Falling into Ash

Prologue

        A look of determination crossed over his face and he looked up at Declan. He held out his chubby arms. "Hold." He reached for the baby, and Declan immediately moved her away in a protective manner. Logan's lip started to tremble.

        Scarlette picked up Logan and set him on the couch in between her and her husband. She gingerly took her fussy baby from Declan and set her in Logan's lap whilst supporting her. He instantly quieted and smiled at her. Nalla latched onto Logan's fingers and stopped crying. The infant eventually fell asleep.

        Dominick videoed his niece and the encounters with his son and the Ash boys with his new video camera. He felt a burst of joy spread throughout his chest at the memory he just captured. Nalla's homecoming, Logan's first word, and Vince and Tyler's first tantrums.

        After that day Logan Ash became the most talkative boy in the group.

        

Nalla at 7 years old.

          "Daddy! Daddy!" I screamed running up to my father who was grilling burgers and my uncle who was tinkering with his video camera. My uncle pointed the lens at me and chuckled at the sight.

        My clothes were wet and muddy. My curly hair was a tangled mess with knots and dried mud. My mother would be upset of she saw me, so that's why I'm running to my daddy.

        "Nalla, why are you covered in mud?" Daddy sat in a lawn chair and placed me in his lap. I folded my dirty arms over my chest and huffed.

        "I got in a fight with the boys." I said to him. Uncle Dom full out laughed this time.

        "Why did you fight the boys Nalla?" He asked whilst zooming the camera in on me. He loved making family videos and capturing every moment he could. The camera seemed to be with him everywhere he went. I guess it was a habit with him being a movie director.

        "Beacause!" I flapped my hands wildly. "Tyler and Vince won't let me play games with them cause I'm a girl, and Logan went with them cause he wanted to be with the older boys. Of course they left him out of the games like always, so he went and played with me in the tree house. Well Tyler and Vince started picking on him saying that I was his girlfriend and Logan got upset, so I decided to show them how tough a girl could be. Then Logan got mad cause I fought his big brother, and started to fight me too."  I said it all in one breath. I caught my breath and then I pouted. "I don't like it when Lo-lo gets mad at me."

        My daddy patted my matted curls and uncle Dom looked at me with a smile then his eyes widened. The smile was gone. "Nalla did those boys make you bleed?" He pointed to the red stain on my muddy shirt. 

        I shook my head at him and grinned. "No. That's Vince's blood. He pushed me in mud so I punched him in the nose." 

         "You know that's not nice minha princesinha." My dad scolded lightly while using my nickname. "My little princess" in Portuguese. I hopped off his lap and looked at him with wide eyes.

        "Those meanies shouldn't pick on my Logan." I was protective of my best friend. His older brother and my cousin were best friends and seemed to leave him out of everything cause he was a year younger than them. He was a little over a year older than I was, but he was rarely mean to me. I loved my Lo-lo more than anyone.

        Just as I said that the three boys slowly made their way to us. Vince had his shirt balled up and pressed to his bleeding nose, Tyler was limping, and Logan just looked upset. All three of them were muddier than I was.