Hola! (Trying out a new greeting again:)) I hope everyone enjoyed the last chapter, it was just a fun one:) I like smiley faces:) Anyway, I want to thank my reviewers, ZoeinGreece and Darkdestiny2000. To ZoeinGreece, I think any occasion with Jack is a special one too:).To Darkdestiny2000, I'm glad you think the chapters are funny and Ican't waitto writeabout what the kids will be like. (I also can't wait for December 20th! I've started a countdown with my friends at school and on the imbd message boards!) So I just want to say thanx again to my reviewers and to all the people who read my chapters. I really do appreciate and you guys are the reason I keep writing:) So here's the next chapter. This is one of my longer ones,over 2000 words. As you can tell from the title, there's going tobe some ice hockey! Hooray:
Ice Ice Baby!
"Are you coming Jerry?" Bobby asked from the front steps. Jack and Bobby were going to go back to the house to grab skates and sticks and they would all play some hockey. "I'll meet you there." Jerry responded, a crying Amelia in his arms. "But I was playing with it first!" She sobbed pointing to the toy Daniella hid behind her back. Jerry looked at the brother's helplessly. "Just don't be too long." Bobby replied before completely leaving the porch and heading to his car, Jack right on his heels. Before Gunner left, she quickly grabbed a nearby toy and gave it to the crying child. Amelia was thrilled that the dog had given her a toy and felt extremely special. "Thanks!" Jerry said, sounding relieved. Just then, a crash was heard from the kitchen. "Daniella? What did I tell you to do if you need a glass honey?" Jerry called. "It wasn't me!" Came a voice from the kitchen, "It was the fish! It was thirsty!" Gunner rolled her eyes and chuckled to herself before heading out the door, leaving poor Jerry to wait for Camille to return by himself.
When the car pulled up to the Mercer house, an unknown car was sitting in the driveway. Bobby tensed and reached for a gun in the backseat. Gunner followed Bobby into the house, her whole body coiled and ready to spring into action at any second. Jack was the last one. Angel came around the corner and looked at them like they were nuts. "What the hell are ya'll doin'!" "Who the fuck is here Angel?" Bobby demanded an answer, but before Angel could respond, Gunner was jumped and pushed to the ground.
"Freeze dirt-bag!" Tyler laughed from above her. "Jerk!" Gunner barked and knocked his legs out from underneath him. "What's the matter? You used to love playing cops and robbers?" Tyler questioned, the playful puppy shining in his eyes. "Nothing," Gunner responded, "but you always were a bad cop." Tyler realized that he was down and Gunner had him pinned. "No Fair!" He squirmed on the ground, "The cop always gets the bad guy!" "Ya right!" Gunner laughed, knowing all too well that wasn't the truth!
Elizabeth emerged from around the corner. "Hi Jack. I just thought I'd stop by, but you weren't home, I hope it's okay." "It's fine." Jack began to say, but before he could finish the second word, Bobby cut in. "No, it's not okay! What? You think you can just come in here and poke around when no one's home huh? Bet you're a gold digger! A robber! Well there ain't no money here for ya!" Angel stopped Bobby and sighed, "I was here the entire time, Bobby. I was the one who invited her in." "You did what?" Sofi was now in the room. "Oh, okay Angel. I see how it is. A pretty face walks up to the door and I'm history. No more Angel! Won't play your games anymore!" "For once, I'm with Sofi!" Bobby added and then sarcastically said, "Nice Job!" Angel stared in disbelief at his brother and Sofi and looked to Jack for help. "Guys quit it!" Jack started, "Sofi, she's not here for Angel, and Bobby, stop trying to bug her, it won't work!" Jack knew Bobby was only trying to get on Liz's nerves. The way Bobby saw it, if you couldn't handle the Mercer's, get lost, but Jack thought Bobby was kind of taking it a little too far. Gunner was proud of Liz for being able to take so much shit from Bobby. She was totally proving she could fit in with the Mercer's. "It's okay. He doesn't bother me." Liz told Jack, then she turned to Bobby and grinned, "He just wants you to leave me so he has me all for himself!" Bobby moved away from Angel and went over to Liz. "Jackie here ain't the only one who's leaving! Come on Angel. Hockey. Now. No excuses!" Bobby grabbed his stick and skates and pulled Jack, who had grabbed his, out the door. "Want to come." Bobby stared dumbfounded at Jack's words. "Sure." Elizabeth replied with a precious smile towards Jack. "Fine." Bobby said, "If she wants to die, she can come. I'm not gonna go easy on her!" Jack smiled, "You can borrow my old skates." He told her, running in to get them.
"Oh hooray, hockey." Gunner thought. "What's hockey?" Tyler questioned. She stared at him in disbelief. "Well with the Mercer's it's like fighting, but worse." "How?" Tyler questioned. "More blood, more cursing, more hits, sharp blades of metal, must I got on?" She asked. Tyler looked concerned at Liz. "Does she skate?" asked Gunner. "Yeah." He replied, "but I'm not sure how much cursing she's done" He gave her a smile, "She can take care of herself."
Tyler was right. Liz was pretty good, and learned how to check people pretty fast. It was the Mercer's and Liz vs. a bunch of people from the boys' old high school from years ago. Bobby was making fun of Liz again, saying she played like a girl. Out of no where she came up behind him and smashed him into the boards, laughing as she skated away as fast as she could. "So ya wanna play huh?" He responded. Gunner watched as Bobby tripped Liz and smirked in triumph. Tyler looked horrified, but Gunner was relieved he hadn't checked her. She knew he really wasn't out to hurt her; he just liked pushing people's buttons. Liz was okay and got up laughing. Jack looked concerned, but was reassured by her laughter. The Mercer's pulled an awesome final play. Jerry skated up behind the Mercer net and made it down a ways before his phone started to ring, so he passed to Angel. Angel continued, yelling things at people as he easily pushed them over. He passed between a guys' legs to Bobby, who had to pass to Jack so he could start pounding some guy's face in for a comment he believed was unnecessary. Jack pushed a few people down, but found himself in trouble as he saw a guy out of the corner of his eye skating towards him. Jack had no time to block or pass, so he prepared for impact. Just in time, Liz took the guy out and Jack scored. Everyone was laughing and Jack picked Liz up and spun her around. After the game Jerry, Angel and Bobby took off their equipment, while Jack was teaching Liz how to skate backwards. "It was adorable." Thought Gunner. He was holding both her hands as she tried to move her feet like he explained her too.
Tyler decided he wanted to be on the ice too, against Gunner's warnings. After falling down twenty times, Tyler resigned his idea and attempted to come back. Unfortunately, he was stuck out on the ice. Gunner was in stitches of laughter and finally, Bobby realized what was happening and retrieved Elizabeth's dog. "Are you fairies coming? I gotta get home." Bobby yelled. "Why." Asked Jack as the two came to the edge of the rink. "Goin' out with Kelsey!" He said walking away. "KARI!" Jack yelled after him. "Whatever." Was the only response. How that woman could stand Bobby was beyond Gunner.
On the way home, the song on the radio was "Gold Digger" and Bobby just turned to Liz and gave her a triumphant look, like he was a master-mind for finding the song and being able to relate it to his earlier comments meant to bug her. "Don't worry Bobby, they'll play "I believe in Miracles" soon, that way, you'll feel optimistic about your date." Bobby just laughed as they all stopped at a store to buy some hot chocolate. "You just wish I was going with you." He responded. "Stop it Bobby! Just leave it alone!" Jack said, attempting to defend her. "Cracker Jack's forming a backbone." Angel said to Bobby. "Just hurry up we're all freezing." Jerry cut in. Liz looked up at Jack and smiled, "I don't mind. He doesn't bother me." He put his arm around her shoulders, "Okay." He then added, "I have a surprise for you." Liz looked up, her eyes twinkling. "What." Jack only smiled. Liz begged him to tell. "Come on Jack, you can't do that to me! You can't just tell me about a secret and then say nothing else!" "Just gonna have to wait and see I guess." Jack said, beginning to walk into the store. Liz not far behind, dying to know about whatever Jack was keeping from her.
Bobby stopped outside the store and began to leave the group and head towards a bunch of kids. Gunner was confused and was able to get Angel's attention. She and Angel followed him and Gunner realized that she probably should have gotten Jerry, since Angel was bound to just cause more trouble. "You Chris?" Bobby asked one of them, "Chris Lesser?" "Yeah, what's it to ya?" was the teen's response. Bobby answered with a punch across the face. The boys friends immediately jumped into action, and to Gunner's dismay, but not her disbelief, Angel jumped into the fight too. The others realized what was going on and raced over. Jerry and Jack immediately jumped in to help their brothers. "Why not?" thought Gunner, realizing that these guys had to have done something wrong to her boys or why would they be fighting. She jumped in as well. Tyler, seeing Gunner involved, took no hesitation as well.
Elizabeth stared. One minute, everyone was fine, the next it was an all out war! That was the Mercer's for you. Gunner was about to take down another kid, but stopped mid leap when she realized who they were. She was still and shock and couldn't decide whether to continue or not, when Elizabeth had had enough. "STOP!" she yelled. Everyone looked up. "What's going on?" "To be honest, I don't know." Jack admitted. "Me neither." Angel agreed. "Then why the hell are we fighting!" Jerry questioned annoyed. "Ya! What did we do?" A teen began. Angel looked at him and the kid shrunk away. "You hurt my dog!" Bobby accused. "What?" the brothers said in alarm. They all looked to Gunner. She ducked her head. It was true. They had tied the cans to her tail. "How do you know?" Angel asked. "I've done a little bit of research." Bobby stated. "I guess that explains you not going to work." Jerry reasoned. "Naw, most of the time, I just don't go." Bobby responded. Jerry closed his eyes and sighed in defeat. His brother was hopeless. "Who told you?" The leader of the teens seemed to ask. "Why don't you ask one of your friends?" Bobby responded, walking away. A fight began to ensue within the group as the Mercer's left.
"How'd you really find out?" Jack questioned. He knew all too well that Bobby meant to start a fight between the teens. "A guy I know up by where we found Gunner with the cans told me he'd seen a bunch of kids bothering a dog, but couldn't get outside in time, but that he knew one of the kids' fathers." Bobby said it like it was nothing. "So you didn't talk to his father?" Jerry questioned. "I believe that was more effective." Bobby stated, "Now can we leave, I'm late." Angel quickly went and paid for the hot chocolate and they all got back in the car.
"What those kids do to you?" Tyler asked, concerned. "Don't worry about it." Gunner replied, not wanting to relive it. She looked into the driver's seat at Bobby. He had searched for the people who had hurt her, just like he would have for his own brothers. No matter how tough he acted, he really cared about others on the inside. "Though he does have a very weird way of showing it." Laughed Gunner to herself as the car pulled up the driveway to the Mercer house. Gunner always knew Bobby cared about her, but every time he did something for her, Gunner just felt special. Like she really was a Mercer.
