It was a nice little evening by the beach. One the Trans-Am could appreciate…For one the waves weren't as terrible and choppy as the week before and that meant Anna could play safely in the shallows as she pleased. It also meant Michael had the audacity to stray from the shore and sit on his boogie board in the deeper end, bobbing amongst the scattered seaweed from a previous storm.
Deep down the ex-supercar wanted to retreat and take a mild nap under the shady grove by the parking lot — instinct, however, had the computer pinned under his curiosity coursing through his mind attempting to find a reason behind the .exe functioning in the creature that was Anna.
The little human was a complete specimen and was also very complex, to say the least. Take this evening, for example, the girl had an uncanny ability to devour freezing ice cream on short notice at any hour of the day much to her mother's displeasure. To Kitt, these little complexities came in the form of —
'Ouch!' He grumbled as a brisk ball of wet sand splat coldly across his hood. The little particles glistened in the sunshine as they rolled off his elegant waxed but now disheveled and probably scratched hood. It didn't take rocket science to know the car was a little less than annoyed but just a hint unnerved over the little girl grinning from ear to ear and making his evening of relaxation nearly impossible.
She sat in the shallows letting the waves roll off her hips as she curled her lips and gave Kitt some "puppy eyes." So she was in the mood for mischief? How unfortunate. It was after all a Saturday, and Kitt spent most if not all Saturdays defragmenting his worn disks. Old age was getting to him and nothing was worse than lagging mid-sentence and letting his voice clog. Nope. He couldn't stand the embarrassment. Not today.
"Perhaps another time Anna." Kitt chimed, feeling a little overwhelmed. Letting his scanner flash lively crimson and letting Bonnie, who was currently attending to one of baby Chris's tantrums, know he needed a little assistance.
The woman didn't hesitate to stride across the sand from her perch having seen Kitt's reverse lights blink brightly in distress. She padded over the uneven sand with Chris against her hip and gave her daughter a little frown. The woman's light cardigan sweater fluttered behind her in the cool winds. All reminiscence of being a full-time mechanic was lost under her impeccable beauty.
"Kitt won't play with me." Anna protested, sending a little shower of sand to her sides as she chucked the handfuls aside. Narrowly missing a stray crab heading for cover from a menacing seagull.
Bonnie rolled her eyes and gave Kitt a pitiful smile. Under normal circumstances the two would have had the pleasure to play collaboratively a round of 'sand castle', but when Kitt had his hand's full tending to his cluttered drives it was usually up to Michael to take up the game. Of course, as the equally mischievous father he was he'd swam out too far to be flagged down by his impatient wife and as for the comlink — well under extended retirement it wasn't always necessary to wear it (much to Kitt's disappointment).
"Honey, why don't you start the castle, and after Kitt gets his nap he can join you later?"
Ah yes, the negotiator. Bonnie was a genius, not only handling computers so avidly but the strenuous task of child-rearing. It was hard work and Kitt couldn't comprehend why ever Bonnie and Michael had decided to bring up a family — a rather complicated one at that.
He watched as Anna stuck her tongue at him, giving him her most cold glare before she dug up her little plastic shovel from the sand to begin her primitive construction.
'The nerve.' Kitt quipped to himself, aware of the little clever argument brewing in the little girl's head. 'So I'm a crook now?' Kitt genuinely asked, feeling awfully betrayed. Course he'd usually NEVER let the opportunity of playing castle by the beach pass him by like this! But he was several hours behind on his much-needed disk defragmentation and he certainly wouldn't dare do the job at home. The home was constantly chaotic, too much to supervise even to let his guard go down for a second. Anna was extremely hyperactive and Kitt couldn't (for the sake of his sanity) count up all the times the little girl had nearly ended up killing herself!
She was indeed Michael Knight's daughter in every shape or form. Kitt could only pray she didn't end up getting her face shot off as well…though he suspected that IF that ever did end up happening, she'd probably go the extra mile to shoot her own face off! For the love of a tune-up, she'd managed to fry his sound system single-handedly at the age of 9 months while he'd attended to her while Michael had run into the post office for a quick errand! "Quick Errand", ha! He'd learned to never fall for that line again.
Kitt watched attentively as Anna raised a tower and then a second, finally a third over the subsiding waves. She gave Kitt one of her favorite grins and giggled.
Kitt flashed his scanner nervously. Would he regret what he was about to agree to?
"I'm the princess and you're the frog!" She shouted over the hustle of the wind and crying gulls.
"Good grief." Kitt sighed, not too sure he liked this role. "Can't I be a dashing carriage? Better yet let me play the role of the mountain! How about the dragon?! You know the one that sleeps while the princess goes on and on about that one handsome fella that lives across the pond?" Kitt asked, trying to keep his anxiety from betraying him. He watched as Anna raised a singular brow, pocketing a seashell into her shorts before crawling up to Kitt's prow and placing her bucket upside down over his hood. Letting the wet sand ooze over his sheen and flood over his scanner making him look like he was drooling. Thank goodness Devon wasn't here to see this…
"You'll be the prince!" She giggled, picking up her messy doll from her little plastic basket — the one that was missing its left eye; was completely bald and had a smashed arm.
"Michael!" Kitt reversed in complete terror, recognizing the mess instantly. Naturally pulling to the silent comlink channel. He'd been told the nuisance had been destroyed!
Bonnie sat up from her beach chair, placing Chris onto a beach towel where his toys were spread across the sand; pulling her hat off, and letting her brunette hair bounce over her shoulders in the wind. She wondered what in the blazes had gotten the poor car worked up again.
She wadded over to Anna who couldn't stop her laughter while Kitt made a b-line for the shrubbery. Only when she spotted the ill-sicken-looking doll did Bonnie understand.
"Annabelle Knight! You go and apologize right now!"
She was more than aware of the sick joke her daughter had pulled off on the Trans-Am when she was 6, and as for poor Kitt — He'd never been able to live off the traumatizing event. He was a brave car no doubt but the poor creature needed rest and a 6-year-old jump scare did no good to his now weakening heart. It had cost them the washer and the section of the living room wall; not to mention eons to get the demeaning ding removed from his prow. Soon enough the little nightmare-fueled doll had been banned from Kitt's presence. Actually, Kitt had come to despise dolls — but only when Anna was around. He dare not give her any ideas!
Anna slumped in the sand and stared regretfully at the ground. She nodded sadly, standing and taking off in a mild dash across the lonely beach toward where Kitt had stopped in the swaying bushes. Small, young gulls approached him and begged for snacks before lifting away at the approach of the restless girl.
She patted his backlights gently before she could so much as come around to his prow…Kitt popped the driver's door open.
"Annabelle, that was awfully unnecessary of you." Kitt chirped disapprovingly. Trying to find as Michael described it…his "father" voice.
" — you won't play with me!" She pouted, crossing her hands while she glanced over Kitt's dark voice modulator.
" — But I was." Kitt complained. He was certainly in the right! The ambush was completely unprovoked!
"No, you weren't!" She protested kicking up some loose pebbles with her bare feet.
"I'm telling dad!"
"Not if I tell Michael first." Kitt chirped restlessly.
With that Kitt shut the driver's door and took to a gallop with little Anna chasing after his dust cloud.
Fortunately, Michael had come back to shore but the poor man went pale as he watched both a several-ton automobile and a very upset Annabelle heading his way to win a dispute.
"Okay, okay, let me hear it." He put his hands up setting the boogie board down, imagining what this whole ordeal was about. He turned and began to steadily head towards Bonnie who was shaking her head in amusement while baby Chris crawled over the beach towel on the sandy ground with a cute smile.
" — But Michael! That awful doll!"
" — Kitt doesn't like my dolls!"
Michael rubbed at his temples…sheesh! Whenever had Kitt gotten so sensitive…and then it dawned on him. He cocked his head and smiled. Shielding his eyes with his hands from the blaring sun getting a clear view of Kitt's beating scanner.
'Clever Trans-Am.' He mouthed.
"Only the best." Kitt teased while Annabelle went on and on about unrelated topics. Clever of Kitt to get her to playfully squabble with him — Easy going distraction that would keep her busy for the next hour. Kitt could live with Anna's resolutions, so long as an agreeable arrangement could be made…he was King of logical discussions after all, and a 7-year-old had it easy with an experienced automobile containing several restless horses under the hood under heavy calm.
Kitt internally smiled while he skillfully pacified the little one and suddenly a friendly game of frisbee was in order.
His favorite.
With Anna as his little playmate over the golden shore, his least worry now was that the nasty unattended doll could drown in the sand…He heavily hoped Michael would chuck it into the sea and let the crabs deal with it.
Certainly, he wished he'd never have to see it again…
v.02 Patch notes: Adjusted Anna's current age. (7 years old)
Author's note: I usually try to avoid pairing these two (Bonnie and Michael)…but I made an exception if only to explore some character dynamics. Should I continue this story plot? I'm personally unsure…but I can guarantee this idea has been in the works for the last four months and this final draft is the better of the three alternatives. [Thank you "random-video-on-youtube-of-a-little-girl-being-pulled-out-of-the-shallow-water-by-a-loving-doggo"; I instantly thought of Kitt when I saw it and then this plot was solidified. ] I know this idea has been explored before by others but I couldn't resist trying it myself…Will y'all let me off the hook? Also, has anybody caught some "interesting" details? There might be more on the way…and hopefully, some have caught on if I've played my cards right…anyways… Happy writing and Happy reading!
Until next time ~ The stormSD