A/N: Thanks to everybody who's read and reviewed this story so far.
It was still early in the evening when Allie Knight walked into the Jeremiah residence.
"Joey, nobody's calling you an old man. Even though, you already have the hairstyle for it." Allie said jokingly to Joey Jeremiah.
"That was a good comeback, 'you young whippersnapper'." Joey replied, doing his best impersonation of a crabby, old man.
As they walked into the living room, the youngest member of the Jeremiah household came running in to greet Allie.
"Allie, Allie!" Angela called out as she ran and wrapped her arms around Allie, giving her a huge hug.
"How've you been sweetie?" Allie asked, while Joey walked into the kitchen.
"Great because Caitlin's been showing me pictures of all the neat places she went." Angela said to her.
Allie wondered to herself, "Who is Caitlin?" So, she asked Angela.
"Angie, is Caitlin a new 'pretend' friend of yours?"
"No silly, she's Daddy's girlfriend." Angela informed her.
"I thought her name was Sydney?" Allie thought back to herself.
While Allie was thinking to herself, Joey came back into the living room with another person behind him.
"See, there's Caitlin! I told you she wasn't pretend." Angela said pointing at the lady behind Joey.
Allie saw her and realized who the Caitlin that Angela had been talking about really was.
"OhmyGod, you're Caitlin Ryan! I watch you on TV all the time." Allie exclaimed, star struck by Joey's new love interest.
"Nice to meet you." Caitlin said as she greeted her. Caitlin had become used to the reactions that she got from all the local residents. Ever since returning to Toronto, Caitlin had become accustomed to everybody making a big deal over the 'hometown girl' who made it big on TV.
"Caitlin," Joey began, "this is the girl I was telling you about the last week."
"Oh, you must be Allie. Joey's told me so much about you." Caitlin told her.
"What, exactly, did he tell you?" Allie asked.
"Nothing juicy, at least not yet." Joey said, teasing Allie again.
"Just remember, I know some embarrassing things about you that your girlfriend might be interested in." Allie replied.
"Actually, I could probably tell you about some of the more ridiculous things Joey did when he was younger. Stuff that you've probably never even heard before." Caitlin said, "Like this one time, Joey wanted to try and make some extra money. So, he bet the entire school whether or not he would walk through the cafeteria nak…"
"Whoa…um, I don't think she wants to hear some boring stories about me." Joey said, trying to keep the next generation from hearing about his youthful exploits.
"Oh, I think I do." Allie said with a big smile.
"I'll tell you later." Caitlin smiled and whispered to Allie.
As they were having a lively conversation, Angela decided she wanted to show something to Allie.
"You got to see the new movie Daddy got for me." Angela said as she grabbed Allie by the hand and lead her over to the TV area.
"What did he get you?" Allie asked her.
"This." Angela said as she held up her Finding Nemo DVD, "Let's watch it."
"Angela, do you remember how to work the DVD player?" Joey asked his young daughter.
"I think so, Daddy." Angela replied.
"Don't worry Joey, I'll help her." Allie told him.
Allie bent over in front of the TV and DVD player and showed Angela which buttons she had to push in order to make her movie play. Angela seemed to get such a huge kick out of something that most people would consider a rather routine task. That's what Allie liked about her and it's what she missed about not having a little sister of her own.
As the two girls set up the DVD player, Joey's stepson Craig came down the stairs. He was on his way to his friend, Marco's house. As he started towards the front door, Craig stopped as he noticed the curvaceous figure in front of the TV wearing black denim spandex jeans, tan boots and a white pullover sweater.
"Well, nobody informed me we were having company over." Craig said in his smoothest voice, "Let me introduce myself, my name is Craig. And who, may I ask, is this beautiful figure in front of me?"
If Allie had heard a comment like this last year, she probably would've run off crying. But not now. After talking to Ms. Hatzilakos, Allie realized that she didn't have any reason to be ashamed of her body. She had decided right then and there that she wasn't going to let some boy's perception of her define how she saw herself.
"Hi Craig. It's funny, you've never greeted me like that before." Allie said as she didn't move or turn around, but continued instructing Angela on how to play her movie.
"Oh, uh…Allie. I didn't know that was you." Craig said as he stumbled.
Craig was stunned to realize the woman that he was hitting on was that same little girl that used to always come by the house. But now, she wasn't a girl, or little, anymore. Craig had spent most of the last year caught up in his own life, his father, Ashley, and Manny; he hadn't noticed that Allie had grown up quite a bit during that time.
"Craig, don't you think you should apologize to Allie." Joey said to him.
"It's all right Joey, really. Usually, Craig hardly notices it when I'm here. I'm guessing he just must've seen a different side of me tonight." Allie said, letting Craig know that she realized what part of her body he was looking at as she was bent over at the DVD player, "I guess old habits just die hard."
With that statement Joey and Caitlin did their best to contain their laughter, as Allie's point to Craig came through loud and clear. Craig was so embarrassed that he just turned around and walked into the kitchen.
"Like a chip off the old block." Caitlin said as she lightly touched Joey in the side.
"Yeah, I better go see if 'chip' is okay, especially after having his ego stepped on for the second time in as many weeks." Joey said as he got up from the sofa that he and Caitlin were sitting on.
As Joey left for the kitchen, Allie finished helping Angela with the movie. They both sat down on the floor together to watch it.
"I like how you handled yourself, Allie." Caitlin said complimenting her, " I love Craig, but he's going to have to learn that he needs to start treating women with more respect."
"Thank you, Ms. Ryan." Allie replied.
"It's like Joey said before, just call me Caitlin."
"Okay…Caitlin." Allie said, still not believing that she was really having a casual conversation with a real life TV star.
Soon, Joey returned from the kitchen after having a brief talk with Craig. He sat back down on the sofa with Caitlin, paying more attention to her than to the movie that was playing on the TV. As the couple cuddled up together, Craig came back out of the kitchen. But instead of heading off to Marco's house, he took a seat in a chair at the edge of the living room. From where he was seated at, he could remain inconspicuous but still see the entire room.
"Craig, I thought you were going over to Marco's?" Joey asked him.
"I was, but I don't want to run into Ellie after everything that happened with Ashley." Craig said.
As the animated movie continued to play, Allie got up from the floor and sat in another large chair on the other side of the living room. Angela got up too and sat down in Allie's lap. She started watching the movie, but less than halfway through it Angela fell fast asleep in Allie's arms, which Allie didn't mind. Allie just sat there and thought about the first time she met the Jeremiah family…
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(Flashback about two and a half years before this night.)
It was a warm summer day and Allie was on her way home from the local swimming pool. She had spent most of the day there with her friends and now she just wanted to go home, shower, and get some rest. As she was walking down the street she heard a small commotion at a house, not too far ahead.
"You fibbed Daddy! You said he was coming."
Allie then saw a small girl run out of her house and sit down on the sidewalk in front of it. Allie's heart went out to the little girl as she sat there, just bawling her little eyes out. So Allie decided to go and see what was wrong with her.
"Are you all right?" Allie asked the little girl.
"Nope." She replied simply.
"Well, do you want to tell me what's wrong?"
"Daddy fibbed, he said Craig is coming, but now he's not." The little girl told her.
"Who's Craig?" Allie asked her.
"He's the bestest brother in the world. He's my big brother."
"Oh. I'm sure he would come if he could. I don't think he would not come on purpose." Allie said, trying to console the girl. Allie then wiped some of the girl's tears away on her own t-shirt.
"But Daddy promised, he promised!"
"Well, I'm not your brother, but I think we can have fun together. How does that sound?" Allie asked her.
"Okay." The little girl said as she finally stopped crying.
"Well first, we have to learn each other's names. I'll go first, my name is Alexandria." Allie told her.
"Wow, it sounds like a princess." The girl told her.
"You're the first person to think so. I guess you can just call me by my nickname, everybody calls me Allie."
"That's the name of my special dinosaur!" The girl exclaimed as she grabbed her dinosaur doll.
"Wow! Okay, now you have to tell me your name?" Allie asked her.
"My name is Angela."
"Angela, that's such a pretty name." Allie said to her.
"Thank You." Angela replied, liking the compliment.
"Since we know each other's names, let me show you how to play a game." Allie said as the two girls stood up on the sidewalk.
Joey had been watching the two girls from his living room window. He was glad the young lady was nice enough to stop and take the time to comfort his young daughter. He hated that he had to break Angela's heart by telling her that her brother wasn't going to be coming to spend the summer with them. As he watched the two girls, he was just grateful that she came by when she did. Angela didn't understand anything about how he and Albert Manning disliked each other. She also wouldn't understand why Albert would use that as a reason to keep Craig away from the Jeremiah house, now that the children's mother, Julia, was dead. All Angela understood was that Mommy had gone away and now Craig had left her too. He hated that she felt so isolated from the people that she loved so much. Joey stood there just watching as the red-haired girl played one game after another with his daughter. After about an hour had passed, he decided it was time for Angela to come in so she could have her dinner.
"Angela, it's time to come in and wash up." Joey said as he stood on the front steps.
"Aw Dad, do I hafta?" Angela pleaded.
"Yes, you've played long enough for today. Maybe your friend can come back tomorrow?"
"Allie, Can you, Can you?" Angela said as she jumped up and down in front of Allie.
"Sure sweetie." Allie answered her.
"Okay." Angela said, beaming as she ran into the house.
As Angela went inside, Allie turned and started to walk home. But Angela's Dad called out to her.
"Miss, can I talk to you for a minute?" Joey asked.
"Sure." Allie replied as she looked at him.
"My name is Joey Jeremiah. Look, I really appreciate you stopping to spend some time with my daughter. Ever since we moved back to Toronto, she hasn't had many friends to play with. I was wondering if you wouldn't mind coming by occasionally to just hang out with her. I could even pay you, if you want, to baby-sit her."
"You don't have to pay me. Angela is such a sweetheart to be around that I couldn't take your money, even if I wanted to Mr. Jeremiah." Allie stated.
"Well, you don't have to call me Mr. Jeremiah, Joey's just fine."
"Okay, Joey. I guess I'll see you and Angela tomorrow afternoon." Allie said as she turned to walk home…
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As Allie sat there, the Disney DVD played itself out and she thought about how much time she had spent with Angela since that first day they met. Joey had made it sound like it was a job being around his daughter. But the truth was, Allie felt like it was a gift to be around somebody so sweet and adorable.
"Well, it looks like someone's ready for bed." Joey said as he picked up Angela to go and put her to bed.
"I guess I better get home too. My Mom's probably wondering where I am." Allie said as she got up to get ready for her trip home.
"It's getting late, let me drive you." Caitlin offered.
"Okay, that's really nice of you." Allie replied.
"Well, I can't let two beautiful ladies go out into the night unescorted. How about I come with you?" Craig asked as he got up from the chair.
"Okay Craig, but just remember what I told you earlier about your attitude." Joey said as he headed upstairs with Angela.
"No problem, Pop." Craig said, somewhat sarcastically.
Craig then followed the two ladies outside as they got into Caitlin's vehicle. Then they took off towards Allie's house.
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Next Chapter: What will Craig, Allie, and Caitlin find to talk about?
