For your enjoyment, here's Chapter Six!


Get to the Bottom of it

Colby and Jon were out back with Sika, talking wrestling apparently. Jess kept looking out there as I stood in the kitchen. Ms. Patricia, Patricia now to me, was with Tera upstairs doing something. Joe had asked Jess to come over to discuss the issues that was going on. He was sitting at the table and I was peeling potatoes. There was a ham cooking out back and the concensus was mashed potatoes. I offered to make the mashed potatoes. But Jess looked like she didn't want to be there at all.

"Why are you two ganging up on me?" She asked.

"Gang up on you? Sorry Jess, the only reason why you're here is to have dinner." I said. "And so that I can get something off of my chest in regards to this little family."

The look she had on her was something along the lines of morbid and seething. I had seen it before, in a picture Sketch had drawn up for a scene in my book. That was one of them that had been exed out of the final draft. Still I was a writer and I could pick up some things that others wouldn't.

"What could you possible want to tell me?" She asked.

"That your fiance and I are nothing more than brother and sister at this moment. Did you know that Patricia and Sika were going to adopt me?"

The lines around her forehead and her mouth softened.

"As far as they are concerned, this baby is their grand child." I motioned to my stomach. "I just have a stronger bond with Joe and Myritza, Vanessa is a different story. Summer, she was coming around when I was shipped off to be with my birth mother, the one that has been one of America's Most Wanted now."

She looked away from me when I looked at her. Joe sat with his arms folded over his chest.

"So please, go over there, kiss him, say I love you and then get over here and help me with these potatoes. And Joe I swear if Jon comes in here I'm chucking the biggest and the wettest potato in this batch at his head." I said.

Joe busted out laughing. "Fine, fine." He stood up and walked up to Jess. He wrapped her in a hug and kissed her. "Now you know, Babe. No one will ever replace you." He kissed her again and then headed for the doorway. "And do as she says. Remember when you were pregnant with Tera."

"Oh God." She mumbled. "I was a holy terror to him. Hormonal issues."

I smiled. "I wouldn't know, yet. But it seems like Jon Good likes to ride my last nerve. He says things just to hurt me it seems like." I said as Joe left the room, going to look for Tera and Patricia.

Jess picked up the other potato peeler and I watched from the corner of my eye as she ran a dry potato under the water before she started peeling it.

"What happened, when I left?" I found myself asking.

"What do you mean?"

"I have this impression that the moment I left things were different. I've tried to talk about it with Patricia over the phone but she would side step the answer that I was expecting to hear."

"That Joe and I delved into a relationship and that Vanessa was sort of the black sheep because she hated you?"

"Yep that was what I was expecting. I mean, I got over my feelings for Joe when Sketch showed up on my doorstep, the only person from my past that was a sweetheart to me. And then I got wrapped up in writing, in becoming an author and then bang, now Sketch is gone and I have a family that I missed for twelve long years."

"That's life for you."

By the time dinner was ready, we were all outside out back on the patio. I made sure that Colby was sitting between Jon and me. Tera sat between me and Joe as he and Jess sat together.

"So, Princess," Jon started to say. "What would you say that your favorite memory was with Sketch?"

Considering the jackass didn't get out of the Tahoe to see the grave, I gave him a sour face the best that I could around Colby's head.

"A lot of the love we had for each other came around the Christmas holidays. We would do things we started twelve years ago."

"Like what?" Tera asked.

"Like, because I was a foster child I never had good enough presents for Christmas. Actually the best thing we would do together is give toys to the local foster kids. And then him and I would give each other home made gifts on Christmas morning."

"Why do you give foster kids toys?" Tera asked.

"Do you know what it means to be a foster kid, kiddo?" I asked, looking at her.

She shrugged. But it wasn't me that answered. "It means they are children who don't have mommies and daddies. Some times the mommies and daddies do bad things which is unsafe for the children to stay with them."

I could not believe he would answer with such emotion. For a moment I wondered why he even bothered to answer that question.

"Yes. And I was a foster child. I didn't have a mother for a while. I was shipped to places often. Some places didn't have enough money to give me proper presents." I swirled my mashed potatoes over the ham on my plate. "I hardly had much in the way of cloths. And not all the foster families were nice. Some times the foster parents would give their own children better gifts and give me stuff that I wouldn't even use. Used cloths were the worse."

"So that's why you and Uncle Sketch went out and gave presents to the foster kids?" She smiled at me. "Daddy, can I do that this year?"
"We'll see, sweetie, But that would be a good idea."

"Yes!" She turned and smiled at me before she dove into eating the mashed potatoes.


I couldn't sleep. Jess and Joe had taken Tera home. But not wanting put Jon and Colby up in a hotel, Patricia insisted that they stay in the spare rooms. Maybe it was Colby snoring that kept me awake, he was sleeping in Summer's and Vanessa's old room, which was not that far from my own room.

I was sitting up, thinking. Day dreaming the other part and wanting to do something. It seemed like the only time that I did anything was at night. Or when something major happened, like getting a phone call in the middle of the night, late night visitors or whatever. And night seemed to be the time when I could write anything.

So I padded over to my old desk and put my laptop on it. This was my writing laptop, this was where I would sit and write my Perry Miser books, scripts, rough drafts of short stories. There were some papers that came with it and I would sit in front of it with a pen or a pencil hanging out of my mouth. Sit on my bed, sit at the couch, just emmersed into my stuff. This was the life of a writer. A children's writer.

Yes, Perry Miser became famous. He was a good stepping stone. Look what happened with JK Rowling and her Harry Potter series. It grew into a fandom. Mine was more for little kids, kids like Tera. Beginning readers. Maybe, with just a little wish…maybe I will turn the page on my life.

I had to get over Sketch first.

But how do I get over a traumatic death of the man that I loved? Just thinking about it brought more tears.

"Annie." I looked up, wishing I had closed the door but instead I kept it open. I always did just in case Sketch came in from drawing.

Colby stood in just a pair of pajama pants. I knew the guy was well toned, I had seen his arms, but ripped. Nope. His hair was falling down around his shoulders as he stood against the doorjam.

"Sorry, I didn't meant to wake you." I said.

He waved at me. "No not you, I had to take a leak. I came to ask if everything was okay."

"No, just that I have issues with myself. Ever since that night, I haven't written anything." I said, pointing to my laptop.

He tilted his head. "Really? Can I come in?" I shrugged. "I guess. It's not like I'm going to go to sleep any time soon."

Colby pulled the chair from Myritza's old desk and put it next to mine. "So, what do you want to write?"

I, again, shrugged in response. "I don't know really. I just have this feeling like I need to write something. I'm back in the house that inspired me to write Perry Miser in the first place. Now I'm stuck."

The wrestler smiled to himself before turning the laptop towards him. He pulled up a new word document, a publishing document program that I always used for first drafts that I did. And then he started writing something. I didn't look because it wasn't something that I was sure I was going to do.

"Here, read this." He instructed turning it back to me.

So I did.

"One winter morning, a girl looked out the window hoping to see the first signs of winter. But again the fairies didn't answer the star wish she said the night before." I said out loud and then looked at him. "Cute. Where did that come from? Fairies?"

"What, Joe told me that you wanted to know what falling in love with werewolves would be like. I figured fairies would be a little bit easier for you to write."

I laughed, nudging him with my shoulder. "You are a weirdo. But, how about this." I put my hands on the keys and started writing a passage.

Emerson Taylor watched as her daughter Rebecca came back into the kitchen. "Still no snow?" She asked stirring the pot of oatmeal that was on the stove.

"No. When is daddy coming home?" Becca asked as she sat at the table. "He said he would be here when the fairies grant my wish."

Emerson looked down and continued to stir the oatmeal.

"Mom?" She asked.

"Sweetie, Daddy says a lot of things that he doesn't mean."

"But it's almost Christmas. He promised that he will be here for Christmas, before if the fairies…"

"Becca, please." Emerson begged her daughter. "Not today. I have a lot of work to do and I can't risk messing up right now. So please, please, sweetie, go get ready for school."

Colby smiled when he finished reading that little passage. "Sounds like this could be something from the Halmark Channel during the Christmas Season. Who knows, maybe it will be."

I smiled. "Yeah, that will be the day. When a story of mine gets turned into a movie."

"Don't doubt yourself, Annie." Colby reached over and put his hand on my knee. "Everything takes time. Now, give this little bit a title and go to bed." He stood up and put the chair back from where he had taken in from. Giving me a friendly look, Colby left.

That's when I turned back to the open document up on my laptop screen. As I hit File Save the Name this Document page came up. How long did I sit there and stare at the screen.

Finally three words popped up that could sum up a Christmas movie from the Hallmnark Channel, at least something to work with for now.

The Christmas Fairy


As the day came, I was yet up late. And when I went out of the bedroom to go to the bathroom, I ran straight into someone. Someone tall, someone with big strong hands.

How I wished it was Colby but no it wasn't.

It had to be Jon Good.

"Where's the fire, Princess?" He asked giving me that lopsided grin that I hated so much.

It wasn't really the smile, it was the tone he used with it. He was poking fun at me, he was jabbing at me and it was really annoying. I put up with bullying back in high school. I didn't need someone like Jon Good to remind me of how worthless I could feel at times.

"You're up like fire on your heels." He said.

"I need the bathroom, or I'll be peeing on your foot." I said.

And that crooked, lopsided grin just got bigger.

Groaning I pulled myself out of his grasp and walked around him so that I could get to the bathroom. Then I snapped it shut behind me in anger. Why? He didn't do anything except speak with a civilized manner towards me. At least that was a step forward with him.

When I had gotten out of the bathroom and had gotten downstairs fully dressed, Joe and Jess were there with Tera.

"Auntie Nella!" She smiled big and then went and hugged me. "Daddy got called back on the road."

"Oh?" I asked kneeling down to look at her. "You mean he has to go back to being Roman Reigns?"

"Yeah." She pouted. "Him, Jon and Colby have to go back together so that they can split them up."

I had no real clue as to what she was talking about. I remember that Joe, Jon and Colby were in a group called The Shield. That there was some sort of major event show, a pay-per-view that was coming up that they needed to be in.

Tera still didn't look happy. "Are you going with them?"

"I uh, I will have to go back to Oakland to my life over there." Took her hand and took her towards the front room couch. "Listen Kiddo, there are things adults do that kids like you don't understand."

"Like work?"

"Yeah, work is a major thing. I have to work on another Perry Miser book. And that way, I can get things started so that I can move here."

"You're moving here?"

"Dwayne suggested it. But you have to understand, my life I had, the life with Uncle Sketch, that's what I want to hold on to. But how can I be with a mother that is more of a mother than my own blood mother and still live all the way over in California."

"What does that mean?" She asked.

I smiled. "It means, if Florida is where my family is then it's going to be where I live. I'll be close to grandma, grandpa, you, cousins, family here in Florida."

"Really?" She cheered up.

"But it means I have to go back to California to do what I need, I need to sell my apartment, I need to find a place here. I need to deal with a lot of grown up things, a lot of it I don't even understand first before I can finally move out here. It may take me until at least Thanksgiving. But you have to promise me something."

"What?"

From my pocket I pulled out a notepad and a pen. Then I wrote my cell phone number down.

"This is my phone number. If I don't pick up, you need to leave me a message so that I can call you back, okay?" I asked handing her the paper.

"Uh huh."

"This means, you can call me when you want. If you're sad, or mad or anything like that, you can call me."

"Really?" She sounded shocked.

"Yes, Kiddo. You can." I smiled at her. "Now, go. Have the best time with your Daddy while you can."

Just beyond the group of wrestlers I saw one mother, her hand over her mouth, smiling through the tears. When Patricia and I made eye contact she smiled at me. I could see that Joe was happy as well, Jess nodded in thanks and Colby looked rather pleased with me.

And Jon, he was nowhere to be seen.


Well there you go, another update. I hope you liked it. Tell me what you think. I'll get the next update soon for you guys. Until then, see ya.