"JOHNNA." Jackie screamed in terror as she raced down the hall.
When she got closer she realized that the smoke was coming from the room next door to the nursery which was the laundry room, not the nursery itself. She coughed as she raced through the smoke billowing out from the laundry room and into the baby's nursery. She scooped the terrified baby out of her crib. Jackie did her best to cover the baby's mouth and nose so she wouldn't take in the smoke, which was now overtaking the entire hallway. She ran down the stairs and out the front door as fast as she could. She ran over to the tree to wait for Nick.
"It's ok sweetheart." Jackie said as she tried to soothe Johnna who was so scared she was trembling.
"Come on Nicky, where are you?" Jackie thought silently to herself as she waited for Nick to emerge from the house with Jasmine and Houston.
It seemed like a lifetime to Jackie but it was probably mere seconds after Jackie and the baby had made it out that Nick came sprinting out of the house with Jasmine and Houston in his arms and Dolly right behind him.
"Are you guys alright?" Nick asked once he had reached Jackie by the tree.
"Yeah, how about you guys?" Jackie asked as she ran her free hand over Jasmine and Houston to check them over.
"Yeah, we're fine." Nick assured her.
"Thank God." Jackie said as she dialed 911.
Everyone was out safe which is all that mattered, as far as she was concerned the entire house could burn down and it wouldn't matter.
After Jackie had got off the phone with 911 she and Nick tried to comfort their three kids who were all sobbing.
"It's ok guys, we're safe, and mommy and daddy are right here, it's going to be ok." Nick said in a comforting voice.
"Nick, Jackie?" a voice said.
"Hi Carol." Jackie said as she turned around and saw their good friend and neighbor standing there.
"Is everyone ok?"
"Yeah we're fine, thank you." Nick said.
"Do you need me to call 991?" She asked.
"I already did, thank you though." Jackie responded.
"Why don't you guys come over to my house, I'll make you all some hot chocolate." Carol offered.
Nick and Jackie looked at each other.
"You take the kids and go ahead, I'm going to wait here for the firefighters." Nick said.
"Ok." Jackie said as Carol took Johnna from Jackie's arms and then Jackie took Houston and Jasmine from Nick.
They took a couple of steps towards Carol's house before Jackie turned back around "Nicholas, do not even think about going back into that house, got it?" Jackie said sternly.
"I won't, I promise." Nick said.
Jackie nodded and then continued towards Carol's house.
"Dada." Jasmine whined.
"It's ok peanut, daddy's just going to stay here and wait for the nice people to help us." Jackie said.
Just a couple minutes later fire trucks came around the corner with their sirens blaring.
"Is everyone out of the house sir?" a firefighter asked Nick.
"Yes." Nick replied.
"Were there any pets that were left behind?"
"No"
"Ok, that's good."
It didn't take firefighters long to put out the fire and to determine that the cause of the fire was a short in the dryer. The damage to the laundry room was pretty bad but there wasn't much damage to the rest of the house except for a little in the hallway.
Nick went over to the neighbor's to tell Jackie the good news. Jasmine and Houston were sitting drinking a cup of hot chocolate while Johnna had fallen asleep in Jackie's lap.
"Hi dada" Jasmine said when Carol let Nick in the door.
"Hi kiddo." He said.
"The fire is out. The cause of the fire was a short in the dryer. There is extensive damage to the laundry room but minimal damage to the rest of the house. I'll call our insurance company tomorrow morning and then start pricing what it is going to take to get the house fixed. Also we are obviously going to need a new washer and dryer set. Until the house is back to normal we'll need to either stay at your parent's house or a hotel. For tonight, I think I just want to go to the nearest hotel and get some sleep. Not only that it is really late to just show up at your parent's house" He told Jackie.
"I agree it is really late and we are all exhausted." Jackie said as she nodded towards Johnna who was still sleeping in her lap.
"You're more than welcome to stay here for tonight." Carol said as her husband Ed shook his head in agreement.
"Thank you very much but we couldn't impose." Jackie said to the elderly woman.
"Oh you wouldn't be, both of our daughters live out of state and so we rarely get to see our grandchildren, it is so nice to have little ones in the house." Carol said as she nodded at Jasmine and Houston who were busy enjoying their hot chocolate.
"Thank you but believe me if we stay here your house will look like a tornado hit it." Jackie said with a laugh as she stood up.
Carol laughed
"Ok, but if you change your minds just let us know, and if you need anything else we'd be more than happy to help."
"Thank you, we truly appreciate that." Jackie said as she carried Jasmine's and Houston's cup of hot chocolate over to the sink.
"I'm going to go ask the firefighters if it's safe to grab my keys and wallet off of the kitchen table, I'll be right back." Nick said as he walked out of the house.
Jackie started washing the cups of hot chocolate.
"I'll do that dear, you'll wake the poor little one." Carol offered as she looked at the baby who was starting to stir in Jackie's arms.
"Thank you." Jackie said with a smile as she went and sat down.
Just a few minutes later there was another knock on the door. Ed went and opened the door and again Nick walked in, this time wearing a mask.
"Dada scary." Jasmine said as she hid behind Jackie's chair as if Nick was going to eat her.
"What?" Nick said looking at his little girl puzzled.
"Oh." He laughed once he remembered he had the mask on.
He pulled it off his face.
"The firefighters let me go in the house but only if I wore a mask, they didn't want me breathing in all the smoke and stuff. I got coats and shoes for all of us as well as my keys and wallet. I drove the van over here, it's running and warm. Ready to go?"
"Yeah." Jackie said.
"Ok." Nick said as he gently took Johnna from her.
"Thank you for everything." Nick told his neighbors with a grateful smile before he took Johnna outside.
"Yes thank you." Jackie echoed as she gave both Carol and Ed a hug.
"You're welcome." Carol said.
"What do you tell them for giving you hot chocolate?" Jackie asked her children.
"Yummy." Jasmine said.
All three adults burst out laughing.
"No, you say thank you." Jackie corrected her.
"Thank you." Jasmine said.
"You're welcome sweetheart."
"How about you Houston what do you say?" Jackie said.
"Tank you." Houston said with an adorable grin.
"You're welcome too cutie." Carol said as she ruffled Houston's thin hair.
"He's quite the little ham isn't he?" Carol said with a laugh.
"Oh boy, you have no idea." Jackie said with a grin.
Carol laughed.
"Alright, come on guys, daddy's waiting for us." Jackie said as she grabbed both of the kid's hands.
"Bye, thanks again." Jackie said.
"Of course, don't make yourselves scarce." Carol said and Ed waved.
Jackie then walked out of the house.
Nick had already put Johnna's coat and shoes on her and had strapped her into her car seat. Nick helped Houston put his coat and shoes on while Jackie helped Jasmine and then they loaded them into the car.
They drove to a nearby hotel.
Nick went and made sure they had rooms available while Jackie sat in the car with the kids. Nick came back moments later.
"Come on, I got us a room." He said as he started to unbuckle Johnna from her car seat.
"Vator." Jasmine said happily when they stopped in front of the elevator, she was even more elated when Jackie let her hit the button.
When they stepped into the elevator Nick helped Houston hit the number 5, Houston grinned at him as he hit the button as if he had done something magical.
"Vator fun." Jasmine told Jackie when they had stepped off of it and onto their floor.
"That's good sweetheart." Jackie laughed.
"Do gin?" Jasmine asked.
"We'll do it again tomorrow kiddo." Jackie said.
Jasmine frowned at her.
"Do gin dada?" Jasmine asked.
"Tomorrow, daddy's tired." He told her with a smile.
Jasmine's frown got bigger.
"What's our room number?" Jackie asked Nick.
"Um, let's see here, 525." He said as he glanced at the key.
"Ok, this way." Jackie said as she looked at the sign on the wall.
They got to their room and it took all of two minutes after being told to lie down that Jasmine and Houston were fast asleep.
"Poor things, they are exhausted." Jackie said as she looked at Jasmine and Houston sleeping soundly next to each other.
"They aren't the only ones." Nick said with a yawn.
"Yeah, no kidding." Jackie agreed as she gently laid Johnna down on the bed where Nick and Jackie were going to sleep.
"I don't like Johnna sleeping in our bed, it makes me nervous." Jackie said.
"I know, but we don't have a choice, we'll be careful." Nick assured her with a smile.
Nick and Jackie then crawled into bed themselves. They both just slept on a sliver of each edge of the bed so they wouldn't be anywhere near the baby so there was no chance of rolling over on her.
The next morning Nick called the insurance company, he took down what they told him and then started calling people to get estimates about fixing their house and after that was done they checked out of the hotel and drove to her parent's house.
Later that day Nick drove to their house to meet one of the contractors, he had given him the best estimate on the phone. Nick liked the guy, he said that it would take only a few days to fix the damage.
During those few days they stayed at Jackie's parent's house and the kids had a blast because they got to be spoiled rotten by their grandma and grandpa. The few days passed quickly and soon the house was ready for the family to return home.
It was a great feeling when Nick and Jackie walked into their completely repaired home with all three of their children. They were excited for things to return to normal.
The End! Thanks for reading! Please review!