"Hope, come on everyone's gonna be here soon." Brianna called out going back into hers and Roger's room. "I swear that little girl takes longer and longer to get ready with each passing day." she said laughing as Roger put on his boots.
"Like mother like daughter." he said smiling up at her.
"You are so not funny." she said picking the brush up off of the dresser to brush her hair.
"Oh come on Brie, she's only gonna be 11. Just wait until she's a teenager. Then we'll have some real problems getting her ready." he told her standing up.
"Don't remind me." she said leaning up to kiss her.
"Are you nervous?" he asked putting his arms around her waist.
"Like you can't imagine." she laughed burying her face in his chest.
"Brie..." he started before she looked up interrupting him.
"Every thing's gonna be OK. I know. It's just been a long time since I've seen them, you know?" she said smiling up at him.
"I know. Why don't you let me go hurry Hope up and you can just relax for a little bit until everybody gets here?" he said kissing her head.
"Thank you. I love you Roger." she said looking up at him.
"Brie, you know how much I love you." he said leaning down to kiss her again.
"Yes I do. But I like hearing it every once in a while." she said laughing.
"I'm gonna go get Hope." he told her smiling at her.
"OK. I'll be out in a minute. Can you make sure we have enough stuff out please? We have a full house coming." she said smiling at him as he stood by the door.
"Sure Baby. No problem" he said before going to get Hope. "Come on squirt, it's almost show time." he shouted knocking on Hope's bedroom door.
"I'm coming dad, geez." she said putting her hair in a pony tail.
"It took you all this time just to throw your hair in a pony tail?" he asked looking down at her.
"Dad, it takes a lot of time to get it perfect." she said looking up at him.
"Well it is perfect. It's the most perfect pony tail I've ever seen." he said smiling at her.
"Yeah right. Nice save dad." she said going to the kitchen. "Where's mom?" she asked eating a cube of cheddar cheese.
"She just needs a minute to herself." he said taking a cube for himself.
"Roger Peter and Hope Bethany Davis, drop those cubes and step away from the cheese." Brianna yelled startling them.
"Oh my God mom. Way to scare the crap out of us." Hope said looking up at her.
"Those are for everyone, not just you two. Now go in the living room and wait for everyone." she told them with her hand on her hip.
"Do you feel better Baby?" he asked looking down at her.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Thank you. I needed that." she said leaning up to kiss him. "Now go. I got it in here." she said as there was a knock at the door.
"Are you ready for the chaos to start?" he asked caressing her face.
"I'm used to chaos. I live with the Davis twins." she said as they both laughed.
"I love you Brie." he told her smiling at her.
"I love you too Roger." she said as they all went to the door.
"Hope, wait for us." Roger called out as Hope opened the door.
"Hi Aunt Mimi." she said hugging Mimi.
"Hi chiquita. Mark and I just thought we'd try to get here early to see if you need any help." she said smiling at Brianna.
"Thanks Mimi." Brianna said hugging Mimi.
"No problem. Is anyone else here yet?" she asked looking up at Roger.
"No, not yet. We were just getting everything ready." he told her as Brianna's eyes began to tear up.
"Come on chica. Girl talk time." Mimi said dragging Brianna into her room.
"She's really nervous about seeing her dad and sister again, huh?" Mark asked looking up at Roger.
"Yeah, she's been a wreck for days." Roger said looking at the bedroom door.
"What's up chica? Talk to me." Mimi said sitting on the bed.
"I haven't seen my dad in like 14 years and I haven't seen my sister in 10. I'm just really nervous." she said looking down at her as she brushed her hair again.
"Chica, gimme the brush. You're not gonna have any hair left if you keep doing that. Honesty, you need to find another nervous habit. Heroin works." Mimi said as they both laughed.
"I'm sorry Mimi. It's just for so long, Hope and I had nobody and now we have Roger back, and you guys and now my father and sister are gonna be here soon. It's just very over whelming." she said hugging Mimi.
"I know, but that's why you invited us. For moral support. It's what we do best. Don't worry Brie, Every thing's gonna OK." she told her smiling.
"You sound like Roger." she said laughing as she wiped her eyes.
"Well Roger's a very wise man, you know." she said smiling at her.
"Yeah, that fiance of mine." she said smiling at her.
"Are you OK now?" she asked playing with her hair.
"Yeah, I'm OK." she said smiling at her. "Thanks Mimi." she said walking to the door.
"Hey, you're my sister. There's no need to thank me. I'm always here." Mimi said as Brianna opened the door.
"Is everything OK now?" Roger asked wrapping his arms around Brianna.
"Yeah, I'm fine." she said as there was a knock at the door.
"I got it." Hope yelled handing Mark back his camera before running to the door. "Hi." she said looking up at the strangers standing by the door.
"Hi, you must be Hope. I'm your Aunt Bethany." a beautiful teenaged girl told her smiling down at her.
"Bethany? That's my middle name." Hope said as Brianna and Roger stared at her.
"Bethany?" Brianna said as tears filled her eyes. She couldn't believe the little girl from so long ago was standing before her, almost a grown woman.
"Hi Brianna." Bethany said rushing in to hug her.
"Oh my God, you got so big munchkin." she said crying as they hugged.
"Hi Hope, I'm your grandpa." Mr. McGowan said smiling down at her as Roger stood at her side.
"You're my moms dad, right?" Hope asked looking up at him.
"Yes I am Hope." he said smiling up at Roger. "You must be Roger. I don't know if you remember me, I haven't seen you since you were 14. You grew up into a fine young man." he said smiling.
"Yeah, I remember you. How are you Mr. McGowan?" he said putting his arm around Hope's shoulders.
"I'm OK Roger. I guess you and I should start a support group. Men who have been deprived of their families because of Maggie, huh?" he said holding his hand out to shake Roger's.
"I'm over it sir. I have my girls back, I'm good." he said smiling down at Hope and then looking over at Brianna and Bethany who were now sitting on the couch talking.
"I understand." Mr. McGowan said as he entered the apartment.
"Roger, didn't she get big?" Brianna said smiling up at him.
"Yeah, she sure did. You know Bethany, I used to give you piggy back rides all the time when you were little." Roger said sitting next to Brianna.
"You did?" Bethany asked embarrassed.
"Yeah, you were like 4 and 5 at the time." he said laughing as Brianna looked up at Mimi and Mark who were in the kitchen.
"Mimi, Mark come here. I want you to meet my dad and my sister." she called out as they obliged.
"Hi Mark, I remember you. You were one of Brianna's friends in high school, weren't you?" Mr. McGowan asked standing up to shake his hand.
"Yes sir, that's me." Mark said shaking his hand.
"It's so nice to meet you Mimi." Mr. McGowan said smiling at Mimi.
"It's nice to meet you too sir." she said smiling down at Brianna and Bethany. Roger just looked on. Seeing that smile on Brianna's face made him think of those days after school when him and Brianna used to babysit Bethany. They had a lot of fun then. Bethany was such a happy go lucky child and Brianna did her best to try to protect her. Seeing Brianna see what a beautiful happy young lady Bethany had turned into made her seem like a weight had been lifted off of her.
Many thanks to BohemianGirl06. You are my life preserver when I feel like I'm on the Titanic. You are such an amazing friend who is always there when I need help or a shot of sanity. Enjoy.