave." He said giving her his most cute smile.
Thats when she saw the razor in his hand. She took it from his grasp and gave him a look. "Go get a towel and clean Blue up, then come eat dinner, then straight to your room."
The little boy's smile fell and he moped his way back upstairs. Brianna heaved a sigh and walked back toward the kitchen, it was going to be a long night.
She put Tucker on dish duty with her so she could talk to him. Tucker sat on the counter drying dishes with a pout on his face. "Tucker, you cant shave the dog, not to mention, you're not allowed to play with razors."
Tucker's pout became more pronounced. "I wanted to give em a Mohawk."
Brianna turned and looked at her son. "Tucker, you cant do this sort of thing, thats the end of it, No TV tonight or tomorrow, you can read thats it, no playing in the woods tomorrow either."
Tucker scrambled off the counter and ran from the kitchen. Brianna shook her head, she felt like the worlds worse mother.
Brianna put her daughter in her crib and bent kissing her cheek. "Love you."
Her daughter smiled sleepily and hugged her mother. Brianna left the night light on and left the door cracked, she walked down the hallway into Chase's room, he was in the bed playing with his pet lizard. "Okay put Charlie back in his cage. "
Chase hopped up and put Charlie back in the glass aquarium and put the lid on. Brianna sat down and pulled the covers back for him, Chase scooted under and Brianna tucked the blankets around him. "Thanks for helping Cam with his bath, and helping me fold clothes."
Chase hugged his mother. "You're welcome."
"So you excited about going to day camp?"
She had scraped her pennies to send him two weeks from now, she wanted him to get out and make friends, they were isolated out here."
He nodded. "I cant wait."
Brianna kissed him. "Love you."
"Love you too mommy." She got up and turned out his light and went down to Tucker's room, he was in the bed with the covers pulled over his head.
She sat down and pulled the covers back, he opened his eyes, looking up at his mother. "I love you Tucker."
"I love you too mommy, sorry I made you mad."
Brianna hugged him. "I'm not mad, just upset at what you did, you know I love you." She said pushing his blond hair off his forehead.
He nodded. "I know." She tucked him in and turned off the light and walked down to Cam's room.
She smiled, he was playing with his pet turtle. "Okay little man, put him in his tank."
"Kay mommy." He said putting the turtle back in the small aquarium next to his bed. "Nite Nite, Rover."
She smiled and sat down and Cameron jumped in her lap hugging her. Brianna smiled and kissed his cheek. "Love you little man."
He smiled. "Lub you mommy."
She got him tucked in and went down to the kitchen making her some coffee. She got her a cup and went and sat down on the deck that was falling down at best, the house was a wreak, she was trying to do repairs a little at a time, but it was hard, and she didn't have the money to hire anyone, the deck was at the bottom of the list as far as importance.
She sat back with a long sigh, she was dead tired, but she had to pack up some boxes of lotion that had to ship out in the morning, forty cases to be exact, she felt like a failure, she knew the children, the boys especially needed their father, but he had bailed, and she was in this alone muddling through the best she could.
She finished her coffee and got up, she had to get to working or she wouldn't get any sleep tonight.