Chapter 385: Beaulieu Manor
Monday, February 2nd, Evening
The light is fading as the days are short in the winter. Brooke Davis paused by one of the windows and looked out at one of her several gardens. Brooke slid a finger over the sill of the window. Shrugging, she turned away and walked down the gallery.
Finally, Brooke walked into a parlor and found two of her grandchildren in the corner of the room. They were on their tablets and not paying any attention to their aunts. Brooke looked over to the aunts, Brooke's daughter Kendall "Keni" Stafford, and Keni's best friend and honorary sister, Sawyer Scott. The grandchildren's parents were Keni's sister and Sawyer's brother.
"Hey girls," Brooke said.
"Aunt Brooke," Sawyer said, looking up from her tablet and flipped her blonde locks aside out of her eyes.
"Mom," Keni said, looking up from her tablet.
"What are you girls working on?" Brooke asked.
"I'm working on my streaming schedule, concepts for my next few Vlogs, and editing my next blog post," Sawyer said.
"Quite a lot there," Brooke said.
"Well, we have basketball games tomorrow, so we have to put more work in tonight than normal," Sawyer said.
"How about you, Keni?" Brooke asked.
"Just playing a game, Mom," Keni said.
"I see," Brooke said.
"What's up, Aunt Brooke?" Sawyer asked.
"Well, I'm going to disappoint both of, Y'all," Brooke said.
"What would that be, Mom?" Keni asked.
"Yeah, Aunt Brooke, what's wrong?" Sawyer asked.
"Well, girls, y'all won't be coming to New York with me this weekend," Brooke said.
"Okay," Keni said, shrugged, and turned back to her tablet.
"What? Why?" Sawyer asked.
"Sabrina and Trin have booked me solid, and there would be no one to take you around," Brooke said.
"We always go to New York with you for the first weekend, Aunt Brooke," Sawyer said.
"I know, but with the show for Banríon, I'll be too busy," Brooke said.
"That's Bobbi-Lee's show; why do you have to busy with it?" Sawyer asked.
"Well, for one, Sawyer, Bobbi's label is still under my company. Two, it's Bobbi's first independent show, and I want to be there for moral support and an advisory role. Three, I want to give Bobbi a rub, so she's accepted. Finally, it's the decent thing to do," Brooke said.
"Seems fair to me," Keni said, looking up from her tablet and shrugged.
"What am I going to do this weekend?" Sawyer asked.
"You could work on your Vlog, spend time with your niece and nephew, I don't know, maybe help your dad out," Brooke said.
"I have no problem not going," Keni said, still looking up from her tablet.
"You said you'd take me on a campus tour," Sawyer said.
"I did, and I still plan on doing it this summer," Brooke said, "Anyway, New York is more fun in the summer."
"Again, I thought we were going to apply to the same college," Keni said dryly.
"I wanted to check it out this weekend," Sawyer said.
"Well, here's an adult lesson for you, Sawyer; you can't always get what you want," Brooke said.
"But you find sometimes you get what you need?" Keni asked.
Brooke turned to look at Keni. "Are you being a wise-ass, Missy?" she asked.
"No, Mom," Keni said.
"You better not be," Brooke said.
"I'm not," Keni said.
"Good," Brooke said.
"Grammy Brooke, is Sawyer throwing a hissy fit again?" Ellis asked.
"What, Ellis?" Brooke asked her grandson.
"Is Sawyer throwing a hissy fit?" Ellis asked.
"Gee, thanks for having my back, Ellis," Sawyer said.
"Ellis, that's not nice to say," Brooke said.
"No matter how true it is," Keni said.
"But you said…." Ellis started to say.
"Ellis, I said that's not nice to say," Brooke said, interrupting her grandson.
"Yes, Grammy Brooke," Ellis said.
Brooke looked to Sawyer. "Also, remember your dad will be watching the four of y'all, so he's going to need all the help he can get," Brooke said.
"I can help by staying at Chase's for the week," Keni said.
"No, you can't, Keni," Brooke said.
Sawyer sighed, "Yes, Aunt Brooke," she said.
"No pouting, Sawyer," Brooke said.
"Fine, Aunt Brooke," Sawyer said in a huff.
Brooke nodded and turned to Keni, "Where's your sister?" she asked.
"Which one? Most of them should be home or at work," Keni said.
"Being a wise-ass again, Missy?" Brooke asked.
"No, Mom," Keni said.
"I was referring to the sister whose kids you're nominally watching," Brooke said.
"Oh, Izzy," Keni said.
"Yes, Izzy, so where is she?" Brooke asked.
"I believe she and Kari are over the Garrison's something about the funeral tomorrow," Keni said.
"That's sad; Jermaine was such a nice guy," Brooke said.
Keni nodded, "Well, I know Izzy's taking it hard," she said.
"Considering Jermaine Garrison was not only Keith's friend, but he was also Keith's tank commander, according to your sister. Also, they vacation together several times," Brooke said.
"Oh, I didn't know that," Keni said.
Sawyer suddenly put her tablet down, stood up, and left the room. Brooke looked at her for a second, then turned to see Nomi had gone pale.
"Keni, go see if Sawyer's okay; I'll clean up my mess here," Brooke said.
"Yes, Mom," Keni said, got up, and followed Sawyer.
Brooke walked over to Nomi. "What's wrong, Nomi?" she asked.
"It was Uncle Jermaine that died?" Nomi asked.
Brooke nodded, "Yes," she said.
"Uncle Jermaine was Daddy's tank commander. Does that mean Daddy's hurt?" Nomi asked.
Brooke shook her head, "No, it doesn't; your Dad is just fine," she said.
"How are you sure?" Nomi asked.
"Because your Momma would know if your Daddy was hurt by now," Brooke said.
Nomi nodded and turned back to her tablet. Brooke shook her head and took a step towards the table where Sawyer and Keni were sitting at. Brooke looked down at Sawyer's tablet; Brooke reached down and looked at the screen.
Sawyer had a drawing on the screen. Brooke studied the picture, smiled, nodded, and put the tablet down. Brooke looked over to see her grandchildren. With one last nod, Brooke sat down and waited for Keni and Sawyer to return.
