Enjoy!! Thanks Katy for helping to motivate me to finish this before the year 2014.
Lilian, Sophia, and Maddy all giggled as Dory proceeded to ask Marlin for light after the Angler fish extinguished the light that had been there for Dory to read. "Light, please!" the three girls all exclaimed with Dory, sending the three into peals of laughter as Dave merely shook his head.
"Why couldn't we have watched a pirate movie?" he grumbled good naturedly.
"Daddy, shh," Sophia ordered. "Dory's getting ready to tell the address where Nemo is!"
"…And you don't know this yet?" Dave asked, more to himself.
Sophia leveled a look at him that reminded him so much of Lilian. "Yes, but that's half the fun of it," the six year old said precisely, Dave raising his eyebrows slightly at his daughter's proclamation. That girl was way too advanced for her age…
Sighing, Dave allowed his mind to wander slightly as he glanced down at his family. Lilian was curled up against him, her legs stretched out on an ottoman, her arms wrapped around his waist as she rested her head on his chest. His chin was resting on the top of her head, his left arm wrapped protectively around her shoulders. Sophia was laying across the couch, her head resting on Lilian's hip as she intently watched the movie. Maddy was next to Dave, her head resting on Dave's lap as she sucked her thumb, her eyes drooping more with each passing second.
Being careful not to disturb his youngest, he brought his legs up on the ottoman, his foot nudging Lilian's a little. She glanced up at him, smiling gently as she tilted her head up, Dave capturing her lips for a brief kiss.
"Would you two get a room?" Sophia asked with a roll of her eyes, causing Dave and Lilian to blush slightly before laughing.
"Young lady, where do you hear these things?" Lilian asked curiously.
"TV. Your CD's. School," Sophia replied in a bored tone.
Lilian glanced at Dave, shaking her head before turning her attention back to the movie.
Dave wasn't sure what time he fell asleep, but Lilian's soft snoring woke him up. He forced his eyes open, meeting the blank television screen. Yawning, he glanced at his watch, bleary eyes checking the time to see that it was two-thirty in the morning.
"Lil, wake up," Dave whispered, squeezing her shoulder slightly.
"No," his wife grumbled. "Wanna sleep."
"I know, baby," Dave agreed. "But you gotta wake up so we can put the girls to bed."
"What time is it?" Lilian asked with a yawn, a little more alert as she shifted a little, allowing Sophia's body to lay flat on the couch as she stood, stretching.
"Two-thirty," Dave answered, bending down to easily scoop Sophia in his arms, Lilian doing the same with Madeline. They carried their daughters to their respective bedrooms.
"Night, my little angel," Lilian whispered, tucking Maddy into bed, placing her favorite stuffed animal, a raggedy teddy bear named Chuck that had previously belonged to Sophia, next to her. "I love you," she told her daughter, bending down to plant a feather light kiss on her forehead.
Lilian made sure Maddy's night light was on before leaving the room, pausing her trek to hers and Dave's room to glance in at Sophia. Her oldest daughter was sprawled out on the bed, the covers kicked off already. She stepped in the room, kissing Sophia on the forehead gently.
"I love you, my Sopapilla," Lilian said softly, her mind going back to the mysterious letter she had found earlier in the afternoon for the hundredth time that night.
Sending up a quick prayer, Lilian left the room, making her way to hers and Dave's room, kicking off her slippers and snuggling up to Dave.
She wrapped her arms around Dave's waist, her chest resting against his back. She wrapped her leg around his, pulling as closely to him as possible.
"I wish we could do this every night," Dave said wistfully after a few moments, his hands covering Lilian's.
"Me, too," Lilian agreed, resting her forehead in between her shoulder blades. "It shouldn't be too much longer until I'm done with the album," she told him.
"It's hard being here alone at night while you're away," Dave admitted.
"I know," Lilian agreed. "I think that's why we end up calling each other at ridiculous hours of the morning."
"I don't mind, though," Dave told her. "To hear your voice helps a little."
"I know, Dave," she replied. "I wish things could be different, but short of packing up and moving the girls to New York City, what can we do?"
"I dunno, Sugar," Dave answered with a sigh, shifting so he was facing Lilian in the darkness, wrapping his arms around her waist and kissing her forehead. "I really don't know."
"Momma, wake up!" Lilian heard early the next morning, half a second before Maddy plopped down on her stomach.
"Oof," Lilian groaned, opening one eye to glance blearily at her daughter, the smell of pancakes and sausage invading her nostrils, her stomach growling beneath her daughter.
"Mom, wake up!" Sophia chimed in, shaking her mother's shoulder. "We wanna go swimming!"
"Sorry, mom's not here right now," Lilian mumbled, covering her face with the pillow and pretending to snore loudly.
"Momma!" Maddy protested, gently bouncing up and down on Lilian's stomach. "Wake up WAKE UP WAKE UP!"
"I told you, Momma isn't here right now," Lilian said, pushing the pillow off her face. "But you know who is?"
"Who?" Maddy asked suspiciously.
"The… TICKLE MONSTER!" Lilian cried out, flipping her daughter off her stomach and tickling the giggling four year old.
"Soapy, help me!" Maddy cried to her sister, who immediately joined in on the tickle fight.
"Hey, hey!" Lilian squealed when she felt Sophia's fingers dig into her sides. "Stop, stop!"
"Rawr!" Maddy cried when Lilian abandoned her to defend herself against Sophia, sitting on her mom's thighs and joining her sister in tickling Lilian.
"Mercy, mercy!" Lilian cried between giggles, attempting to squirm away from her daughters. "I give, stop!!"
Sophia and Maddy glanced at each other, stopping their tickling. "Who wins?" Sophia asked suspiciously.
"I do, of course!" Lilian answered, pretending to be horrified when her daughters wiggled their fingers at her, indicating they were gonna start tickling her again. "I mean, you do, my queens!"
"Yay!" Maddy said, holding her hand up to her sister for a high five. "We win!"
"Yes, you do," Lilian conceded with a laugh. "Now let me up so I can get dressed and we eat some of your daddy's special pancakes then hit the pool!"
Lilian adjusted the straps of her pink bikini, wiggling her toes as the summer sun beat down in her shoulders. She kept a careful eye on her daughters as they splashed each other in the shallow end of the pool, their inflatable shoulder floaties keeping them afloat as they hooted and hollered.
"Hey, baby," Dave said, settling on the chair in front of Lilian. "Can you put some lotion on my back?" he asked her. "I can feel it burning."
"Sure," Lilian agreed mischievously, squirting the lotion on his back, laughing when Dave jumped at the cold sensation. "Oh, I am so sorry," Lilian said in a fake apologetic voice.
"That was not nice, missy," Dave grumbled, closing his eyes as he enjoyed the soothing circles Lilian was tracing on his back and shoulders. "You're mean to me."
"I am not, you big baby," Lilian scoffed, smacking his shoulders, giggling when he jumped again.
"Ooh, you're gonna pay for that one, woman," Dave laughed, turning swiftly and pulling Lilian up from the chair and hoisting her over one of his shoulders, locking her knees so she couldn't get away.
"Dave, put me down!" Lilian yelled, smacking his back. "Don't you even think of it!" she added when she realized he was headed for the deep end of the pool.
"Do it, Daddy!" Lilian heard Sophia call.
"Hey, you're supposed to be on my side!" Lilian called back to her daughter before turning her attention back to Dave. "Dave, think of the girls," Lilian pleaded. "What kind of example are you setting for them?"
"I suppose you're right," Dave agreed with a frown, shifting his wife so he was holding her in his arms. "But you still owe me an apology for pouring that cold lotion on my back…"
"How can I ever make it up?" Lilian asked playfully.
"Kiss me?"
Lilian complied, pressing a kiss to Dave's lips. "Apology accepted?" she asked.
Dave thought for a moment, then said, "I guess so…" He turned, then suddenly pivoted, throwing Lilian into the pool before she even knew what was happening.
Lilian landed with a huge splash, Dave, Sophia, and Maddy's laughs all filling the air as she came up sputtering. "That wasn't funny!" Lilian scolded, spitting out water as she swam to the edge of the pool.
"Oh, I am so sorry," Dave mocked her from earlier, still laughing at the irritated look on his wife's face.
"Yeah, sure, I guess we're even," Lilian grumbled. "Help me out of here?"
"Okay," Dave replied, stretching his hand down to help Lilian out of the pool.
He wasn't prepared, however, for his wife to yank his hand, sending the big man off balance and tumbling into the water with a huge splash.
Lilian joined Maddy and Sophia in hysterical laughter, the little blonde swimming to the shallow end of the pool as Dave came up spitting out water.
"I win!" Lilian called to Dave, who glared at her from the deep end of the pool.
"Yeah, well, we'll see! You are so gonna pay for that," Dave warned, starting to make his way to the shallow end when a voice broke his concentration.
"I'd say you got owned, Dave," their mail lady, an older woman named Cathy called with a smirk on her face as she looked over the fence at the family. "I got a certified letter that I need you to sign for."
"You're safe for now," Dave told Lilian, hoisting himself out of the pool and grabbing a towel before heading over to where Cathy was standing.
"I'm so shaking," Lilian replied sarcastically, turning to her daughters. "SPLASH FIGHT!" she yelled suddenly, using her hands to create a huge wave of water that drenched her daughters.
Dave shook his head as he opened the date, stepping out to sign the envelope that Cathy handed him. "Now no selling that on EBay," Dave warned, accepting the mail from her.
"Yeah, sure," Cathy replied with a roll of her eyes, handing Dave the rest of their mail.
"Later, Cathy," Dave called distractedly, flipping through the mail, his gaze frowning as he came across a plain white envelope with not stamp, address, or return address.
Curiously, he opened the letter, his features hardening as he read the single line on the paper.
Enjoy your girls while you have them; they will be mine soon.
Dave glanced in the backyard, noticing that Lilian and their daughters were engaged in a splash war that Lilian was obviously losing. Slowly, he walked in the house, placing the letter in his study and the rest of the mail on the kitchen table, before making his way outside.
"Dave, help me with this battle!" Lilian called, frowning slightly when Dave sat in a lawn chair instead of joining them in the pool again.
"I'm gonna sit out of this one," Dave replied.
Lilian glanced at her daughters, who seemed to have lost interest in the water fight as a butterfly fluttered by. She hoisted herself out of the pool, padding over to sit next to Dave.
"Anything interesting in the mail?" she asked carefully, her mind going back to the mail she had received the day before.
Dave hesitated, meeting his wife's green eyes as he clearly answered.
"Nope."
End Part 7.2