D: Ain't mine, got zilch, don't bother.
A/N: YOU GUYS ARE WONDERFUL!!! You reviewers rock!! I'm gonna take a moment and name my KICK ARSE readers: Christie, carebear, Many, Just Groovy, Emer, eminemluver, Leeanna, hoplessromantic, Prettyg36, Sallysue, adrianne, and JC Skywalker, who also did a great flame to one of my reviewers of my other stories who wasn't so nice, but didn't even have the guts to put their name!! Thanks JC Skywalker for the props. Okay, onward with my story. Enjoy!!
AA/N: To respond to some confusement, Walter is not Shelby's step dad. His name is Walt. I put the names so close because it's just a symbolism thing, or whatever. I don't know, it was late when I came up with his name. So, Walter is the candy stripper that has a thing for Shelby. Okay? Goodies.
{#}
In the morning, Peter came early to check on Shelby. Daisy and her were still in bed, Jules in the shower.
"Hey, came to see how you were feeling. I think you should stay here today." He suggested, looking her over. She nodded, grimacing from the pain.
"Definitely, I hurt a lot." She said uncomfortably.
"Need an aspirin or something?" he asked; only naming the medicines she would willingly take. She nodded, adding.
"And my new pills too." She reminded.
"Comin' up. with your breakfast also. Get up Daisy, you can't stay with Shelby all day. You two would have this place completely upside down if I allowed that." Peter joked going out the door.
"Umpht" came her response from somewhere beneath the covers. Shelby just smiled, shaking her head. After Juliette got out, Daisy went in and by the time she was out and ready for school, Shel's breakfast arrived. The 'housekeeping' was a 'keeper', well in Shelby's eyes anyways.
"Hey beautiful." Scott said, bringing in her tray.
"We'll let you two eat alone." Daisy said rolling her eyes at the rose Scott had 'borrowed' from the entrance gardens, pushing Juliette out the door with her.
"Feeling bad?" Scott asked, pouting his bottom lip sympathetically.
"Yeah..I'm staying put all day today." She said, beginning to eat with her band-aid covered and bracelet hands. Scott still had his on also. Just then Auggie and Danny came in.
"Hey sis, doin' better?" Danny asked, kissing her cheek brotherly.
"Eh..sore. In my arms too." She said showing off her three bandaged spots.
"Couldn't find one?" Auggie said knowingly. She smiled sadly and shook her head.
"Cute, you two have matching bracelets and all." Danny pointed out.
"Oh, he wooed the admitting nurse with his 'I WILL be marrying her, I'll never leave her' performance. She couldn't resist. Sophie's got one too." She commented, smiling sweetly at her prince.
"I like that she does." She said softly.
"Okay, we're off to grub the grub. Be good." Danny said kissing the top of her head and giving her a little hug. Scott stayed until classes started, and then she was all alone to rest. By lunch, the girls came back to keep her company. She learned earlier that Jess did okay in surgery and would be coming home the next day..TO Horizon.
"Yep. She won't go to the house, not with that woman. So Sophie took temporary guidance over her, like with all of us, and is going to bring her here." Shelby said after classes were over. She'd gotten up and moved around by then going slowly to the bathroom or around the room. The more the better. By dinner, with the girls' help, she joined everyone at the table in the mess hall. She even had an air filled donut to sit on. Boy did the guys have fun with that. She was standing holding her tender abdomen and giggling while Auggie paraded around with it around his head doing Caesar impressions.
"C'mon man, she's about to keel over. Let her sit down!" Scott said laughingly and grabbed it from him and placing it on a chair, then helped her sit down. She ate a lot this time, to make up for not being able to eat the day before. Peter came over then with some news.
"Your sisters coming home tomorrow night, she's doing well. Complaining about stitches and scars though. She'll be with you group, of course. She'll become Horizon's youngest member ever. Go down in our little history books." Peter said smiling.
"Is that really a GOOD thing?" David commented dryly.
"Oh, maybe not. But it'll give her something special to think about." Peter replied his hand on Shelby's shoulder.
"She said hey to everyone and love to her twin siblings." He mentioned before leaving them to finish eating. Scott saw the look on Shelby's face, in her eyes. It stayed there all through group. Just before he left, he asked Peter something, a favor. Peter glanced over to Shelby and nodded.
"I should have figured." He said and left at once.
"C'mon babe. I'll help you out." Scott said, providing his arm gentlemanly.
"Thank you kind sir. Night bro." Shelby said blowing Danny a kiss then playing along with her prince escort, giving him a kiss on the cheek. Scott just got one of those lopsided grins and helped out the lobby. After a little walking, Shelby noticed something.
"Scott, this isn't the right way to my cabin.?" She said looking back confused.
"Nope. TRUST me." He replied mischievously. She did and continued on until they were in Peter's office.
"Your chair m'lady." He said sweetly and helped her to sit again. He noticed line 1 on hold.
"Here..check line 1. I'll be in the lobby." He said, kissing her head then leaving her be. She smiled and picked it up.
"Hello?..Baby girl!..Yeah, Scott surprised me!..So.." she said, remembering she'd have to 'thank' her wonderful prince later. (Peter, in all of Shel's slowness, was able to call and put her on hold before they got there.) She talked for a good 20 minutes before both of them kept yawning. They said good night and hung up, then Shelby slowly made her way back to Scott. She pulled on his jacket with her fist till he was mere millimeters away.
"You. Are. The. BEST!" she whispered kissing him big time. After they broke apart, he just smiled and shrugged.
"Knew you needed it." He just said. He walked her to her cabin and gave her an extra long good night kiss. When she finally snuck into bed, it was a half an hour past lights out.
"You snuck out when you can barely walk?!" Jules said in the darkness.
"No..Peter let me talk to Jess." Shelby whispered back.
"Oh..good, you were way into brood mode." Jules commented before going back to sleep. Shelby just rolled her eyes in the darkness and fell asleep.
The next morning, Shelby was able to attend breakfast and classes, as long as she had her donut. And she still walked really slow. By fourth class, she was pretty sore, but still willing to go on. Just as she settled in fourth class, Algebra, Peter stepped in.
"Sorry Anne, can I get Ms. Merrick?" he asked.
"Sure..Shelby, just turn in your class work to someone to grade." Anne, the teacher, said. Shelby nodded and handed it to Sarah, then made her way to Peter. He took her things so she could hold his arm as they walked slow.
"What's up captain?" she asked curious.
"She's here." He simply said, smiling. Her jaw dropped.
"Already?! I though she'd come at dinner time!?" Shelby said shocked.
"Doctor said she was okay enough. Said she'd be better off here..near her family. He saw she wasn't getting much better there so he released her first thing this morning. Sophie called about ten minutes ago from town. Says Jess is HUNGARY! For REAL food!" Peter laughed.
"Well, yeah! She's been in the hospital for a week almost. I don't blame her." Shelby said, getting excited. He led her to a picnic bench that faced the driveway and sat with her. Within minutes, Sophie pulled up with Jess. Peter had to hold her back from moving too fast and hurting herself.
"Jess!" Shelby yelled happily as Peter helped her to the passenger side of the truck.
"Shellie, Shellie!" Jess yelled back as Sophie got to her door.
"Okay, easy girls." Peter tried to warn as Shelby made it to Jess's arms. Shelby hugged her little sister getting teared up as Jess stayed sitting in the truck and cried a little with her.
"I'm sorry Baby girl, I'm so sorry!" Shelby cried a little. She pulled back a little and looked in Jess's eyes. She wiped Jess's tears away and hugged her once more, kissing her cheek.
"Want some lunch? You look like hell!" Shelby said smiling and causing her to giggle. Then a little 'Ow!' as she grabbed her abdomen.
"Oh..careful sweetie. Can you walk?" Shelby asked, crinkling her face.
"Sort-of. Takes awhile." Jess said, shrugging.
"You and me both. Let's go squirt. Sorry Danny couldn't come meet you. He can't miss a single minute of class, he's already far behind everyone else still." Shelby said, offering her an arm. They walked slowly to the kitchen. By the time they got there, lunch had just started.
"Hey guys! Look what I got!" Shelby said as she helped a gingerly walking Jess to the table.
"Jess!" they all said in unison. Except for David, though.
"How ya' feeling, little sis?" Danny said, leaning over to give her a gentle hug and kiss.
"Very sore." She replied quietly. Danny helped her slowly sit down. And Scott had Shelby's donut, since she'd accidentally left it in class.
"Here you go babe." Scott said, pulling it out from under him. Shelby frowned/smiled.
"Thaanks, hun..nice and WARM." Shelby said taking it and joining him. He just smiled like, 'yeah'.
"Here you go Ms. Merrick's" Peter said giving them both a tray of food. Jess gulped hers down faster than Danny, and smiled contently.
"That was the BEST!" Jess commented truthfully.
"Only someone coming off of hospital food can say that. Well, and Danny. He'd eat dirt." David quipped.
"Hey, you go live on the streets where there IS no food then come say that to my face." Danny said defensively.
"Hey, you leave my brother alone. Stitches or not, I'll take you out!" Jess growled evenly. The table silenced. Auggie's mouth gapped open, a piece of food barely hanging in. Jules choked on her milk. Scott dropped his fork. Shelby just grinned.
"You ARE Shelby's sister!" Daisy finally said to break the silence. David just swallowed, getting up to leave. A short time later, Jess settled in her bed alone. Shelby had left her there with reading material and a new journal from Peter and went to the rest of her classes. (slowly!) When everyone got back, Jess was asleep, so Shelby made sure they were quiet.
"She's exhausted. She should of stayed another day in the hospital." Juliette said quietly.
"Yeah, but she was too depressed. She needed her big sis." Daisy said smiling sadly. Shelby was perched on the edge of Jess's bed, rubbing her back 'cause Jess had been mumbling in her sleep for her.
"Shh..she'll be okay. She's got some tough one's ahead, but..she's a fighter. More so than ME." Shelby said smiling at them.
"Oh great! Watch out! Hurricane Merrick part two is comin'!" Daisy joked, a little too loudly. Shelby had stopped rubbing Jess's back a moment ago and she suddenly bolted awake yelling.
"Noo! Shellie!!" she screamed then recoiled in extreme pain from her stitches.
"Owww!" she hissed out.
"Jess! It's okay! I'm right here! You okay?" Shelby asked, wincing at her sister's obvious pain.
"Oww! No!..eeeeh, my stitches! I think..I think I tore some!" Jess replied tears in her eyes.
"Okay, lay back down. Will you let me see?" Shelby asked. Jess eyed Daisy and Jules for a second, then nodded. She laid back and untied her tie- up warm-up pants. Shelby gently lifted them up far enough to peek at her exposed incision. (A/N:just below your pant line, you'd see it if you were wearing a bikini, not too far down. Like an appendectomy scar.)
"Sheesh Jess! That's big! I thought you said stitches!! Those are staples!" Shelby exclaimed, shocked.
"Wow! Can I see?" Daisy asked out of the blue.
"Oh, never mind.sorry." She quickly replied a second later, realizing it was rude.
"No. It's all right. It's not too low. Not givin' a show here." Jess said, shaking her head and smirking. Juliette and Daisy both came over and peeked.
"Eeh! Poor baby!" Jules responded, grimacing.
"Well, one's a little pulled. Not bad. Some clean up is required." Shelby assessed.
"They showed Sophie how to do it." Jess pointed out, biting her lip.
"We'll get her. It's about group time Shel." Daisy said as her and Juliette left.
"It's okay, Ma will fix you up good. She understands more then you know." Shelby reassured. Jess narrowed her eyes.
"Ma?.You mean Sophie, right?" Jess said in her lispy voice.
"Yeah. I call her that now. Kind of just..came about." Shelby said shrugging.
"That's why she has your bracelet. You know..I didn't realize that yet.but at the hospital, I made them give Mo..that woman's to Sophie. She didn't look shocked, just smiled with tears in her eyes. Now I understand why." Jess explained. Just then Sophie was just outside the door, barely opened.
"Shel.d-do you think..that..maybe..Sophie a-and Peter would..maybe." Jess tried saying, unsure.
"Adopt us? I was thinking the same thing too." Shelby said smiling. Sophie's breath caught.
"Oooh! These things hurt!" Jess said suddenly when she moved a little too much. Sophie came all the way in now, with Jess's bag of cleaning stuff.
"Hey kiddo..need some help? Heard you got startled and might have pulled something." She said, playing like she hadn't heard anything.
"One's a little pulled, but they're okay. When is she getting those out, Ma? I don't like STAPLES in my baby sister." Shelby said, frowning.
"In eight days. Okay, I'll get her cleaned up if you want to catch group." Sophie said sitting on Jess's bed.
"Sure. You okay Squirt?" Shelby asked one more time getting up with a little difficulty.
"Yeah, I'm in good hands." Jess said, smiling at Sophie.
"K.come to group if you can." Shelby said, walking out. Soph cleaned up Jess's incision and helped her to group, JUST as it ended.
"Too slow sis!" Danny said kiddingly, as everyone got up to leave.
"We'll stay to talk with you, if you want." Peter said eyeing Sophie.
"Sure..anything you want to talk about." Sophie said eyeing Shelby.
"I'll..stay too. Scott..I'll see you later, K?" Shelby said as she sat with Jess. He could tell she needed to say something to Peter and Sophie so he left after giving her a wink.
" Hey meat! Wanna play some ball before we start losing some daylight?" Auggie yelled with a basketball in his arms. He ran out to join them.
"I ENVY fast people!" Shelby muttered.
"Okay Merrick's..what you want to talk about?" Peter said.
"Um..first..um..how 'bout changing THAT? Our last name?..That's HIS name..we don't want it." Jess said, already knowing her sister's feelings.
"Uh.okay, not sure HOW we could help you with that one. Your mom-" Peter said but Shelby interrupted.
"That woman's NOT our mother! Mothers don't DO that to their daughters! They take care of them and nurture them." Shelby said getting upset.
"Like..Sophie." Jess whispered. Peter looked a little puzzled still. Sophie just remained speechless.
"You CAN help us with what we wish for, Peter." Shelby said, once she calmed down.
"How?" Peter inquired.
"Change our last name, like we said before. To- to..Scarbrow." Shelby finished in a soft voice, her and Jess looking up at them with hope in their eyes. It was enough to make Sophie get all-emotional. Peter sat shocked, definitely not expecting that from them.
"Wow, th-that's.uh." Peter mumbled.
"Out of left field?" Jess filled in for him. He nodded, smiling. Shelby went on.
"We'll NEVER take that woman's maiden name, can't STAND to have HIS name already.I already call Sophie Ma..Jess'll catch on at any moment." she said, almost pleadingly.
Sophie and Peter eyed each other with a look. Jess and Shelby also shared a look of anticipation as they waited on the edge of their seats for Peter and Sophie's answer.
{#}
A/N: Hehe! Wonder what they will say!? I know, not a real hard guess, but it's a fun place to stop. Plus, my arms are killing me since I just got all these shots yesterday. I'll update real quick, promise! You guys rock with all the reviews! Tell me what you think about this chappy, if I got everyone's character alright. Thanx and don't forget to review.
A/N: YOU GUYS ARE WONDERFUL!!! You reviewers rock!! I'm gonna take a moment and name my KICK ARSE readers: Christie, carebear, Many, Just Groovy, Emer, eminemluver, Leeanna, hoplessromantic, Prettyg36, Sallysue, adrianne, and JC Skywalker, who also did a great flame to one of my reviewers of my other stories who wasn't so nice, but didn't even have the guts to put their name!! Thanks JC Skywalker for the props. Okay, onward with my story. Enjoy!!
AA/N: To respond to some confusement, Walter is not Shelby's step dad. His name is Walt. I put the names so close because it's just a symbolism thing, or whatever. I don't know, it was late when I came up with his name. So, Walter is the candy stripper that has a thing for Shelby. Okay? Goodies.
{#}
In the morning, Peter came early to check on Shelby. Daisy and her were still in bed, Jules in the shower.
"Hey, came to see how you were feeling. I think you should stay here today." He suggested, looking her over. She nodded, grimacing from the pain.
"Definitely, I hurt a lot." She said uncomfortably.
"Need an aspirin or something?" he asked; only naming the medicines she would willingly take. She nodded, adding.
"And my new pills too." She reminded.
"Comin' up. with your breakfast also. Get up Daisy, you can't stay with Shelby all day. You two would have this place completely upside down if I allowed that." Peter joked going out the door.
"Umpht" came her response from somewhere beneath the covers. Shelby just smiled, shaking her head. After Juliette got out, Daisy went in and by the time she was out and ready for school, Shel's breakfast arrived. The 'housekeeping' was a 'keeper', well in Shelby's eyes anyways.
"Hey beautiful." Scott said, bringing in her tray.
"We'll let you two eat alone." Daisy said rolling her eyes at the rose Scott had 'borrowed' from the entrance gardens, pushing Juliette out the door with her.
"Feeling bad?" Scott asked, pouting his bottom lip sympathetically.
"Yeah..I'm staying put all day today." She said, beginning to eat with her band-aid covered and bracelet hands. Scott still had his on also. Just then Auggie and Danny came in.
"Hey sis, doin' better?" Danny asked, kissing her cheek brotherly.
"Eh..sore. In my arms too." She said showing off her three bandaged spots.
"Couldn't find one?" Auggie said knowingly. She smiled sadly and shook her head.
"Cute, you two have matching bracelets and all." Danny pointed out.
"Oh, he wooed the admitting nurse with his 'I WILL be marrying her, I'll never leave her' performance. She couldn't resist. Sophie's got one too." She commented, smiling sweetly at her prince.
"I like that she does." She said softly.
"Okay, we're off to grub the grub. Be good." Danny said kissing the top of her head and giving her a little hug. Scott stayed until classes started, and then she was all alone to rest. By lunch, the girls came back to keep her company. She learned earlier that Jess did okay in surgery and would be coming home the next day..TO Horizon.
"Yep. She won't go to the house, not with that woman. So Sophie took temporary guidance over her, like with all of us, and is going to bring her here." Shelby said after classes were over. She'd gotten up and moved around by then going slowly to the bathroom or around the room. The more the better. By dinner, with the girls' help, she joined everyone at the table in the mess hall. She even had an air filled donut to sit on. Boy did the guys have fun with that. She was standing holding her tender abdomen and giggling while Auggie paraded around with it around his head doing Caesar impressions.
"C'mon man, she's about to keel over. Let her sit down!" Scott said laughingly and grabbed it from him and placing it on a chair, then helped her sit down. She ate a lot this time, to make up for not being able to eat the day before. Peter came over then with some news.
"Your sisters coming home tomorrow night, she's doing well. Complaining about stitches and scars though. She'll be with you group, of course. She'll become Horizon's youngest member ever. Go down in our little history books." Peter said smiling.
"Is that really a GOOD thing?" David commented dryly.
"Oh, maybe not. But it'll give her something special to think about." Peter replied his hand on Shelby's shoulder.
"She said hey to everyone and love to her twin siblings." He mentioned before leaving them to finish eating. Scott saw the look on Shelby's face, in her eyes. It stayed there all through group. Just before he left, he asked Peter something, a favor. Peter glanced over to Shelby and nodded.
"I should have figured." He said and left at once.
"C'mon babe. I'll help you out." Scott said, providing his arm gentlemanly.
"Thank you kind sir. Night bro." Shelby said blowing Danny a kiss then playing along with her prince escort, giving him a kiss on the cheek. Scott just got one of those lopsided grins and helped out the lobby. After a little walking, Shelby noticed something.
"Scott, this isn't the right way to my cabin.?" She said looking back confused.
"Nope. TRUST me." He replied mischievously. She did and continued on until they were in Peter's office.
"Your chair m'lady." He said sweetly and helped her to sit again. He noticed line 1 on hold.
"Here..check line 1. I'll be in the lobby." He said, kissing her head then leaving her be. She smiled and picked it up.
"Hello?..Baby girl!..Yeah, Scott surprised me!..So.." she said, remembering she'd have to 'thank' her wonderful prince later. (Peter, in all of Shel's slowness, was able to call and put her on hold before they got there.) She talked for a good 20 minutes before both of them kept yawning. They said good night and hung up, then Shelby slowly made her way back to Scott. She pulled on his jacket with her fist till he was mere millimeters away.
"You. Are. The. BEST!" she whispered kissing him big time. After they broke apart, he just smiled and shrugged.
"Knew you needed it." He just said. He walked her to her cabin and gave her an extra long good night kiss. When she finally snuck into bed, it was a half an hour past lights out.
"You snuck out when you can barely walk?!" Jules said in the darkness.
"No..Peter let me talk to Jess." Shelby whispered back.
"Oh..good, you were way into brood mode." Jules commented before going back to sleep. Shelby just rolled her eyes in the darkness and fell asleep.
The next morning, Shelby was able to attend breakfast and classes, as long as she had her donut. And she still walked really slow. By fourth class, she was pretty sore, but still willing to go on. Just as she settled in fourth class, Algebra, Peter stepped in.
"Sorry Anne, can I get Ms. Merrick?" he asked.
"Sure..Shelby, just turn in your class work to someone to grade." Anne, the teacher, said. Shelby nodded and handed it to Sarah, then made her way to Peter. He took her things so she could hold his arm as they walked slow.
"What's up captain?" she asked curious.
"She's here." He simply said, smiling. Her jaw dropped.
"Already?! I though she'd come at dinner time!?" Shelby said shocked.
"Doctor said she was okay enough. Said she'd be better off here..near her family. He saw she wasn't getting much better there so he released her first thing this morning. Sophie called about ten minutes ago from town. Says Jess is HUNGARY! For REAL food!" Peter laughed.
"Well, yeah! She's been in the hospital for a week almost. I don't blame her." Shelby said, getting excited. He led her to a picnic bench that faced the driveway and sat with her. Within minutes, Sophie pulled up with Jess. Peter had to hold her back from moving too fast and hurting herself.
"Jess!" Shelby yelled happily as Peter helped her to the passenger side of the truck.
"Shellie, Shellie!" Jess yelled back as Sophie got to her door.
"Okay, easy girls." Peter tried to warn as Shelby made it to Jess's arms. Shelby hugged her little sister getting teared up as Jess stayed sitting in the truck and cried a little with her.
"I'm sorry Baby girl, I'm so sorry!" Shelby cried a little. She pulled back a little and looked in Jess's eyes. She wiped Jess's tears away and hugged her once more, kissing her cheek.
"Want some lunch? You look like hell!" Shelby said smiling and causing her to giggle. Then a little 'Ow!' as she grabbed her abdomen.
"Oh..careful sweetie. Can you walk?" Shelby asked, crinkling her face.
"Sort-of. Takes awhile." Jess said, shrugging.
"You and me both. Let's go squirt. Sorry Danny couldn't come meet you. He can't miss a single minute of class, he's already far behind everyone else still." Shelby said, offering her an arm. They walked slowly to the kitchen. By the time they got there, lunch had just started.
"Hey guys! Look what I got!" Shelby said as she helped a gingerly walking Jess to the table.
"Jess!" they all said in unison. Except for David, though.
"How ya' feeling, little sis?" Danny said, leaning over to give her a gentle hug and kiss.
"Very sore." She replied quietly. Danny helped her slowly sit down. And Scott had Shelby's donut, since she'd accidentally left it in class.
"Here you go babe." Scott said, pulling it out from under him. Shelby frowned/smiled.
"Thaanks, hun..nice and WARM." Shelby said taking it and joining him. He just smiled like, 'yeah'.
"Here you go Ms. Merrick's" Peter said giving them both a tray of food. Jess gulped hers down faster than Danny, and smiled contently.
"That was the BEST!" Jess commented truthfully.
"Only someone coming off of hospital food can say that. Well, and Danny. He'd eat dirt." David quipped.
"Hey, you go live on the streets where there IS no food then come say that to my face." Danny said defensively.
"Hey, you leave my brother alone. Stitches or not, I'll take you out!" Jess growled evenly. The table silenced. Auggie's mouth gapped open, a piece of food barely hanging in. Jules choked on her milk. Scott dropped his fork. Shelby just grinned.
"You ARE Shelby's sister!" Daisy finally said to break the silence. David just swallowed, getting up to leave. A short time later, Jess settled in her bed alone. Shelby had left her there with reading material and a new journal from Peter and went to the rest of her classes. (slowly!) When everyone got back, Jess was asleep, so Shelby made sure they were quiet.
"She's exhausted. She should of stayed another day in the hospital." Juliette said quietly.
"Yeah, but she was too depressed. She needed her big sis." Daisy said smiling sadly. Shelby was perched on the edge of Jess's bed, rubbing her back 'cause Jess had been mumbling in her sleep for her.
"Shh..she'll be okay. She's got some tough one's ahead, but..she's a fighter. More so than ME." Shelby said smiling at them.
"Oh great! Watch out! Hurricane Merrick part two is comin'!" Daisy joked, a little too loudly. Shelby had stopped rubbing Jess's back a moment ago and she suddenly bolted awake yelling.
"Noo! Shellie!!" she screamed then recoiled in extreme pain from her stitches.
"Owww!" she hissed out.
"Jess! It's okay! I'm right here! You okay?" Shelby asked, wincing at her sister's obvious pain.
"Oww! No!..eeeeh, my stitches! I think..I think I tore some!" Jess replied tears in her eyes.
"Okay, lay back down. Will you let me see?" Shelby asked. Jess eyed Daisy and Jules for a second, then nodded. She laid back and untied her tie- up warm-up pants. Shelby gently lifted them up far enough to peek at her exposed incision. (A/N:just below your pant line, you'd see it if you were wearing a bikini, not too far down. Like an appendectomy scar.)
"Sheesh Jess! That's big! I thought you said stitches!! Those are staples!" Shelby exclaimed, shocked.
"Wow! Can I see?" Daisy asked out of the blue.
"Oh, never mind.sorry." She quickly replied a second later, realizing it was rude.
"No. It's all right. It's not too low. Not givin' a show here." Jess said, shaking her head and smirking. Juliette and Daisy both came over and peeked.
"Eeh! Poor baby!" Jules responded, grimacing.
"Well, one's a little pulled. Not bad. Some clean up is required." Shelby assessed.
"They showed Sophie how to do it." Jess pointed out, biting her lip.
"We'll get her. It's about group time Shel." Daisy said as her and Juliette left.
"It's okay, Ma will fix you up good. She understands more then you know." Shelby reassured. Jess narrowed her eyes.
"Ma?.You mean Sophie, right?" Jess said in her lispy voice.
"Yeah. I call her that now. Kind of just..came about." Shelby said shrugging.
"That's why she has your bracelet. You know..I didn't realize that yet.but at the hospital, I made them give Mo..that woman's to Sophie. She didn't look shocked, just smiled with tears in her eyes. Now I understand why." Jess explained. Just then Sophie was just outside the door, barely opened.
"Shel.d-do you think..that..maybe..Sophie a-and Peter would..maybe." Jess tried saying, unsure.
"Adopt us? I was thinking the same thing too." Shelby said smiling. Sophie's breath caught.
"Oooh! These things hurt!" Jess said suddenly when she moved a little too much. Sophie came all the way in now, with Jess's bag of cleaning stuff.
"Hey kiddo..need some help? Heard you got startled and might have pulled something." She said, playing like she hadn't heard anything.
"One's a little pulled, but they're okay. When is she getting those out, Ma? I don't like STAPLES in my baby sister." Shelby said, frowning.
"In eight days. Okay, I'll get her cleaned up if you want to catch group." Sophie said sitting on Jess's bed.
"Sure. You okay Squirt?" Shelby asked one more time getting up with a little difficulty.
"Yeah, I'm in good hands." Jess said, smiling at Sophie.
"K.come to group if you can." Shelby said, walking out. Soph cleaned up Jess's incision and helped her to group, JUST as it ended.
"Too slow sis!" Danny said kiddingly, as everyone got up to leave.
"We'll stay to talk with you, if you want." Peter said eyeing Sophie.
"Sure..anything you want to talk about." Sophie said eyeing Shelby.
"I'll..stay too. Scott..I'll see you later, K?" Shelby said as she sat with Jess. He could tell she needed to say something to Peter and Sophie so he left after giving her a wink.
" Hey meat! Wanna play some ball before we start losing some daylight?" Auggie yelled with a basketball in his arms. He ran out to join them.
"I ENVY fast people!" Shelby muttered.
"Okay Merrick's..what you want to talk about?" Peter said.
"Um..first..um..how 'bout changing THAT? Our last name?..That's HIS name..we don't want it." Jess said, already knowing her sister's feelings.
"Uh.okay, not sure HOW we could help you with that one. Your mom-" Peter said but Shelby interrupted.
"That woman's NOT our mother! Mothers don't DO that to their daughters! They take care of them and nurture them." Shelby said getting upset.
"Like..Sophie." Jess whispered. Peter looked a little puzzled still. Sophie just remained speechless.
"You CAN help us with what we wish for, Peter." Shelby said, once she calmed down.
"How?" Peter inquired.
"Change our last name, like we said before. To- to..Scarbrow." Shelby finished in a soft voice, her and Jess looking up at them with hope in their eyes. It was enough to make Sophie get all-emotional. Peter sat shocked, definitely not expecting that from them.
"Wow, th-that's.uh." Peter mumbled.
"Out of left field?" Jess filled in for him. He nodded, smiling. Shelby went on.
"We'll NEVER take that woman's maiden name, can't STAND to have HIS name already.I already call Sophie Ma..Jess'll catch on at any moment." she said, almost pleadingly.
Sophie and Peter eyed each other with a look. Jess and Shelby also shared a look of anticipation as they waited on the edge of their seats for Peter and Sophie's answer.
{#}
A/N: Hehe! Wonder what they will say!? I know, not a real hard guess, but it's a fun place to stop. Plus, my arms are killing me since I just got all these shots yesterday. I'll update real quick, promise! You guys rock with all the reviews! Tell me what you think about this chappy, if I got everyone's character alright. Thanx and don't forget to review.