Chapter 775: Jared Residence
Tuesday, March 28th, Morning
The morning light trickled through the pulled-closed curtains of the guest bedroom. She rolled out of bed and shook her head; her blonde hair floated around but was still tied in knots. Shaking her head, she looked in the mirror and noticed the bags under her eyes. She chose to stay at her sister's place because she needed to sleep and visit her niece.
Alix stretched, yawned, grabbed her towel and toiletries, and headed to the bathroom. She showered to wake up and wash some stink off. After washing her hair, she climbed out and dried herself off. Wrapping a towel around herself, she blew out and brushed her hair, taking all the knots out. Once complete, Alix returned to the guest room; she dressed in an olive long-sleeve t-shirt and skinny jeans.
Going downstairs, barefoot, she found her sister, Kat, sitting at the table feeding Alix's niece, Raya. The little girl was in her highchair, and Kat was feeding Raya with what looked like oatmeal. Kat looked up and smiled at Alix.
"Hey there, sleepy head," Kat said.
"Hey, yourself," Alix said.
"How did you sleep?" Kat asked.
Alix stretched and yawned again, "Well, I needed that," she said.
"Yeah, Tucker, keeping you awake?" Kat asked.
"Yeah, he is," Alix purred, "What do you mean by that?"
"Oh!" Kat said, her cheeks reddened, "I mean, since he works all these crazy hours and hardly sleeps."
"Yeah, that's what you mean," Alix said.
"Alix, that's what I mean, and I wouldn't say anything like that in front of Raya," Kat said.
"Right," Alix said, went into the kitchen. A moment later, Alix returned with a cup of coffee. She walked over to the high chair and kissed Raya's head. "Good morning, Raya," Alix said.
"Dobroye utro, tetya Aliks," Raya said.
Alix chuckled. "I tebe, Raya," she said.
"Gde Tucker, tetya Aliks?" Raya asked.
"On doma," Alix said.
"Raya, pora yest'," Kat said.
"Da, mama," Raya said.
Alix looked at Kat. "She's gotten very good," she said.
"She'll be better than you soon enough," Kat said.
"Babushka's native tongue was never my strong suit," Alix said.
Kat snorted, "True, but I can't take all the credit; Tayla has been working with Raya," she said.
"You have a good nanny there," Alix said.
"We hired her because of her speech skills," Kat said.
"That's a thing?" Alix asked.
"Yeah," Kat said.
"Well, I'll be…" Alix said, "I bet you drive Mister Kutcher crazy when you speak with his wife all night long."
"Milena is a beautiful woman, and yes, we drive him crazy when we speak her native tongue all night," Kat said.
Alix laughed, "Is it true about her eyes?" she asked.
Kat nodded, "Yeah, the right one is brown," she said.
Alix smiled and sat down. Kat looked at Alix. "What's on your mind?" Kat asked.
"What did you think of working with Callie?" Alix asked.
Kat shrugged, "She can play the guitar better than many people I've heard or played with," she said.
Alix nodded, "I agree," she said.
"Why do you ask?" Kat asked.
Alix sighed, "I think she needs music like we needed music when we were growing up," she said.
"In what way, Alix?" Kat asked.
"Brooke took her in, from what Tucker said, because she came out, and her parents gave her the boot," Alix said.
"Oh wow!" Kat said.
"From what I've also heard, her siblings ditched her as well," Alix said.
"So, why do you bring this up? Such dark stuff on such a bright morning," Kat said.
"I think we should play with her and encourage her in her music," Alix said.
Kat nodded, "Noble idea, but I leave for South America soon," she said.
"I know," Alix said.
"So, what do you want to do?" Kat asked.
"When we could, work with her," Alix said.
"How?" Kat asked.
"Me and you, initially, maybe bring in to more people to work with her," Alix said.
Kat sighed, "So, what song?" she asked.
"What do you mean?" Alix asked.
"What do you want her to work on," Kat said, "We need something to work on."
Alix nodded, "I have an idea for a song," she said.
"Okay, what is it?" Kat asked.
"I'm thinking something old school," Alix said.
"What is it?" Kat asked.
"What is it, Tetya Alix?" Raya parrotted.
"Something off the Less Than Zero soundtrack," Alix said.
"You don't mean?" Kat asked.
"Yes, I do," Alix said.
"Can Callie sing harmonies?" Kat asked.
"I don't know, we could find out," Alix said.
"So, where do we start?" Kat asked.
"If we bring Mags in, she'll only want to play lead, so I think she can play rhythm," Alix said.
Kat nodded, "So, what's going on with Tucker?" she asked.
Alix shrugged, "I wish I knew," she said.
"I get it," Kat said, "There's some waffles in the microwave if you want them."
"Do I? Hell, yes! Thanks," Alix said, hopping to her feet and entering the kitchen. Kat chuckled and looked at Raya.
"That's your Tetya," Kat said.
Raya smiled and giggled.