Chapter 3- Angel's Port

Tessa was simply amazed by angel's port. It was gorgeous. The house was huge and white. It towered three stories above her. Ivy grew wildly on the side of the first story of the house. Not to far from the house was the beach. The sky was blue and the air was cool. Monica, Andrew and the girls were the first ones there.

In many ways Zoë had thought that she could never live in a place more beautiful than their house, well on earth anyway, but this place was so beautiful that she couldn't even believe it. Once she got inside, she was even more enchanted with the place. The staircase and the furniture and the floor were made out of white wood. The walls were baby blue. Tessa and Zoë eagerly ran up the stairs. Monica caught Sophie just before she could run off too.

"Mommy, let me go!"

"No little love. I'll go with you."

"Where do I sleep?" She asked as her mother carried her up the stairs.

"With your sisters of course."

Finally they reached the third floor of the house. The third floor was a big open space with two huge light filled rooms and one small bathroom connected to each room. In the girls room there were three twin beds. Monica placed her smallest daughter on one of them.

"This is your bed sweetheart."

"A big girl bed." She smiled.

"Yes a big girl bed." Her dad said.

"Do you like that Sophie?"

Sophie didn't react for a moment; she seemed to be thinking.

"Yes!" She said suddenly.

"Good." Her Dad replied as he kissed her. Her mother did the same and together they left the room.

………………..

"Oh Andrew, this place is so beautiful." She sighed as they reached the bottom of the stairs.

"Not compared with you." He told her as he kissed her.

"Oh Andre…" She giggled as he kissed her neck and gathered her in his arms. An indescribable electricity ran through her body every time he touched her. It was like a fire, and all she knew is that she loved to feel that way. Slowly their lips met and he brought her closer to him. She could feel his hand running up and down her back. The kiss was soft and romantic and made that electricity running threw her just about explode. They finally broke their kiss when the doorbell rang, but only for a second. Andrew couldn't bear to let her go and so the couple shared one last sweet little kiss before breaking apart.

"Can we finish tonight, my love?" Andrew asked.

"Tonight it is." She smiled, and Andrew and Monica went their separate ways.

………………..

"Wow, this is so cool!" Zoë exclaimed as she sat in the window seat.

"Yeah. I just can't wait to get to the beach." Tessa replied as she took her shoes off and tossed them over her shoulders.

"You're going barefoot the whole time we're here, aren't you?"

"Mostly. I don't like shoes."

"They're alright." Zoë said as she watched her baby sister, who was still sitting on her bed, now carefully eyeing her shoes.

"Come on guys, unpack. The faster we do that, the faster we get to the beach."

So the sisters began to unpack, and once they'd finished they changed their clothes went to see the rest of the house. The first and second floors had a lot more rooms than their floor; but the girls liked their own floor better. Despite the fact that Tessa secretly wished that their room had a little balcony, like their parent's room did.

"Mom!" Tessa called once they reached the kitchen.

"Yes." She replied.

"We're going to the beach. See you later!"

"Have a good time girls!" Monica called to her daughters in approval.

………………..

"Can we have ice cream?" Sophie asked.

"Sophie. Daddy already took you out for ice cream once today."

"I know. Can't we go again?"

"No."

"Hey, why don't we build a sand castle?" Zoë suggested.

"Yeah! A sand castle!" She said as she fell to the ground and eagerly began to dig in the sand.

"Oh, Sophie, no, we need water first, and a bucket, and sand castle stuff."

"Huh?"

"I think she's too little to get it."

"Hey I'm three!" she said, holding up three fingers.

"No sweetheart, not for two and a half more months. But you're right. You're almost three."

"Ok, let's see if we can find sand castle stuff." Zoë said, and so the three sisters got up and hand in hand they went back to the house.

………………..

Once they got back to the house they discovered that everyone had arrived and were told to wait until after dinner to go back to the beach. Tessa and Zoë went upstairs to just lye on their beds and talk. Sophie, however set out to find Olivia.

She finally found her sitting on the staircase between the second and third floors of the house.

"Hey Livy."

"Hi." She smiled.

"What's wrong?"

"My Daddy took my books away."

"Oh, I'm sorry. You know, you're the only kid I know our age who can read."

"Don't remind me."

"What are you holding?" Sophie asked, her eyes lighting up upon seeing the doll in Olivia's arms.

"This is the doll my Daddy gave me. I don't know what to do with it."

"You don't?"

"No."

"Come upstairs with me. I'll show you!" She said excitedly as she ran up the stairs. Olivia sighed, her heart heavy and schlepped up the stairs behind her slightly younger cousin.

………………..

"So much for a walk on the beach!" Tessa sighed.

"Why?"

"It's pouring rain outside. This is supposed to be summer!"

"How about a board game?"

"I'd love to. What did we bring?"

"Scrabble."

"Perfect."

"You're on!"

"I still wish we could go on a walk."

"Well, we'll go tomorrow, I have an idea."

"What's that?"

"I figure that we'll have just a few rainy days, and so, why don't we spend those rainy days challenging each other at board games!"

"You're on!" Zoë shouted.

………………..

"I can't believe that she's not talking to me!" Adam exclaimed as he lay on the bed next to his wife.

"Oh sweetie. I told you this would happen if you took her books away from her."

"How can she like them so much? She's three. Most three year olds can't spell their name, let alone read. How can she possibly understand Edgar Allen Poe? Wait a minute, who gave her that book?"

"Okay, I admit it. I took the kids to Borders one day. Michael choose some creepy little Halloween book about bugs, which he was very excited about. Then I asked Olivia what she wanted and she said she couldn't find anything. So I gave her two little books that I thought were cute and I told her to think about which one she wanted while I looked for a book. So we went to the classic section. Michael sat on the floor quietly looking at the pictures in his book while Olivia was looking at books with me. She told me she wanted something creepy, like what Michael got. I didn't think she was capable of actually finding anything in the classic section, but I was wrong. Just as I had chosen something, I felt her tap me on the leg, and she asked me if she could have a book called, "The works of Edgar Allen Poe." So I bent down to talk to her. I asked her if she could even read it. She replied by opening to the first page and reading the whole thing with out error. So I got her the book."

"Wow."

"I tried to get her to get one of the Harry Potter books because those aren't as, well, let's be honest…violent, as Edgar Allen Poe, but she said no. So I got it for Michael. Aren't you proud of her at all Adam?"

"Sure I am. Not everybody has a genius daughter. I just want her to be a kid while she is one."

"Adam, we'll work on the kid thing, but tonight, tell her you're proud of her."

"I will." He smiled, kissing his wife softly.

………………..

After dinner the whole family retreated to the living room to talk and watch the Yankees Game on television. They, of course, were winning. Tessa and Zoë sat playing cards at their father's feet while watching the game. Both girls loved baseball, especially Tessa, and their favorite team by far was the Yankees. Michael sat on his father's lap with his Yankees hat upon his head, as baseball was by far one of his favorite things. Tess was also watching the game intently, hoping that the Red Socks would win as she felt that the Yankees won too much. Monica and Gloria loved baseball too, but were too concerned with their little girls who rested on their laps. Olivia and Sophie each held their dolls in their arms, and were completely uninterested in the game.

"So sweetie, what's her name?"

"I don't know Mommy." Olivia gave her mother a deeply confused look. Suddenly the rest of the room began to scream, as obviously something had just occurred in the game.

"Go, go, go!" They began to shout. Sophie covered her ears with her tiny hands and so her mother picked her up and took her up the stairs. Gloria and Olivia followed.

"So, do you know what you are going to name her?" She asked as they reached the top of the stairs.

"Can I name her Anna-bell Lee?"

"No. Why don't you use something that's not from Edgar Allen Poe." Gloria insisted.

"How about Marie Antoinette?"

"No."

"May be Jackie O!"

"No honey, I don't think so. Sweetheart, how about Rose?"

"Rose, I like it." Olivia smiled.

"Me too." Monica said.

"Me too." Came the little voice of Sophie, who held her doll, Bridget tightly in her arms. Monica kissed the top of Sophie's head softly. Sophie glanced up at her mother and blew her a kiss. Monica smiled.

"So, what did you girls do today?"

"Well, Sophie taught me a lot about the art of dolls."

"What did you learn?"

"Grandma said she's my friend; and Sophie taught me how to be her friend."

"That's great sweetheart!" Gloria hugged her daughter; Monica didn't miss the happiness that shined in Gloria's eyes.

"Now what do you girls want to do?" Monica asked.

"Not baseball."

"Not baseball!" The girls screeched.

"Ah, girls, baseball isn't that bad, you'll like it when you're older."

"Remember when Tessa was forced to like baseball?" Gloria laughed.

"What happened?" Olivia asked.

"That's her story, ask her, I'm sure she'll be happy to tell it to you."

"Okay, that sounds like great fun!"

"Yeah!"

"So, what do you want to do, it's all up to you guys." Olivia and Sophie exchanged glances and then looked back up at their mothers.

"May be we'll just sit for a while." Olivia yawned.

"Yeah." Sophie agreed, closing her bright blue eyes and laying her head against her mother. Monica smiled and looked up at Gloria who returned her smile. It didn't take that much longer for both girls to fall asleep. So their mother's put them to bed and kissed them goodnight.

"That was surprising." Gloria laughed, closing Olivia's door.

"Not really." Monica said, doing the same with Sophie's. "They're little girls and they've had a very long day."

"Yes they have. I'm surprised she's not more depressed by her books."

"Me too. What are you going to do now?"

"Try to get my little Yankee fan into bed. But that's not going to happen, not until the game's over anyway."

"Well the game has to end sometime. Meanwhile I don't care how late Tessa and Zoë stay up. They're old enough." She smiled.

………………..

An hour later the Yankees won, nine to four. Tess rolled her eyes at another New York victory and went to the house's library to catch up on her reading. Gloria and Adam took Michael to bed. (He had fallen asleep right after his favorite team had won). Tessa and Zoë were not in the least bit tired and insisted upon staying in the living room all night playing board games and watching Saturday Night Live. Monica and Andrew went to check on Sophie, who they were happy to find sound asleep. After that they went to their room.

"So, what about tomorrow, Andre?" She asked, lying on the bed.

"How about a walk on the beach like we couldn't have today?" Andrew asked as he lay next to her and pulled his shirt off. "Why don't we help the girls build their sandcastle?"

"I'd like that." She said as she put her arms around him and kissed him softly.

"Oh Angel Girl." He kissed her lips firmly.

"Andre." She whispered softly but was stopped when their lips met again. He gathered her in his arms and held her tightly. Her heart pounded wildly as their kiss deepened. She opened her eyes and looked into his, she fell in love all over again. Butterflies flew around in her stomach. He pulled away and looked at her, just for a split second, and then they could hold back no more as their lips collided once more.