Diamond S Ranch (II)

1-Is This It? Part 2

All the party goers had finally left. It was getting late, the grandfather clock having just recently chimed quarter to midnight. Jake was sitting in his chair in the kitchen dining area, nursing a now, warm beer, in the dark but he wasn't alone. Zach and Kaison had joined him. Jordan and the twins had all taken off respectively to hang out with their friends after the party begun to wind down. Though they should be making their way home soon, well, the twins at least should be. But for now, the house was quiet. Well...it should have been quiet. 

All three were currently listening to the sounds of three little girls who were trying to not make any noise as they made their way across the back of the foyer, apparently heading towards the kitchen. They weren't doing a very good job of it. Their muffled giggles and their constant hushed whispers of telling each other to 'hush', was becoming rather comical. It was apparent that they were having trouble navigating in the dark as they kept running into things. At the rate they were going, they were going to wake the dead, too. 

A few moments later the guys heard a loud thud sound and someone's muffled "shit!" come from the kitchen. The three of them exchanged curious looks with each other. 

"Wonder what that was?" Kaison finally said out loud.

Jake was wondering the exact same thing. 

"I'll go check it out." Zach finally said as he lifted himself up and stepped out from the bench seat. 

Even though they hadn't bothered to turn on any lights, both Kaison and Jake could clearly see Zach lumber towards the kitchen. Their eyes having adjusted to the what light was filtering in through the windows. There was also a night light that would automatically come on at dark that was plugged into an outlet close to the kitchen door. Giving them enough light to see his large frame stepping through the doorway of the main kitchen area.

The moment Zach entered into the kitchen and flipped on a light, Jake and Kaison heard three loud squeals. 

"Well, so much for sneaking around now." Kaison quipped. 

"Zach, you scared the crap out me!" Elle snapped as she jumped to her feet.

Zach stood there taking in the scene before him. The refrigerator door was wide open, with Elle now kneeling back down in front of a nice size container of potato salad. Meredith was on the floor beside her and both of them appeared to be trying to put, what had ejected across the floor, back into the container. Lillie was coming over with some paper towels in her hand. 

"What are yall doing?" Zach asked as he stood there his hands on his hips and puzzled look on his face. 

"We are baking a cake." Elle retorted not bothering to even look up at him.

Zach just grunted, letting that smart-alecky remark go. 

"I believe, missy, you were told to stay in the den." Zach said, reminding her of what Jake said once he agreed to let Lillie and Meredith stay over. Jake really did not want a repeat of the last time they all spent the night together. All of them recalling all the ghost drama. 

"We just wanted something to drink." Elle explained as she shoved the container back into the refrigerator. "We were trying to be quiet." She defended.

"A herd of elephants is quieter than you three." He remarked though more to himself. "Fine, get what you want to drink and then get back to den...and stay there." He said firmly but he really didn't sound that harsh. 

"What if we have to pee?" Elle asked as he headed back towards the doorway. 

Zach stopped and slowly looked back over his shoulder at his little sister. He knew she was just being cheeky, especially with that sappy look she was currently standing there giving him. Her eyes all wide and innocent like.