Chapter 5 – Let me have my moment of immaturity.

Bored, I put the book back into the box.

"She's probably some cousin or whatever," I suggested, thinking nothing of the picture, "I'll ask my dad about it later."

"Ok," Sean said as he pulled a cell phone out of his pocket and opened it, "I should probably head out. I've got stuff to do."

"Stuff to do? You've only been here for about a half an hour and you didn't do what I asked. Besides, weren't you going to give me a tour of the city?"

Sean got up and walked to the door.

"I was until my brother told me I had to pick up the house. He's having his boss over for dinner or something."

"Oh, well. I guess I'll see you Monday then."

"No, I'll see you Sunday."

"Sunday?"

I got up from the bed and stood there, staring at him.

"How does dinner at The Dot sound?"

"Sounds good, but this wouldn't be a date would it?"

Sean raised an eyebrow at smirked at me. "Would you want it to be?"

"Well, um, I, uh--"

He laughed at my loss for words.

"Don't worry Parker. It's not a date. I guess I just feel bad that I didn't help you with anything."

I brushed a strand of hair behind my ear and looked down at the floor, embarrassed.

"It's ok, don't worry about it. So, what time will I see you tomorrow?"

I looked back it him and crossed my arms across my chest.

"How 'bout six o' clock?"

"Ok, see you at six then! Bye."

Sean closed the door as he left and I sat back down on the bed.

"Knock, Knock," Dad said, opening the door. "Is everything ok in here?"

"Yeah, great. Is there anything in particular that you wanted father of mine?"

"No, just checking up on you, I guess. Need help with anything?"

"No, I've got it."

"Ok."

Dad turned around to walked out the door, but stopped when I called him.

"Who's Emma?" I asked.

"Who?"

I grabbed the notebook and tossed it to him.

"Oh, Emma. She's, uh, she's a cousin."

So my suspicions were right.

"Is there a reason you have her baby book? You know, being a cousin and all. It's kinda weird that you would have a cousin's babybook, don't you think?"

"Yeah, well, we were very close."

"And the girl in the picture. She's Emma's mother right? Another cousin?"

"Yes, her name was Christine. She had Emma when she was only 14. Poor girl, I wonder what she's doing now."

"Why don't you call her or something? I'd very much like to meet this Emma chick, seeing as how she shares my birthday with me. Little twit."

"Little twit? Honey, you don't even know what you're talking about."

"She shares my birthday. I have very few things that are mine and I had hoped it my birthday was one of them. She's gonna have to be one hell of a girl if plans on sharing it with me."

"That's a little childish don't you think Parker?"

"Let me have my moment of immaturity, dad. It is a rare moment, but when I have it, I don't want anyone to ruin it."

Dad shook his head and laughed.

"Whatever you say Parker. Anyway, it's getting close to dinnertime. What do you say we go to that one restaurant? I think it was called The Dot."

Wow. I'm on a roll. With as often as I'm going to that place, they should change the name from The Dot to Parker's Place or something.

"Sure, why not. I've got a record going and I'm not about to break it."

Yep, this was the last update for the summer. It's not much, but... I think the next chapter will be a pretty good one. I just wish I could have updated it for you. Sorry. Now to answer reviewers:

Jeremy - I plan for Parker to be a little like the Emma was know is. If notice in the 2nd or 3rd chapter that she ordered a salad and a water at The Dot. I'll announce sometime later in the story that she's a vegetarian. But I can't have them be exactly the same because they weren't raised in the same environment. Get what I mean? And I know Manny doesn't naturally seem like she should, but before Manny always had Emma to rely on, on that stuff. Emma always kept in her line (controlling, I know, but whatever..lol). Without Emma though, who knows how a lot of them became?

crashetburn - This chapter and the last one are sort of fillers, but the last chapter only lead up to the disovery of the picture and this chapter is going to lead up to... well, you'll see :D The Candy Bandits? I've defiantly never heard that term before. LOL Nice one..

luvdegrassi12345 - Yeah, lol. It is a stereotype though, isn't it?

degrassichick - Really? I think she's a hilarious comedian. She's most known for her cynism and feminism. I thought she would be perfect for Parker - er, Emma. She was actually in a movie called Mystery Men with Ben Stiller.

So-Over-Him - Thank you. I try to keep Sean as he was, but people have to remember (like I said to Jeremy above) that without Emma's influence, who knows how they would have turned out?