Disclaimer: I do not own Cheaper by the Dozen. I do own Charlotte, my own character.
A/N- This chapter is again, going to be mostly about Sarah, Eliot and their dad's. I've been expecting a lot of reviews, but I've only gotten a couple. I will put you as characters in it, I will use plot lines and I will take suggestions that you put in! I just need them! Reviews make me happy.
ANGELMEGAN- I'm glad you like it. I plan on getting the next chapter out this afternoon.
Taynzpink- I'd be happy to update this.
Eliot and Sarah both went to bed happy that night. Little did they know that Tom Baker had seen it all. He nearly dropped his pizza in shock as he saw them in the park.
Eliot had come around to the Baker's around 11 to see where Sarah was. Last night she said her brother, his friend and they were all going to hang out by 'their' dock. No one else seemed to ever use it. Sure enough, he turned around and there they were, splashing and laughing. Jake was with a girl, just watching her.
"Hey, Eliot! Over here!" yelled Sarah as she stood up in the water. She had on a pair of camouflage knee length board shorts and an army green with brown strapped bikini top. Her hair hung loosely in its usual braids. She had gotten a bit wet, so her hair was sticking out in random places and her clothes hung loosely on her. Wow, thought Eliot, she looks good.
Eliot ran off the end of the dock, pulling his shirt off in the process. He managed to cannonball right next to Sarah, splashing her soaked. He swam towards her and gave her what seemed to be a hug. Confused, she hugged back. Suddenly, he dunked her head under the water and swam away, laughing happily. Jake and Charlotte began laughing so hard that they fell out of their kayak. They smiled shyly to each other as they tried to climb back in. Jake got in and then helped Charlotte in. They turned the kayak around to face Sarah and Eliot.
"Hey guys, we're gonna go over to that gazebo thing, alright?" Jake asked. He turned and began paddling before they could answer.
With Sarah and Eliot
Sarah was still annoyed at Eliot for dunking her, but she eventually forgave him. Supposedly, the rest of her family had gone on a hike, meaning Lorraine was hiding somewhere in the house. Eliot and Sarah were lying on the dock, drying off. Their heads were together and they were smiling. Eliot got up and pulled Sarah up with him. She smiled to him and he held her close. He bent down low enough to kiss her. They stood like that for a good minute when they heard something.
"Hey! You get away from him, Sarah Margaret Baker! Right now!" yelled her father's voice. She quickly jumped away from Eliot, and gave him an, 'I'm-so-sorry-I-didn't-know-this-was-going-to-happen' look. Eliot smiled weakly back at her. Tom was now getting closer to the young couple. He walked up to Sarah.
"What are you thinking, Sarah????!?! This is supposed to be a family trip! Not a 'let's watch Sarah kiss boys' trip!" yelled Tom.
"Dad!" said Sarah, obviously hurt that her father thought of her this way.
"Mr. Baker, I'm sure Sarah…" began Eliot. He was cut off by Tom.
"I'll deal with you in a minute, young man," he turned back on Sarah, "How could you do such a thing?? I guess you just waited until we were all gone to finally just sit on the dock here and swap spit with this boy!" he yelled.
"Dad, it's not like that!" Sarah yelled, now getting red in the face. Uh oh, thought Eliot, Mr. Baker's gonna get it big time.
"I should have seen it this whole time! So, how long have you been going behind my back, kissing and dating boys? I bet you've been doing it ever since you realized the blanket was over my eyes. I'm disappointed in you, Sarah," he said with a mix of agony and anger. Sarah's clenched fists began to shake. Her eyes flashed and she took a step closer to her father.
"That's what you think of me? A slut? Someone who goes around doing this because I can? No dad, that isn't the case. Eliot is the first boy who has liked me for me. Not 'liking' me to get closer to Lorraine, and not 'liking' me because Jake's my brother and they like hanging out with him. No, Eliot likes me for me. ME. In a family with 12 kids, you don't hear that much. But lately, we have been. All about you wanting to win this competition. You wanting us to practice our guts out. You not wanting us to see the other families. You wanting us to make sure we're ready. You waking us up at 7:30am just to be sure we have enough time to wait for you to get ready to 'coach' us. I can't have any fun! The most fun I've had this whole time was with Eliot at the movies and now. You have to face the music. I'm growing up. With Lorraine you didn't care, because she was dating boys since she was practically born. But with me, it's suddenly a big deal? Yeah, that makes sense. You make me sick! I don't ever want to see your face again," she said with anger slathered in her voice and fire in her eyes, "I hate you,"
With those words, she ran off the dock and dove into the water, leaving a very nervous Eliot and a very loopy father. She swam and she swam until she came to the raft. She climbed up on it and pulled in her knees and cried. She saw Eliot being beaten down by her father. Eliot yelled something in his face and pulled off his shirt and dove into the water just as Sarah had done. He swam out to the raft and pulled himself out of the water. He began hugging Sarah and comforting her.
Within minutes, Jake and Charlotte had pulled up to the dock. Suddenly, Tom was yelling at Jake for being out with Charlotte. Jake fought back.
"Dad, I saw you do the same thing to Sarah just now. How could you be so hurtful? I haven't seen her this happy since she won the Lacrosse championships TWO YEARS ago. She's truly happy with Eliot, so what can't you accept that? I can't believe you don't want her to be happy because you hate his father. She obviously loves him and I don't know why you would want to crush that," Jake said with fire bursting into his eyes, "But I do know that someone who wants to drain the happiness out of my best friend, not to mention my twin, doesn't deserve to be talked to. Come on Charlotte, let's go see how Sarah is doing," Jake said, pulling the kayak off the dock. With a hurt and angered look on his face, Jake pushed off the dock and began paddling out to the raft. Eliot was still hugging Sarah, who was still crying.
"Umm… before you get uncomfortable Charlotte, I must warn you that this is not normal for our family. My dad isn't usually this… 'evil' during the summer. And it is okay if you are uncomfortable in this situation, and you can go home if you want," he said as they paddled out.
"It's alright, I'd actually like to see if there's anything I can do to help Sarah," replied Charlotte. They got close enough to the raft to pull their kayak in. They tied it on and climbed out.
"Sarah? Are you okay?" asked Jake, going soft. No one messes with my sister, he thought.
"No," came the muffled reply. Eliot's arms were still around her and she was still crying.
"Sarah, he's just trying to burst your bubble. You've been having a great time with Eliot, so don't let him get to you," said Jake, trying to calm her down. She lifted her head to look at Jake. Her eyes were red from crying and so were her tear streamed cheeks.
"Don't let him get to me? Jake, I see him every morning," she said. She wiped her nose and face. Charlotte handed her a sock. Sarah looked confused at it. Charlotte laughed.
"Sorry, I should have explained. I'm staying with my dad and he likes to make packing 'easier' by putting things inside things, aka socks into shorts. Of course, I washed the shorts and the socks got stuck on with static electricity, and I've been pulling socks out of my pockets since 8. Use one on your eyes," she said. Sarah laughed and did so.
"I just… can't believe he thinks those things of me. All of a sudden he's all mean," said Sarah. She sighed and wiped her eyes again.
"I don't want to dampen the day. You guys wanna have a diving contest?" she asked. Jake and Charlotte went to the other side of the raft to look at a hawk that just flew by.
"Sarah, are you sure you're okay?" Eliot asked softly. Sarah sighed. She leaned against him.
"Eliot, what do you think is happiness?" she asked him. His answer came to him slowly.
"Being here with you having a great time," he said. She leaned upwards and breathed him in. He may have been wearing cologne, but she loved the way he smelled, like his shampoo. Eliot began to look at the lakeside and unknown to him started playing with her hair. She sighed. It was perfect.
"Hey Sarah?" he asked.
"Yeah?" she replied.
"Do you think your dad would kill me if he saw me kissing you out here?" he asked with a sly glint in his eye.
"No. Because were not going to do that," she teased him. His face dropped.
"We're not?" his eyes were filled with sadness.
"No," she said.
"Why not?" he whined.
"Because I'm going to kiss YOU," she said with a smirk. She lifted her head so her lips nearly reached her chin. He bent downwards and again, met her halfway. Tom saw from the lakeside and sighed. Lorraine was sitting on her window sill and nearly fell off when she saw… was that Sarah? Kissing a boy? Kate arrived back from the hike with all the kids. They were all hungry and thirsty so they went inside. Kate went around the back to let Gunner out. She gasped and then sighed happily at the sight she saw in the lake. Eliot and Sarah were sitting together, his arms around her, with her head up and his down, kissing. Young love, thought Kate. I'd better make sure no-one else noticed them. Distractions, distractions…
"Hey kids, Gunner's playing in the stream again! If you don't get him out in 10 minute's there's no dinner for anyone!!!" she yelled. Knowing Gunner, the dog would put up a fight till the very end. Her kids came rushing out to get the neurotic dog back inside. Back over on the raft…
Sarah broke from the kiss. She noticed no giggling or snickering. Jake's gone, she thought. Sure enough, Jake and Charlotte were all the way over in the gazebo, holding hands. Eliot looked down at Sarah again. She tilted her head upwards and kissed him again, this time longer.
Over with Jake and Charlotte in the gazebo
"Charlotte?" asked Jake.
"Yeah?" she asked, turning to him and giving him her full attention.
"Well, I'm no Shakespeare with words, so I guess… umm, I'm just gonna say it. I like you. A lot. More than I've ever liked any other girl ever," he said, blushing. She turned towards him, and she too was blushing.
"I like you a lot, too, Jake. This is going to be the best summer vacation ever," she said. She began to turn to look out at the lake again when Jake suddenly looked at her. She looked back at him. They turned their bodies so that they were facing. Jake leaned down and Charlotte tipped her head up a bit. Jake and Charlotte's lips came crashing down on each others. Jake's heartbeat was going a mile a minute. Charlotte's heart was dancing to the very same beat. After about 20 seconds they pulled away and smiled to each other. Kate was still watching from by the car. Well I'm going to have some love-struck silly twins tonight, she thought to herself.
Jake and Charlotte made a silent decision on them going back. This time, Charlotte sat in between his legs for the ride (A/N- Not like that you crazy people! I'm guessing you've all seen the size of a kayak! Not very big.). They paddled to the raft to find no one there. They looked over at the dock and saw Eliot and Sarah shaking water off them. Eliot got found their shoes and they walked hand in hand back to the Baker's cottage.
"Eliot, I don't think you should stick around. It's lunch time and my dad's apparently gone nuts," she said, "Not that I wouldn't like you to stay. It's just, they all went on a hike this morning and I didn't. I should hang with them some so it does at least qualify as a family vacation," she grinned. Eliot nodded.
"I understand. I'll see you tomorrow then?" he asked sweetly.
"Yeah, sometime in the morning then, okay?" she said. He nodded and tucked a strand of wet hair behind her ear. He leaned in to kiss her quickly.
"Bye, Sarah," he said as he walked back towards the path back to his house. Sarah walked inside to find her mom all alone in the kitchen. When does that ever happen?
"Gunner in the stream again?" she asked her mom. Kate nodded. Sarah sighed.
"I'll go get my lacrosse stick," she said.
There you have it! Review, review, review!! Click the wonderful blue button…..