Author's Note:
Thank you so much for your reviews! It means a lot to know that people are taking the time to read this and like the story.
freedom4trace, I have one word for you: HOT. I think that's really all I need to say haha XD Hope you have a good time away, and hopefully there'll be a few more chapters waiting for you when you get home :)
Also, to the guest reviewer who mentioned the kiss... I'll admit, when I was writing it, I was conflicted between letting it happen or interrupting it. But... Who's to say it'll happen again anytime soon? Like I said, it's not all rainbows and roses... ;)
Despite this, I can confirm that there will be a big gay rainbow in the end for anyone in doubt. I've written out the plan for this story, and I know exactly how it's going to pan out. It's just a matter of filling in the middle.
Anyway... More family fun in this chapter with some flirty text banter between the girls. Bearing in mind that people are always more brave via text. At least, that's what I think anyway...
Disclaimer: I own nothing but my imagination.
Chapter 5:
Something soft probes my face. I shuffle slightly, my face snuggling further into the pillow as I keep my eyes shut.
It happens again. What the hell...?
I open my eyes slowly, my pupils adjusting to the light before two little faces are brought into focus.
"Hey guys." I take a deep breath as I stretch my body. "Mmmm... Something smells good..."
The twins just stare at me before Emily speaks up.
"Aunt Pam said you have to come to breakfast now." That's all the conversation I get as the pair of them head for the door, disappearing down the stairs.
Well. I guess that's me told...
I rub my eyes before heading to the bathroom and splashing some water on my face. I do my business then gargle some water in my mouth. I hate that feeling you're left with in your mouth in the mornings. There's nothing worse than morning breath... I decide I'll brush my teeth after breakfast. There's no point in cleaning them now when I'm about to eat. Besides, have you ever eaten anything after just brushing your teeth? Yuck!
I make my way back to my room and swap my shorts for sweatpants. I'm being considerate here; there are guys in the house; there's no need to make anyone uncomfortable...
Just then, I remember the events of last night.
I lift my phone off the bedside table and check to see if the woman who'd been haunting my dreams last night had text me again.
Nothing.
Well that's disappointing... Should I text to see how she is?
I decide against texting her, not wanting to scare her off, and make my way downstairs to the kitchen to see what delights Pam has cooked for breakfast.
When I walk through the doorway, my nose is assaulted by a mouth-watering aroma. Dale, Chase, Rob and Casey sit at the long dining table as Brooke, Max and Emily sit at the smaller kids' table. Annie's dishing out the cutlery as Pam continues cooking, her back to me.
"Hi, Ash!" Brooke shouts.
Pam turns then, and that's when I see it...
Pancakes.
They're not just pancakes though; they're chocolate chip pancakes. This recipe just happens to be one Aunt Pam has managed to perfect over the years, and to this day, I've still never tasted pancakes quite as good as hers.
"Morning, Ashley!"
"Morning, Aunt Pam!" I eagerly take a seat beside Casey as Pam begins to dish out breakfast.
Conversation is kept light as we eat, Pam quick to offer seconds when we're finished. I obviously oblige. It would be rude not to...
When breakfast is over, Casey and I make a start on the dishes, her washing whilst I dry, Brooke helping out by by aiding Pam in putting them away. Once we have our little conveyor belt going at a steady pace, we begin to discuss our plans for the day.
"How about the beach?" I pitch in.
"Nah..." Casey brushes me off. "It's an hour and a half in the car, and I really want to show you my surprise today."
Oh yeah, I'd forgotten about that. I wonder what it is... I'm not a huge fan of surprises to be honest. I haven't gotten many good ones in the past... I trust I'll like this one though. Casey knows me inside out. Ooh, I wonder if Rob finally built those little wooden rafts I kept going on about!
I remember banging on about them about two years before Casey and I nearly gave Pam the heart attack. I had seen people on television racing with them and thought it looked really fun, so tried to talk Rob into making us some. He tried bless him, but managed to put his back out transporting the logs to his little workshop out the back. The following year, his back was still a little fragile, and by the year after that, I think he'd forgotten. Ah well, I guess the canoes are still fun... Rafts would be awesome though...
"How about some basketball?"
"NO!" It's a unanimous decision from everyone save Chase and Dale. Chase looks a bit bummed with the let down.
"Don't worry, bro!" Dale puts an arm around Chase's shoulder before ruffling his hair. "I'll be sure to squeeze in a game with you before bed. Prepare to be whipped!" He winks as he pulls away.
"Basketball is boring." Well said, Brooke. Well said. "I want to go exploring..." Now there's an idea. The plot Pam and Rob own is huge, and there's plenty of woodland to trek through.
"What a good idea, Brooke!" That's Annie.
"Yay!" Max and Emily chorus together.
"Well that's settled then. It looks like we're going for a good old-fashioned walk!" Pam smiles at Brooke, who's looking very pleased with herself at her stroke of ingenuity.
I'm in my bedroom again, picking out some sensible clothes to go out walking in while Chase and Casey fight over the bathroom. I check my phone on the off-chance that there's a text waiting for me.
Well what do you know...
Morning! How are you today? We're just about to take Lucy bowling. Glen's doing my head in already. He's such a competitive ass. We haven't even left yet! X
I can't help but laugh at this. Glen sounds like a hoot...
She sent it twenty minutes ago. Hopefully, she still has her phone near her. I write out my reply before hitting 'send'.
Hey! I'm not bad thanks, you? Wow, Glen sounds fun... I'm just about to head out for a walk. We're going 'exploring'. X
She doesn't take long to respond.
Oh yeah, he's tons of fun... Exploring, huh? Better keep track of where you are; you wouldn't want to get lost ;) X
A wink? Well, if I didn't know any better, I'd say Miss Carlin is flirting with me... So you want to flirt, do you? I think I can handle that...
I'll admit, before Paige came along and I was going through the emotional turmoil of losing my dad, I was a bit of a player. I still possess the flirty playfulness I used to be notorious for deep down... I just haven't really wanted to use it, but I guess it can't do any harm to let flirty Ash out to play for a while again...
Oh trust me, there's no way I'll get lost. Just call me Tarzan... Well, the forest version I guess... Besides, I'm meeting this girl tomorrow. She seems nice. I don't think I'd make a good impression if I turned up late because I got lost in amongst some trees... X
Smooth, right? Well okay, maybe not, but let's hope she appreciates my humour.
Oh, I see. So, Tarzan, tell me... This girl; is she pretty? I'm kind of jealous. X
Oh yeah, she's pretty alright...
Meh, she's alright I guess... I mean, if we're talking numbers, I'd probably say a 6 or 7... I'd maybe stretch to an 8, but that'd be pushing it... X
It takes her a few minutes to respond to this one. Maybe I shouldn't have been so sarcastic. Some people don't get my sarcasm... Shit, Ashley, you've only known her what, seventeen hours, and you go and say something like that! Of course she's not a six or seven! She's not even an eight! She's a perfect ten and then some, and what do you do? You blow it. Fuck.
Just then, my phone beeps. False alarm?
Hey, sorry about that. Glen's being an ass, as per usual... A 6 or 7, huh? That's disappointing... I would have thought a girl of your standard would aim at least a little higher ;) I'm going to have to go here, but I'll try to text you later. Looking forward to seeing you tomorrow. Bye! X
I swear, I thought my heart was going to beat out of my chest there I was panicking that much. Then she goes and writes something like that. What a flirt! She looked like butter wouldn't melt when she bumped into me yesterday. I guess looks can be deceiving... Spencer isn't quite as angelic as I thought...
Well, I do try ;) No problem. No doubt I'll be summoned soon anyway. Looking forward to seeing you too. Speak to you soon. X
"Hey, loser!" Casey's just poked her head around my door. "Bathroom's free! What are you smiling at?" She narrows her eyes at me.
"Oh, nothing. Just some pictures I took of Brooke a while ago. Is she there?"
"Yeah, hold on a sec..." She leaves the doorway, presumably going over to the kids' room. "Brooke, Ash wants you."
Brooke makes her way into my room, Casey stopping behind her in the doorway.
"She's all yours, Ash. See you guys downstairs." With that, she disappears again.
"Ready to get dressed, kiddo?"
I join Brooke in our morning routine of brushing our teeth together, playing a game where we take it in turns to hum a tune whilst brushing, the other having to guess what the tune is. We do this every morning; it's one of our 'things'. Brooke's pretty good at it too, but she's a total cheat. She keeps giving me hard ones, whereas I try to keep it simple, what with playing against a child and everything...
While Brooke's getting dressed, I do my hair and makeup, just tying my hair back in a ponytail and letting my fringe sweep to the side. We're only going for a walk... My makeup's done, so if we do decide to go out somewhere later, all I'll have to do is touch it up, then change my hair and clothes.
I lace up Brooke's converse, watching her as she leaves the bathroom and trots off downstairs, before getting changed myself. I don't take long, so it's only a matter of minutes before I'm joining everyone in the living room.
"Hey, Smiler, you ready to go?" Casey asks.
"Hell yeah!"
Brooke gasps, her mouth hanging open, before pointing to the coffee table and shouting at me.
"Jar!" What the hell?
"What?"
"Jar! You said a swear!" I did? 'Hell' isn't a swear, is it? And what does she mean by 'jar'?
"She's right, Ash... You did say a swear." I'm still not following... "Look on the coffee table."
I do. Ah, so that's the jar. Why is there a dollar in it?
"You can blame Chase for the invention. Idiot stubbed his toe looking for his shoe..." She turns to Chase then. "Where did you even hear that anyway? That was a good one..." Chase just shrugs as he looks at Casey.
I stare at Casey as I wait for her to explain.
"Oh, right... So, you swear around any of the kids and they catch you out, you put a dollar in the jar... At the end of the month, we open the jar and count it up. The kids get to spend its contents in any way they see fit. Go figure." Right... Guess I'm going to have to watch my mouth around the kids. If they know the money's for them, they're going to be paying extra attention...
I growl playfully as I grab a pen and paper from the table and quickly scrawl 'I O U' on it, before opening the jar and slipping it inside. My wallet's in my room right now, I'll put my dollar in later...
"Thieves..." I narrow my eyes at the kids before sticking my tongue out at them. Max and Emily just giggle as Brooke mimics my action.
Soon enough, we set off, ready to explore...
We had gone out the back door, walking past the camp fire and down the hill towards the large lake, before entering the little forest area just to the left of it. Brooke, Max and Emily are happy enough to lead the expedition, stopping to study certain bugs and plants they found interesting.
We're all chatting amongst ourselves, Dale and Chase carrying on with sticks to the side as us girls keep sensibly to the track, sharing gossip whilst Pam and Rob laugh at the kids.
Casey nudges me as she gestures to the guys, who are acting kind of shady. Chase has a glint in his eye as Dale whispers something in his ear.
"You thinking what I'm thinking?" Casey's voice is hushed as she leans into me, keeping a close eye on Chase and Dale. I glance over to them once more. Chase is attempting to stretch his arms inconspicuously as Dale fixes his shorts.
"Oh yeah. They're probably too dumb to realise that we've caught on... You want to be one or two?"
"I'll go two. You're way fitter than me now."
"Okay..." We move into formation with subtlety, me bending over as I pretend to tie my shoe lace, and Casey standing directly behind me as she uses Annie as a prop, pretending to admire her hair. Annie's totally with us on this one. She knows where her loyalties lie; definitely on the girls' team...
As expected, Dale thinks we're too preoccupied with our current actions to be ready in time, so makes no hesitation to start the countdown.
"Three! Two! One! Goose!"
As soon as he yells 'goose', Casey makes a run for it, jumping onto my back as I alter my position so I'm ready for her. Dale does the same to chase, though their technique is not quite as elegant...
Why the term 'goose', you ask? Well let's just say that up until Casey and I were about twelve, there used to be a flock of different birds that liked to chill down by the lake. There were ducks and swans, and eventually, a gaggle of geese decided to join the party. Now I don't know about the others, but I've always thought geese were pretty ballsy. I mean, have you ever gone to the park to feed the ducks? The ducks and swans would be alright, keeping quite a safe distance from you, but the geese? Well, they were total badasses; no fear at all. And if you ran out of food, well of course, they would follow you, quite forcibly might I add...
One particular day, Dale, Casey, Chase and I were feeding the ducks, Rob and Pam hovering nearby as they enjoyed the weather, Pam snapping away with a camera. Chase was only four at the time, where Dale was sixteen, so he sort of had responsibility over us.
It just so happened that on this day, the geese hadn't shown up yet, so we just got on with it, giving the ducks and swans an extra feed. Soon enough though, the geese appeared and weren't too happy when they discovered that all the bread was gone...
Of course, they started following us, Chase getting a little frightened at the sheer size of the creature that was sizing him up. Eventually, the pressure was too much for him, and he took off, his little legs working as fast as they could to carry him away. Naturally, the geese started to give chase. It was quite scary. Obviously, they were going for Chase, but as soon as Casey and I began to run in an attempt to catch him before the geese could, they turned on us too. Dale thought this was hilarious, and stood there laughing for a second before shouting over to Chase to get onto his back. Of course, it wasn't so funny anymore now that the geese were chasing Dale...
Pam was in hysterics as she handed her camera over to Rob and shouted at us to make a run for it. Why wouldn't she have been? Her niece and nephews were being harassed by feral geese...
Meanwhile, Casey had gone over on her ankle and was having a hard time running on it. Dale shouted over to me to take Chase on my back as he let him down to lift Casey, so I did, the pair of us running up the hill back to the house with these ton weights clinging on to our backs.
Despite Pam being quite upset, Rob saw the humour in the situation, and managed to take a few photographs of the incident, in between the laughter of course... I have to admit, the photographs are pretty good. Who knew Rob had a flair for photography?
Needless to say, after all the nagging Pam did, Rob finally agreed to make a few phone calls to get the geese moved elsewhere, and despite being heart scared when it was happening, we managed to see the funny side, the term 'goose' quickly becoming the alternative to 'run'. Occasionally, we would have a few impromptu races, with piggybacks of course, just to honour the memory of the geese.
"Go, Chase, go!" Dale shouts as Chase almost catches up with me.
"Not today, boys!" Casey yells.
The kids are startled by the commotion and turn their little heads just in time to see Casey and I whizz past them, making our way to the large tree we assume is the mutual target. Chase and Dale drag behind before landing in a heap right in front of us. Max thinks this is great, and decides to make a run for it, jumping on top of his dad before the three of them start play fighting on the ground.
We're all still laughing as Brooke runs up to me, and Emily to Annie.
"Ash, can we do that?" Brooke looks up to me.
"Yeah, mommy, I want to play." Annie looks down to Emily.
"Honey, I can't. Why don't you ask your dad?" She looks over to Dale who's still rolling around with Chase and Max. He doesn't look like he's getting up anytime soon.
"Hey, Em, how about you get on my back?" I ask.
"Yeah, and I'll take Brooke!"
Casey and I bend down to let them climb onto us before taking off, the girls giggling as they bounce on our backs.
As we're nearing the house again, Casey turns to Annie.
"So, Annie, what's up with you? Bad back?"
"Something like that..."
Ever since we got here, Annie's been less outgoing than she normally is, not joining in with the races, and generally taking a backseat. Not to be rude, but I have noticed she's put on a bit of weight. Maybe she's just not feeling as fit as usual. I'm sure she'll perk up soon enough...
We enter the house again and I run up to my room, remembering the dollar I owe the jar for earlier. I see my phone on the bedside table and decide to lift that too, before making my way to the living room where everyone else seems to have congregated. I put my dollar in the jar, replacing the slip of paper I put in this morning as Pam brings in the lemonade.
As I sip my drink, I re-read the texts from this morning, the grin that creeps onto my face unavoidable.
As I'm about to put my phone down, I hear someone clear their throat. I look up to see Casey standing there, her eyes narrowed.
"Okay, really... What are you smiling about? You can't still be looking at those 'pictures' you were talking about. Who's texting you?"
"No one."
"Yeah right! That goofy grin you've got going on tells me otherwise, so come on, who is it?"
I roll my eyes before relenting.
"Okay, okay... If you must know... I kind of met someone last night."
"Last night?" The realisation dawns on her. "That's why you were so late back! You little sneak! So who is she? Is she hot?" I giggle.
"Yeah, she's hot..."
"Nice! What's her name?"
It's –"
Just then, there's a bit of a commotion as Dale calls Casey to the hallway. She pokes her head around the corner before turning back to me.
"Hey, Ash, you ready for your surprise?" She's grinning like the Cheshire cat right now.
"Sure! Go ahead and disappoint me..." I rise out of my seat and make my way to where Casey is standing in the hallway.
Holy fucking shit...
