Chapter Sixteen:

A/N: Alright so it's been a while hah and Cara told me to write some more so I did!

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They soon reached room 203 and knocked on the door. "Mom! Someone's knocking on the door!" Came a young girl's screeching voice from inside, making Teah automatically wince.

"Okay, why don't you answer it Haleigh." Lena's voice was heard from inside the room.

"Okay!" Came the first screeching voice again, the footsteps bounding towards the door. Finally it swung open. "Teah!" The bundle of energy jumped into her older sister's arms.

"You're home." Lena's voice was filled with relief.

"Yeah. You can thank Eric and Calleigh for that." Teah nodded as she carried her younger sister inside and gave her mother a hug.

"Thank you so much for taking care of her." Lena sighed. "We were worried sick."

"Sorry." Teah shrugged sheepishly. "I'm going to go lay down…" She darted out of the room.

"Good luck." Lena mumbled. It wasn't exactly sleep friendly in the suite. Lucy Jane and Haleigh were shrieking loudly while being chased by Paul, who was making monster noises as he bounded along.

"Try to keep it down kids." Eli called from what Eric and Calleigh assumed would be the bathroom.

"We want to go and play Mommy!" Lucy Jane told her Mother, putting on her best pout and making her pretty blue green eyes as big as she could.

"Lucy Jane, I can't take you down to the arcade right now… Teah just got in and…" Lena tried to explain.

"But we want to go now Mom!" Haleigh piped up.

"Please Mom!" Paul added.

"We could take them!" Calleigh suggested. She usually didn't get much chance to interact with younger children, and she wanted to jump at the chance she had. She occasionally regretted not starting a family, and certainty didn't mind helping watch the kids, especially since it looked as if Lena might have been nursing a bit of a hangover as well.

"I couldn't impose after you already took care of Teah for us." Lena shook her head in protest.

"Oh it was no problem at all." Eric added with a smile, knowing how much Calleigh loved kids, and if Calleigh loved them, he did too. Plus, was he going to pass off the chance of pretending to play parents with Calleigh? No way!

"Really, I couldn't ask you to…" Lena continued with her protests.

"It's fine, honestly." Calleigh reassured her, "You're not asking, we're volunteering."

"If you're sure." Lena sighed in defeat, although she really didn't mind Calleigh and Eric taking her kids out, she didn't want to impose or ruin their vacation by any means.

"Do you guys want to come to the arcade with us?" Calleigh asked, kneeling down, her southern accent thickening.

"Yah! Yah!" Haleigh was jumping up and down with excitement at both the prospect of going to the arcade, and having two new adults to tell stories to because she'd already either told everyone everything she could think of to say, or they'd been there with her when it happened.

"Sure." Paul answered, smiling shyly at Calleigh with a look of admiration on his face.

"What about you Lucy Jane?" Eric asked, making sure the quiet one wasn't excluded. Lucy Jane looked at Eric, wide eyed, and nodded her head yes.

"Alright, well be safe, listen to Calleigh and Eric, and have fun." Lena instructed as she handed Paul money to use in the arcade. "Could you bring them back around three so we could go skiing before dinner?"

"Sure thing." Eric nodded as they headed out the door.

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The arcade was, as most arcades are, filled with children of all ages. Haleigh grabbed Lucy Jane's hand and immediately made her way over to the pinball machines. "Awh!" She complained upon reaching them. "I can't see the top of it."

"Me neither." Lucy Jane shook her head. Paul was busy playing a racecar game against another boy his age. Eric smiled and walked over to the two girls.

"Need some help ladies?" He asked with a smile. Haleigh looked at Lucy Jane and they giggled at the fact he called them ladies.

"Yes please." Haleigh answered. Eric easily lifted the tiny girl up and held her in a way so she wasn't going to pull any muscles, and he wasn't going to pull any muscles and she could see the machine.

"Thanks Eric!" She told him.

"No problem Haleigh." He smiled. She was such a contrast to her twin sister who was still staring wide-eyed at the practically strange man in front of her. When Haleigh's turn at pinball was over, Eric help Lucy Jane while she played her turn. Meanwhile, Calleigh was watching Paul and his new friend, Jared, play the racecar game.

"You're good at this game Paul." Calleigh observed, "Do you like cars a lot?"

"Sort of." Paul shrugged through his concentration. Calleigh smiled at the way he moved his whole body along with the steering wheel when he made a turn. Jared was a more relaxed player, but Paul was beating him by a long shot. "So my sister stayed with you guys last night?" Paul asked sceptically. Calleigh could tell that he wasn't as easily trusting as his sisters, most likely because he was older and she was glad to see that kids these days were still aware of safety precautions, even if they were against her.

"Yeah. She came back with us after the dance your parents went to with her." Calleigh nodded smiling reassuringly at him.

"My Dad's a lawyer. What do you do?" Paul inquired, still highly concentrated in his game.

"I'm a Crime Scene Investigator, which is sort of like a police officer." Calleigh explained.

"So you're a cop?" Paul asked, obviously intrigued.

"Not really a cop… but I do work with cops." Calleigh told him.

"So you don't get to use a gun?" He seemed mildly disappointed.

"Oh no. Guns are my specialty. I'm a guns expert." Calleigh told him, and his face lit up with excitement.

"Really?" He asked eagerly.

"Yep." Calleigh nodded.

"That's really cool." He told her, turning his attention, once again back to the game.

"Thanks." Calleigh smiled. Calleigh then decided to go see what Eric and the girls were up to. Turning around, she saw the cutest sight in the world. Eric was holding Lucy Jane while she played pinball. Haleigh was standing beside them cheering on her sister and occasionally smiling at Eric, who she obviously was beginning to admire. Eric put Lucy Jane down and the two girls scurried off to find another game to play. Calleigh walked up behind Eric and wrapped her arms around his waist, making him jump slightly before she told him, "You're going to make a great Dad someday."

"Was that a challenge?" Eric smirked back. Calleigh scowled playfully at him before they went off in pursuit of Lucy Jane and Haleigh.

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A/N: Okay, hah so this was fairly uneventful. Is anyone interested in more Mindy stuff or should I just sort of drop that? Please review! Thankyou for reading!