GH5 3: Meet The Dales.

Later, we arrived at the Dale residence, which was a 19th century Victorian house out in the countryside of Alberta near a forest and a moor, where we stood outside the home with our luggage, with Chelsea and Adam Dale greeting us, as well as the front door being open. Among our group was my 15-year old friend, Isaac Johnson.

Aunt Candace's once orange hair was now an orange-blondish color, with the front of it going past her shoulders and the back of it stopping at her upper-back.

Isaac had long brown hair that went down to his neck and his eyes were brown. He looked like Ethan Diaz on 'Stuck In The Middle'.

Chelsea was aunt Candace's cousin and Adam was her cousin in-law, since he was married to Chelsea. She had brown hair that went past her shoulders and stopped at her upper-back and her eyes were brown.

Adam had black hair and brown eyes.

"I'm so glad you guys could stop by." Adam said.

"It's really nice to meet you. I'm Layla. Candace's best friend."

"Nice to meet you, Layla. I'm Chelsea and this is my husband, Adam."

"Hi, nice to meet you." Adam said, greeting Layla.

"Mr. and Mrs. Dale, your house is awesome. I'm Isaac Johnson, Keegan's friend."

"Oh, well, thanks. We have put a little bit of work into it." Said Chelsea.

"Yeah." Adam agreed. "So Keegan, how's high school counseling?"

"Oh, it's good." I answered.

"It better be for what it's costin' us." Said my Dad, Jerry Lewis.

We all shared a laugh together.

"So Adam, you still have those, uh, old bikes from the 80s?" I asked.

"Yeah, down in the basement." Adam answered. "Why don't we go down and take a look at 'em?" He said as a 9-year old boy and a 19-year old girl came out of the house through the open front door and onto the porch.

The boy had brown hair and hazel brown eyes, which made me drop my black duffle-bag and step back in shock and trip and fall back on the ground. For this was the same little boy from my nightmare i had while asleep on the RV. Now here he was, standing in front of me in person. How was this possible? Then again, i probably would've known of his existence and that fact that he was my cousin had Dad and i stayed in contact with Adam and Chelsea these last nine years. After the vehicle collision that killed my Mom, we kind of stopped keeping in touch with them. I don't know why, but we did. Anyway, onto the boy's clothes and shoes. He wore a gray un-buttoned short sleeve shirt, a blue t-shirt, blue pants and black sneakers with white laces and white trims.

The 19-year old girl had brown hair that went past her shoulders and stopped at her upper-back and her eyes were brown.

"Keegan." Said aunt Candace.

"I'm sorry. I just, uh...i slipped." I said before getting to my feet.

"Connor, i thought you were resting." Said Chelsea.

"Hey there, cuz." Said aunt Candace to Connor.

"Hey, Connor. How ya doin', little guy?" Dad added.

"Oh, i almost forgot to introduce you guys. Connor, these are your cousins, Jerry and Candace, her friend, Layla, your other cousin, Keegan, his dog, Copper, and his friend, Isaac. Keegan, this is your little cousin, Connor, and...i think you know your older cousin, Emma." She's 19 and in college now. She's staying with us for the summer until college starts up again on September 1st." Chelsea said.

"Hi." Emma stated, waving her right hand briefly.

"Hey." Connor added.

"Hey." I said in disbelief. I couldn't believe it. First i had a nightmare about this kid, then i find out that he's real, and now to top it off, i've learned that he's my cousin. How weird was that? And then there was Emma. The last time i saw here was at Mom's funeral in 2015. She was 10 and in 4th grade at the time and was now 19 and in college. That didn't seem right. Then again, me being 5 and in 1st grade in '15 and now being 14 in 2024 and in high school didn't seem right either.

"Emma, why don't you show everyone else around while i take Connor back upstairs?" Chelsea suggested.

"No, everybody's here now. Why don't we just skip the nap for today?" Said Adam.

"Well, you know he hasn't been sleeping very well." Said Chelsea.

"All he needs is a night-light." Said Adam.

Chelsea: "No night-lights, the research says-"

Adam: "Just because you're read'n a book, doesn't mean-"

"Look, i'm-i'm sorry, everyone, i guess we're the ones who need a nap, huh?" Said Chelsea, cutting Adam off. "Emma and i are going to take Connor upstairs. Adam, why don't you show them the pool we just installed in the backyard?"

"Okay. Why don't we take the bags in first?" Said Adam.

I picked up my duffle-bag and we all walked up the steps, onto the porch, and went inside the house along with Connor and Emma, entering into the foyer.

"Here it is." Said Adam before closing the door.

"Whoa." I said in amazement. Now that we were inside the Victorian house, i could literally feel the age of the old west, as all of the furniture and the lights in the home were from the 19th century. It hadn't been "gutted", as they say, and replaced with modern day furniture and lights like other Victorian homes had.

"Come on in, everybody, the bedrooms are upstairs." Said Adam before he, Chelsea, Emma, Connor, Isaac, Dad and aunt Candace went upstairs, leaving me, Copper and Layla behind.

"Keegan...is everything okay with you in school counseling?" Layla asked.

"Yeah, it's great." I answered.

"Really?" Layla asked.

"Really. Yeah, it's, uh-it's challenging, it's interesting. I love it." I said. "And i stopped going in March. March 4th, to be exact."

"You stopped going to counseling?" Layla asked.

"Shh." I said.

"Keegan, your Dad and aunt haven't told me." Said Layla.

"They don't know. They wouldn't understand. You know, that therapy stuff in Paris, Texas was okay. And maybe future therapy is gonna be an option for me at some point...but...i wanna focus on being a regular kid again. I wanna focus on high school and graduating from there first." I explained.

"And you felt like you couldn't tell them that?" Layla asked.

"They wouldn't understand, Layla. I've been in counseling since the night of the second 104 Dalmatians incident in New Zealand in 2022. You should see how they act when they're around me now. It's not how they use to be before the ordeal. More-so my Dad than my aunt. And i just wanna be normal again." I said.

"I completely understand that...but you still have to tell them how you feel." Layla said.

"I know, i know, i will. It's just...aunt Candace and Dad have a lot on their minds right now, and they're still recovering from the 103 and 104 Dalmatians fiasco. It hasn't been that long since it happened, you know. But i will tell them. I will. Really. I will." I said.

With all of that said, Layla and i headed upstairs to unpack and settle in, with Copper following behind us.

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