Chapter Twelve: Neighbors

When it came to Lamb and Veronica's neighbors, the couple wasn't sure which was crazier. The people in the neighborhood were mostly the reason Lamb had been so reluctant to live in the neighborhood, though it was the perfect place to raise their boys. All the people in the neighborhood were either elderly or had families of their own…but Lamb and Veronica still thought they were crazy.

"I'm telling you," Lamb insisted. "That woman has been watering her flowers for the past hour. The same flowers, too."

Veronica sighed and looked up at her blue-eyed fiancée. "She must really love her flowers. It's probably nothing, Don."

"You said probably. Why would you say that?"

Veronica closed her book and stood up. "How about a trip to the park? I'm sure the boys would love it."

Lamb sighed. "Fine, whatever. Anything to get away from that woman." He peeked out the front window. "And now she's walking this way." He closed the curtain and looked at Veronica. "I tried to tell you." He looked up at the lights. "Maybe we can turn off all the lights in the house, pretend we're not home."

The doorbell rang.

Veronica rolled her eyes at the man before she opened the door. "Can I help you?"

The woman smiled. "Hi," she said. She had a wide smile and was abnormally cheery, something Veronica and Lamb rarely came across. "My name's Martha Ackerson." She gestured to the house she had just come from. "I live over there with my husband and daughter."

Veronica gave her a small smile. "I'm Veronica Mars, and this"-she pulled Lamb to her side by the front of his shirt-"is my fiancée Don."

Lamb mustered a smile.

"It's so nice to finally meet you," Martha said. " You've lived here a few months and no one has had the chance to introduce their self."

"Oh yeah," Veronica said. " We've just been super busy is all. We've been meaning to meet everybody."

Either she hates me, Lamb thought, or she's lying her ass off.

Martha smiled a creepy smile that made Lamb take a slight step in front of Veronica. "Well once a month we have a block party, and I was in charge of inviting you."

"I'm not sure-" Lamb was cut off by Veronica.

"When is it?"

"Today starting at six," Martha replied. "You have kids, don't you?"

Veronica nodded. "Triplets. They're a few months old."

"I thought so. Don't worry about them. You can bring them and either keep them with you or we have a few girls in the neighborhood that babysit for free. It gives us parents a break and a chance to relax and catch up with friends."

Lamb cleared his throat loudly. He wrapped an arm around Veronica's waist. He didn't say anything, but Veronica knew what he was thinking, so she smiled softly at Martha.

"We'll be there. Right on the street, right?"

Martha nodded.

"Then we'll see you later. Bye Martha."

"Bye Veronica. Bye Don."

Lamb forced a smile as he closed the door. He turned and opened his mouth, but Veronica spoke first.

"We're going." She patted his chest.

He opened his mouth to protest, but Veronica clamped a hand over his mouth.

"I'm serious Don. Our kids are going to grow up with some of these people. I want to know if they're even somewhat sane people."

Lamb shoved Veronica's hand away. "Did you see that smile? That was creepy."

She rolled her eyes.

Lamb was stalling, simple as that. He kept "forgetting" things all over the house: his phone in the basement, his jacket in the bedroom, one shoe in the office, the other shoe in Liam's room. Finally, Veronica had had enough.

"V, have you seen my…" He stopped short when he saw the angry expression. "Wallet?" he finished.

"You don't need it," she snapped.

"But what if we-"

"We're going to be right outside. If we need money, we can come get it." Veronica took his hand in hers and laced her fingers through his. "Look, I don't know why you're suddenly the world's most unorganized person, but cut it out. Nothing's going to happen to me or you or the boys. Got it?"

He nodded slowly. "But I still think-"

"If that sentence finishes with wallet or money, you're sleeping outside."

He closed his mouth. "I love you?"

She smirked and patted his cheek. "Good boy. Now, go get your sons."

"So you talked to the family this morning?" Sasha Oliver asked Martha Ackerson.

Martha nodded. "Mmm-hmm."

"And?" Christy Mason pressed. "What were they like?"

"The woman was awfully sweet," Martha replied. "But the man-shady, if you ask me. He barely said two words, and when I brought up Daisy and Carol babysitting, he stepped in front of her, like I was going to hurt her or something." Martha paused. "Though, I do think I've seen him somewhere before. I'm not sure from where, but I know I have."

Christy glanced at Sasha. "So what's the verdict?"

Martha sighed dramatically. "They seem nice."

"Well I think we should give them a chance," Natalie Pickens cut in. She sat down across from the three women. "You talked to them for less than a minute, Martha. We have to give them a chance."

"She's right," Sasha said. "They could be very nice people."

"Oh look," Christy said, sitting up straighter. "Here they come."

Sure enough, the couple was locking their front door. The man seemed to be talking as they made their way toward the party. He was carrying two baby carriers and the woman was carrying another. The women stood up to greet the approaching family.

"Veronica, Don," Martha greeted once they were close enough. She smiled the smile that made Lamb subconsciously tighten his grip on the carriers. "This is Sasha, Natalie, and Christy."

"Hi," Veronica said. "I'm Veronica and this is Don."

Christy smiled at the carriers. "And who are these beautiful boys?"

Veronica smirked at Lamb, who narrowed his eyes. She turned her attention back to the women. "This is Tony, Levi, and Liam."

The women cooed over the babies.

"Did Martha tell you about the babysitters?" Sasha asked.

"She did," Veronica replied.

"But we're not sure we're comfortable with leaving them with strangers," Lamb added. "At least, not yet."

Veronica smacked him on the chest. "You left them with Peters just last week."

"That's different."

She put the carrier down. "How?"

"I know Peters. Besides, I'm pretty sure he's scared of you."

"Why me?"

"Were to begin? Let's start with you're the only person who can trick the entire office into thinking it's national "No Work" day."

She grinned. "It was fairly easy if you ask me."

He gave her a playful nudge. "The paperwork was backed up for a week, no thanks to you."

She rolled her eyes and turned to the women. "Sorry about that." She elbowed Lamb in the stomach. "I swear he picks fights just to see me angry."

Lamb grinned. "It works."

She gave him a gentle shove. "You shut up."

Martha gave an uneasy smile. The couple was an odd pair. "Don, tell me," she said, "have we met before?"

Lamb shook his head. "Not before today," he replied.

"Then where have I seen you before?"

"Now that you mention it," Natalie said, "you do look familiar." Christy and Sasha agreed.

"I'm the sheriff of Balboa County," Lamb told them.

"Don," Martha suddenly said, "why don't you go introduce yourself to the men?"

Lamb really knew what she wanted. She wanted to have some "girl talk" with Veronica. He looked at Veronica, who shrugged.

"Go," she said. She pecked his lips. "I can watch the boys."

He reluctantly put the carriers down and headed over to where five men where surrounding a grill.

Martha gestured to an empty chair. "Please have a seat."

Veronica put all three carriers by her chair and sat down. The other four women followed.

"So your husband's a cop?" Natalie said, trying to start a conversation.

"Oh no," Veronica said quickly. At their confused looks, she added, "I mean, we're not married." She looked at her ring and smiled. "At least, not yet."

Christy smiled and held out a hand. "May I?"

Veronica silently put her hand in the woman's. All four women crowded around Veronica's hand gazed at the ring.

"It's beautiful," Martha finally said.

Veronica pulled her hand back. "Thanks."

"So how long have you two been together?" Sasha questioned.

Ah, Veronica though, this is how this is gonna go. "About a year and a half, but we've known each other longer."

That was when two girls around fourteen came rushing up. One of the girls was holding the hand of a boy who looked like four or five while the other girl was holding a baby in her arms and had a small girl about seven attached to her shirt.

The girl with the little boy spoke to Martha. "Mom, can we go get ice cream?"

Martha looked at the other women. "I'm sure that'd be okay." The girl smiled. "But I'd like for you to meet someone first." Her smile faded. "Daisy, this is Veronica. Veronica, this is my daughter Daisy."

"Nice to meet you," the girl said. She tugged slightly on the boy's hand. "This is Mrs. Natalie's son George."

"It's nice to meet both of you."

"Are those your babies?" the second girl questioned. She put the baby in Sasha's arms and detached the girl from her shirt. She squatted in front of a sleeping Levi. "They're cute."

"That's Carol," Sasha told Veronica. "She usually doesn't act like that."

Carol looked up at her mother before slowly standing and backing away from the babies. "It's nice to meet you," she said. She looked at the baby and the little girl, who was gripping tightly onto Carol's pants. "This is Mrs. Christy's daughter Julia, and that's my little sister Margret."

"Are you married?" Daisy suddenly asked.

Natalie stood up. "Why don't I go get some ice cream?" She took Julia's hand in her own. "I'll be right back."

Daisy and Carol had their attention fixed between Veronica and the boys.

"No," Veronica said, "I'm not married, but I'm engaged."

Carol looked up. "Is your fiancée here?"

Veronica nodded. "He's over there."

Carol and Daisy glanced toward the men but only for a second.

"I've never seen such blue eyes before," Daisy commented, looking at Tony's now opened eyes.

Veronica couldn't help but smile. That was what she had thought of Lamb's eyes when she had first gazed into his eyes. "They get it from their father."

Lamb was walking slowly. A glance over his shoulder told him Veronica was already settled into the small group of women. He huffed and approached the men. One man saw him and quickly alerted the others.

"You're the new guy, right?" one man asked.

Lamb nodded. "We've been here for a few months anyway."

"Well you're the newest family on the block. The rest of us have lived here for years."

Lamb nodded, then stuck out a hand. "Don Lamb."

The men introduced themselves and settled into conversation, mostly pestering Lamb with questions.

"So how long have you been married?" a man named Wes Ackerson asked as he flipped the burgers.

"I'm not," Lamb replied. "I'm engaged, though."

The men glanced at each other. It was a man named Ryan that spoke up. "So I hear you have kids."

"Yeah triplets." He pointed at Veronica. "They're over there with their mother."

The men studied Veronica for a moment. "She looks pretty," Oliver observed.

Lamb grinned. "She's beautiful."

"Do I know you from somewhere?" Tom asked. Kyle nodded before tilting his head and studying Lamb.

"From the news I think," Kyle said slowly. "Are you on the news?"

"I've been on the news before," Lamb admitted, "but I'm trying to stay out of it."

"Why have you been in the news? You a criminal or something?" Wes asked. Lamb decided he was probably as nosy as Martha was.

Lamb laughed. Anybody who really knew Veronica and Lamb knew who the criminal in the relationship was. The men all had confused expressions; none could figure out why he was laughing.

"Trust me," Lamb said once he stopped laughing. "I'm not a criminal. I'm the sheriff of Balboa County."

"Ah," Tom mumbled.

Once the burgers were done, Wes put them on a plate.

"The girls and George have gone to the playground," Tom announced. "They'll eat later."

"I better go ask Sasha what she wants," Kyle said. He left the group and headed toward the women. Tom, Oliver, and Ryan followed. Lamb looked at Wes.

"You're not gonna go ask?" Lamb asked.

Wes shook his head. "Martha likes to wait until everyone else gets their food. What about you?"

Lamb rubbed a hand over his cheek. He grabbed a plate and placed a bun on it. "I know what she likes."

Wes gave him a strange look, but put a hamburger on the bun. He watched as Lamb put mustard and ketchup on the hamburger before squishing the bun on top. He put baked beans and mashed potatoes on the plate before he put a plastic fork in the mashed potatoes. He seemed to hesitate slightly before putting a brownie and a cookie on the plate.

The husbands were taking mental notes as their wives described what they wanted. Martha was about to ask Veronica what she wanted when Lamb appeared. He stood by her chair and held a plate out to her.

"Hungry?" he asked.

She smiled and took the plate. "Thanks."

"By the way," he said, "that's mine." Before she could ask, Lamb snatched the cookie and took a bite. He grinned at her as he pulled a chair up beside her. She leaned over and kissed his cheek.

"Thanks."

Lamb and Veronica were aware of their neighbors watching them, but they didn't care. They answered questions that were fired at them while teasing each other. At one point, after Veronica had finished eating, Lamb put his feet on her lap. When the boys started crying, Lamb and Veronica each took one while Daisy jumped at the chance.

"I can help," she said. "I mean, I've taken care of Julia before."

Veronica and Lamb shared a look, but it was Veronica that spoke. "Sure. We'd appreciate it."

Daisy beamed and pulled her chair beside Veronica's. Veronica handed Levi to Daisy and took Liam in her arms.

"So were you thinking about getting a pet?" Martha suddenly asked.

"Actually I have a dog," Veronica replied. "But he lives with my dad."

"But we're half-way to convincing her father to give him to us," Lamb added.

"Really?" Carol asked excitedly. "What's his name?"

"Ba-Would you quit it?" Veronica snapped at Lamb, who grinned. He had been nudging her anywhere his foot could reach. She used one hand to support Liam while she shoved his feet off her lap with the other.

"Ah come on," he grinned. "Just trying to have some fun."

"Go bug Sacks."

"Would you really punish the poor man?"

"At this rate? Gladly."

He laughed. "Fine, fine. But for the record I'd rather go bug Echolls."

She glared. "Watch it."

"I'm kidding…mostly."

It was Natalie who broke them up. "Who's that?" She was looking toward their house, where a white SUV had just pulled into the driveway.

"They're back," Lamb said in a sing-song voice.

Veronica rolled her eyes. "Earlier than we thought."

Lamb leaned over and whispered in her ear, "Don't forget they're taking the boys tonight."

She smiled. She and Lamb put the babies back in the carriers.

"That's my father and his family," Veronica explained to their neighbors. "We better go. It was nice to meet all of you."

There was a chorus of "It was nice to meet you too" and "See you tomorrow".

"What's going on out here?" Melissa asked as Lamb and Veronica approached.

"Just some block party," Lamb replied. He let his mother take Tony.

"Nice people?" Keith asked. He had offered to show the Lambs and their spouses around Neptune while Veronica and Lamb had a quiet day.

"Nosy," Veronica mumbled. She kissed her father on the cheek. "But okay."

Lamb and Veronica hung back as the others went inside, taking the boys with them. When the door was shut, Lamb turned to his fiancée.

"I don't care if I do have to sleep outside. I'm not doing that again." With that, he strolled inside, knowing she was rolling her eyes behind him.