"Wait no, go back!" Maggie said as they were driving down to town.
Annabel went back to the previous station and watched as Maggie's eyes lit up.
"Your daughter has excellent taste in music." She grinned and glanced at Richard driving beside her, who gave her a side eye and a smile.
It was spring break and Richard told everyone that they could spend the entire day in town doing whatever they wanted.
"Monroe is my favourite!" Maggie exclaimed.
"Would you like to go to the movies and see if they have anything of hers playing?" Richard asked and Maggie squealed in happiness.
"Margot and I will have to go shopping for new shoes. She grew out of all her current ones." Annabel said as they all began to climb out of the car when they arrived at the movies. She knew Margot wouldn't be patient enough to sit still for the entire movie, so it was best to not waist time and get things done. "Would anyone like me to get them anything, or we'll all go shopping together after you watch the movies?"
The twins and Maggie said they'll go after and George had plans to meet up with Tiffany afterwards, so he won't be with them.
"Oh, umm, yeah. Can you get me new socks?" Richard absentmindedly said.
"Yeah, you did say you ripped holes in nearly all of yours a few days ago." Annabel said, rummaging through her purse.
"They're totally acting like they're married." Maggie said to George and he snickered, agreeing with her.
"Yeah and I also need new undergarments. Mind getting those for me darling, or if it's too embarrassing-"
"No no, I got it. Don't worry about it." She said, finally pulling out her handkerchief and handing it to Margot to wipe her nose.
"Oh, alright. Thank you. You take care."
"Sure, you too. Enjoy the movie."
"Of course."
Then, they both turned to each other, kissed and went on their merry way.
The kids stood flabbergasted.
"Did you..."
"Just see that?"
George and Maggie finished each other's sentences.
"Oh my word." Sam gasped.
"Since, uh, when?" Tam said.
"Holy crap, and it looked so natural too." Maggie grasped George's arms.
"So, they've kissed before..."
"And clearly, many many times."
The twins and the older siblings ran to catch up with their father who was already in the building.
"Oh, I was wondering were you loot disappeared to." He said.
"Papa! You just kissed mama!" Maggie said.
"Oh really? I didn't even realize." He said without a care to the world. "Pick out a movie now will you?"
"S-sure."
*
"I'm tired." Margot whined.
"Hi tired, I'm mama." Annabel grinned and Margot giggled.
"That's not my name!" She laughed.
"Then why did you say it was?" Annabel laughed with her.
"Because I'm feeling tired." Margot explained as she skipped beside Annabel down the sidewalk.
"I see, well, isn't that Papa just up ahead? We can tell him that we're ready for lunch." Annabel said, and when Margot paused, confirmed it was actually her father and ran to him, Annabel waved her hand in greeting and Richard spotted them.
"I thought you'd get more stuff." Richard said when he meet up with Annabel.
"I have all I need, so I didn't need to go shopping for myself. I just got the kids the pieces of clothings they needed."
"I thought we said we'd go shopping together, after the movie." Maggie said, feeling slightly sad.
"We did, and you are. You'd be bored if you went shopping for stuff you needed, so I did that myself. You can go shopping for stuff you want, there's a difference." Annabel's lips tilted upwards at the happiness in the kids eyes.
"Can I get some toys? I need some." Sam asked.
"Are toys a need or a want?" Annabel asked, and they all began walking down the side walk together, headed to the toys store.
"What do you mean?" Sam asked, not really getting the difference.
"A need is something you need in order to survive. Water, air, food, shelter, and clothes. Some people have a few more needs than others, and a want is something that you can live without. Extra toys, books, clothes, cars, basically things that make your life more enjoyable. Things you want." Richard said.
"Oh, well then I want a toy." Sam said, understanding what the difference was.
"How'd I explain it?" Richard asked, whispering to Annabel. They were both walking behind their children to keep a better eye on them.
"Couldn't have said it better my self." She reassured him and they side fist bumped each other.
"Have I told you already? But you look rather ravishing darling." He grinned and placed a hand in her back pocket of her shorts.
"Richard!" She gasped in slight surprise but kept her voice down. Her cheeks burned up, but she didn't make a move to remove his hand from her behind.
"Lunch after toys?" Margot asked and slowed down so she was walking in between them and Richard reached down to hold on to his daughters outstretched hand, taking his hand off of Annabel.
"Sure sweetheart." He warmly smiled at her, but he still had a cheeky look on his face.
Annabel lightly tapped his bum, which got him to squeeze them in surprise, and she walked up ahead to join in on Maggie and Tams conversation like she did nothing.
He got all tingly on the inside and extremely happy that she was being silly with him. Everyday she gives him a new reason to fall in love with her all over again.
*
"I'm stuffed!" Tam groaned and fell back in her chair.
"George's missing out." Sam said.
"He's with his girlfriend." Maggie said girlfriend in a funny way that got both the twins to snigger and laugh.
"When are you getting a boyfriend Maggie?" Margot asked and Annabel immediately put her hands on Richards lap and put her weight into them, effectively stopping him from jumping up and causing a scene.
"We will not be talking about boyfriends in front of your father. And what makes you think that if Maggie got a boyfriend we'd tell papa?" She said and Richards head snapped to her and his jaw dropped in shock.
"Annabel! You wouldn't tell me!?" He gasped and looked very hurt.
"Not if you're going to cause a scene, I'm not." She said and took her hands from off his lap. "I'll find a way to slowly bring it up to you though."
"As long as you tell me. I can't believe you have such little faith in me. What makes you think I'll cause a scene?"
"You were just about to jump up and overreact over an imaginary scenario." She said and went back to eating her food. "If that's not causing a scene, than I don't know what is."
"I think that's a reasonable reaction." He grumbled.
"It's not." Both Maggie and Annabel said.
*
"Do you guys mind if you wait here for a bit? I just saw one of my friends and I'd like to go greet him." Richard motioned up a head on the sidewalk and they all said sure.
"Say, mama, can we go get ice cream from that store over there?" Maggie asked. It was a store just up ahead, where Richard was standing talking to his friend.
"I don't know, see what your papa thinks."
They ran up to their father to ask.
"What did mama say?" He asked, stopping mid sentence with his friend to pay attention to them.
"To ask you."
"Oh, alright then. Let me just-" he began pulling out his wallet but the kids already ran back to Annabel to tell her.
"Okay, then here you go, but make sure you come back quickly. I'll wait here." She handed them five dollars each and they excitedly ran into the shop.
Richard saw the exchange and his heart warmed up. His friend looked between him and Annabel and then it clicked.
"Ahh, I see. She's Annabel."
Richard snapped to him.
"How do you know her?"
"I don't. I heard about her. Everyone was curious who the mysterious woman was that Richard Pelton danced with, leaving his fiancée so quickly for her. She was gorgeous in that dress, let me te- alright, okay, I got it. I'm not going to talk about her like that. She's your girl." He stopped what he was saying when he saw the murderous look on Richards face.
After a few minutes of waiting, Annabel noticed a few men leaning on a building behind her, checking her out, which was making her feel extremely uncomfortable. She really wished for the them to just leave and now, she regretted wearing shorts out. She started to fidget when she heard the comments they were saying and her palms began to sweat. And she just wanted to disappear when she heard their footsteps approaching her.
"Hey sexy, why are you just standing around like that?"
She ignored them and didn't turn to face them.
"Hey! My friends talking to you." One of them harshly gripped her shoulder and spun her around.
"Leave me alone." She pulled her shoulder away.
"You're so beautiful though." The first guy said and looked her up and down like she was an object.
When she didn't respond he got angry and spat by her feet.
"Fuck you! I said you look beautiful be greatfu-"
Then out of nowhere a fist came flying and crashed into the man's face, blood spilling out of his nose.
"Fucking ass hole." Richard growled out loud and pounded the man to the ground while his friend took on the guy that touched her. "Don't go anywhere near my woman you hear me?" Richard got up when the man looked nearly dead and spat on his face and drove his heel into his stomach, for good measure.
The guy was on the ground, beated to a pulp with blood everywhere. Richard looked at the remaining guy with bloodlust in his eyes, but not wanting the same fate as his two bleeding friends, he was wise and ran away. Leaving the two of them behind.
Richards friend got up from beating the man he was with and kicked his rib cage.
"That's the guy that touched her, right?" Richard said and came forward to him. He crouched down so he was face to face with him. "Maybe I should just cut your hands off? Wouldn't that be nice? The army will cover up for me anyways and no one will care."
Richard pulled out a switch blade from his pocket and held it up so the nearly unconscious, bloody man could see it. That switch blade was always with him, after fighting in World War Two and having the constant anxiety of being attacked without a single weapon on him, that switch blade brought him peace of mind when it was in his pocket.
"No! Please! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! We didn't know she was taken!" The filthy man cried and tried to scramble away, but Richard pressed the knife to his throat and he froze as tears ran down his face.
"It doesn't matter. You touched my woman. You shouldn't have." He put pressure on the knife and a trickle of blood flowed down the man's neck. Annabel squeezed her fists at the scene in front of her. It's nothing she hasn't seen before, in fact, this was a lot less gory then seeing injured soldiers on hospital beds with gashes and bullet wounds. She was just slightly surprised at how malicious Richard was being, she's never imagined seeing him in a scene like this, so she doesn't know how to react.
Richards friend saw her clench her fist and interpreted it as her not being able to handle all the blood being spilled. He stepped in front of Annabel, holding one of his arms back and the other forward in protection.
"Richard, that's enough. I don't need you accidentally killing him." He put a hand on Richard's shoulder and pulled him away. Richard actually wanted to keep going, but he was afraid all this blood will make Annabel uncomfortable.
"Leave. And take that asshole with you. If I ever see you near her again I will not hesitate to kill you." Richard said with so much menace that the man looked about ready to piss himself. Richard put the knife away and watched as he pathetically tried getting up,dragging his friend with him.
Richard quickly turned around and pulled Annabel in a bone crushing hug and squeezed his eyes shut as he felt tears welling up. He was slightly bent over so his chin was resting on her shoulder. He breathed as much of her as his lungs could allow.
His friend immediately left the two of them alone and went into the ice cream store to make sure the kids don't come out and interrupt them.
"I'm so sorry. I'm so, so sorry. I didn't come on time and he touched you with his filthy hand and made you feel uncomfortable. I'm so sorry that I'm not good enough a-and I couldn't keep you safe. You mean the entire world to me. You make me happy and feel like I'm safe and I couldn't do that with you. A-and..." he squeezed her tighter, "I love you so much, I can't- I can't."
He was about to start hyperventilating with the constant thought of what those three men could have done to her, adding on the fear of rejection from her since he confessed.
And when she squeezed him back and turned her head so her face was resting, facing the side of his neck, he knew it was all okay.
"You couldn't have come at a more perfect time. Thank you for keeping me safe and out of harms way. It makes me feel good to know I have someone like you that has my back. Someone that makes me feel extremely happy and loved. I couldn't have asked for anyone better, you're perfect Richard. A-and I've wanted to say it for a while too, but I've been scared."
"What is it." He said, finally pulling away so he was studying her face. She tentatively reached up and brushed some of his tears away. "You don't have to be scared with me."
"I know, I just, was. But I'm not anymore."
He leaned his cheek into the palm of her hand.
"Than what is it?"
"I just wanted to say, I love you too."
The shock on his face was as clear as day.
"Y-you love me?"
"Yes, I thought I was pretty obvious with it, seeing that Tiffany continually teases me about it."
"Tiffany." He grumbled, still not liking the fact that George got a girlfriend without telling him.
"She's a nice girl you know?"
"Oh I have no doubt," he sighed and they pulled out of the hug and held each other's hands as they walked to the ice cream store.
"Then why do you get so upset?"
"Because George thinks he couldn't have told me. He thought I wouldn't approve or something, or maybe that I wasn't worth telling?"
"I'm sure that's not the case."
"It definitely is."
"You're only going to make yourself feel even worse if you keep talking like that."
"I'm a depressed man, what can I say?"
They laughed but got all serious really quickly.
"I shouldn't make fun of a mental illness like that."
"No, you really shouldn't. But at least you're aware."
"Mhm. But just to make sure, you really love me? Even with my limp?"
"I love all of you."
*
"Did we make you wait too long?" Richard said as they walked into the ice cream parlor and to the kids table.
"Why are your hands all bloody like Uncle Eric?" Maggie said, deciding to ignore that his fingers were laced with Annabel's.
"Love makes men crazy." Eric told her and patted her head.
"That doesn't explain your bloody fists."
"Brothers in arm always stick together." Was his explanation. If Annabel really was the women that Richard, his best friend, his brother, has fallen head over heels for, then that makes her his sister. He couldn't let those guys have their way with his sister.
"So you got in a fight?" Sam asked excitedly.
"I beat them up! You should ha- no, no, what are you talking about? Fighting is bad. Yes, very, very bad. Unlessyou'reprotectingMamathengoallout." He said the last part quickly because Annabel was death glaring him, but he still got slapped upside the head.
"Go wash your fists, both of you." Now she was glaring at Eric who gulped in nervousness. Although she just met Eric and wasn't even properly introduced to him, she got brotherly vibes from him.
"Let's go mate, or we'll both die today." He grabbed Richards collar and dragged him to the bathroom.
"Did he really get in a fight?" Maggie whispered to her and she subtly nodded. "That's so cool!"
*
"Mar mar, your ice cream is melting." Annabel pointed out while taking a spoonful of her own sundae.
"Oh."
But it didn't matter, it already dripped down her shirt and skirt.
"What did you get?" Richard asked as he came back with his banana split ice cream.
"A sundae, and I just, like, added a bunch of sprinkles." Annabel replied.
"It looks fun and delicious. Can I try some?"
"Sure."
She gave him a spoonful and his eyes lit up.
"It's really good. I feel bad ordering what I have now." He pouted, not that he did order it.
Annabel pushed her ice cream across the table towards him and took his.
"Have mine. By the way, since when do you like bananas? I thought you hated them."
"I do. It's just Eric was being an as-amazing friend and thought it would be a great idea to order me the banana while I wasn't paying attention, he's still waiting for his." He failed to mention that he was too busy smiling silly at watching her laugh at something one of the children told her.
"A great friend indeed." She sniggered and as if Eric heard what they said, all the way from where he's standing at the counter, he turned around and smiled wide, and when the kids weren't watching, he gave them the finger.