Eli: Thanks for all the reviews! It was nice to read something other than
an algebra 2 book during finals week. Here's the next chapter, Enjoy!
It was still very early. Andy peeked his head out of his room. The coast was clear! He quietly made his way down hall, avoiding all the squeaky spots. The stairs were harder to maneuver. He couldn't step on the stairs that would creak, but he couldn't jump over them either. He grabbed hold of the railing and hoisted himself up. He prayed a quiet prayer that he wouldn't slip off and break his leg again, and then he slid down the banister. Andrew stopped himself before he hit the bottom and slowly lowered himself down onto the carpet. He smiled, proud of his stealth, before he went into the Living room to watch Saturday Morning cartoons.
It seemed to be a lot all for the sake of cartoons, but he knew how much his parents liked to sleep in a bit on Saturday. He plopped down onto the couch and checked the clock. 6:00 AM exactly. "Time for X-Files: The animated series!" He said in a whisper. He turned the TV on and the X-Files animated series theme song blasted through out the house. He flinched back from the noise and quickly turned it down, but it was too late.
Upstairs, a very tired police detective jolted awake, knocking over her alarm clock as she did. The stupid piece of machinery set off the alarm as it hit the ground. Sara groaned and pulled her pillow over her head, trying to think happy thoughts as she ignored the clocks beeping. After two minutes of the consistent annoying noise, she bent over the side of the bed and picked the thing up and put it back on her night stand before she hit the off button. The beeping didn't stop. She hit the button again and again and again until finally the witchblade warmed up and went into its silver fist mode and she punched down on it. The clock flew into pieces as she lay back down.
Sleeping was now officially a lost cause. She could hear Jamie yelling at Bethany for stealing the bathroom. Beth had brought her radio into the bathroom and now her music was being blasted toward them. And Andy had turned up the volume of the TV to drown out all the racket. She hissed and dug her face into her husband's chest. She hissed even more when he pulled away and got up. She sat up and leaned against the head board, frustrated. "That's it! Every Friday night, I'm gonna tie them up and gag them in the garage, so maybe I can get some sleep around here." She announced.
Ian smirked and laughed at her. "That would be illegal."
She shrugged. "I don't care! I want sleep! Can you remember the last time we ever got to sleep in on a weekend we were both off?" She asked.
"The day after the twin's birthday sleep over two years ago." He answered. She groaned and tried to go back to sleep. He walked down the hall to where Jamie was complaining loudly. Ian gripped his shoulder hard. Jamie winced and looked over his shoulder.
"Mom's off today?" He asked. His Father nodded. Jamie nodded too before he slinked back into his room. Next, Ian pounded on the bathroom door, but Bethany apparently couldn't hear him. He picked the lock and reached into the bathroom and flushed the toilet. Bethany shrieked from inside the shower and turned down her radio. "Music off or face your mother." He told her before he shut the door.
Lastly, he went downstairs to tell Andrew to turn down the TV. He glanced into the Living room and found no one to be in it. He shook his head. He didn't know how Andy had picked up Bethany's 'attacking Daddy before breakfast' habit, but he had. He heard something squirm from behind the TV, and knew what was coming. He took a step into the Living room and stayed perfectly grounded as Andy came out and tried to do the sweep kick thing he had seen on Mortal Kombat.
"Owww!" Andy groaned as he rubbed his ankle. His Dad hadn't gone down, and he had been the one hurt. And his Dad laughing at him wasn't making it any better. "Stop laughing." He complained.
"Next time, execute a move you know, not one you're copying from a video game." He told him. "Now turn down the sound." Andy grumbled, but did what he was told.
-Later-
Bethany looked down at her bowl of cereal and sighed. She remembered Saturday mornings with good breakfasts and talking and sitting at the table in their old apartment. Not that she complained that they lived in a house now, especially since she got her own room that had a little balcony on it. But she missed when things were more family like. Nowadays, baby sitting her baby brother that saw dead people better than she could in between school and her job as her Mom used the witchblade to solve crimes and her Dad went out doing his job that they could never talk about, all while her other younger brother was blowing chemicals up in his room for his science class that was higher than hers was as normal as it got.
And that was on a good day.
She ate one last bite of her soggy cereal before she dumped it into the sink. The door bell rang and as she went to go get it. She knew who it was and wanted to flee her house before it blew up in her face. Too late! Andrew had rushed to the door and was smirking.
"Give me five dollars and I'll open the door." He told the visitor.
"What? No way! Kid, just go get your sister, alright?"
Andrew smirked even wider. "You really should give me five dollars." He told the visitor.
"No! I'm not giving you five dollars!"
"Alright then......" He said wistfully. He shook his head and glanced at Bethany. "He's not a smart one."
Her eyes widened as she started fumbling through her pockets. Damn, she had left her wallet in her work out pants. "Andy, if you even think of calling for-"
"DAD!!! THERE'S ABOY AT THE DOOR FOR BETHANY!!!" He yelled out.
Bethany scowled at him, but hid it as soon as her father appeared in the hallway. Andrew stepped back as Ian opened the door and stepped outside. As the door shut behind him, Beth turned to Andy. "You're dead!!!" She told him as she chased him out of the hallway, into the kitchen, into the Living room where Andy ran straight for Sara and hid behind the chair she was sitting in. "Mommy, Beth's trying to kill me again." He complained.
Sara rubbed her head in annoyance. "Bethany Marie, what have I told you?" She asked.
Beth sighed. "No torturing, mutilating, setting fire to, throwing knives at, or giving injuries of any kind to your brothers." She said dryly.
"Good girl." Sara said approvingly. Andy stuck his tongue out at Bethany until he saw Lizzie shaking her head at him, and he stopped.
Bethany remembered her date and went back into the hallway just as her Dad came back in. Bethany went pass him and opened the door to reveal no one there. Her lips flattened out into an angry line. "Daddy." She said calmly. "Where's the guy that came by to pick me up?"
Ian shrugged. "It seems he had another appointment and is very sorry he had to leave on such short notice." He said innocently.
Bethany was ready to explode, and did. "MOTHER!!!!!" She called out. "He did it AGAIN!!" She yelled out as she went back into the Living room.
"Now, Bethany......." He tried to talk, but she cut him off with more yelling as she started ranting to her Mom.
"Mother, your husband scared my date away again! That's the second time this week alone! And it's not even late or anything! You said I'm allowed to date, but he won't let me! Please make him get it!" She said as she sat down on the couch.
Sara looked at Bethany and rubbed her shoulder. She stood up and pulled Ian into the next. "Will you lighten up? It was just a date! They were going to go see an action flick for Christ's sake! You know she can't take her eyes off action movies! And it's the matinee showing. If they made out, old ladies in purple hats would make fun of them." She rationalized. "You need to calm down." She told him.
He was about to say something in protest when the door bell rang. They answered the door and Gabriel led Teresa in, both hands firmly on her shoulders. "Hey guys, sorry to interrupt the arguing I could hear a block away, but could Teresa stay here for the day?" He asked.
Sara nodded. "Yeah, but don't you think 16 is a bit old for the need for a baby sitter?" She asked questionably.
"You're telling me." Teresa murmured.
"Someone broke the bars of her window off and snuck out until three in the morning." He informed them. "So yes, I think she still needs a baby sitter. She's on total house arrest until...... Well, right now it looks like forever." He said seriously.
Teresa pulled away from him and went into the Living room to sit with Beth. He looked at her and shook his head. "I don't know what it is. I don't know what the hell I should do! Scolding doesn't work, manual labor doesn't work, grounding sure as hell doesn't work, and even trying to lock her in the house doesn't work. I'm ready to call Maury up to send her to boot camp." He told Sara exasperated. "She was so good last year. I don't know what happened to her." He turned from the girls. "Has Beth mentioned anything at all about Teresa that could be causing this? Something at school, something at home?" He asked.
Sara could only shake her head. "She hasn't mentioned anything, but I think she must know something. But you know her. She's not gonna say a word unless she has Teresa's okay." She glanced at the girls. "Maybe Gracie will spill. Vick's coming over, I'll ask for you."
He nodded. "Thanks chief. See you later." He turned to leave. Before he did he turned to Ian and pointed. "Teenage boy on the corner crying as he is talking on cell phone. Your work?" Ian didn't say a word, but a shadow of smile was on his face. Gabriel nodded. "I thought so. Good job!" He congratulated.
"Don't encourage him." Sara scolded.
He laughed. "Yeah, bad protector! Bad!" He shook his head. "See ya, guys." He went to close the door behind him, but someone else came and opened the door back up. He nodded to her as he left. Vicki smiled brightly as she came into their house.
"Good afternoon. We all just got back from the game. Dragons totally kicked the other teams butt. It wasn't a game, it was a slaughtering." She informed them as Gracie and Chris came into the house as well.
"Hi Uncle Ian, hi Aunt Sara." They both said. Chris still had his jersey on and was carrying a black sports bag with him. Gracie was still in her cheerleading uniform, but she had put on some grey sweat pants underneath, not bothering to remove her skirt. The teen went on to join the other teens in the Living room.
Andy saw Chris and ran up to him excitedly. "Where's Nicky? Where's Nicky?" He asked him as he pulled on his jersey.
"And hello to you to." Chris said sarcastically. "Nicky is still grounded and had to stay at home. He says he's sorry that you guys can't go to Dave and....... Um, whatever it's called."
"Dave and Buster's." He said sadly as he sat down on the other couch. "I've been saving up all my tickets so that I could get the blow up alien. We were gonna win the last fifty and get it today."
Chris rubbed his hair. "Sorry buddy."
Meanwhile, after Sara and Ian 'discussed' (Meaning its pretty much Sara yelling.) Bethany's dating; Vicki pulled Sara to the side with a grin. "Guess what?"
"Um, world peace has arrived and put me out of a job?"
Vicki rolled her eyes. She looked around to make sure no one paying attention to them and took off her gloves with the school's mascot on it. "Look."
Sara's jaw dropped. "You're kidding!" She exclaimed, louder than she had meant to. Vicki told her to shh and nodded her head. "When are you and Joey going to.......?"
"Not sure yet, but I'll let you know." She looked around once more to make sure no one was listening in. "Don't say anything to anyone else, especially Gracie because she has to go see Jake tomorrow and if she knows, she'll tell him. And I don't want to risk jealous ex-husband rage."
"But he's with Serena, isn't he?" Sara asked.
Vicki hissed. "I know, I know, but remember what happened when he found out that Joey was moving in?"
"Right, right. Not a word. You gonna tell anyone else?"
"No! I don't care if Lee kills me afterward, it is staying a secret."
"Oh God, another wedding for her to help out with." They both groaned at the thought. "Well, at least she doesn't know for now. You're lucky she isn't here or else she would have sneaked her way over to listen in."
"Yeah, thank God she has a two grandsons and a granddaughter to keep her occupied along with her other kids." Vicki glanced at Gracie. "At least I won't be a grandma for a while. Don't think I could handle being that old."
Sara shrugged. "It's not old, just older." She explained.
"Yeah yeah yeah." Vicki muttered as Beth and Teresa went into the hallway and started going up stairs.
"Hi Aunt Vicki."
"Yeah, hi Aunt Vicki." They said solemnly.
"Aren't you two just full of cheer today?" She told them sarcastically. They didn't answer and just continued up to the second floor. She turned back to Sara. "What's with them?"
"Bethany's date was scared off and Teresa's on house arrest." She answered.
Vicki laughed. "I knew that kid on the corner was crying. As I said before, she's gonna end up a nun. And Teresa....... That's another story." She shook her head. "If only Angel was here to set her girl straight...." She trailed off.
"I know." Sara agreed. "If only."
-Meanwhile-
"He gets into all my business! I have no time alone because he is always watching! I'm sick of being treated like a fucking five year old!" Teresa ranted as she collapsed onto Bethany's bed. "I can't stand home right now." She murmured.
Bethany patted her back. "Hey, don't worry. It'll all work out." She bit her lip. "But you know, it would help if you didn't sneak off at night all the time and just went to class, and just tried to stay out of trouble instead of going looking for it." She added cautiously, trying not to sound like their parents.
Teresa didn't answer. There was silence in Bethany's room until someone suddenly touched her shoulder. She flinched back as Dominic smirked.
"Got ya." He said playfully, smile across his face. Good Lord, it was enough to make medusa melt.
Beth hit him with her pillow. "I hate it when you do that." She complained, not really meaning it.
"Sorry. So, what are you guys talking about?" He asked casually as he stood as close to Bethany as he could without being obvious.
"Teen angst, teen angst, and more teen angst." Teresa said with a sigh. "I'm on house arrest and Bethany's date was scared off by Uncle Ian...... Again." She informed him.
"Ahhh." He murmured as the thought of Ian killing that guy that he had seen Beth flirting with flashed through his head. He tried not to smile too much. They WERE talking about teen angst.
Teresa turned onto her stomach and hugged Bethany's blankets. "Dominic you are so lucky you have a cool Dad. Steffen doesn't get on your case."
He shrugged. "It's hard for a man of his age to get on anything. I'm not sure that's really lucky." He said, purposely being vague. He doubted if anyone knew just how badly his father's health was beginning to become. His Father said nothing about it, and Dominic never said anything about it. Dom just hoped the silence wouldn't get his Dad in the hospital.
The eye of the blade twitched on Bethany's chest. She knew Dominic was hiding something. She reached out to console him a bit, but drew her hand back. 'No touching. That leads to more touching. No leading him on. None of that.' She scolded herself. The eye of the witchblade burned her and she leapt off the bed. She covered her action by looking out the window.
"I still see Aaron! I'm gonna go down real quick and just make sure he's not suing or in need of therapy like Rick did." She told them as she went out onto her balcony and jumped down. Dominic watched her intently before he looked farther and glared at Aaron.
The bed squeaked a little as Teresa pulled herself up to a sitting position. "Ya know, Beth wouldn't be out there right now if you would just tell her the truth." She said quietly.
He didn't even glance at her. "She doesn't want to hear it."
"Oh sure she does. Every girl dreams of having a boy tell her that he's been in love with her since the third grade." She got up and leaned toward him. "Even Bethany Nottingham." She stretched and went to the door. "Tell Wonder woman that I went downstairs to get some food."
Dominic nodded, just slightly. Teresa shook her head. 'They better get together soon! I ain't loosing twenty bucks to Gracie over this.' She thought to herself as Jamie ran out of his room and leaned over the railing.
"Hey, did anyone take the nitro glycerin?" He asked.
BOOM!!
Smoke filled up the house as everyone tried to get clear of the smoke. Andrew walked out of the kitchen, his hair all out of place and his clothes soiled. They watched as he glared at the wall and pointed at it. "See! I told you, Jeanne! It's not the recipe for cookies!" He scolded at the apparition hotly before he started going up the stairs to change his clothes.
Sara and Ian looked at each other in disbelief. She shook her head. "That child does NOT take after me! That's all your genes, buddy!" She told him before she went into the kitchen to inspect the damage.
"No, it's all you Sara. I never did anything like that as a child. He got that from YOU!" He argued back before he went up stairs to talk to Andrew and how he wasn't suppose to take advice form Joan of Arc.
Vicki chuckled from her seat as she secretly admired her engagement ring. Gracie and Chris went to the kitchen to see hoe much damage the baby had caused. And Teresa just shook her head and went back upstairs, thinking how the food could wait.
Coming Attractions:
Not Big Enough For the Two of Us
It was still very early. Andy peeked his head out of his room. The coast was clear! He quietly made his way down hall, avoiding all the squeaky spots. The stairs were harder to maneuver. He couldn't step on the stairs that would creak, but he couldn't jump over them either. He grabbed hold of the railing and hoisted himself up. He prayed a quiet prayer that he wouldn't slip off and break his leg again, and then he slid down the banister. Andrew stopped himself before he hit the bottom and slowly lowered himself down onto the carpet. He smiled, proud of his stealth, before he went into the Living room to watch Saturday Morning cartoons.
It seemed to be a lot all for the sake of cartoons, but he knew how much his parents liked to sleep in a bit on Saturday. He plopped down onto the couch and checked the clock. 6:00 AM exactly. "Time for X-Files: The animated series!" He said in a whisper. He turned the TV on and the X-Files animated series theme song blasted through out the house. He flinched back from the noise and quickly turned it down, but it was too late.
Upstairs, a very tired police detective jolted awake, knocking over her alarm clock as she did. The stupid piece of machinery set off the alarm as it hit the ground. Sara groaned and pulled her pillow over her head, trying to think happy thoughts as she ignored the clocks beeping. After two minutes of the consistent annoying noise, she bent over the side of the bed and picked the thing up and put it back on her night stand before she hit the off button. The beeping didn't stop. She hit the button again and again and again until finally the witchblade warmed up and went into its silver fist mode and she punched down on it. The clock flew into pieces as she lay back down.
Sleeping was now officially a lost cause. She could hear Jamie yelling at Bethany for stealing the bathroom. Beth had brought her radio into the bathroom and now her music was being blasted toward them. And Andy had turned up the volume of the TV to drown out all the racket. She hissed and dug her face into her husband's chest. She hissed even more when he pulled away and got up. She sat up and leaned against the head board, frustrated. "That's it! Every Friday night, I'm gonna tie them up and gag them in the garage, so maybe I can get some sleep around here." She announced.
Ian smirked and laughed at her. "That would be illegal."
She shrugged. "I don't care! I want sleep! Can you remember the last time we ever got to sleep in on a weekend we were both off?" She asked.
"The day after the twin's birthday sleep over two years ago." He answered. She groaned and tried to go back to sleep. He walked down the hall to where Jamie was complaining loudly. Ian gripped his shoulder hard. Jamie winced and looked over his shoulder.
"Mom's off today?" He asked. His Father nodded. Jamie nodded too before he slinked back into his room. Next, Ian pounded on the bathroom door, but Bethany apparently couldn't hear him. He picked the lock and reached into the bathroom and flushed the toilet. Bethany shrieked from inside the shower and turned down her radio. "Music off or face your mother." He told her before he shut the door.
Lastly, he went downstairs to tell Andrew to turn down the TV. He glanced into the Living room and found no one to be in it. He shook his head. He didn't know how Andy had picked up Bethany's 'attacking Daddy before breakfast' habit, but he had. He heard something squirm from behind the TV, and knew what was coming. He took a step into the Living room and stayed perfectly grounded as Andy came out and tried to do the sweep kick thing he had seen on Mortal Kombat.
"Owww!" Andy groaned as he rubbed his ankle. His Dad hadn't gone down, and he had been the one hurt. And his Dad laughing at him wasn't making it any better. "Stop laughing." He complained.
"Next time, execute a move you know, not one you're copying from a video game." He told him. "Now turn down the sound." Andy grumbled, but did what he was told.
-Later-
Bethany looked down at her bowl of cereal and sighed. She remembered Saturday mornings with good breakfasts and talking and sitting at the table in their old apartment. Not that she complained that they lived in a house now, especially since she got her own room that had a little balcony on it. But she missed when things were more family like. Nowadays, baby sitting her baby brother that saw dead people better than she could in between school and her job as her Mom used the witchblade to solve crimes and her Dad went out doing his job that they could never talk about, all while her other younger brother was blowing chemicals up in his room for his science class that was higher than hers was as normal as it got.
And that was on a good day.
She ate one last bite of her soggy cereal before she dumped it into the sink. The door bell rang and as she went to go get it. She knew who it was and wanted to flee her house before it blew up in her face. Too late! Andrew had rushed to the door and was smirking.
"Give me five dollars and I'll open the door." He told the visitor.
"What? No way! Kid, just go get your sister, alright?"
Andrew smirked even wider. "You really should give me five dollars." He told the visitor.
"No! I'm not giving you five dollars!"
"Alright then......" He said wistfully. He shook his head and glanced at Bethany. "He's not a smart one."
Her eyes widened as she started fumbling through her pockets. Damn, she had left her wallet in her work out pants. "Andy, if you even think of calling for-"
"DAD!!! THERE'S ABOY AT THE DOOR FOR BETHANY!!!" He yelled out.
Bethany scowled at him, but hid it as soon as her father appeared in the hallway. Andrew stepped back as Ian opened the door and stepped outside. As the door shut behind him, Beth turned to Andy. "You're dead!!!" She told him as she chased him out of the hallway, into the kitchen, into the Living room where Andy ran straight for Sara and hid behind the chair she was sitting in. "Mommy, Beth's trying to kill me again." He complained.
Sara rubbed her head in annoyance. "Bethany Marie, what have I told you?" She asked.
Beth sighed. "No torturing, mutilating, setting fire to, throwing knives at, or giving injuries of any kind to your brothers." She said dryly.
"Good girl." Sara said approvingly. Andy stuck his tongue out at Bethany until he saw Lizzie shaking her head at him, and he stopped.
Bethany remembered her date and went back into the hallway just as her Dad came back in. Bethany went pass him and opened the door to reveal no one there. Her lips flattened out into an angry line. "Daddy." She said calmly. "Where's the guy that came by to pick me up?"
Ian shrugged. "It seems he had another appointment and is very sorry he had to leave on such short notice." He said innocently.
Bethany was ready to explode, and did. "MOTHER!!!!!" She called out. "He did it AGAIN!!" She yelled out as she went back into the Living room.
"Now, Bethany......." He tried to talk, but she cut him off with more yelling as she started ranting to her Mom.
"Mother, your husband scared my date away again! That's the second time this week alone! And it's not even late or anything! You said I'm allowed to date, but he won't let me! Please make him get it!" She said as she sat down on the couch.
Sara looked at Bethany and rubbed her shoulder. She stood up and pulled Ian into the next. "Will you lighten up? It was just a date! They were going to go see an action flick for Christ's sake! You know she can't take her eyes off action movies! And it's the matinee showing. If they made out, old ladies in purple hats would make fun of them." She rationalized. "You need to calm down." She told him.
He was about to say something in protest when the door bell rang. They answered the door and Gabriel led Teresa in, both hands firmly on her shoulders. "Hey guys, sorry to interrupt the arguing I could hear a block away, but could Teresa stay here for the day?" He asked.
Sara nodded. "Yeah, but don't you think 16 is a bit old for the need for a baby sitter?" She asked questionably.
"You're telling me." Teresa murmured.
"Someone broke the bars of her window off and snuck out until three in the morning." He informed them. "So yes, I think she still needs a baby sitter. She's on total house arrest until...... Well, right now it looks like forever." He said seriously.
Teresa pulled away from him and went into the Living room to sit with Beth. He looked at her and shook his head. "I don't know what it is. I don't know what the hell I should do! Scolding doesn't work, manual labor doesn't work, grounding sure as hell doesn't work, and even trying to lock her in the house doesn't work. I'm ready to call Maury up to send her to boot camp." He told Sara exasperated. "She was so good last year. I don't know what happened to her." He turned from the girls. "Has Beth mentioned anything at all about Teresa that could be causing this? Something at school, something at home?" He asked.
Sara could only shake her head. "She hasn't mentioned anything, but I think she must know something. But you know her. She's not gonna say a word unless she has Teresa's okay." She glanced at the girls. "Maybe Gracie will spill. Vick's coming over, I'll ask for you."
He nodded. "Thanks chief. See you later." He turned to leave. Before he did he turned to Ian and pointed. "Teenage boy on the corner crying as he is talking on cell phone. Your work?" Ian didn't say a word, but a shadow of smile was on his face. Gabriel nodded. "I thought so. Good job!" He congratulated.
"Don't encourage him." Sara scolded.
He laughed. "Yeah, bad protector! Bad!" He shook his head. "See ya, guys." He went to close the door behind him, but someone else came and opened the door back up. He nodded to her as he left. Vicki smiled brightly as she came into their house.
"Good afternoon. We all just got back from the game. Dragons totally kicked the other teams butt. It wasn't a game, it was a slaughtering." She informed them as Gracie and Chris came into the house as well.
"Hi Uncle Ian, hi Aunt Sara." They both said. Chris still had his jersey on and was carrying a black sports bag with him. Gracie was still in her cheerleading uniform, but she had put on some grey sweat pants underneath, not bothering to remove her skirt. The teen went on to join the other teens in the Living room.
Andy saw Chris and ran up to him excitedly. "Where's Nicky? Where's Nicky?" He asked him as he pulled on his jersey.
"And hello to you to." Chris said sarcastically. "Nicky is still grounded and had to stay at home. He says he's sorry that you guys can't go to Dave and....... Um, whatever it's called."
"Dave and Buster's." He said sadly as he sat down on the other couch. "I've been saving up all my tickets so that I could get the blow up alien. We were gonna win the last fifty and get it today."
Chris rubbed his hair. "Sorry buddy."
Meanwhile, after Sara and Ian 'discussed' (Meaning its pretty much Sara yelling.) Bethany's dating; Vicki pulled Sara to the side with a grin. "Guess what?"
"Um, world peace has arrived and put me out of a job?"
Vicki rolled her eyes. She looked around to make sure no one paying attention to them and took off her gloves with the school's mascot on it. "Look."
Sara's jaw dropped. "You're kidding!" She exclaimed, louder than she had meant to. Vicki told her to shh and nodded her head. "When are you and Joey going to.......?"
"Not sure yet, but I'll let you know." She looked around once more to make sure no one was listening in. "Don't say anything to anyone else, especially Gracie because she has to go see Jake tomorrow and if she knows, she'll tell him. And I don't want to risk jealous ex-husband rage."
"But he's with Serena, isn't he?" Sara asked.
Vicki hissed. "I know, I know, but remember what happened when he found out that Joey was moving in?"
"Right, right. Not a word. You gonna tell anyone else?"
"No! I don't care if Lee kills me afterward, it is staying a secret."
"Oh God, another wedding for her to help out with." They both groaned at the thought. "Well, at least she doesn't know for now. You're lucky she isn't here or else she would have sneaked her way over to listen in."
"Yeah, thank God she has a two grandsons and a granddaughter to keep her occupied along with her other kids." Vicki glanced at Gracie. "At least I won't be a grandma for a while. Don't think I could handle being that old."
Sara shrugged. "It's not old, just older." She explained.
"Yeah yeah yeah." Vicki muttered as Beth and Teresa went into the hallway and started going up stairs.
"Hi Aunt Vicki."
"Yeah, hi Aunt Vicki." They said solemnly.
"Aren't you two just full of cheer today?" She told them sarcastically. They didn't answer and just continued up to the second floor. She turned back to Sara. "What's with them?"
"Bethany's date was scared off and Teresa's on house arrest." She answered.
Vicki laughed. "I knew that kid on the corner was crying. As I said before, she's gonna end up a nun. And Teresa....... That's another story." She shook her head. "If only Angel was here to set her girl straight...." She trailed off.
"I know." Sara agreed. "If only."
-Meanwhile-
"He gets into all my business! I have no time alone because he is always watching! I'm sick of being treated like a fucking five year old!" Teresa ranted as she collapsed onto Bethany's bed. "I can't stand home right now." She murmured.
Bethany patted her back. "Hey, don't worry. It'll all work out." She bit her lip. "But you know, it would help if you didn't sneak off at night all the time and just went to class, and just tried to stay out of trouble instead of going looking for it." She added cautiously, trying not to sound like their parents.
Teresa didn't answer. There was silence in Bethany's room until someone suddenly touched her shoulder. She flinched back as Dominic smirked.
"Got ya." He said playfully, smile across his face. Good Lord, it was enough to make medusa melt.
Beth hit him with her pillow. "I hate it when you do that." She complained, not really meaning it.
"Sorry. So, what are you guys talking about?" He asked casually as he stood as close to Bethany as he could without being obvious.
"Teen angst, teen angst, and more teen angst." Teresa said with a sigh. "I'm on house arrest and Bethany's date was scared off by Uncle Ian...... Again." She informed him.
"Ahhh." He murmured as the thought of Ian killing that guy that he had seen Beth flirting with flashed through his head. He tried not to smile too much. They WERE talking about teen angst.
Teresa turned onto her stomach and hugged Bethany's blankets. "Dominic you are so lucky you have a cool Dad. Steffen doesn't get on your case."
He shrugged. "It's hard for a man of his age to get on anything. I'm not sure that's really lucky." He said, purposely being vague. He doubted if anyone knew just how badly his father's health was beginning to become. His Father said nothing about it, and Dominic never said anything about it. Dom just hoped the silence wouldn't get his Dad in the hospital.
The eye of the blade twitched on Bethany's chest. She knew Dominic was hiding something. She reached out to console him a bit, but drew her hand back. 'No touching. That leads to more touching. No leading him on. None of that.' She scolded herself. The eye of the witchblade burned her and she leapt off the bed. She covered her action by looking out the window.
"I still see Aaron! I'm gonna go down real quick and just make sure he's not suing or in need of therapy like Rick did." She told them as she went out onto her balcony and jumped down. Dominic watched her intently before he looked farther and glared at Aaron.
The bed squeaked a little as Teresa pulled herself up to a sitting position. "Ya know, Beth wouldn't be out there right now if you would just tell her the truth." She said quietly.
He didn't even glance at her. "She doesn't want to hear it."
"Oh sure she does. Every girl dreams of having a boy tell her that he's been in love with her since the third grade." She got up and leaned toward him. "Even Bethany Nottingham." She stretched and went to the door. "Tell Wonder woman that I went downstairs to get some food."
Dominic nodded, just slightly. Teresa shook her head. 'They better get together soon! I ain't loosing twenty bucks to Gracie over this.' She thought to herself as Jamie ran out of his room and leaned over the railing.
"Hey, did anyone take the nitro glycerin?" He asked.
BOOM!!
Smoke filled up the house as everyone tried to get clear of the smoke. Andrew walked out of the kitchen, his hair all out of place and his clothes soiled. They watched as he glared at the wall and pointed at it. "See! I told you, Jeanne! It's not the recipe for cookies!" He scolded at the apparition hotly before he started going up the stairs to change his clothes.
Sara and Ian looked at each other in disbelief. She shook her head. "That child does NOT take after me! That's all your genes, buddy!" She told him before she went into the kitchen to inspect the damage.
"No, it's all you Sara. I never did anything like that as a child. He got that from YOU!" He argued back before he went up stairs to talk to Andrew and how he wasn't suppose to take advice form Joan of Arc.
Vicki chuckled from her seat as she secretly admired her engagement ring. Gracie and Chris went to the kitchen to see hoe much damage the baby had caused. And Teresa just shook her head and went back upstairs, thinking how the food could wait.
Coming Attractions:
Not Big Enough For the Two of Us