Chapter 10
A Pivotal Year – Open Wounds
Nolan 17, Lissa 17, Ryder 13, Olivia 10
Annabelle 5, Victoria 5, Lucas 4
September 23
A nearly Lissa-free chapter for all those who are sick of her. :)
I'm posting two chapters today since I'm travelling this coming week...not sure how many updates I'll be able to publish.
"I hear lots of talking but not much cleaning up or dressing," Amelia called out from her bedroom as the family prepared to go to pizza.
Ryder, already changed and lying on Amelia and Owen's bed, looked at Nolan who was draped over a chair and thumbing through a medical journal. Ry scoffed, "What's the sound of getting dressed?"
Laughing, Nolan replied, "Good question."
Amelia stepped from around the corner and groused, "Very funny. Will you go check on the littles, Ry?"
"I'll check on two of them. I'm afraid of the redhead with long hair," Ryder joked as he referred to Anna.
Without looking up from the journal, Nolan offered, "Dad spanked her. She won't be a problem for at least another hour or two." Ryder chuckled as he left the room.
"He did what?" Amelia huffed with widened eyes.
Nolan looked up and shrugged, "He spanked her. She deserved it. She was being a monster."
"Umm… yeah," Amelia grimaced. "Where's Dad? Have you seen him?"
"He probably already backed out the Enclave and is sitting in the driveway about to honk the horn," Nolan teased.
Ignoring the sarcasm, Amelia recommended, "You should go check on Larissa. And be kind."
"When am I not kind?" Nolan protested somewhat accurately. "Did she say I was being an ass?"
"No, not at all. She was upset. I asked her what was wrong and she mentioned you two had a little disagreement," Amelia fibbed.
Nolan glanced at his mom and said nothing as he stood up and headed to Lissa. When he reached the outside of her door, he knocked and requested, "Shorty, it's me. Can I come in?"
"Yeah. I'm in the bathroom doing my makeup," Lissa called out.
Nolan walked to her bathroom and embraced her from behind. Explaining himself anxiously, he commented, "No squeezing or groping. Just this." He gently kissed her neck once then looked at her in the mirror, "You look beautiful just the way you are, Shorty."
Rolling her eyes, Lissa regarded Nolan in the mirror. As she put on mascara, she pointed out, "One eye with mascara and one without would be a little weird, Trems."
"Maybe I like my girl a little weird," Nolan kidded. "Then I don't feel so bad for what a dick I can be." Lissa closed the mascara and looked up in the mirror. Nolan continued, "I'm really sorry I've been such a hotheaded ass, Blondie… I really don't know where all that came from."
Twisting around so they were chest to chest, Lissa agreed, "I don't know either, but I know it didn't come from the Nolan I've always known."
"I'm sorry," Nolan repeated steadily.
She bore her puddling eyes into Nolan's and sounded off, "Mentioning breaking up, Nolan… not cool. I can't believe you said what you said."
"I can't either, Babe. I truly, really apologize," Nolan implored.
Staring blankly at her boyfriend, Lissa shared, "I can put on a happy face during dinner, but I'm really upset, Nolan. I'm furious, I'm sad, I'm crushed… hell, I'm also glad to touch you and hold you. I'm so confused I barely know which was is up. I'll put on a smile, but I won't be ok until we really talk about everything."
Nolan lifted Lissa onto the counter and traced her jaw with his finger. As she sat there, she was more eye to eye with him than if she were standing. She grasped both his hands and raised her eyebrows, "Your words really stung."
"I know," he gulped. "I'm not sure what else I can say, Lissa."
"Me either," she shrugged.
"Enough said," Nolan sighed. "Now, enough tension. It's time to put a smile on your face and pretend to be happy," Nolan declared as he grabbed Lissa and threw her over his shoulder. She giggled in protest as she grabbed her purse on their way out the door.
Ria, about to descend the stairs when Nolan and Lissa appeared, put her hands up and begged, "Me too! Me too!" Stooping down with Lissa still on his right shoulder, Nolan scooped Ria up and threw her over his left shoulder.
Upside down but face to face, Lissa met eyes with Ria and stated, "Hi, Ree Ree."
With volumes of giggles, Ria kissed Lissa's cheek and said, "Hi, Sissy."
"Are we ready?" Owen huffed without commenting on Nolan's baggage. "Ryder, Olivia and Anna are in the car. Where are Mom and Lucas?" Calling out, Owen prodded, "Mia! C'mon. Let's go."
"It's not like we have reservations," Amelia scoffed as she approached the stairs and headed toward Owen.
Raising his eyebrows, Owen tilted his head toward Nolan and threatened Amelia, "I'm about to get you out there that way."
Amelia smiled and turned around, "Luke! Let's go, baby."
"I'm coming, I'm coming," Lucas responded as he ran down the hall with one shoe on and one shoe in his hand. "Can you help me, Daddy?"
Surprised Lucas ran past Amelia and selected him, Owen picked Lucas up and put on his shoe as he carried him to the car. Turning to Nolan, Owen inquired, "You and your sacks of potatoes are taking Lissa's car?"
"Sure," Nolan responded as he carried both girls outside. As he put Lissa down by the car door, he tended to her by saying, "Careful. You've been upside down and might be dizzy." Nolan continued, "You too, Ree. Here, hold onto my shoulders while you try to stand up."
Nolan placed Ria's feet on the pavement and she wobbled a little as she grasped her brother tightly. With a giggle, she commented, "My head feels funny." Nolan kissed her forehead and buckled her into a car seat.
Meanwhile, in the Enclave, Anna pouted aloud, "Why does Ria get to go with Nolan?"
"Because Ria didn't slap him earlier," Owen pointed out.
Amelia leaned toward Owen and whispered, "I heard you dealt with that situation in your own way."
Huffing, Owen keep his eyes on the road as he responded, "Yeah, I did. Can we talk about that later, Mia?"
"I guess," Amelia groused. "I thought we'd cleared up that topic about five years ago."
"You thought we came to a mutual understanding, Mia. I never agreed to anything," Owen pointed out with a fake happy voice.
"Really?" Amelia asked inquisitively. "I… uh… Honestly, Owen, I really did think the issue was resolved. Yeah," she smirked, "we can sort it out later."
"Ddddooonnnn'tttttt," Lucas whined from the back.
"Annabelle!" Owen snapped.
Olivia piped up, "Anna's asleep, Daddy. Ryder is messing with Luke."
"Oh," Owen quipped, slightly embarrassed. "Ryder, knock it off," he ordered in a normal tone of voice.
"Knock what off?" Ryder asked as he held Puppy Blanky toward the window pretending like he was going to roll the window down and throw Puppy out.
"Whatever you're doing that is upsetting your brother," Owen clarified flatly.
"Ow! You little f* er," Ryder exclaimed.
"Excuse me, Ryder Blake Hunt?" Owen bellowed. He looked at Amelia and requested, "Can you deal with all that, Mia?"
After sighing, Amelia unbuckled and joined Olivia and Anna in the middle row. Ryder held out his arm and complained, "Check that out."
Amelia leaned back in surprise and exclaimed, "Holy bite marks, Batman. Lucas?! Did you do that?"
Trying valiantly to avoid discipline, Lucas looked Amelia squarely in the eye and shook his head, "No, Mama. Nuh uh."
Ryder reached out with his unbitten arm and pushed Lucas, "Yes you did, you brat."
"I'm not a brat!" Lucas yelled. "Give me my Puppy!" Ryder threw Puppy Blanky at Lucas' face. Although it truly did not hurt, Lucas erupted in tears.
Meanwhile, Amelia checked out the bite on Ryder's forearm. "Owen," she called, "I think we need to either go home or stop at the hospital. Lucas chomped down pretty hard on Ryder's arm and drew blood."
With a huge sigh, Owen pulled over and grumbled, "Are you kidding me?"
"Nope," Amelia sung.
Owen unbuckled and walked to the back of the Enclave. He lifted the tailgate and climbed in the back as he grasped Ryder's arm. "Wow…" he commented as he reached into the med back in the back of the rig. "Does it hurt?" he asked with concern.
Crabbily, Ryder growled, "What do you think?"
Glancing up at Amelia, Owen reported, "This needs stitches. It's deep and over an inch. Can you text Nolan? I can stitch up Ry at the hospital and you guys can all head to pizza without us."
"That rabid vampire gets to go to pizza after doing this to me?" Ryder protested with fury.
"No, he'll go with us," Owen responded as he focused on wrapping Ryder's wound. "Keep pressure on it."
Owen stepped out and returned to the driver's seat. He looked at Amelia with a slight smile of disbelief and she winked at him. "Aren't kids a blast?" she giggled as she whispered in his ear and kissed him.
After dropping Ryder, Owen and Lucas off at the hospital, Amelia proceeded to the pizza place with Olivia and Anna. She and the kids had a great time as they listened to Nolan's stories and shared some of their recent adventures with him. Anna's mood seemed to be more even after her catnap, something for which Amelia was deeply grateful.
Meanwhile, Ryder put pressure on his arm with his opposite hand as Owen walked in firmly holding Lucas' hand. Lucas, his bottom lip protruding, cast his eyes down to the floor.
"What have we got here?" Avery questioned as he greeted the family.
With an embarrassed grin, Owen explained, "Human bite, approximately 6-7 mm and maybe 2 plus mm deep."
"Bleeding controlled?" Jackson inquired as he raised the dressing on Ryder's arm. "Uh… never mind. It's still seeping. Let's get you over here, big guy," Jackson offered to Ryder as he guided him to one of the beds. As Ryder lay down and propped himself up with pillows, Jackson put ice on the bite and held Ryder's arm up. He wondered, "What's the story? This has gotta have a good story."
"The little ginger vampire did it," Ryder snarled.
"Ah, brother did it. That's why I never had siblings," Jackson joked. Only Owen chuckled in response.
Leaning down close to Lucas, Jackson inquired with seriousness, "Have you had your rabies shot?"
"A shot?" Lucas responded with widened eyes as he clutched onto Owen's leg and hid behind it.
"He was just teasing, Luke. When an animal bites someone, we need to know if they have rabies. Don't worry, no shots for you tonight," Owen assured him.
Clearing his throat, Ryder regained the attention. Jackson explained that they'd wait for the bleeding to slow and then he'd irrigate the wound before stitching up each spot. "You guys hungry? Because this is going to take a while," Jackson explained.
Owen nodded and commented, "Good point. Lucas, you and I are going to walk to the cafeteria. Ry, what do you want?"
"Pizza," Ryder grumbled.
"You don't want the cafeteria's pizza. It's nasty," Jackson shared. "The burgers aren't bad though."
"Ok, a cheeseburger with everything on it but pickles," Ryder ordered. "And a Coke?" he asked hoping Owen would give in on soda given the situation.
Owen raised his eyebrows slightly and grinned, "We'll be back."
As Lucas, Puppy Blanky, and Owen made their way to the cafeteria, Owen stopped at a bench in a hallway and sat down. "C'mon up here, Luke," Owen urged as he patted the spot next to him. Lucas, with shame and regret covering his face, climbed up on the bench and dropped his chin to his chest.
"Look up here, Luke," Owen evenly told his youngest son.
Lucas slowly moved his head up and caught his daddy's eyes. "I'm sorry I bited him," he apologized.
"Good. You need to tell Ryder that when we go back to sit with him," Owen instructed. "Now, Lucas, biting someone is never ok. Why did you bite your brother?"
"Because he kepp telling me he was gonna throw Puppy out the window," Lucas disclosed.
"Hmm," Owen nodded. "Could you have done something besides bite Ryder?"
"I tried to tell on him," Lucas explained with tears welling up in his eyes.
Shaking his head, Owen pursed his lips and insisted, "No, you didn't. Then you lied to Mommy and said you didn't do it. Now what could you have done instead of bite?"
"Told on him," Lucas offered.
"What else?" Owen pushed.
"Hit him," Lucas imagined.
"Let's stick to non-violent responses. What could you have done without hurting him?" Owen prodded.
"Use words and tell him nice to give Puppy back," Lucas pouted. "Or pretend like I didn't care but that would be hard because I did care because it was Puppy."
"Those are good ideas," Owen nodded. He stood up and reached his hand back, telling him, "Let's go." Before heading toward the cafeteria, Owen led Lucas to an empty room and knelt down. "You hurt Ryder, so now you're going to get spanked." Lucas took a step back. Although he'd never been spanked, he knew what it was and he was fairly sure he never wanted to be. Owen sat down on a couch and put Lucas over his knee. Soon, Lucas was wiggling and crying.
"Do you think you've learned from this?" Owen asked as he slid Lucas upright.
With tears dripping down his cheeks, Lucas reached back and rubbed his rear as he nodded.
"What do you say then?" Owen insisted.
"Yes, Sir," Lucas whimpered.
"Do you need a minute before we go to the cafeteria?" Owen offered.
"Yes, Sir," he repeated, adding, "please." Owen leaned back on the sofa and closed his eyes. Lucas lay down on another sofa on his tummy, whimpering and playing with a Hot Wheel he had in his pocket. After a few minutes, he told Owen he was ready to go. The two walked to the cafeteria, Lucas dragging his feet as his dad's hand slightly pulled him along.
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By the time Owen and Lucas returned to Ryder, Jackson had irrigated the wound, prepped Ry for sutures, and injected a numbing agent. They were waiting for med to take effect. Lucas handed Ryder a soda and mumbled, "I'm super sorry I bitted you."
"You should be," Ryder peered at Lucas with seriousness as he grasped the soda and began to gulp it down.
"I am," Lucas admitted as he looked at the floor. "It wasn't a good choice."
"Nope, it wasn't and now I'm mad at you," Ryder said flatly.
Attempting to grasp Ryder's hand, Lucas asked, "Can I hold your hand during the sutures?"
"Nope," Ryder responded between bites of cheeseburger. "You can sit there and think about how much my arm hurts." Lucas gazed down at his lap and hunched over.
"Ry…" Owen sounded slowly, "That's enough, isn't it?"
"I don't want to talk to him, Dad. I don't want to see him or deal with him. Until the meds, it hurt like a mother," Ryder shared.
"Knock, knock!" Amelia sang from behind the curtain as she and the entire crew squeezed into the small area. "Are you gonna live?" she asked Ryder.
"Not sure. Looking grim, Mom," Ryder groaned at Amelia's ridiculous question.
"Man, that did go deep, didn't it?" Amelia observed as she slipped on a pair of gloves, pulled the wound and moved it around.
"I know," Owen responded as he put a hand on Amelia's back. He whispered, "You might want to tend to the chair in the corner."
Lucas, as much for effect as anything, kept glancing up from his knees to see if Amelia had noticed him. Amelia stood up and gave Lucas her sternest 'Mommy look' as she stated, "Mr. Lucas… I wish you hadn't done this." Lucas held his arms out as his lip quivered. Amelia picked him up and whispered, "Have you said sorry?"
"Uh huh. After Daddy spanked me," Lucas recounted factually.
Internally wincing, Owen caught Amelia's shocked glance with a slightly apologetic grin. Round as saucers, Amelia's eyes were widened as she slowly shook her head before returning her attention to Lucas.
Jackson stepped in and commented, "The whole gang is here, huh? Hi guys."
Everyone greeted Jackson and Ria stepped over and offered a wide embrace.
After Jackson and Ria's hug concluded, Jackson glanced around the space and mentioned, "Mom and Dad, it would be helpful if we didn't have an audience."
"Of course," Owen acknowledged, eager to avoid Amelia's frustration with him. "Let's figure out cars… if I take the kids home in the Enclave, can Mia bring Ryder home in your car?" Owen asked Lissa, who agreed readily. Walking over to his wife and embracing her with one arm, Owen went to kiss Amelia on the lips but made contact with her cheek when she turned her head away. As he stepped out, Owen thanked Jackson and let the group toward the car.
"I'm so glad he took Dracula with him," Ryder snarled.
With a light chuckle, Jackson observed, "This event has sure earned your brother a host of nicknames." He wound the thread of the suture around and tied it off.
"He's a brat," Ryder added.
"He is not," Amelia countered. "Taking away a four year old's blankie and threatening to throw it out the window, however…" She clenched her teeth before continuing, "kind of a brat move, Ryder."
"The kid annoys the hell out of me," Ryder persisted.
"Why does everyone pick on Lucas?" Amelia questioned with exasperation.
"Because he's spoiled rotten and gets away with everything," Ryder explained. "Mom, he hardly ever gets caught but he's always up to something."
"Hmm… sounds like a little seven year old I once knew," she grinned as she messed up Ryder's hair for the first time in months.
"Stop," Ryder protested as he swerved his head away.
"Ah, you love it. You know you do," Jackson teased.
"Did you like it when your mom did that to you?" Ryder pressed.
Waving a gloved hand over his head as if he were touching it, Jackson quipped, "That's why I shaved it off."