Mommy can I hold him? Abby signed excitedly as soon as she and Charlie reached the hospital.
Gloria smiled. Of course you can baby girl. She replied motioning for her to sit down in a chair that was near the window.
Abby quickly sat down and settled into the chair, her arms outstretched waiting for her brother to be placed in them.
"Abby you have to support Kevin's head." Charlie instructed as he carefully put the newborn into Abby's anxious arms. "Careful.." Charlie warned.
"I know Charlie." Abby said shaking her head. "You're uncle thinks I don't know anything." Abby said sweetly to her little brother. "I'm your sister… Abby." She continued. "And we live in New Orleans Louisiana." She continued on explaining to her little brother about her and her family.
It wasn't until about an hour later that Charlie finally decided it was time for Abby to get out of the cramped hospital room, even if It did mean making her leave her brother. "Abby I think it's about time we get going…" Charlie started to suggest.
"But Charlie!" Abby exclaimed. "Kevin will be lonely!"
"Abby… your parents aren't going to leave with us. They'll still be here with Kevin." Charlie explained. "You were going to go over to Anna's today… remember?" He tried, using his last possible plan to get her to leave.
Abby's mouth opened so wide you could have fit a rather large sized bouncy ball through it. "ANNAS BACK!" She exclaimed, almost forgetting she had Kevin in her arms.
"Abby careful!" Charlie shouted reaching for the slipping child, barely catching him in time.
Suddenly Abby's face was filled with concern, and her eyes filled with tears. She quickly handed over Kevin before she ran from the room.
Charlie carefully handed Kevin back to Gloria. Don't worry. I make sure she's all right. He assured them before heading out the door after Abby.
"Abby…. Abby!" Charlie called as he walked out of the hospital doors. "Ab… Abby!" He exclaimed picking her up. "Abby it's okay." He said brushing her hair softly with his fingers. "It's okay."
"Charlie he's so little." Abby said, the same fear on her face. "I… could have broke him." She whimpered.
"Abby." He comforted. "It's all right. Kevin's fine."
"I'm never ever gonna be a good big sister." Abby said tears streaming down her face.
Charlie pushed one of the strawberry blonde locks out of her face. "Abby you're the best thing he could ever ask for." Charlie said gently carrying her to his truck.
"No Charlie… He's too little!" Abby said tears still falling down her face. "He's too little Charlie, he can't be my brother!"
"Abigail Sciuto its fine! Kevin is supposed to be little! He's just a baby." Charlie explained as he pulled out of the parking lot of the hospital and headed back to the house.
"My baby doll is bigger than him!" Abby retorted.
Charlie pulled to the side of the road and climbed into the backseat so he was sitting next to Abby. "Abby don't worry." He said as he pulled her into a hug. "Kevin is fine… He may be small now, but soon he'll be as big as you."
"How can you possibly know that!" Abby asked as exasperated as a five year old can be.
"Because I remember when you were that small." Charlie said with a smile. "And I dropped you."
"YOU DROPPED ME!" Abby shouted in alarm. "NO WONDER I'M SO MESSED UP!"
"Abby!" Charlie chided. "Nothing happened. You were fine! But I was so worried I had hurt you that I didn't hold you again until you were about one." Charlie explained. "And by then… I had missed out on so much. You were already talking!"
"I could talk when I was one?" Abby asked in surprise. "Man I was one smart kid!"
Charlie laughed. "Abby promise me something." Charlie requested.
"What?" Abby asked curiously, green eyes wide.
"You have to promise me you'll take good care of Kevin for the next couple of months." Charlie said, avoiding Abby's gaze.
"Charlie… Where are you going?" Abby asked worriedly.
"Abby…" Charlie said quietly. "I got accepted into a fall writing program at Dartmouth."
"CHARLIE! ARE YOU SAYING YOU'RE LEAVING ME AGAIN!" Abby shouted wriggling out of Charlie's arms.
"Abby it's not like that…" Charlie tried to explain. "I'm not going forever!" It was too late though. Abby was already climbing out of the truck to walk home. "Abby wait!"
"No Charlie! You lied to me! YOU PROMISED YOU WERENT GOING TO LEAVE ME AGAIN AND YOU ARE!" She screamed before turning to walk home again.
"Abby!" Charlie called after her. "Abby I'm not doing this to leave you, I'm doing this so that I can get a real job."
Abby turned to look at him. "You have a real job! You have the bar!" Abby informed him.
"Abby, that's not an actual job. People have to grow up and go to college and get a real job." Charlie explained.
"YOU DON'T NEED TO GO TO COLLEGE! YOU'RE CHARLIE! YOU WORK AT THE BAR!" Abby shouted angrily.
"Abby we're done having this conversation." Charlie said finally. "Get back in the truck… now."
"No." Abby replied obviously annoyed.
"Abby…" Charlie warned.
"YOU LIED TO ME!" Abby screamed again.
"All right… I warned you." Charlie said as he walked over and scooped Abby into his arms. "You are grounded." Charlie declared.
"PUT ME DOWN!" Abby screamed as Charlie buckled her into the backseat. Charlie slammed the door closed before climbing into the front seat.
"Abigail Marie Sciuto I am very disappointed in you." Charlie said before he started up the engine. "You know better than to throw a tantrum about things you don't have control over." He continued as he started to drive the rest of the way home.
Abby sat quietly in the backseat. It's not fair! Charlie promised me he'd stay! And now he's leaving again! He doesn't like us… he never has…
"Hello Abby!" Randy greeted her.
Abby didn't reply but continued to walk straight to her room where she slammed the door.
"Charlie what happened?" Randy asked, concerned.
Charlie proceeded to retell the events of the morning. From her nearly dropping Kevin, to her screaming at him on the road.
"Charlie… I know what I said about you leaving… and how I thought it would be a good idea… but if it's going to make Abby this unhappy, is it really worth it?"
"Mom!" Charlie complained. "This is a once in a lifetime opportunity! I'll only be gone for three months! It's not like I haven't thought about this!"
"Charlie." Randy replied. "I think you should do whatever you think is best." She said taking a sip of her coffee.
"Mom! Why can't you just tell me what to do?" He complained.
"Charlie you're old enough to make your own decisions." She pointed out.
"MOM! I can't deal with you, Abby, Gloria, and school all at once! SOMEONE HAS TO TELL ME WHAT TO DO!" Charlie said exasperated as he slid into a chair at the kitchen table.
Meanwhile, Abby had crept out of her room and sat at the top of the stairs where she could hear the conversation.
"Charlie, Abby's a beautiful little girl, but she can take care of herself. She'll be fine for a few months." Randy said.
No… I won't be fine!
"But with the new baby?" Charlie asked, obviously torn.
"Abby loves Kevin. She'll be fine."
NO! I WONT BE!
"Mom… I just wish this were simpler." Charlie said quietly.
"Maybe you should ask Gloria. See what she thinks." Randy suggested.
"I did…"
AND!
"She thinks I should go. She said that they were thinking about inviting Steve's sister Amy to stay for awhile anyway." Charlie explained.
"Oh… The one that just graduated from Yale." Randy elaborated.
"Yeah. She's interested in getting a job singing jazz, so they figured where better to do it than New Orleans?"
ANYWHERE! ANYWHERE IS BETTER THAN HERE! Amy is so mean! I don't want her to stay here!
"Well… If Gloria thinks you should go, and you want to go… Then maybe you should go." Randy determined.
"NO!" Screamed Abby from the top of the stairs.
"Abby?" The both asked in shock.
"YOU CANT! I DON'T WANNA HAVE AMY HERE! I HATE AMY!" Abby screamed as she ran down the stairs. "YOU PROMISED!" Abby said one last time before she sat down on the bottom step and started to cry.
Charlie rushed over to her. "Shhhh… Abby it'll be okay…Sometimes, things have to change. Even if we don't want them to." Charlie comforted.
"Why? Why Charlie!" Abby asked through her tears.
"Abby, things have to change or else nothing would ever happen. Something had to change for me to live here. And now it's Amy's turn. I'll come back…" Charlie explained.
"When! When will you come back?" Abby asked exasperated.
"November. I'll be back by Thanksgiving." Charlie said.
"That's in a whole four months!" Abby exclaimed in alarm. "I can't wait that long! I'm five! DO YOU REALIZE HOW MANY SEASAME STREETS THAT IS?"
"Abby…" Charlie said trying not to laugh. "You'll be fine."
"You better come back mister." Abby said determinedly.
"I promise I will." Charlie said giving her a hug.
"Charlie… When's mommy coming home?" Abby asked quietly.
"This afternoon." Randy interrupted hanging up the phone. "The hospital just called. I'm going to go pick them up in a few hours."
"Can we make some welcome home cookies for Kevin?" Abby asked excitedly.
"Uh…" Charlie said unsure of how to respond.
"Sure Abby honey." Randy said to fill the silence. "That's a great idea!"
Charlie gave her a look that clearly meant 'what are you thinking?'
"Only how about instead of the kind of cookies you eat…" Randy started again. "We sew some cookie pillows!"
Abby's eyes opened wide with excitement. "YEAH! I have felt and fabric in the playroom!" Abby said as she dragged her grandma down the hall.
The next three hours were filled with cutting and sewing and gluing until they had 2 decent plush 'cookies'.
"Kevin will love them." Abby said determinedly.
"Oh look at the time!" Randy exclaimed. "Abby hon, I gotta go get your mom and dad. Charlie can you help Abby clean up?"
"Sure." Charlie replied getting up from the book he was reading. "Come on Abby… help me find all the scraps." He said gesturing at the pieces of fabric on the floor.
"I'll be back in about an hour!" Randy said as she ran out the door.
Abby was busy gathering the pieces of fabric too small to keep, so she didn't notice when Charlie picked up the two pillows. One was a chocolate chip cookie, that was slightly lopsided, and the other was a sugar cookie, that was extremely lopsided. Charlie smiled to himself. "You're gonna be just fine Abby." He said under his breath.
"What Charlie?" Abby asked, her green eyes sparkling with excitement.
"Nothing babe." He said tousling her hair.
"I'm all done!" Abby said gesturing to the now clean playroom floor. "Can we take Kevin's cookies to his room?" Abby asked excitedly.
"Of course Abby." Charlie replied distractedly.
They made their way up the stairs and to the new wing of the house. Abby excitedly pushed open the door to reveal her favorite room in the house.
Abby had decided a long time ago that the baby was going to be a monkey because of his room. The walls alternated between a light yellow and a light green, two of which had wide windows that had been covered with bamboo wood blinds. The floor was made with a similar shade of wood and was accented with a large rug that had a picture of four different jungle animals: A monkey, elephant, giraffe, and a lion. The crib was Abby's second favorite thing in the room. It was also made of a bamboo shade of wood, and it had a blanket with the same animals that the rug had on it, plus a hippo. Above the crib was a mobile that had the same animals (minus the lion) that spun when it was on and sang a lullaby Abby had known since she was little, but didn't know the name of.
Now Abby's favorite thing in the nursery wasn't the décor, or the animals. It was a large green armchair in one corner of the room. The chair was large enough that Abby could lay down sideways an still have room on either side of her. Not only was it huge, it was very comfortable. Abby couldn't see why the baby needed a crib if it had a chair like that.
"Charlie can we put the cookies on the chair?" Abby asked excitedly.
"Sure." Charlie said handing her the two cookies.
Abby scrambled across the room and climbed onto the chair. After a moment of struggle she made it to the corner of the chair and carefully placed the two cookies. Then she sat happily in the middle of the chair.
"Charlie?" Abby asked curiously.
"Yes Abby?"
"How come the baby isn't going to sleep on this chair… It's more comfortable than the crib…I know I tested it." Abby stated.
Charlie, unsure of when she had tested this just laughed. "Because Kevin might roll off and get hurt." He explained.
"Well that would be silly. Why would Kevin roll off if he were going to get hurt?"Abby asked.
"Well… he doesn't know that it would hurt." Charlie tried to clarify.
"HOW CAN SOMEONE NOT KNOW THAT?" Abby asked in alarm.
"He just doesn't!" Charlie exclaimed exasperated.
"Okay, okay! Don't have a cow!" Abby said as she scrambled off the chair. Suddenly her head snapped to face the door. "MOMMYS HOME!" Abby cried and she raced out the door, Charlie hot on her trail.
"Abby shhh! You might wake up Kevin!" He exclaimed as quietly as he could.
Mommy! Abby signed excitedly as soon as she saw her mom. Charlie looked relieved to see that Kevin was awake, and not fussy.
Hey Gloria. Charlie greeted. You want me to take Kevin for you? He asked and Gloria nodded in response and Charlie carefully lifted Kevin out of her arms.
Momma? Abby asked.
Yes honey?
What is Kevin's sign? Abby asked curiously. In their family they had made signs for people who they talked about often, so that they didn't have to spell out their name every time.
For right now, you can spell it, or sign 'baby'. Gloria replied. I don't have time to figure out a sign for him right now.
But mommy! Abby replied obviously concerned.
Abby, I'm tired, and going to bed now. Her mother signed before heading up the stairs.
"CHARLIE!" Abby said, a bit too loudly, which caused Kevin to start crying.
"Abby!" Charlie scolded. "Can you just… do something?"
"Fine." Abby said angrily before going to look for her dad.
Eventually she found him outside signing rather quickly with Randy. Abby waved hopefully.
"Not now Abby." Randy said brushing her away.
Abby, admitting defeat decided her last option was to entertain herself. So she ran around to the backyard in attempts to find her giant red ball.
"There you are!" Abby exclaimed when she saw it sitting along the bank to the river just behind her house.
Abby ran toward the bank, not slowing as she reached the sand. It wasn't until she was inches away from the ball that she started to slip.
The sand had gotten muddier the closer to the water she had gotten, but she hadn't noticed. It was one wrong step that took her crashing into the river.
Her face hit the cold water first filling her mouth and nostrils with water, and soon her entire body was submerged. She had never really been that interested in swimming, and for some reason had never picked up on the fact that, you can't breathe underwater. So she took in a deep breath trying to calm herself, but found herself choking on the cool liquid filling her lungs.
"Amy!" Randy exclaimed as the young woman got out of the cab.
"Randy!" She greeted happily. "I'm so excited to be here! Has Charlie told you that I'm planning on being a Jazz singer?"
"He has." Randy confirmed.
Hey Steve! Amy greeted her brother. How's the new baby? She asked with a smile.
Kevin is doing great! Steve replied enthusiastically.
Well that's good. Amy determined. Where's Abby? Amy questioned, wishing to know the whereabouts of her favorite niece.
Last I saw her she was heading to the backyard. Steve replied pointing to the side of the house.
Okay. I'll see you later. She signed "Talk to you later Randy!" She said happily before heading for the backyard, both of her bags in tow.
"Abby!" She called. "Abby where are you?" She around and saw a rather empty backyard. Then the red ball caught her eye. It was rather large, large enough for Abby to hide behind, she determined before heading toward it.
As she got closer to the ball she started to notice small shoe prints. "I know where you are Abby!" She called as she followed the footprints. However the closer she got to the ball… the longer they got… she was slipping! "ABBY!" Amy called worriedly. She rushed to the side of the bank, and saw one last footprint, that had obviously landed her in the river. She quickly dropped everything she was carrying ripped off her jacket and shoes and jumped in.
Abby had never been so happy to see anyone in her life. The edges of her vision were starting to blacken, but she could make out the figure of a woman swimming quickly in her direction. Abby moved around as much as she could, hoping she would see her. The amount of relief that swam through her body as she felt the woman's warm arms grasp her was unimaginable.
Amy quickly lifted Abby out of the water. "Abby… Abby can you hear me?" She asked loudly. "Abby… come on…" she said worriedly as she laid her down on the bank. Abby started to cough violently. Amy sighed in relief, she wasn't dead. She carefully smacked her on the back, helping her get more of the water out of her lungs. "Abby are you alright?" she asked, concerned. Abby coughed several more times before she nodded.
"Come on, let's get you dried off." Amy said as she picked her up and headed for the house.
"CHARLIE!" She called as soon as they were inside.
"Amy… shh! You'll wake up… OH MY GOSH WHAT HAPPENED!" Charlie said as he ran down the stairs. "Abby are you all right?" He asked worriedly. Abby nodded, though she was shivering. Charlie grabbed a blanket off the couch. "Here." He said as he handed the blanket to Amy. "What happened?" he asked as soon as Abby was wrapped in the blanket.
"I don't know!" Amy exclaimed. "I got to the backyard and she was in the river!" After a moment Abby stopped shivering. "We should get her into some dry clothes." Amy said softly.
"Uh… yeah." Charlie said snapping back into reality. He led Amy to Abby's room and pulled out a pair of black jeans and a purple tee shirt from her closet. "Here." He said as he handed them to her.
Once Abby was changed Amy proceeded to carefully brush her hair and braid it, two French braids, one on each side of her head. "You all right Abby?" She asked her quietly.
"Yes Amy." Abby said looking at her feet, which were covered with purple socks with spiders on them.
"Abby what happened?" Charlie asked suddenly.
"Well… no one was paying any attention to me… So I went to the backyard to play… and my red ball was right by the river…and… I fell in." Abby explained.
"Abby! You know to be careful back there! Why on earth didn't you come get someone to help you get it?" Charlie exclaimed, exasperated.
"BECAUSE NONE OF YOU HAVE ANY TIME FOR ME ANYMORE!" Abby shouted before running out of the room.
Amy looked at Charlie shook her head and followed after her. "Amy!" Charlie called after her but she wasn't listening. "Amy wait!"
"What?" Amy replied obviously irritated. "What sort of an explanation do you possibly have for this?"
"I don't have one." He replied shaking his head. "But it was an accident."
"Charlie! She could have died! You do realize that you're in charge of her too, not just Kevin right?" Amy asked.
"Of course Amy… I just…"
"You just nothing. You go off to Dartmouth. It's probably better you weren't here for awhile anyway." She said before she ran down the stairs to find Abby.
"Abby are you all right?" Amy asked, sitting down in her still wet jeans. Abby shook her head. "What's wrong?"
"No one has any time for me anymore… Everyone's too busy with Kevin." Abby said quietly.
"How about I make you a deal?" Amy said. "I'll go change, then just you and me can go get some ice cream."
Abby nodded and smiled. "Thank you Amy."
"You're welcome Abby girl." She said standing up and heading to change.
"Double Chocolate Crunch still Abby?" Amy asked.
"Yes please!" Abby said enthusiastically. It had been quite awhile since she had gone out one on one with someone else.
"Two scoops?"
"YES!"
"All right then. Two Scoops of Double Chocolate Crunch, and one vanilla frozen yogurt." Amy told the man working the counter.
"We're doing free toppings today, would you like any?" The man asked.
"Abby?" Amy asked.
"Chocolate sprinkles please." Abby requested.
"Chocolate sprinkles on the ice cream, and raspberries on the yogurt please." Amy relayed the information before heading to pay for the ice cream.
Once they were sitting down and had both dug into their treats Amy started to ask Abby about school and friends, which Abby animatedly explained about, causing several laughs.
Charlie, who was feeling more bad for himself, than he was for Abby, was aimlessly walking around New Orleans, trying to clear Abby's angry expression from his mind.
She's just five… she can't really mean it… Can she? I didn't mean to do anything wrong… but Abby is pretty stubborn…But she's always forgiven me in the… exactly, she'll never forgive you again. But she doesn't have anyone else…
His thoughts were interrupted as he passed an ice cream shop and looked through the window to see Abby and Amy happily laughing over their bowls of ice cream. "I guess she does have someone else." Charlie said quietly before looking down and walking to the New Orleans train station.
"One ticket to Hanover please." He informed the woman at the ticket station.
"Any bags?" She asked.
"No."
"All right that will be five seventy." She informed him and he handed over the money. "The train will be here in about twenty minutes."
"Thank you." He said taking the ticket and heading for the nearest bench.
Exactly twenty minutes later a train pulled into the station. "ALL PASSENGERS GOING TO HANOVER THE TRAIN IS NOW BOARDING!" A voice on the loudspeaker blared through the station.
Charlie slowly stood up and headed for the train. He had one foot on the step before he turned back to face the city he had grown up in, the city that had been his home for so long.
"You getting on?" The man behind him asked irritably.
"Huh… Oh yeah." Charlie said absent mindedly before he climbed aboard. After getting his ticket punched he went and sat down on a seat by the window and absentmindedly stared out of it.
It wasn't until the train lurched into motion that he realized, he was leaving, and he wasn't coming back. It seems only appropriate to say one thing when you're leaving, so he uttered that one word.
"Goodbye."
Author's Note: O.o… I wasn't expecting myself to go in that direction… but I did… so YAY ANYWAY! Well a lot of you are probably reading both of my stories, so you're probably thinking… Wow she updates the other one A LOT faster. And I would say "Why yes… yes I do!" Because I don't really have a plot for this story, I'm planning on keeping it going for a good long while, so I don't want to all of a sudden decide… eh. I'll just finish it off! So instead I'm updating less often, but overall, there will end up being more chapters! Hope you liked it! REVIEW!