Hope's POV
"What do you mean something's happened to Mal?" I yell standing up and walking towards the door. "Carli Anne I swear-"
"Mommy!" I freeze but keep my eyes rested on Carli angrily. Not a moment later she is pushed aside and Mallory throws her suitcase at my feet. I stare at her relieved while she pouts up at me. "They left me in the car!" I reach over and lift her up. I hug her close to me and settle her on my hip.
"Hey sweet girl," I coo softly before kissing her head. "I've missed you baby." I turn around and walk back to the couch with her ignoring the other three. I sit down and hold her on my lap. Jules lays her head on my shoulder and the two of them smile at each other. Without looking away from my two precious angels I say, "You three may sleep outside."
I hear Alex gasp making me smile, "It was Mama's idea!" She runs over and wraps her arms around my neck from behind and kisses my cheek. "Please don't make me sleep outside Mommy! Don't be mad at me!" She begs sounding absolutely pitiful. I turn my head and frown feeling bad because her eyes are filled with tears.
"Baby I was just playing with you." I let go of the other two and motion for her to come sit with me. "Don't cry Lexi." She walks around the sofa and plops down on my lap. I hold her tightly and rub her back. "Mommy isn't going to make you sleep outside and I'm not mad. Calm down Lollipop."
"Mommy if they don't sleep outside then where are they going to sleep?" asks Julie after tapping me on the shoulder. "There's only one extra bed and it's mine." Lex sniffles and lays her head on my chest looking in her direction. I smile a little and lean over and kiss my blonde's nose.
"Well Mally O is going to share with you." I glance at Mal and she nods with a big grin on her face. I look back at Al, "Lexi and and Servando can sleep in Papa's cave." Mallory and Alex burst into laughter.
"Papa has a cave?!" screeches Mal looking at me with big, wild, curious eyes.
Alex elows her lightly and whispers, "I don't think he has a real cave." She looks up at me confused, "Does he?"
I smile and shake my head, "No love. I'm talking about his man cave." I turn and look at Carli, "You're sleeping on the patio." She smiles and rolls her eyes while walking to the couch. Julie lifts her arms up towards her so she scoops her up and holds her.
"I brought you your babies so don't be bitter." She kisses Julie's cheek making her giggle. "I'll just take this little munchkin home with me and keep her forever and ever."
"Heeeey!" whines Mal shooting her a look. "What about me Mama?" Mallory crosses her arms and pouts. "I'm the baby!"
Carli smiles down at her and opens her mouth to say something back but Jerramy yells from another room, "Hey! Hope where is my-" Both Alex and Mal both scoot away from me as he walks in the room. He stops a little shocked before smiling at the two of them. "Hey girls, I'm Jerramy, Hope's husband."
Alex laughs at his outstretched hand, "We've met before, like years ago." He blushes and turns and outstretches his hand to Mal instead.
She shakes her head no while giggling, "We met in the hall that time." She giggles even harder, "You're the big tall guy!" I grin and pull her back onto my lap.
"You've got it babe. He's a giant." I kiss her head. "Jules go show Serv where to put his and Lex's bags please." She nods and Carli lets her down before she takes Servando down the hallway. I look up at Jerr, "They're going to sleep on the pull out in your room."
He gives me a funny look before looking down at Alex, "You just sleep in there. Capiche?"
She shifts uncomfortably but immediately nods her head up and down, "Capiche." I roll my eyes and glare at him. Way to make her uncomfortable the first time she's over.
"Don't let him bother you Al." I huff as I stand up with Mallory on my hip. "Mals-A-Million why don't you go put your suitcase in Jay's room?" I set her down on her feet. "It's the last door on the right." I watch as Mal goes off to obey. Serv and Julie walk out of the back room as Mallory goes down the hall so Julie follows her and Serv wanders into the living room. "Hey honey how much chicken do we have in the fridge? I don't think we have enough for all of us." I ask Jerramy as he eyes Servando as he hugs Alex. Carli catches him looking and snaps her fingers in his face.
"Hello?! Earth to Papa Bear!" Jerramy jumps at the sudden noise and the two kids on the sofa laugh. "Your wife asked you a question." I stifle my own laughter as he looks at her annoyed.
"Why do I even let you in my house?" he ask while shoving her back by her forehead. "You make me want to strangle you."
Carli rolls her eyes and shoot back, "All you and Hope do is have sex."
"See?" yells Jay coming out of nowhere and holding her arms out to be held. I pick her up and she dramatically continues, "I told you!" Carli looks over amused as I glare at her over Julie's blonde hair.
"Uh- About that chicken..." trails of Servando awkwardly. I look over at Jerramy and make eye contact. He shakes his head no making me sigh.
"Alright I need to go to the grocer-"
"We can go!" volunteers Alex while holding her and Serv intertwined hands up. "JJ and Mal can come too!" I look back over at Carli and Jerramy, who are too busy bickering, to notice.
I turn to Alex again, "Okay kiddo, my car keys are by the door and the debit card is in Papa's wallet right next to them." Suddenly Mallory sprints down the hall.
"THERE'S A CHICKEN IN THE FRONT YARD!" she yells, skidding to a stop. I groan and Jerremy walks to the door scowling while everyone else looks confused and shocked. Well except Julie, she just giggles.
"Those damn chickens." mumbles Jerramy while slipping on his shoes and putting on his hat. He glares over at me, "I told you it was a bad idea but nooooo! 'I'll take care of them Jerramy!' 'They're so easy Jerramy!' 'You won't even know they're there!'" He scoffs. "Fucking chickens." He throws open the door and slams it behind him angrily.
"Mom you need to wash Papa's mouth out." states Julie matter of factly. Everybody burst into laughter. Carli smiles and comes and takes her from me.
"You're right bugs. Papa wasn't using nice words was he?" Jay shakes her head no and plays with Carli's pony tail. Car kisses her head and set her down, "Go get your shoes on so you can go to the store. Do you remember how to get there?" she asks her. She looks at Mal and nods toward where her shoes are. "You too missy." Mallory goes over and sits on the floor next to Julie while they both put on their shoes. Jay assures us she knows how to get to the grocery store before they all leave. Jerramy walks back inside scowling. I see Carli's smirk and frantically shake my head no at her behind his back to get her to keep her mouth shut.
She walks to the bookshelf and picks out Julie's notebook and plops it on the coffee table, "You've got some lines to write, sir." He glares at her and flicks her in the ear.
"Stop being such a dork."
-
Alex's POV
"No Mal, we can't buy that. Mom said to get chicken." I tell my little sister for the third time since we got here. She pouts and puts the cookies she found on a random shelf.
"You know, Lex, you're not very fun." she tells me while climbing onto the back of the buggy so I can push her around. "I bet if mom was here she'd let me have them." I roll my eyes and continue to search through the different cuts of meat before finally finding the chicken breast. I pick up a package and look it over, "Mal do you think she just wants these or should we get legs and stuff too?"
"I think we should get the Oreos." she mumbles while rocking the cart back and forth. I hold the handle tighter and lock my arm which makes the cart abruptly stop and her to double over the back edge. "Owwwww." she whines stepping off and holding her stomach in pain. "Damn it Al."
"Watch it." I warn. "You know Mom and Mama don't let us talk like that." I put the package of chicken in the basket part before looking up at her. "Where did Julie and Serv go?" She shrugs her shoulders. I sigh and push the cart past her. As I pass her I grab her hand and make her hold onto the handle so I don't lose her too. "Do you really not know or do you just not want to tell me?"
"I don't kno-"
"Lex!" yells the familiar voice of my husband from behind me. I spin around quickly making Mallory whine. "Look what we found!" He holds up Blue Bell Ice Cream Cone ice cream and Julie holds up Ben and Jerry's Chocoholic. He jogs over and puts the two containers into the buggy.
Mal starts to loudly protest, "If you get-" I snatch her cookies up and drop them in. She shrinks back at my gaze and looks at the floor sheepishly.
I smile and lazily kiss Servando's lips, "Thank you honey." I pull away and let him take the cart. "Let's get back to Mom's."
-
Carli's POV
"Can Jay and I sleep outside with the chickens tonight?" asks Mallory while butting some butter on her bread.
"Yeah can we?" begs Julie with bright eyes. I glance at Hope and notice her struggling to hide her smile.
"How about you girls sleep with Onyx and Sasha in your bed?" suggest Jerramy as he passes Julie's plate, now filled with green beans, back to her. "They could use some cuddle buddies." The two dogs bark from outside the glass door as if they are agreeing.
Mallory sighs while watching Jerremy drop a big spoon full of beans onto her almost empty plate, "Alright Papa." She pushes the new food around with her fork obviously not wanting any part of them.
Once we all finish dinner Hope and I settle down in her room to talk about the situation at hand. "So what do you want to do?" I look up at her from my spot laying on her bed. "What they did wasn't fair. We totally have a chance if we take it to court."
She looks down at me with a soft frown, "What if I don't want to fight it? I mean I don't want to leave you or the girls but Car," she pauses and sighs, "I'm tired of all that. All I do is fight and fight with these people. It makes them hate me more and more every time and it's just not worth it. And-And," she stops as her voice grows horse and her eyes cloud with tears, "I hurt everywhere. My shoulder can't take much more and my joints hurt so bad. I can hardly get out of bed some mornings." Her lip starts to quiver, "I don't want to leave my babies. Julie won't understand. She'll be so upset."
I sit up and face her, "We'll figure it out Hoppers." I wipe away a few of the tears that fell and give her a smile. "I'm on your side no matter what. You know that." She nods her head and rubs her now flushed cheeks. "It's going to be tough on the girls since they're still getting used to us and it's going to hard with Ju at camp but I can handle it and we can call you every night if that's what it takes." She leans her head on my shoulder solemnly. "Julie knows you love her more than anything in the world. She'll be the first to understand I bet."
"I'm going to talk to the lawyer on Monday to see what he thinks about trying. I'm not just going to give up."
I lay my head on top of hers, "I didn't think you were. Even if you were it doesn't matter because everything will be okay because," the corners of my lips turn upwards, "We're a family." Hope pulls away and rolls her bright blue eyes at our inside joke.
"Jerr's right." She says getting up. "You are a dork." She walks to the mirror above her dresser and fixes her self up. When she finishes, "I don't want to worry about that anymore until I meet with the guy. Right now I want to get Mal in the shower and get Alex to tell me where Tobin is so we can find Christen because she's freaking me out. When I finally see that child I'm going to kill her."
"Or spank her..." I trail off as she glares at me.
"No and if I do chose to retire and you do that to any of the girls I'll sell you to eskimos." She tells me with a straight face. I chuckle and roll my eyes while getting up to follow her. I really do love my best friend.