Thanks so much to all of those who reviewed! To know that people actually look forward to me posting, it's just...wow. I'm speechless. Please read and review!
Lizzie lead Danny into the house, her hand cupped within his. She unlocked the door and stepped through. "Miranda," she called, slipping her arms out of her coat.
Danny took it from her and slid it onto the coat rack. Lizzie thanked him softly and started into the kitchen. "Miranda?"
"Lizzie," Miranda called coming down the stairs.
Lizzie smiled stepping forward, bringing Danny with her.
"Danny, hi," Miranda grinned, giving a brief wave of her hand.
"What's wrong?" Lizzie asked immediately.
"Nothing," Miranda stated quickly. "It's just Tori—"
"What about? What's wrong with Tori?" Lizzie interrupted.
Miranda held her hands up. "Lizzie, she's fine. She's just decided she's not going to talk to us any more."
Lizzie stared quizzically at Miranda as she slid her hand out of Danny's and started up the stairs. She entered Tori's room alone and looked at Gordo sitting on Tori's bed while her daughter sat in the corner of the room.
"Hey baby," she called softly. She pretended not the see the way Gordo's head jerked up, instead she walked quickly over to Tori. She knelt down and gently brushed her daughter's hair away from her face. "What's wrong?"
Tori said nothing but didn't move away either.
Encouraged, Lizzie picked up her daughter's hand, and gently tilted her head upwards. "Tori, you gotta talk to Mommy."
"It's not going to work, Lizzie," Gordo stated after a long silence.
Lizzie glared over her shoulder at Gordo and continued to try and coax her daughter into speaking to her. "Guess who's here?" Tori looked up at Lizzie. "You remember Danny?"
Tori faintly nodded.
Lizzie smiled at the possible progress. "He's downstairs. And you can't see him or play with him if you stay up here all night. Do you want to go see him?"
Tori looked around the room and finally nodded. Lizzie smiled in relief and slipped her arms underneath her daughter's and hoisted her onto her hip. "Let's go downstairs then."
Lizzie led the way and was secretly pleased to see Danny waiting at the foot of the stairs. His eyes grazed over Lizzie and he smiled as he reached out and gently patted Tori on the back.
Lizzie hugged her to her as they went into the kitchen. Lizzie sat her on the counter as Miranda turned back to the dinner she was making.
Lizzie laughed softly as Miranda picked up a spoon.
"What?" Miranda asked.
"I need to pay you more. Not only do you baby-sit, but you always cook dinner."
"Cause you burn it," Tori stated.
Lizzie stared blankly at her daughter for a fleeting moment disbelieving what she'd just heard. Snickers rippled around the room as everyone tried to hide their laughs.
"Tori," Lizzie began but she realized she didn't have the heart to school her daughter for a true statement.
"Hey, Tori," Danny stated, leaning towards her. "You know what I always wanted to play?"
Her interest sparked Tori turned towards Danny. "What?"
"Catch. But no one would ever play with me."
"I play," she answered.
Lizzie watched in amazement as Danny lifted Tori from the counter and carted her outside.
"What's Danny doing here?" Gordo asked suddenly.
Lizzie turned towards him. "I decided to bring him over," she stated simply.
Gordo stared at her for several moments until he muttered under his breath, "Doing some take home work?"
Miranda's eyes grew wide as she turned quickly towards the remaining dinner on the stove.
"I believe that's none of your business," Lizzie snapped.
"What you want to do is your own business," Gordo began but stopped short when Miranda abruptly hit him with a wooden spoon.
"Whoops, my fault it slipped," she stated, attempting to wipe his shirt off with a dish rag.
Gordo stood up and locked eyes with Miranda for several seconds before he took a deep breath and turned towards the stairs. "I'd better change."
Lizzie watched until she heard his footsteps end at the top of the stairs. Then she quickly turned to Miranda. "What was that about?"
Miranda only shrugged in response as she moved pot onto the table.
"You know something don't you?"
"If you want to find something out talk to him," Miranda stated.
Lizzie leaned forward arching her eyebrows. "You're supposed to be on my side."
"I'm not on anyone's side Lizzie, but ever since what happened with Tori, you've completely shut him out. If you really want to ignore him that much why don't you tell him to movie out?"
"It's not that simple," Lizzie protested. "He doesn't have any where to go. And I've not shut him out."
"You haven't?"
Lizzie grabbed glasses and arranged the table. "He lied to me about when he left, he cheated on me."
Miranda nodded slowly. "What about Danny?"
"What about him?"
"How do you feel for him?"
"He's a great guy, and he's caring, and...and I can't believe I'm discussing this. Isn't it time to eat yet?"
"You can't run away from your feelings forever Lizzie."
"Why not? I'm good at it," she stated, her eyes going to the window where she could see Danny and Tori. But how long did she really want to run?