CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR: Plans

James woke me up by pinching my left butt cheek. I rolled over and looked at him. He smiled a little and waved.

"You woke me up." I complained.

"Aunt Letty." He complained back. "I burned my finger."

"How'd you burn your finger?" I asked nervously, sitting up completely. He looked at his feet and I watched him carefully. "What were you doing?"

"I was going to make oatmeal. I burned my finger with the water. It was hot."

"Were you expecting it to be cold?" I questioned. He looked at me with an annoyed face. "You okay?" He nodded a little. "Come here." I said patting the edge of my bed. He climbed up on my bed and sat on his knees in front of me.

"Will you make me something to eat? I'm hungry."

"Are DJ and Mari up yet?" I asked him. I pushed my hair out of my face and he shook his head. "Let me see your finger."

"Why?" He asked.

"I want to make sure it's okay." I said with a little bit of a chuckle. He slowly put his hand out toward me. "Which finger?" He stuck up his index finger and I looked at it. It left a mark, but it wasn't a water burn. It was in a line, from a pan or something. "What were you doing?" He looked down and I sighed.

"Nothing." He said. Obviously, he was lying.

"Come on. I'll make you something to eat." He smiled and jumped off my bed. I got up and threw the covers up a little so it was a little neater. James took my hand and led me down the stairs to the kitchen. There was a pot on the stove, with boiling water. I looked at him and he was sitting down at the table. He looked at the pot then at me and noticed I was looking at him.

"What?" He asked innocently. I pointed to the pot and he smiled a little.

"James, how many times have I said don't play with the stove?" I asked.

"A lot." I nodded.

"Then why do you do it?"

"I was going to make my own breakfast so I didn't have to wake you up."

"If I'm not up, that's even more reason for you not to play with the stove. If you want to make your own breakfast, make a bowl of cereal or a bagel. No stove."

"Yes ma'am."

"You don't have to call me ma'am, just learn that you can't use the stove until your a lot older." He nodded and I heard little footsteps behind me. I turned and it was DJ. I smiled at him and he smiled back sleepily.

"Morning." He said quietly. He looked at James then back at me.

"Honey, it's early, you can go back to sleep." I said looking at the clock. It wasn't even seven." He shrugged and looked around. "Hungry?" He nodded and I nodded back. "Have a seat. I'll make you boys something to eat." He walked over and took a seat next to James.

Some Hours Later

I walked into the diner and Mia and Leon were sitting behind the counter. The kids followed behind me and a smile spread across Mia's face.

"Letty… who are these?" Mia asked standing.

"My nephew James, my two kids DJ and Mari. Why?" I questioned. She shrugged and I shrugged back. I led the kids up to the counter and helped them sit on the stools, which were as tall as them.

"You guys hungry?" Mia asked as I took a seat next to Mari. They nodded. "How about some grilled cheese and potato chips?" They nodded again. Mia nodded and turned around to start preparing the food. I got up and walked around the counter and started to help Mia. "Do you want something to eat?"

"Nah. Dom's supposed to be here in a few. I'll eat when he gets here." She nodded and grabbed four bags of chips off the shelf. She opened one and started to munch on a large sized potato chip. I took one out of her bag and she laughed at me.

"Get your own bag." She said snatching hers. I gasped and she laughed harder. "Sheesh."

"Your so mean to me." I said with a sniffle. She knew I was joking because she just smiled. She handed me a bag off the shelf and I rolled my eyes but took it. "I haven't eaten since seven." I opened the bag and started to munch on the chips. Mia got three plates and set them on the counter. She put a grilled cheese on each plate and opened a bag of chips and put them on the plate. She turned and set the plate in front of Mari. Mia turned back toward the other plates.

"Thank you." Mari said quietly. Mia turned back toward her and smiled a little. "Thank you…" She repeated.

"Your very welcome, what's your name again?"

"Mari." She said. Mari has always been a quiet person. She's also a very shy person and never really opened up to other people. Nobody outside of the family, just Nikki. "I'm Mari."

"Your welcome Mari." Mia smiled and turned back to the food. She fixed the boys' plates and put them in front of them. They thanked her too, but that was no surprise to me. My took a seat and I stood in front of her still digging in my bag of chips. "Your kids are polite."

"You seem surprised." I said. She nodded a little and looked up at me. I looked at the kids who were happily snacking on lunch. Mia nodded toward them and I looked back at her. "Who are they again?"

"James, the one on the left is my nephew, Kendra's son. The other two are my kids, Dom's kids too. DJ and Mari." They looked up when I mentioned their names. "Nothing." They shrugged and went back to their food. I looked at the clock; it was going on two o'clock. Where the hell was Dom?

"Letty?" I heard a female voice ask. I looked around but didn't see anybody. Then somebody, a female, appeared in the door. I stood up and walked toward her. "Is Dom around?" She asked looking around. I looked around and shook my head.

"Let?" I heard Dom ask from behind Nikki.

"He's here." I said. I stepped around her and put my arms around Dom's neck happily. "Where you been?"

"I got held up at the garage." I nodded and smiled. He kissed me softly.

"See, I told you she kisses guys too." I heard Mari whisper, obviously to DJ. I chuckled to myself and licked my lips. He tasted like strawberries for some odd reason. I shrugged and thought I probably tasted things.

"Come on. I want you to see something." He took my hand and pulled on it a little. "Come."

"Mia, can you watch them?" Mia nodded and she looked over at Leon, who was watching us. I followed Dom out of the diner and he stopped me in front of a red SUV. I looked at it and nodded. I liked the design of it.

"It's yours." He said holding out a set of keys. I stared at them for a minute and he moved his hand. I reached for them and he dropped them in my hand. "I did it just for you."

"Thank you, Dom." I put an arm around his waist and squeezed a little.

"I love you, Letty." He pulled me closer and kissed my cheek.

"I can't accept it." I said slipping the keys into his pant pocket. He gave me a funny look and I shrugged.

"Why not?" He questioned.

"I have a car. I'd feel bad if I took this. You've known me, what, forty-eight hours and your giving me a car."

"Letty, I've known you for a long time. Don't act like I've never given you anything special before."

"You haven't." I admitted.

"Oh, Letty, I've gotten you plenty of nice things before." I raised an eyebrow and turned so I was facing him. I crossed my arms over my chest and raised an eyebrow. "I have."

"This is it, Dom. You've gotten me an engagement ring. That's it."

"I got you your car."

"I raced for that car."

"But I set up the race."

"I won a race for that."

"You used my car."

"Bullshit, Dom! I used my brothers car." He crossed his arms too and shifted his weight over to one leg. He sighed and looked down at me. I was about an average height, but he still had a few inches on me.

"What are you saying Letty."

"I'm not saying anything, Dom. I'm just telling you I can't accept this."

"And why the hell not, Letty?" His hands flew up in the air and I found myself flinching. He cocked his head to the side and I swallowed hard. "Let, baby, I wouldn't hit you. Why'd you flinch?" I shrugged and he sighed. He ran a hand over his head and shook his head. His hand flew up and he smacked me. My jaw dropped a little and I looked away from him. I shook my head and walked away. "Where the hell are you going?" I looked at him over my shoulder and he looked at me.

"Away, Dom. Away from you."

"So, when you coming back?"

"Dom, are you serious?" I said with a bit of a laugh. He nodded. "You've changed since I before the I left. You're different."

"Different how?"

"I don't know. But you're not the man I fell in love with." I turned again and walked to the diner. I, honestly, didn't want to see Dom, or his cheating ways again.

Either one or two more chapters left. I haven't really decided yet. It just may be a while for me to think things through for the sequel. Like the whole Dom/Letty situation. I really blew that up in this story. I feel bad but I like my story. Let me know what you think.

I realized just a little into the chapter that I totally stole the names Mari and DJ from another author. I feel bad, but it was so unintentional. If you're reading this, which I doubt, and those names were yours (as twins)… I'm sorry for using them together. I didn't mean that. But I remember, from at least two years ago somebody using those two names together as brother and sister, but twins. SORRY.