DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING!!!!
Thanks for all the reviews guys. Sorry this chapter has taken so long to post and I figure y'all will be very dissapointed. This chapter is just more of a set up for the next couple of chapters but lately I haven't had much time to work on this. Well, let me know what you think and I promise that the next chapter is going to be logner and a lot better. Thanks!!
Julie and Kirsten had spent most of the early morning getting ready for their day of shopping and taking the children to the park while Ryan, Taylor, Seth, Summer, and Kaitlin headed to the movies for a full day of Imax features that only Seth was really looking forward to. Sophie had also made other plans for the day, saying that if she was going to be staying for the entire Chrismukkah holiday that she needed to do some more shopping so she headed out to the discount stores soon after the kids had left, leaving Julie and Kirsten to prepare for a day out with the kids.
"Mommy!" Sophie said quietly as Kirsten looked through Sophie's closet for an appropriate outfit for the day.
"Yes sweetie?" Kirsten asked, turning to face the little girl.
"Mommy, I don't feel good!" Sophie whined as she looked up at Kirsten. A look of panic quickly washed across Kirsten's face as she picked Sophie up and felt of her forehead.
"Oh sweetie, you're burning up!" Kirsten exclaimed, quickly carrying the little girl out of the bedroom and into the bathroom where the thermometer was. Kirsten continued to hold Sophie as she placed the thermometer in Sophie's ear and waited for it to beep. When it finally beeped, signaling it had finished taking Sophie's temperature Kirsten was worried that her little girl had a fever of 101.3. "Oh Sophie, honey, you have a fever!" Kirsten said as she placed the thermometer back in it's case and began rummaging through the medicine cabinet for the Children's Motrin. "Shoot," Kirsten mumbled, unable to find what she was looking for. Sophie placed her head on Kirsten's shoulder and began twirling Kirsten's long blonde locks in her hand. "Julie!" Kirsten called as she carried Sophie through the house.
"In here Kiki!" Julie called from the living room where she was going through Blake's diaper bag, making sure that she had packed everything he could possibly need for a day out. "Kiki, what's wrong?" Julie asked worriedly upon turning around and seeing her best friend's face.
"Sophie has a fever and we don't have any kids medicine. Do you have any?" Kirsten asked as she rubbed Sophie's back.
"Let me check," Julie said as she began tossing things out of Blake's diaper bag. Blake quickly walked over to Julie and peered over her shoulder, interested in why she had began throwing his things out of his bag. "No, I'm sorry Kiki. Do you want me to go to the pharmacy and pick some up?" Julie asked, standing to her feet.
"No, thank you Julie. The only pharmacy opened on Saturdays is on the other side of town and no offense, but you get lost coming here," Kirsten smiled at her Julie's thoughtfulness but knew it would take less time if she did it herself. Kirsten grabbed her purse and keys and headed to the door.
"Why don't you just have Sandy pick some up on his way home?" Julie asked.
"He called earlier and said his client and he were going to the D.A. in Newport and that he probably wouldn't be home until around noon and it's only nine. I don't want Sophie to have to suffer for three hours."
"Well I could watch her while you go. I know it isn't easy getting a sick kid in and out of the car by yourself!" Julie said, remembering all the times when Blake, Kaitlin, and Marissa had been sick as children and she would have to make a quick trip some where with them, resulting in a very unpleasant trip.
Kirsten stood at the door for a moment, turning the idea over and over in her mind. Even though Kirsten trusted Julie, she did not know if Julie could handle the responsibility of two toddlers, especially since Sophie was not feeling well. Kirsten also did not like the thought of leaving a Sophie anytime, but definitely not when she was sick. Kirsten then remembered when Seth had been little and how difficult he had been when he had been sick. With Sandy working at the P.D.'s office constantly she had been forced to always take Seth everywhere with her, not that she did not enjoy having him with her, but there had been times when it would have been nice to leave Seth with a sitter to make a quick trip to the store, especially when he was sick. Then again, Kirsten thought, Seth and Sophie were not that much alike, except when it came to their tendencies to be clingy and whiney.
"Are you sure you don't mind?" Kirsten asked, knowing that she needed to hurry.
"Kiki, she'll be fine, I promise!" Julie said as she held her hands out for Sophie. Sophie looked at Kirsten's for a moment then went over to Julie.
"Thank you Julie," Kirsten smiled appreciatively as she gave Sophie a quick peck on the cheek and headed out the door. "Be good for your Aunt Julie sweetheart!" Kirsten called as the door closed behind her. Sophie nodded and rested her head on Julie's shoulder. Once Blake noticed his mother holding his playmate he immediately walked over to her and stuck his arms up for her to pick him up.
"Blake, don't be jealous, Sophie's sick!" Julie said as she led Blake by the hand to the sofa where she sat down and placed him on her knee. Julie was a bit uncertain of the predicament she had just gotten herself in.
The residents of Newport Beach had elected a different D.A. since the last time Caleb had been there and as he walked to his car that morning he had been very thankful. The new D.A., Lawrence Grant, was young, so young that he had probably been away at college studying when Caleb's shady dealings had first came to light so many years earlier and for Caleb that was a good thing. Lawrence had made Caleb a deal that if he handed over all the evidence he possessed of wrong doings that he would not press charges against him. Caleb had been a bit unsure, not trusting the young man but Sandy had encouraged him to take the deal, knowing full well that if anyone got news of Caleb Nichol being alive and well, faking his own death to escape imprisonment that he would be looking at jail time and a lot of it. Caleb had listened to Sandy and had taken the deal, deciding that he had nothing to lose and everything to gain.
Sandy had reluctantly decided to help Caleb but unfortunately for Sandy he knew that if he did not help him he would probably go to Kirsten for some help, and even though Sandy knew that Kirsten would find out sooner or later that her father had faked his death, he wanted her to hear it from her. He did not want her to walk into the house one day and find Caleb just sitting there. So after Caleb had made a deal with the D.A. and had handed everything over to him Sandy and Caleb had went to the dinner and discussed how everything with Kirsten should be handled. Since Sandy knew that Kirsten and Julie were out for the day shopping and the kids had went to a movie, he knew that no one would be home until later in the day because even his mother had went shopping. With that knowledge Sandy decided that he could take Caleb to the house and show him how happy Kirsten and he was with their family in a town other than Newport and that they did not need a McMansion to make them happy. Caleb had hurt a lot of people and Sandy wanted to hurt him back, even though he knew that it probably would not faze Caleb he wanted to prove to him that all those years that they had not gotten along and all the times Sandy had told him that Kirsten would have been happier in Berkley, that he had been right and that Caleb had been wrong. Sandy however should have known better to assume that just because a house was suppose to be empty did not always mean it was.