"Crying Person:Your writing is amazing but you're so cruel! I'm crying right now :((( This is so sad. Stupid hormones! Keep up the good work this story is great!"
"Marverl123:I don't review a lot anymore, but I just had to review your story here! Please keep updating! I honestly have up on this story, but still followed you (When the Stars Align: The most awesome spiritual, yet romantic and teen related story ever, don't EVER give THAt story up, please!). This story is very emotional! Cried on last chapter with them and still ship them, right C? Anyways, please update soon! GOD Bless You and your Loved ones! I thank God there's someone out there that can write a spiritual faith filled story, that can still relate to teens. There r a few that can! When you publish your own series (you should be an author!) please notify us! God has blessed you with a talent, so LET YOUR LITTLE LIGHT SHINE! GBU!"
Thank you so much! That is so sweet, both of you! :) And to everyone who reviewed, truly thank you :) And I'm sorry I made you all cry on the prologue. God bless you too honey :) And to my guest from chapter 6, thank you for reading it from the beginning! I hope you keep it up!
I don't own Austin and Ally.
In his haste to get back to his bedroom, Austin ended up barreling into Trish passing her in the hallway. "Sorry," he muttered, not really looking as he helped her off the ground.
"Dang, what's got you in a rush?" Trish asked, rubbing her eyes. She must have been asleep, Austin thought.
"Just heading to my room," Austin sighed. "It's been a long day. I'm sorry I ran into you."
"Me too," Trish muttered. Her gaze slid over him once more, and she squinted. "Now what's really going on? It seems like there's something much more than just 'a long day' to your attitude."
"I don't really want to talk about it."
"Fine. Whatever. But I better not hear of you making Ally upset today. Don't ask why, just know that if you do I'll-"
"Trish, I know what today means to her. You don't have to threaten me." Austin was growing tired of this conversation with every word said. It wasn't that he didn't like Trish, he just wasn't in the mood for her attitude at the moment. "And try not to bother Dez today, either, okay? I know y'all hate each other, but seriously, cool it for one day. Just today." Everything today. I wish today didn't exist.
Trish's eyes were wide. "Y-You know Ally's secret? Did she tell you? Did you do some kind of background check on her, Austin, because if you did-"
"Again with the threats," Austin sighed. This was getting frustrating. "Listen, let's just say she shared a secret that was very similar to my own. Are we done here?"
Trish's face had gone white. "You lost someone in 9/11? The first or the second one?"
"Second."
"Oh gosh," Trish was looking down at her feet, her voice strained. "I'm very sorry. Were you...close to whoever it was?"
"It was my brother and his wife. Cam's parents. They were like parents to me after mine died. I was supposed to watch Cam for a month or so while they were on a mission trip for the church, and now…."
"Now you're raising her," Trish finished for him. Austin couldn't help but notice that she and Ally were actually a lot alike in this way. They must have been good in high school at deductive reasoning. "Wow."
"Yeah. That's why I don't want you bothering Dez today….he loved them too. He's an only child, so we all were pretty close."
"Aiden was mine and Ally's best friend for most of our lives," Trish said, seeming to ignore him. Austin blinked. He could remember Ally saying they'd all been friends earlier, throughout their childhood, but he'd never really thought about how close Trish might have been to Ally's husband. "He was like a brother to me."
"Trish…"
"Listen, don't worry about me bothering Dez today. I was just getting up to get something to drink. I won't get in your way again." And then she turned away and stalked off. Austin sighed and rushed after her. He hated this caring side of himself sometimes, but what else was he supposed to do? The girl was hurting, and he'd probably only made it worse.
He hadn't signed up for all of this when he decided to get a nanny for Camryn.
"Trish wait!" Austin rushed after her. For such small legs, the girl could move pretty fast when she wanted to. "Trish, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that."
"I know you didn't, Austin. Just leave it alone. Today is not the day to be talking about this. Go back up to your room. Dez and I are making dinner tonight. We'll call you when it's ready."
"You and Dez?" Austin couldn't hide the surprise in his voice.
Trish rolled her eyes. "I'm not making petty jokes and playing stupid pranks on him all the time, Austin. I have a nice side."
"Okay…." Austin said, slowly backing out of the room.
Well that was odd.
When Ally woke up again, it was nearly seven o'clock. She must've slept about….two hours? She couldn't count. She couldn't even remember when she'd fallen asleep. All she knew now was that there were four small hands (two smaller than the other) shaking her awake, and yelling something about dinner.
"Mommy, wake up!" AJ shrieked in her ear. A small smile creeped it's way onto her face.
"Five more minutes," she mumbled into her pillow.
"No, Ally, you have to get up!" This time the voice belonged to a girl. Camryn. "Uncle Dez and Trish made breakfast for dinner, and it's real fancy. They got syrup and butter and stuff for the pancakes, and they're in different shapes and stuff. It's real cool. And they got the bacon and eggs in special shapes too. Come on!"
Ally giggled and allowed herself to be pulled out of bed by the tiny hands. She was led downstairs by the kids and was shocked to find just how much food Trish and Dez had actually made. There was breakfast foods of almost every kind, and, oddly enough, a jar of pickles sat in the middle of the table. Ally supposed she had Dez to thank for that, if his earlier question was anything to go by.
"Wow guys, this is…." Ally found herself at a loss of words.
"Awesome!" said an amused voice from behind turned, and smiled slightly, if awkwardly, when she saw Austin standing there. "So many pancakes…."
Everyone laughed, and soon they were all seated together around the table, digging into their breakfast for supper. After all, it was a timeless classic, eating breakfast food so late in the day.
"Hey Uncle Dez, can me and AJ play with Harley after dinner?" Camryn asked as she shoveled a spoonful of scrambled eggs in her mouth, nearly choking on it.
"Harley!" Dez exclaimed suddenly, jumping up and running out of the room. Ally and Trish looked at each other in confusion. Austin only sighed.
"If he can't remember to feed that stupid dog one more time…."
"He hasn't fed the dog?" Ally stared at him blankly. "Wait, we have a dog? And when was it you planned on telling me this? You know, I knew I heard whimpering the other day but-"
"Dez likes exotic animals," Austin winced, as if remembering with a distant horror. "The dog is all he could get me to agree to let him keep. Oddly enough, he always forgets about her."
"I can keep her in my room!" Cam offered immediately. Austin smiled at her, not unkindly.
"Cam, live animals are not for sleeping with. I bought you plenty of stuffed ones-"
"But stuffed animals can't love you back," Cam whined.
"Mine does," AJ announced, to no one in particular. Ally grinned at her baby, tickling his belly.
"Please, please, please?" Camryn continued, pulling out her puppy-dog face. Classic. "I'll clean my room, I'll do my chores, and I promise to feed her everyday. If you hadn't noticed, I'm like way more reliable than Uncle Dez."
"I doubt Dez even knows what the word means," Trish muttered half-heartedly from beside Ally. She was rewarded with Ally's elbow in her ribcage. "Owe!"
"Camryn," Austin sighed, studiously ignoring the rest of the table. "Are you sure you can handle this?"
Camryn nodded, but it was Trish who spoke up. "She's not asking for you to get a dog, Austin. She's asking for you to let her keep the dog you already have in her room so Dez doesn't accidently kill it."
"Trish…" Ally sighed, put her face in her hands.
Trish bit her lip, realizing just too late what she'd said. Now was not the time. Not today. "Well obviously I can't keep my foot out of my mouth today."
No kidding, Ally thought.
"Don't eat your foot, Aunt Trish," AJ scrunched up his nose. Camryn laughed. No one else did. Ally was too busy staring at Austin, who had his head down. She couldn't help but wonder if he was trying to make sure they didn't see him cry.
"Well," Trish cleared her throat. "I have another job in Midtown in an hour. Night shift. I better get going."
And with that, she left, kissing AJ on the top of the head as she went and whispering, "See you later booger."
"That's not my name!" AJ shouted after her.
"Hey guys," Ally said, getting the kids' attention. Camryn had been looking at her uncle worriedly. "Why don't you two go take your food up to my room? I may just have a surprise for the two of you…"
"Really? What is it?" AJ asked, impatient as always. Ally smiled at him.
"Well if I told you, it wouldn't be a surprise. Now go on, both of you. I'll meet you up there in a minute."
With one last worried glance at her uncle, Cam gathered up the remainder of her food and stalked off upstairs. AJ followed moments later after shoving in three strips of bacon and toddling away with a bowl of eggs.
"Thank you," Austin whispered, looking up. Ally tried not to look surprised. She had been right. Austin had tears in his wide, brown eyes.
"I'm so sorry about Trish. She didn't know-"
"Yes she did," Austin cut her off. "She knows all about it. Not about my parents, but about Connor and Sarah. But I can't blame her. She didn't know what she was saying. It was reasonable. And she has her own reasons for being upset today. We all do."
Ally sighed and came to sit in the empty chair beside him that Cam just left. "I'm really sorry Austin. I shouldn't have suggested we search for the truth. At least not today-"
"The truth is always better, Ally." Austin looked up at her then, directly in the eyes. "I'm not mad at you. You shouldn't be apologizing. I don't even know why I was trying to stop Cam from taking the stupid dog up to her room."
"You're under a lot of stress," Ally gulped. They were so close….she had to look at his forehead to prevent herself from getting lost in his eyes, or worse…..his lips. "Besides, this is a normal argument with parents and kids. The classic 'Can my pet sleep in my room?' arguement. Although, I think it would be good for Cam. She could learn more responsibility, and pets are amazing for keeping kids company."
"Sarah had a horse she was always with, all the time," Austin smiled at her. "She loved that horse. I never knew why. She just loved horses. Everything about them. All over her walls in her room was pictures of horses."
Ally smiled. She had learned a lot about this Sarah girl, and Austin's brother, today. But he hadn't spoken much about his parents. She couldn't imagine why. Maybe he was upset about the way they'd died?
"Sarah sounds like an amazing girl."
Austin just smiled. "Hey, what surprise did you just so happen to have for the kids?"
Ally's eyes widened. "Crap, I don't know. I said 'I may'..."
Austin laughed. "Hang on." And he disappeared for another five to ten minutes. Ally was starting to think he wasn't coming back when he appeared moments later, out of breath and clutching two stuffed animals. One was a fish: Nemo*, to be exact, and the other was a stuffed pony.
"Give them these."
"Where did you get them?" Ally laughed, grabbing the toys.
"The attic," Austin shrugged. "The horse was Sarah's. I was gonna give it to Cam eventually anyway. There's several more where that came from. And the fish….well, I loved Nemo when it first came out."
"Well then you're coming with me," Ally said, leaving no room for argument. "These stuffed animals are special, and they will be a gift from you and you alone."
Austin laughed but didn't say anything. He only followed the crazy brunette up the stairs, wondering how in the world he'd managed to find a girl like her to be his child's nanny. What luck was it that she'd been so desperate for a job? Because he certainly couldn't be an easy boss to handle…
When they got upstairs, Austin was surprised to see that only AJ was in Ally's bedroom. "Where's Cam?"
"Gettin' the dog," AJ said simply with that smile on his face. Austin shook his head, laughing. The kid had his mom's smile.
"Well AJ, your mom and I have a surprise for you if you want it," Austin said, bending down to the kid's height.
"I want it! I want it!" AJ was literally jumping up and down in excitement. Austin smiled, glancing back at Ally who grinned back at him and handed over the stuffed animal Austin had won at a fair many years ago. Actually….Sarah had won it for him.
"Well then, here you go. This fish was mine when I was younger, and now I want you to have it." Austin placed his beloved fish in the child's hands, wondering what in the world he was doing. He'd sworn if he ever gave that fish to anyone, it would be Cam. But then, Cam was terrified of Finding Nemo….
"Nemo!" AJ screeched, his whole face lighting up as he hugged the fish tightly to his chest. And suddenly Austin didn't have to wonder what he was doing anymore, because he knew whatever had possessed him to give up his stuffed fish had been the right decision. He'd made Ally's little boy very happy today. And besides, it wasn't the fish itself he loved so much (although he did love the fish) it was the memory of how many times it had taken Sarah to win it for him after he'd failed several times himself and given up.
A smile lit Austin's face, watching such a small thing make a kid so happy. "Nemo is his absolute most favorite movie," Ally whispered from behind him. Austin hadn't realized she was so close to him as he knelt down on the floor. "In fact, he was watching it in the car when we drove here for the first time not long ago."
Austin laughed. "The kid has good taste. I heard they're making a sequel."
"I know! I can't wait!" Ally squealed, and then seemed to realize what she'd said and cleared her throat. "Um, I mean, AJ will just love it I'm sure. And Cam, of course."
"Cam isn't going to want to see it," Austin said immediately. "She is terrified of Finding Nemo. Seriously, if Dez and I say we're gonna watch it, she runs from the room."
"Then why would you watch it?" Ally asked, covering her mouth as a laugh escaped.
Austin shrugged. "I'm a child at heart. It's one of my favorites, too, if I'm being honest."
"Me too," Ally admitted, her cheeks turning pink. "So why is Cam afraid of it?"
"I don't know really," Austin said after a minute. "She has been since I can remember. Never has she been able to make it through the first scene."
"With the shark." Ally's eyes lit with understanding. Austin cocked his head to the side, an unconscious gesture of his confusion he was unaware of.
"What about it?"
"Austin….the shark. The mom….the babies. Any of this ringing a bell? Ever considered that might be part of the reason she doesn't like it?" Ally asked, once again biting her lip, hoping she hadn't overstepped her bounds.
Austin finally seemed to get what she was hinting at. "No, I don't think it's that," Austin said, looking away and to where AJ sat in front of the TV in Ally's room, sucking his fingers and clutching his new toy. "She's been afraid of it since before….."
"Well it still could be that, if she can't make it through the first scene like you said."
"Probably," a voice said from the doorway. They turned in unison to see Cam standing there with a beagle-presumably Harley-in her arms. "Disney* shows shouldn't have that in it, even if I don't remember it being there. I don't remember anything about Nemo. I just know I never liked it."
"How do you know you don't like it if you can't remember it?" Ally asked, smiling down at the little girl.
"I just do," Cam shrugged. "I'm going to bed."
"Wait," Austin said, remembering the pony he still owed her. "Have you forgotten your surprise?"
Cam grinned. "What's my surprise?"
Ally handed Austin the pony he'd given her to hold while he gave AJ the fish. Now, he turned to Cam, trying his best not to start tearing up. "Cam, this is a very special toy."
"How?" Cam asked, glancing at the toy in her uncle's hands.
"It was your Mommy's when she was younger. She loved ponies, and I know she would have loved for you to have this," Austin said, handing the toy over. Cam took it, turning it over in her hands like it was some rare jewel.
"What's it name?" Cam asked, looking up curiously. "Is it a boy or a girl?"
Austin blinked in surprise. "What?"
"Momma would've named it, and she would've known if it was a boy or a girl pony. Do you remember the name?" Cam asked, looking almost close to tears now.
Austin stammered for a second. He couldn't remember. Why couldn't he remember what Sarah named her toy? She had it all the time when they were younger, and even when they were teens. She let Cam play with it when she was a baby….
"Come on Cammy, smile for Mama," Sarah had said, trying to get Camryn, who was then eight months old, to smile for the camera. They were taking Easter pictures, and Cam was just sitting there, not even looking at the camera. Meanwhile, Austin and Connor were busy laughing at the pictures on the wall. One kid was picking his nose, and another had his nose scrunched up as his parents kissed off to the side.
"She won't smile," grumbled the frustrated photographer. "Are we sure we want her to be smiling? Fake pictures are so overrated."
Sarah glared at the man behind the camera. Austin could remember her saying she would never get their pictures made from him again. And they never had.
"Connor, where's Cow-Girl?" Sarah sighed, pushing her hand through her hair.
"You mean Ca-ca?" Austin grinned, using Cam's nickname for the stuffed pony Sarah had had for so long, but Cam couldn't say the name she'd had for the pony at the time.
Sarah had rolled her eyes, but nodded with her hand out impatiently. Austin, embarrassingly, pulled the stuffed pony out of his backpack. Two girls sitting in the waiting area giggled at the sight. Connor just grinned, ruffling Austin's hair and muttering, "Don't go all soft on us now bud."
Austin could remember Sarah's smile as she took the stuffed pony in her hands, and then the motherly glint in her eyes as she held it out to her baby girl. He remembered the way Cam's eyes had gone wide, and the too-big smile spread across her baby face as she reached for the pony, and the snobby photographer finally snapped a good picture.
"Cow-Girl," Austin said smiling slightly as he looked at the old toy. "You mom named her Cow-Girl."
"Why?" Cam giggled.
"I don't know. I always thought it was funny, but not as funny as what you called her when you were a baby."
"What did she call her?" Ally grinned.
"Ca-ca," Cam whispered as she looked at the pony for a long moment, much to Austin's surprise. Cam was young when she last played with the toy horse.
"How did you-"
"In one of Mommy and Daddy's old videos, I was a baby, and when I started crying, Mama asked Daddy for 'Ca-ca'. He said, 'Crap, I can't find the dang thing anywhere!'. Mama got onto him for using language like that around me," Cam smiled sadly.
Austin sighed and patted his little girl on the head. "Okay monkey, go on to bed. I'll be there to tuck you in in a minute."
Cam nodded without a word and hurried off to her bedroom, clutching the stuffed pony in her arms tightly. It was her Mama's. Cam finally had a reminder of her Mom that she could hug at night. And maybe someday, when her uncle wasn't as sad anymore, he could tell her some stories about her Mama and how she loved horses.
Hey guys. So I had no idea where I was going with this chapter, in case it's not that good. Don't worry, I'll work harder on the next ones and make sure they're better. I haven't been in the writing mood recently. Two siblings from my school that I knew just died recently and the whole school is really upset. The funeral was incredibly hard. Please keep their family in your prayers, and their friends. I know my best friends are having it rough.
*I don't own any of these.
God bless you all!
-Daddysgirl11
