jadeMK11: For the Lawson boys it definitely seems to be (though Chelsea fits right in with Stickers). And it really won't matter where they go at this rate. Caroline don't seem to have any boundaries. Esha Napoleon and cathy: Thank you! Ilse'sPurpleSummer: I know. She's like herpes; she just don't go away.
Sorry about the short length of this chapter but personal shit has severely delayed my writing. I was supposed to update this days ago.
...
"What the HELL were you doing Jamie?" Mindy asked as she used the tweezers to pick the glass out of James's knuckles. Natalya was tending to Vanessa who was fussing and the other kids were gathered around the table, Amber sitting the closest to Mindy, holding a damp washcloth so she could hand it to her mother when it was time to wipe the blood off his hand. "Why would you punch the mirror?"
"It's not like I WANTED to," James said, wincing as Mindy pulled out a piece that embedded itself particularly deep. "I wasn't exactly planning on doing it."
"But why did you?" Mindy asked. She pulled out the last piece of glass and immediately found the rag being put into her hands.
"There you go Mommy," Amber said.
"Thanks sweetie." Mindy began dabbing away the blood on James's knuckles, making sure to kiss them afterwards. She was a big believer in kissing wounds to make them better.
"Daddy!" Chelsea tugged on James's shirt until he scooped her up into his lap and kissed the top of her head. "I have the Stickers."
James grinned at the red panda that was whining to get out of her grip and nodded. "I see that. You got him real good don't you?"
"Yes." She rested her head against James's chest and he smiled before reaching over and pulling Mindy into his lap as well.
"Jamie WHY did you punch the mirror?" Mindy asked again, petting his face gently.
"I…I saw something in it. When the lights came back on the second time." He was a little reluctant to say WHO it was, partly because he wasn't sure if she had really been there and partly because he was afraid that she HAD really been there. If she hadn't been there then he felt fucking pathetic for seeing her. Between that and more the frequent nightmares he had been having lately, he felt like a completely weak and pathetic asshole. He was a grown man for fuck's sake, with a wife he adored and a houseful of children he doted over. The last thing that should be on his mind was the hag that was his mother. He wasn't the child living under her reign of terror he needed to be past this.
But despite what he was telling himself, what he saw in the mirror felt very real. It wouldn't be the first time she came back. First time was to possess him and terrorize the people he loved the most and the second was to tell him about Elizabeth's kidnapping…so what could she possibly want now? Why was she doing this? Couldn't she just stay dead and in hell where she belonged?
"I saw Mom," he finally confessed, avoiding eye contact with everyone in the room.
Natalya froze in her spot and Mindy's eyes widened. "What do you mean you saw Mom?"
"I saw her in the mirror," he clarified, forcing himself to look at the others now. "At least I THINK I saw her there. I didn't really look for that long. I just saw her, yelled and then punched the mirror and then she went away." He looked at Mindy who was still petting his face. "Have you seen her around Baby Doll?" Mindy had been able to see her during the big haunting that had taken place-before James's body was hijacked anyway.
Mindy shook her head. "No."
"Have you seen anything funny lately?"
"…The OOGEY lady…" Mindy said, her eyes drifting off to the side until he tapped her cheek to make her look at him again. "She went away when you woke up. You scared her."
"Good." He kissed her lightly on the lips and pressed his forehead to hers. "No boogey people are allowed."
"Your mother shouldn't be either," Natalya said, walking over to the couple and letting Mindy take Vanessa out of her arms. "Do you think she was actually in the mirror or-"
"I have no earthly idea," he replied. "I mean that sounds too docile for her but it's HER we're talking about here."
"Maybe we should call some kind of expert in this kind of stuff," Natalya suggested. "Someone who's an expert in ghosts and shit."
"Like Uncle Mark?" Amber said with a frown.
Mindy snorted. "Mark can't do shit. Jamie gutted him and left him to rot in a sewer in Texas."
"And I still don't think they found him," James said, looking to Natalya for confirmation. "Have you ever heard anything about it?"
She shook her head. "Nope. As far as WWE goes he's just missing." She pulled up a chair and pulled Thorn and Scarlett into her lap, kissing the top of their heads. "Seriously though, there's gotta be some way to find out if she's actually hanging around or if you're just seeing shit."
"Yeah well if you think of it before I do, please feel free to share." James was eyeing Oxa who was sitting calmly by Thorn's feet. Last time when Caroline had possessed him, Oxa sure as shit knew that things weren't right. If anyone there was going to know if Caroline was there, it would be Oxa. Oxa looked back at him and they stared at each other for a moment before she left Thorn to nuzzle his leg. He blinked before reaching down to scratch the top of her head. He had no idea if she somehow sensed what it was he was thinking but he felt slightly reassured nonetheless-but only slightly. If Caroline was hanging around then god only knew what would happen until she went away once more.
…
Trevor pulled his pickup truck into the driveway but Taylor didn't immediately get out. She just sat in there with him, only half listening to the country song that was playing on the radio. He had offered to let her change it but she hadn't. She wanted to but she decided to just leave it on what he had it. "So…" she said, trying to decide whether to talk to him some more or just head out and go into the house. "I had a nice time." That wasn't really a lie. She did have a nice time. He may not have been the most interesting or exciting person in the world but he was sweet in his way and compared to some of her other experiences with guys, he was a whole hell of a lot better.
"I'm glad," he said, a smile spreading across his face. "I did too." He glanced out the windshield towards the front door. "Think they'll be waiting to interrogate me?"
Taylor shrugged. "Depends if Mom and James retired for their nightly love fest."
Trevor chuckled lightly, not realizing that she wasn't being sarcastic or joking in any way. Once James and Mindy went to their room, that was it. They weren't coming out until morning. "I guess we'll find out won't we?" He got out of the truck and quickly jogged around the front of it so he could open the door for Taylor before she had barely touched the handle herself. "Here you go," he said, helping her out of the truck.
"Thanks." She stepped out of the way so he could slam the door shut, glancing up towards the windows to see Cooper peering out of his room. She froze and stared back at him, unable to see him as clearly as she was trying to because of how dark it was. Part of her hoped that he had found out about her date and had been waiting for her but she realized how foolish of a thought that was as soon as it crossed her mind. Forcing herself to shake it off, she looked away from the window and walked side by side with Trevor up to the front door.
"Can I uh, see you again?" Trevor asked, playing himself off as casually as he could. Taylor though, could completely read into the fact that he was hoping she would say yes. He wasn't hiding it nearly as well as he thought he was.
"I'll call you," she told him. That was the safest thing to say in this situation. She wasn't sure if she wanted a second date so she could call if she decided she did or she wouldn't if she didn't feel like it. Simple enough. She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek since a kiss on the lips felt like it would be leading him on and went into the house, finding Cooper coming down the stairs. "Hey," she said as she closed the door behind her.
"Hey," he said, his voice barely a discernable grunt. He wasn't even looking at her. She couldn't see his eyes from under his sunglasses but his head wasn't even turned towards her. And he wasn't even stopping either. He just kept walking, not even asking her where she had been or if she had a good time or anything. He didn't care. She should have known as much but that didn't stop it from stinging like fuck. She stood there and just watched him go, biting down on her lower lip and trembling a bit. Fuck. This shouldn't be happening. She was supposed to be getting over him yet here she was, feeling like she wanted to cry just because he blatantly blew her off. Fuck. This was NOT how this was supposed to go.
A pair of arms wrapped around her and her head was pushed down on to a shoulder. "Let's talk," Natalya said, leading her the opposite direction that Cooper had gone in. Taylor cast one last glance back the way he had gone before giving in and letting herself be taken upstairs to the twins room, where the girls were waiting to hear all about her date.