Chapter Nine
At about eight thirty in the morning Thalia decided it was time for everyone to get up and getting out of her toddler bed, she walked out of her room and across the hall into her mother's bedroom. Crawling up on the bed, where Antoinette was still sleeping, she sat next to her and leant over saying in a somewhat quiet voice,
"Mommy I hungry." And shook her shoulders. Rolling over onto her side and propping her head up on her hand Antoinette looked at her daughter and answered,
"You're hungry? Well I guess we're gonna have to get you some food aren't we? C'mon we'll go down to the kitchen and see what I can cook for us." Sitting up and getting out of bed, she took Thalia's hand and walked down the hall and towards the stairs. As soon as they reached the kitchen Anni started going through the refrigerator and cabinets. A few minutes later she turned to the table where Talli had pulled out a chair and was now sitting and asked,
"How does bacon, eggs, and chocolate chip pancakes sound?"
"Yummy!" Was the only reply she got.
"Alright then, I guess that's what we're having." And standing at the counter in her Happy Bunny pajama shorts and tank top that said 'I love boys... they're so stupid' she began grabbing bowls and pans from the cabinets. A few minutes later she was starting to cook the bacon and getting the pancake mix ready to pour on to the griddle she had out. After making most of the pancakes and cooking most of the bacon she began to cook the eggs knowing that they took the least amount of time to finish. It was then that she told Thalia to go upstairs and wake Ashton up. The mistake she made was not telling her how to wake her up exactly, so when Thalia made it into the bedroom, now fully awake, she got on the bed and began jumping up and down yelling,
"Time to wake up!" This immediately jolted Ashton out of bed, causing her, in her shocked state, to fall off the bed in a heap of blankets narrowly missing the bedside table. Untangling herself she looked at the little girl on her bed, which had now stopped jumping and stood there looking down at her. Grabbing Thalia by the hand she gently pulled her off the bed and started tickling her. As she squealed in delight she rolled around on the floor trying to get away from Ashton. Soon she stopped and hugged Thalia saying,
"That's what you get for waking your Aunt Ashton up like that you little monster!" Being called a monster only caused her to grin and giggle a little.
"Mommy told me to." Thalia answered looking innocent. Ashton knew that while Antoinette had probably told her to come wake her up, she didn't tell her to wake her up like that. So looking at Talli she said,
"And why did your Mommy tell you to come wake me up?"
"Cuz she makin' breakfast."
"And what's she making for breakfast, hmm?"
"Chocolate chip pancakes, bacon, and eggs." She answered with a smile.
"Well then we better hurry up before Uncle Rome wakes up and eats it all." Hearing that the little girl jumped up, grabbed Ashton's hand, and tried to pull her up and out of the room. This only made her fall flat on her butt causing Ashton to laugh. She then got up, grabbed Thalia, and walked down the stairs and into the kitchen, where they found Antoinette standing over the stove still cooking the eggs and the small amount of bacon that remained. Sitting Thalia in her booster she went to the cabinets and drawers getting out plates and silverware and set the table. Walking over to Anni and grabbing the plate of bacon she looked at her best friend and said,
"Thanks for not giving you daughter specific directions on how to wake me up."
"How'd she wake you up this time?" Antoinette asked trying not to smile.
"Oh she only jumped on my bed screaming and yelling." She said, sounding sarcastically nonchalant. This made it even harder for Anni to contain her laughter. She then looked at Thalia with a huge smile on her face and said,
"Now Tals that wasn't a very nice thing to do."
"Then why are you smiling Mommy?" The small girl asked looking confused.
"I said it wasn't nice honey, I didn't say it wasn't funny." This earned her a slap on the arm and glare from Ashton. "Alright well, I'm gonna go and wake Rome up, then we can all eat." With that she started to walk out of the kitchen before being stopped by Ashton.
"Anni the basement door is right there." She said pointing at the door next to the sliding glass door.
"I'm getting his some aspirin my guess is that he's gonna need it."
"Oh, yeah you're probably right. Our boy was a little more than messed up when we got home."
"That's what I figured." She then walked out of the room, only to return a couple minutes later with three Tylenol and a glass of water in her hands. She then opened the basement door and shut it as quietly as possible. Walking into the room that sat off of the main room in the basement, she sat on the edge of the bed and gently shook him awake. Groaning he rolled over and looked at her. Leaning forward she held out her hand and the glass of water.
"Here Ro' take these. Then you can come up and have breakfast with all of us."
"Thanks." He managed to grunt out, and then after taking the pills became his regular self asking, "What's for breakfast?"
"You'll see when you get your ass up there." Antoinette answered him, shaking her head and laughing lightly. Patting the side of his leg she said, "C'mon I'll let you walk me up."
"Oh yes that's just what I've always wanted. To walk you up the basement stairs."
"Hey not many people get that honor. You're one of the lucky few."
"Yeah right, lucky, if you say so Anni."
"Oh please, you know you love seeing me in all my beheaded-ness glory."
"Alright enough talking, I'm hungry." Rome said and got up out of bed pulling her with him, and walking up the stairs into the kitchen. Going over to the only two chairs left at the table which just happened to be next to each other, they sat down and saying grace, began to put food on their plates. Looking at Ashton as she put a few pieces of bacon on her plate Antoinette gave her a look that said volumes, making Ashton smile innocently at her and start putting syrup on her pancakes. Gazing around the table at everyone Antoinette tried not to look disgusted at the fact they could actually eat syrup. Rome seeing this decided to say something.
"What Anni, no syrup for you?"
"Shut up smart ass you know I think that stuff's gross."
"Oh and eating pancakes with nothing but butter on them isn't?" Ashton asked with one eyebrow raised.
"Nope it's perfectly normal. And besides these pancakes already have enough sugar with the chocolate chips ya'll are just gonna make yourselves sick. Why do you think I only let Talli have a little bit on hers?"
"God you really are a mom. You sounded a bit like mine when you said that." Ashton said knowing it'd get on her nerves.
"Ha ha you're really funny Cheer Two. But when you get sick don't come crying to me."
"Yes mother," Rome said deciding he wanted in on this, "we promise not to come running to you when our tummies hurt." This earned him a slap to the back of the head and a giggle from Thalia. As they sat there eating Antoinette made sure that they remembered Brian was coming over, and tried to keep Thalia as clean as possible considering she was two and had syrup near her. She managed quite well considering by the end of the meal the only part of Talli that was sticky was her hands and around her mouth. As the adults in the room finished their food Thalia decided that instead of waiting to have one of them clean her up she'd do it herself, and began sucking on her fingers. Pulling out the last finger she'd sucked on, her thumb, with a pop she said in a proud voice,
"Look Mommy all clean!" Looking at her daughter, Antoinette said in a voice that was encouraging,
"I see baby, but we still have to wash your face silly. Plus I don't think that your hands are completely unsticky yet."
"Otay, but can we hurry? My hands feel yucky."
"Sure sweetie, I'm done eating anyways so let's get you cleaned up." She then grabbed both of their plates and placed them in the sink. Grabbing Thalia, they walked to the bathroom where the sound of running water soon came from. Clearing the table Ashton and Rome started on the dishes, trying to get them done as quickly as possible. When Antoinette walked back into the kitchen, she asked if they'd keep an eye on Thalia while she hopped in the shower before they started painting.
As she stood under the water she let her mind drift and take her to the things that she wanted to think about the most. The first thought that popped into her head was the looks that Ashton and Brian had been giving each other yesterday at the café. She knew that they we're interested in each other, but had the feeling that neither one would act on it until they we're positive she wouldn't totally flip out on them. Ashton was going to try and hold some sort of grudge against him as long as she could, and knowing Brian as well as she did, she knew he'd try to avoid any time alone with Ashton at all costs. 'God how the hell am I gonna get those two together?' she asked herself trying to come up with an answer. Giving up on trying finding a solution to that problem she let her mind go to another thing that had been tugging at her mind, her feelings for Rome. She knew that she couldn't hide them forever, but that didn't mean that she didn't want to try. As much as she wanted to deny it, Brian had hurt her when he left, and she wasn't sure that she could put herself out there like that and risk getting hurt again. She had a child to think about, and she wasn't about to let her get hurt too. Finishing up in the shower, she soon turned the water off and wrapped a towel around her body. Opening the door that connected the bathroom to her room, she walked to her dresser and began pulling clothes out. Soon she was dressed in a pair of old, faded cut-offs and an old navy wife beater. She then pulled her hair up in to a high ponytail, leaving two strands out in the front and tucking them behind her ears. She wasn't wearing any shoes considering they were only painting today and she'd rather be barefoot them have shoes on, besides if worst came to worst she could always just slip on one of the many pairs of flip flops that she owned. Going into Thalia's room across the hall, she went in her dresser and pulled out a pink and yellow plaid skort and yellow t- shirt. She also grabbed a pair of pink sandals that were sitting on one of the shelves in her closet. Going back into her own room, Anni grabbed the hairbrush off her dresser and went down the stairs, outfit and brush in one hand, the shoes in the other.
"Talli, come into the living room babe. We gotta get you dressed for the day." She called through the house, not quite sure where her daughter was at the moment. Soon Thalia toddled her way into the living room and over to the couch. Within a few minutes she was dressed and had her shoes on. Pulling the brush gently and expertly through the tangled hair of her daughter, Antoinette quickly finished brushing her hair and had it pulled up in a half pony tail. Turning her around, she kissed her forehead lightly and said,
"You look adorable, sweetie. How bout we go get something to drink in the kitchen?"
"Yeah, I thirsty. And Mommy, you look pretty."
"Aww thanks baby. Let's go see what we can find to drink in the fridge." They both walked into the kitchen and over to the stainless steel refrigerator searching through it, trying to find something that sounded good. Anni finally settled on a sippy cup of kool-aid for Thalia, and a bottle of water for herself. Leaning against the counter she twisted the cap off her water and took a sip. The next hour passed by slowly with Rome Antoinette and Ashton moving furniture, until finally eleven o'clock rolled around.
Pulling up in front of the house that he'd been giving directions to yesterday, Brian parked on the side of the road and looked at the front door. He wasn't really sure what to make of this whole thing. On one hand he wanted to see Anni and his daughter, but then there was the fact that he was attracted to his ex-girlfriend's best friend. That was enough to make things a little bit interesting, and that was putting it mildly. Looking at the house one last time, he opened his car door, and walked up to the front door ringing the door bell.
Hearing the irritating noise of the door bell ringing throughout the house, Antoinette walked into the front hall and pulled the door open to find Brian standing there looking around awkwardly.
"Hey Bri, you gonna stand out there all day or come in and help paint?" She asked smiling. Turning around with a sheepish grin he said,
"Yeah god knows you two are gonna need some help trying to keep two small children under control."
"Nah, Talli's not that bad Rome's the one we gotta make behave." This caused Brian to laugh and Rome to come out of the living room where he and Ashton were laying plastic over the carpet and say,
"What about me?"
"Nothing Ro' nothing at all." Anni said looking innocent and making Brian have to hide the smile that was forming on his lips. "C'mon let's get started in her so we can move into the kitchen." Soon the three of them were pouring the paint into the trays, and rolling it onto the walls. Antoinette had decided that the best color for this room would be a periwinkle color with the paneling around the room and windows a light beige color since all their living room furniture was beige. It worked really well with the dark hard wood floors and the different shades of pale blue pillows that sat on the couch. Working with white walls in an apartment had been a little difficult, but she'd made it work, and now that she could actually paint she still had to make it work with all their furniture. As they all painted Thalia sat there playing with the toys they'd brought down for her earlier. A little while later Ashton, who didn't like the fact that the only noise in the room was Talli playing with her toys and the radio playing 'Gigolo' by Nick Cannon featuring R. Kelly, decided to start up a conversation.
"Hey Anni, what do we got planned at the café for Monday?"
"Not a whole lot, just gotta remake like the tuna and chicken salad for sandwiches and clean up around there, why?"
"Just wondering. So you think you can handle it by yourself?"
"Yeah but again I'ma ask ya, WHY?"
"Cuz ya know someone's second B-I-R-T-H-D-A-Y is coming up in a few weeks and I gotta start getting her P-R-E-S-E-N-T-S's. Seriously what kind of Aunt would I be if I didn't spoil her?"
"Alright but you know you're gonna owe me big for this. Especially when the child is so spoiled rotten she unbearable."
"Yeah right that little cutie over there, unbearable? You're crazy Anni." Rome said joining in.
"Okay so I got a good kid, but ya'll realize that the moment she starts acting like a spoiled brat I'ma hand her off to ya'll cuz you're the ones who've spoiled her to no end."
"Like Tals would ever be a brat." Ashton said looking at her friend like she was crazy.
"Really that kid's an angel, and she has been since she was born." Rome said looking across the room at the little girl sitting in the middle of the floor, in her own little world.
"Are all of you going to the barbeque at the house tomorrow?" Brian asked trying to take the topic of conversation over to something he actually knew about. He knew it'd be a while before he could actually go on in a way where he actually knew his daughter.
"Always, can't mess with a family tradition. Plus I wanna piss Dom off by using the grill." Anni said, an evil grin coming across her face. She knew how her brother got when women started messing with 'his' grill, and couldn't wait to make him blow a gasket. One of her favorite past times ever since she could remember was annoying her brother, and she did so every chance she got.
"You sure that's something you want to do? I've seen how Dom is with his grill and even Letty's not brave enough to fu-" He was immediately cut off by Rome who by now knew what Thalia would say if she heard him say what he was about to.
"Mess Brian mess." He said pointing across the room. Getting the point he corrected himself and began again,
"Mess with the grill."
"Aww the worst he'll do to me is throw me in the pool. And with it being as hot as it's been can't say that I'd mind it too much." Antoinette said confidently. Soon they were back to painting in silence, and stayed that way for the next couple of hours until they'd finally finished painting the living room completely. Looking around the room they could all tell that when they moved the furniture back in that the room would pull together even more than it already did with just the paint. Moving on and into the kitchen it was decided that Rome, Ashton and Antoinette would work on the wall that ran the whole length of the kitchen and dining area while Brian worked on painting the wall in between the cabinets and the counter top. Antoinette had decided on a medium yellow for the walls while leaving all the panels and baseboards white. The two colors accented the blonde oak cabinets and table that they had. Plus the stand for the table top along with the legs and the backs of the chairs were painted white. As they worked they'd start small conversations that would end after a short time, mostly when a song that Ashton or Anni like came on, on the radio and they began singing along with it. Working like this caused them to become less side tracked and within two hours the four of them were painting the last wall, where the door to the basement was, with Ashton on a ladder touching up the paneling in the places it needed it. As she dipped her paint brush into the almost full can of paint she didn't notice how close it was to the edge. Not paying attention to where she put her elbow, she was surprised when the quart of paint tipped over; she'd just barely caught it before it went crashing to the ground. Unfortunately almost all the paint had dumped out and covered Anni, who'd been standing almost directly under the stand it was on, from head to toe.
"Oh my god Anni! I'm soo sorry!" Ashton said while trying not to laugh and fall off the ladder at the same time. Meanwhile Brian and Rome were doing good just to keep themselves standing they were laughing so hard.
"Yeah right Ash go ahead and laugh. You and I both know you wanna hell even Talli's laughin'" Anni finding it a little hard not to laugh herself. After hearing this Ashton made sure to climb off the ladder, then release the laughter she'd been holding back. "Ya coulda stayed on the ladder you know. Maybe then I wouldn't feel like such a fool standing here covered in paint."
"Aww its okay Ann, you're gonna feel so much less foolish when we wrap you in plastic so you don't get paint on the carpet." Ashton said smiling.
"Umm yeah and how am I supposed to get up the stairs to wash this crap off?"
"Oh Ro' will carry you. He needs the exercise the way he's been lazing around."
"Ha ha you're just so damn funny Ash. Let's get her wrapped up so she can wash this stuff off before it dries." Rome said, knowing it was going to hard enough as it was to get that out of her hair and the longer it sat there the more difficult it was going to be.
"Yeah you're right. Let's get my girly ready to go." Ashton said and grabbed one of the extra plastic sheets they had covering the floor.
"Could you guys stop talking like I'm a piece of furniture or something? I'm standing here livin' and breathin'." Antoinette said looking a little annoyed. Soon they had her wrapped up, and Rome was carrying her up the stairs one arm behind her knees, the other wrapped her back and arm. Knocking her door the rest of the way open with his foot, he carried her into the bathroom and sat her down on the floor.
"Thanks Rome, it woulda been a little difficult trying to hop up the stairs." Anni said while shucking the tarp off of her and stepping out of it.
"Yeah no kidding might have been funny to watch though." He said laughing.
"Shut up!" She said slapping him lightly on the arm. "So did you notice how weird Ash and Brian were acting around each other?" "Yeah what was up with that? I didn't think I was the only one who noticed it."
"They like each other. You shoulda seen the looks they were giving each other at the café yesterday."
"No way, my boy woulda told me if he was feelin' Ashton."
"You sure bout that? Normally Ash woulda told me too but she didn't and I know what I saw. Well I'ma wash this crap off, and I'll see you guys in a bit."
"Alright see ya then." And with that he walked out of the room, shutting the door behind him. Soon she was in the shower and scrubbing the off of her and out of her hair. That was the most difficult part, and made her have to wash her hair five times to make sure it was all out. By the time she was done and back in the kitchen wearing a sports bra under one of the many muscle tees she'd snagged from Rome and another pair of cut offs, they'd finished the painting in the kitchen and had begun to move the furniture back into the living room. They worked for the rest of the night moving the rest of the stuff back into the rooms that they belonged in. By the time they were done it was ten o'clock and Thalia had been in bed for an hour and a half. Going into the freshly painted kitchen the two girls grabbed a couple coronas each and walked back into the living room, Antoinette sitting next to Rome on the couch and handing him the second corona she had grabbed. Ashton sat next to Brian and did the same. Soon the four of them were sitting there watching 'Daddy Daycare' and laughing their asses off. Before anyone noticed it, it was almost one in the morning and Brian had to leave. Saying bye, the rest of them finished watching the second movie they'd put in 'Deliver us from Eva', and went to bed, Ashton thinking about Brian, and Anni and Rome's thoughts on each other.
A/N: Well there ya guys go. I know it took me a little longer than I expected but hey it's here now. Yay. Now I get to start working on my chappy for Puzzling Pieces. I'll prolly have that one done by Monday. It'd be posted soon but my mom's evil and steals the computer on the weekends. Grrrr... doesn't she realize I need this thing to update. Well I better hurry up and end this here but before I do I gotta tell ya'll to go check out Cheer and Sunshine's new ficcie called 'The Down Low' it's really kick ass already and you'll luv it. Well I luv you all and don't forget to Read and Review!! Later guys!!
Jess
At about eight thirty in the morning Thalia decided it was time for everyone to get up and getting out of her toddler bed, she walked out of her room and across the hall into her mother's bedroom. Crawling up on the bed, where Antoinette was still sleeping, she sat next to her and leant over saying in a somewhat quiet voice,
"Mommy I hungry." And shook her shoulders. Rolling over onto her side and propping her head up on her hand Antoinette looked at her daughter and answered,
"You're hungry? Well I guess we're gonna have to get you some food aren't we? C'mon we'll go down to the kitchen and see what I can cook for us." Sitting up and getting out of bed, she took Thalia's hand and walked down the hall and towards the stairs. As soon as they reached the kitchen Anni started going through the refrigerator and cabinets. A few minutes later she turned to the table where Talli had pulled out a chair and was now sitting and asked,
"How does bacon, eggs, and chocolate chip pancakes sound?"
"Yummy!" Was the only reply she got.
"Alright then, I guess that's what we're having." And standing at the counter in her Happy Bunny pajama shorts and tank top that said 'I love boys... they're so stupid' she began grabbing bowls and pans from the cabinets. A few minutes later she was starting to cook the bacon and getting the pancake mix ready to pour on to the griddle she had out. After making most of the pancakes and cooking most of the bacon she began to cook the eggs knowing that they took the least amount of time to finish. It was then that she told Thalia to go upstairs and wake Ashton up. The mistake she made was not telling her how to wake her up exactly, so when Thalia made it into the bedroom, now fully awake, she got on the bed and began jumping up and down yelling,
"Time to wake up!" This immediately jolted Ashton out of bed, causing her, in her shocked state, to fall off the bed in a heap of blankets narrowly missing the bedside table. Untangling herself she looked at the little girl on her bed, which had now stopped jumping and stood there looking down at her. Grabbing Thalia by the hand she gently pulled her off the bed and started tickling her. As she squealed in delight she rolled around on the floor trying to get away from Ashton. Soon she stopped and hugged Thalia saying,
"That's what you get for waking your Aunt Ashton up like that you little monster!" Being called a monster only caused her to grin and giggle a little.
"Mommy told me to." Thalia answered looking innocent. Ashton knew that while Antoinette had probably told her to come wake her up, she didn't tell her to wake her up like that. So looking at Talli she said,
"And why did your Mommy tell you to come wake me up?"
"Cuz she makin' breakfast."
"And what's she making for breakfast, hmm?"
"Chocolate chip pancakes, bacon, and eggs." She answered with a smile.
"Well then we better hurry up before Uncle Rome wakes up and eats it all." Hearing that the little girl jumped up, grabbed Ashton's hand, and tried to pull her up and out of the room. This only made her fall flat on her butt causing Ashton to laugh. She then got up, grabbed Thalia, and walked down the stairs and into the kitchen, where they found Antoinette standing over the stove still cooking the eggs and the small amount of bacon that remained. Sitting Thalia in her booster she went to the cabinets and drawers getting out plates and silverware and set the table. Walking over to Anni and grabbing the plate of bacon she looked at her best friend and said,
"Thanks for not giving you daughter specific directions on how to wake me up."
"How'd she wake you up this time?" Antoinette asked trying not to smile.
"Oh she only jumped on my bed screaming and yelling." She said, sounding sarcastically nonchalant. This made it even harder for Anni to contain her laughter. She then looked at Thalia with a huge smile on her face and said,
"Now Tals that wasn't a very nice thing to do."
"Then why are you smiling Mommy?" The small girl asked looking confused.
"I said it wasn't nice honey, I didn't say it wasn't funny." This earned her a slap on the arm and glare from Ashton. "Alright well, I'm gonna go and wake Rome up, then we can all eat." With that she started to walk out of the kitchen before being stopped by Ashton.
"Anni the basement door is right there." She said pointing at the door next to the sliding glass door.
"I'm getting his some aspirin my guess is that he's gonna need it."
"Oh, yeah you're probably right. Our boy was a little more than messed up when we got home."
"That's what I figured." She then walked out of the room, only to return a couple minutes later with three Tylenol and a glass of water in her hands. She then opened the basement door and shut it as quietly as possible. Walking into the room that sat off of the main room in the basement, she sat on the edge of the bed and gently shook him awake. Groaning he rolled over and looked at her. Leaning forward she held out her hand and the glass of water.
"Here Ro' take these. Then you can come up and have breakfast with all of us."
"Thanks." He managed to grunt out, and then after taking the pills became his regular self asking, "What's for breakfast?"
"You'll see when you get your ass up there." Antoinette answered him, shaking her head and laughing lightly. Patting the side of his leg she said, "C'mon I'll let you walk me up."
"Oh yes that's just what I've always wanted. To walk you up the basement stairs."
"Hey not many people get that honor. You're one of the lucky few."
"Yeah right, lucky, if you say so Anni."
"Oh please, you know you love seeing me in all my beheaded-ness glory."
"Alright enough talking, I'm hungry." Rome said and got up out of bed pulling her with him, and walking up the stairs into the kitchen. Going over to the only two chairs left at the table which just happened to be next to each other, they sat down and saying grace, began to put food on their plates. Looking at Ashton as she put a few pieces of bacon on her plate Antoinette gave her a look that said volumes, making Ashton smile innocently at her and start putting syrup on her pancakes. Gazing around the table at everyone Antoinette tried not to look disgusted at the fact they could actually eat syrup. Rome seeing this decided to say something.
"What Anni, no syrup for you?"
"Shut up smart ass you know I think that stuff's gross."
"Oh and eating pancakes with nothing but butter on them isn't?" Ashton asked with one eyebrow raised.
"Nope it's perfectly normal. And besides these pancakes already have enough sugar with the chocolate chips ya'll are just gonna make yourselves sick. Why do you think I only let Talli have a little bit on hers?"
"God you really are a mom. You sounded a bit like mine when you said that." Ashton said knowing it'd get on her nerves.
"Ha ha you're really funny Cheer Two. But when you get sick don't come crying to me."
"Yes mother," Rome said deciding he wanted in on this, "we promise not to come running to you when our tummies hurt." This earned him a slap to the back of the head and a giggle from Thalia. As they sat there eating Antoinette made sure that they remembered Brian was coming over, and tried to keep Thalia as clean as possible considering she was two and had syrup near her. She managed quite well considering by the end of the meal the only part of Talli that was sticky was her hands and around her mouth. As the adults in the room finished their food Thalia decided that instead of waiting to have one of them clean her up she'd do it herself, and began sucking on her fingers. Pulling out the last finger she'd sucked on, her thumb, with a pop she said in a proud voice,
"Look Mommy all clean!" Looking at her daughter, Antoinette said in a voice that was encouraging,
"I see baby, but we still have to wash your face silly. Plus I don't think that your hands are completely unsticky yet."
"Otay, but can we hurry? My hands feel yucky."
"Sure sweetie, I'm done eating anyways so let's get you cleaned up." She then grabbed both of their plates and placed them in the sink. Grabbing Thalia, they walked to the bathroom where the sound of running water soon came from. Clearing the table Ashton and Rome started on the dishes, trying to get them done as quickly as possible. When Antoinette walked back into the kitchen, she asked if they'd keep an eye on Thalia while she hopped in the shower before they started painting.
As she stood under the water she let her mind drift and take her to the things that she wanted to think about the most. The first thought that popped into her head was the looks that Ashton and Brian had been giving each other yesterday at the café. She knew that they we're interested in each other, but had the feeling that neither one would act on it until they we're positive she wouldn't totally flip out on them. Ashton was going to try and hold some sort of grudge against him as long as she could, and knowing Brian as well as she did, she knew he'd try to avoid any time alone with Ashton at all costs. 'God how the hell am I gonna get those two together?' she asked herself trying to come up with an answer. Giving up on trying finding a solution to that problem she let her mind go to another thing that had been tugging at her mind, her feelings for Rome. She knew that she couldn't hide them forever, but that didn't mean that she didn't want to try. As much as she wanted to deny it, Brian had hurt her when he left, and she wasn't sure that she could put herself out there like that and risk getting hurt again. She had a child to think about, and she wasn't about to let her get hurt too. Finishing up in the shower, she soon turned the water off and wrapped a towel around her body. Opening the door that connected the bathroom to her room, she walked to her dresser and began pulling clothes out. Soon she was dressed in a pair of old, faded cut-offs and an old navy wife beater. She then pulled her hair up in to a high ponytail, leaving two strands out in the front and tucking them behind her ears. She wasn't wearing any shoes considering they were only painting today and she'd rather be barefoot them have shoes on, besides if worst came to worst she could always just slip on one of the many pairs of flip flops that she owned. Going into Thalia's room across the hall, she went in her dresser and pulled out a pink and yellow plaid skort and yellow t- shirt. She also grabbed a pair of pink sandals that were sitting on one of the shelves in her closet. Going back into her own room, Anni grabbed the hairbrush off her dresser and went down the stairs, outfit and brush in one hand, the shoes in the other.
"Talli, come into the living room babe. We gotta get you dressed for the day." She called through the house, not quite sure where her daughter was at the moment. Soon Thalia toddled her way into the living room and over to the couch. Within a few minutes she was dressed and had her shoes on. Pulling the brush gently and expertly through the tangled hair of her daughter, Antoinette quickly finished brushing her hair and had it pulled up in a half pony tail. Turning her around, she kissed her forehead lightly and said,
"You look adorable, sweetie. How bout we go get something to drink in the kitchen?"
"Yeah, I thirsty. And Mommy, you look pretty."
"Aww thanks baby. Let's go see what we can find to drink in the fridge." They both walked into the kitchen and over to the stainless steel refrigerator searching through it, trying to find something that sounded good. Anni finally settled on a sippy cup of kool-aid for Thalia, and a bottle of water for herself. Leaning against the counter she twisted the cap off her water and took a sip. The next hour passed by slowly with Rome Antoinette and Ashton moving furniture, until finally eleven o'clock rolled around.
Pulling up in front of the house that he'd been giving directions to yesterday, Brian parked on the side of the road and looked at the front door. He wasn't really sure what to make of this whole thing. On one hand he wanted to see Anni and his daughter, but then there was the fact that he was attracted to his ex-girlfriend's best friend. That was enough to make things a little bit interesting, and that was putting it mildly. Looking at the house one last time, he opened his car door, and walked up to the front door ringing the door bell.
Hearing the irritating noise of the door bell ringing throughout the house, Antoinette walked into the front hall and pulled the door open to find Brian standing there looking around awkwardly.
"Hey Bri, you gonna stand out there all day or come in and help paint?" She asked smiling. Turning around with a sheepish grin he said,
"Yeah god knows you two are gonna need some help trying to keep two small children under control."
"Nah, Talli's not that bad Rome's the one we gotta make behave." This caused Brian to laugh and Rome to come out of the living room where he and Ashton were laying plastic over the carpet and say,
"What about me?"
"Nothing Ro' nothing at all." Anni said looking innocent and making Brian have to hide the smile that was forming on his lips. "C'mon let's get started in her so we can move into the kitchen." Soon the three of them were pouring the paint into the trays, and rolling it onto the walls. Antoinette had decided that the best color for this room would be a periwinkle color with the paneling around the room and windows a light beige color since all their living room furniture was beige. It worked really well with the dark hard wood floors and the different shades of pale blue pillows that sat on the couch. Working with white walls in an apartment had been a little difficult, but she'd made it work, and now that she could actually paint she still had to make it work with all their furniture. As they all painted Thalia sat there playing with the toys they'd brought down for her earlier. A little while later Ashton, who didn't like the fact that the only noise in the room was Talli playing with her toys and the radio playing 'Gigolo' by Nick Cannon featuring R. Kelly, decided to start up a conversation.
"Hey Anni, what do we got planned at the café for Monday?"
"Not a whole lot, just gotta remake like the tuna and chicken salad for sandwiches and clean up around there, why?"
"Just wondering. So you think you can handle it by yourself?"
"Yeah but again I'ma ask ya, WHY?"
"Cuz ya know someone's second B-I-R-T-H-D-A-Y is coming up in a few weeks and I gotta start getting her P-R-E-S-E-N-T-S's. Seriously what kind of Aunt would I be if I didn't spoil her?"
"Alright but you know you're gonna owe me big for this. Especially when the child is so spoiled rotten she unbearable."
"Yeah right that little cutie over there, unbearable? You're crazy Anni." Rome said joining in.
"Okay so I got a good kid, but ya'll realize that the moment she starts acting like a spoiled brat I'ma hand her off to ya'll cuz you're the ones who've spoiled her to no end."
"Like Tals would ever be a brat." Ashton said looking at her friend like she was crazy.
"Really that kid's an angel, and she has been since she was born." Rome said looking across the room at the little girl sitting in the middle of the floor, in her own little world.
"Are all of you going to the barbeque at the house tomorrow?" Brian asked trying to take the topic of conversation over to something he actually knew about. He knew it'd be a while before he could actually go on in a way where he actually knew his daughter.
"Always, can't mess with a family tradition. Plus I wanna piss Dom off by using the grill." Anni said, an evil grin coming across her face. She knew how her brother got when women started messing with 'his' grill, and couldn't wait to make him blow a gasket. One of her favorite past times ever since she could remember was annoying her brother, and she did so every chance she got.
"You sure that's something you want to do? I've seen how Dom is with his grill and even Letty's not brave enough to fu-" He was immediately cut off by Rome who by now knew what Thalia would say if she heard him say what he was about to.
"Mess Brian mess." He said pointing across the room. Getting the point he corrected himself and began again,
"Mess with the grill."
"Aww the worst he'll do to me is throw me in the pool. And with it being as hot as it's been can't say that I'd mind it too much." Antoinette said confidently. Soon they were back to painting in silence, and stayed that way for the next couple of hours until they'd finally finished painting the living room completely. Looking around the room they could all tell that when they moved the furniture back in that the room would pull together even more than it already did with just the paint. Moving on and into the kitchen it was decided that Rome, Ashton and Antoinette would work on the wall that ran the whole length of the kitchen and dining area while Brian worked on painting the wall in between the cabinets and the counter top. Antoinette had decided on a medium yellow for the walls while leaving all the panels and baseboards white. The two colors accented the blonde oak cabinets and table that they had. Plus the stand for the table top along with the legs and the backs of the chairs were painted white. As they worked they'd start small conversations that would end after a short time, mostly when a song that Ashton or Anni like came on, on the radio and they began singing along with it. Working like this caused them to become less side tracked and within two hours the four of them were painting the last wall, where the door to the basement was, with Ashton on a ladder touching up the paneling in the places it needed it. As she dipped her paint brush into the almost full can of paint she didn't notice how close it was to the edge. Not paying attention to where she put her elbow, she was surprised when the quart of paint tipped over; she'd just barely caught it before it went crashing to the ground. Unfortunately almost all the paint had dumped out and covered Anni, who'd been standing almost directly under the stand it was on, from head to toe.
"Oh my god Anni! I'm soo sorry!" Ashton said while trying not to laugh and fall off the ladder at the same time. Meanwhile Brian and Rome were doing good just to keep themselves standing they were laughing so hard.
"Yeah right Ash go ahead and laugh. You and I both know you wanna hell even Talli's laughin'" Anni finding it a little hard not to laugh herself. After hearing this Ashton made sure to climb off the ladder, then release the laughter she'd been holding back. "Ya coulda stayed on the ladder you know. Maybe then I wouldn't feel like such a fool standing here covered in paint."
"Aww its okay Ann, you're gonna feel so much less foolish when we wrap you in plastic so you don't get paint on the carpet." Ashton said smiling.
"Umm yeah and how am I supposed to get up the stairs to wash this crap off?"
"Oh Ro' will carry you. He needs the exercise the way he's been lazing around."
"Ha ha you're just so damn funny Ash. Let's get her wrapped up so she can wash this stuff off before it dries." Rome said, knowing it was going to hard enough as it was to get that out of her hair and the longer it sat there the more difficult it was going to be.
"Yeah you're right. Let's get my girly ready to go." Ashton said and grabbed one of the extra plastic sheets they had covering the floor.
"Could you guys stop talking like I'm a piece of furniture or something? I'm standing here livin' and breathin'." Antoinette said looking a little annoyed. Soon they had her wrapped up, and Rome was carrying her up the stairs one arm behind her knees, the other wrapped her back and arm. Knocking her door the rest of the way open with his foot, he carried her into the bathroom and sat her down on the floor.
"Thanks Rome, it woulda been a little difficult trying to hop up the stairs." Anni said while shucking the tarp off of her and stepping out of it.
"Yeah no kidding might have been funny to watch though." He said laughing.
"Shut up!" She said slapping him lightly on the arm. "So did you notice how weird Ash and Brian were acting around each other?" "Yeah what was up with that? I didn't think I was the only one who noticed it."
"They like each other. You shoulda seen the looks they were giving each other at the café yesterday."
"No way, my boy woulda told me if he was feelin' Ashton."
"You sure bout that? Normally Ash woulda told me too but she didn't and I know what I saw. Well I'ma wash this crap off, and I'll see you guys in a bit."
"Alright see ya then." And with that he walked out of the room, shutting the door behind him. Soon she was in the shower and scrubbing the off of her and out of her hair. That was the most difficult part, and made her have to wash her hair five times to make sure it was all out. By the time she was done and back in the kitchen wearing a sports bra under one of the many muscle tees she'd snagged from Rome and another pair of cut offs, they'd finished the painting in the kitchen and had begun to move the furniture back into the living room. They worked for the rest of the night moving the rest of the stuff back into the rooms that they belonged in. By the time they were done it was ten o'clock and Thalia had been in bed for an hour and a half. Going into the freshly painted kitchen the two girls grabbed a couple coronas each and walked back into the living room, Antoinette sitting next to Rome on the couch and handing him the second corona she had grabbed. Ashton sat next to Brian and did the same. Soon the four of them were sitting there watching 'Daddy Daycare' and laughing their asses off. Before anyone noticed it, it was almost one in the morning and Brian had to leave. Saying bye, the rest of them finished watching the second movie they'd put in 'Deliver us from Eva', and went to bed, Ashton thinking about Brian, and Anni and Rome's thoughts on each other.
A/N: Well there ya guys go. I know it took me a little longer than I expected but hey it's here now. Yay. Now I get to start working on my chappy for Puzzling Pieces. I'll prolly have that one done by Monday. It'd be posted soon but my mom's evil and steals the computer on the weekends. Grrrr... doesn't she realize I need this thing to update. Well I better hurry up and end this here but before I do I gotta tell ya'll to go check out Cheer and Sunshine's new ficcie called 'The Down Low' it's really kick ass already and you'll luv it. Well I luv you all and don't forget to Read and Review!! Later guys!!
Jess
