As I climb into my bed after my long walk in the woods and make out session with my boyfriend Liam where he gave me a cute charm bracelet that my sisters, and older cousin Christy thought was a great gift and gushed over it. I fall asleep troubled. I fall asleep with my Dad's words being the last thing going through my head as I drift into unconsciousness heading towards REM sleep.
"Care Bear, I love you more than anything in this world. I want my little girl to remain my little girl and always act like a princess and a lady. I like Liam. I don't have a problem if one day far, far in the future you decide to marry him..."
I am in the woods like I was earlier in the day, I see Liam. We move towards each other and start kissing and kissing and even more kissing. At first its great, but then it starts feeling like a chore. Liam then starts undressing, for some reason I start undressing. When we get naked we look like teenage living versions of Nic's and Jen's Barbie dolls, with the non-distinct boobs for me and the uni-crotches for us both. We start rubbing our crotches together and kiss for a minute. We stop. I then see my stomach growing.
"Look Allie we are going to be parents just like Blake. I think we should get married now."
In less than a minute I look like I am nine months pregnant.
"No! I don't want this! I am only fourteen. I want my phone, my comic books and video games."
"Silly Allie, we are now parents, we don't do stuff like that," Liam says all seriously.
I look and I'm wearing a homemade dress like what Ma wears and I am holding my daughter, who looks like one of Nic's dolls but with flesh.
"Nnnnnoooooooooooo! I don't want this! I want my Daddy! I want my Daddy!" I yell at the top of my lungs hoping I'll wake up from this nightmare. "My Daddy can fix this! He can fix anything! He can even fix me being stupid. I don't want to have a baby! I don't want to be married! I don't want to be an adult again! I want to be a kid! I want to be a Kid again! Daddy please help me!!!"
"Allie! Alllie! Wake up! Care Bear, Daddy needs you to wake up you are having a nightmare."
I wake up see my Dad looking at me.
I quickly look to see if I am pregnant.
"No Care Bear, you are not pregnant, and you damn well better have not done anything beyond kissing, or you and Liam will wish you were dead."
"No Daddy, I swear all we did was kiss and after my dream I don't think I'll be doing that anytime soon. I'm not ready to be an adult or have a kid. I just want to enjoy being a kid. I'm sorry Daddy."
Dad smiles at and then reaches for me and picks me up out of the bed. I put my arms around his neck. Dad then gives me a kiss on my forehead.
"Allie you, and your sisters and now your cousin will always be my little girls, and I will treat you all accordingly. Believe me I am in no hurry for you to grow up and I sure in Hell do not want you to have any kids any time soon. Maybe in ten years after you graduate from college but not anytime soon. I'm glad that you want to still be a kid and aren't in a hurry to grow up."
Dad starts to get up and then turns to me.
"Do you want some of my special hot chocolate, it will help you sleep. d I promise no more nightmares?"
"Can I have marshmallows in mine," I ask?
"Of course, you can. Jen, Christy, Nic I know your up, if you want a cup I'll make you one."
Dad then comes to me and picks me up like I am a little girl, and not a fourteen-year-old.
My sisters, and cousin followed Dad who was still carrying me out to the kitchen where he gently set me down.
"How can you do that Daddy, aren't I too heavy for you to pick up?"
"Care Bear, you forget what I do for a living. Despite what you may think you don't weigh that much, especially not compared to some of the things I have to pick up in the shop."
Dad left to get the secret ingredient for his special hot chocolate (whiskey), Jen leaned in and whispered to me while Nic was asking Christy what was so special about Dad's hot chocolate.
"Sis when you were having your nightmare you yelled out that you I quote "don't want to be an adult again. I don't want to be pregnant!"
"I just thought that was part of my nightmare."
"That is what I told Daddy. He seemed worried about what you were yelling out."
"Thanks for the heads up, I'm sure that Nic or Christy will say something."
"Christy might, but not Nic. She looks up to you too much and she knows you have bad nightmares sometimes. I would talk to Christy though."
Jen being Jen then pulls me in for a hug which Nic jumps up to join.
I get the vibe from Jen that she wants me to invite Christy to our group hug, but she doesn't want to say it, and we both know that Nic wants her to be a part of it but won't out of loyalty to me and Jen.
"Christy if you want you can join our group hug since you are one of us now," I say.
Christy gets up and joins our group hug.
We all see a flash from Dads phone.
"Now that is what I want to see from all four of my girls and none of the squabbling that you like to do. This warms my heart," Dad says.
"Daddy you better not post that on Face Book, I do have a reputation after all," I add.
"Yeah, it better be a reputation of a sweet, kind, and smart girl and nothing else."
I look at my dad and give him my cutest look "Daddy."
"Girls here is my special hot chocolate I guarantee it will stop all nightmares."
"Really Uncle Paul," Christy asks.
"Yes Peanut, I promise no nightmares for you or for Care Bear tonight. Now drink your hot chocolate and then get back to bed. Good night girls." Dad then turns and walks back to his room.
"Sorry that I woke you all up. Christy, I know you're not used to it, but I do get nightmares from time to time and they can be pretty intense. I had one so bad about a month ago that I peed the bed."
"That was the clowns one right" Jen asked.
"Yeah it was."
"That was a scary one."
"How do you know," Christy asks.
"We have this thing we call a twin sense. It isn't a made-up thing. We just sorta know what we are thinking and feeling and sometimes we can see each other's dreams at night, especially if they are strong," Jen explains.
"I bet that's scary or freaky at times."
"You have no idea," Jen and I say at the same time.
"Because of our strong twin sense, we can't lie to each other and we tend to know more about each other than we really want to know," Jen says.
"That means when they fight Christy you need to duck and run for cover. They have some good fights over what appears to be stupid stuff, but not to them," Nic says.
"Our fights are not stupid," I start to say. I look at Jen. She has a stupid look on her face. "Ok, most of our fights are stupid, like the look on Jen's face."
We all have a good laugh, and then start drinking Dad's hot chocolate. I'll admit it is damn good especially with the marshmallows.
"Allie don't be embarrassed about your nightmares. I have them quite a bit" Christy says encouragingly.
"Really?"
"Yeah, I have to put up a front for Charlie, but I keep having nightmares about my parents. Which is funny since we were never close. When they were home they always doted on Charlie. Not sure if is because he's the youngest, or a boy. They never seemed to be there for me or want me, yet I am having nightmares about them."
"I know for a fact that Uncle John and Aunt Jane loved you," Jen says. "Charlie just needs more attention. Uncle John was always bragging on you and what you accomplished. He sent me an email bragging on you a week before he died."
Jen then pulls up the email on her phone and passes it to Christy.
Christy reads it and starts crying.
"Thank you, Jen. I really needed to see that. I had no idea."
"I can promise you that Ma and Daddy..." I start to say.
"Are you getting on the daddy bandwagon finally," Jen asks?
"Yes, it seems to work for you and Nic, plus it just seems right, and it feels right. Who knows me calling Dad, Daddy might help me out when I get in trouble."
"In the case you should have done that a long time ago," Nic teases.
I stick my tongue out at her.
"How mature" Christy teases me.
"That's me the queen of maturity."
"Now Cuz, I can promise you two things about Ma and Daddy. First you will always get plenty of attention from them. You will wish they would leave you alone, especially Ma, and they are always there for us, either to help us or to as you have seen, to get onto us. So be careful what you wish for."
"Allie, I'm sleepy" Nic says.
"Me too, lets get you to bed and I'll be right behind you. Thanks to Daddy no more nightmares for any of us."
Within five minutes all four of us were in our beds asleep.
I love to sleep. I always have. The problem was that in my old life I only slept long enough to recharge my batteries, and that was it. Now that I am a kid, I am able to enjoy it more, especially on the weekends and vacation unless I am woken up by Mom and Dad or screaming siblings.
"This is mine!" Charlie yelled.
"No, it is mine!" Nic yelled even louder.
"You have to listen to me, I'm older!"
"No, I don't have to listen to you! You have to listen to me since I have been living here longer."
"That is stupid," Charlie responded.
"I'm not sure who is a bigger dumbass you or Mark."
"Oh my God I cannot believe she just said that," I mumble hoping not to be heard cause all I want to do is sleep.
"I can Allie, she is your mini-me," Jen says.
"We should probably get in there before Aunt Mandi or Uncle Paul comes, Christy says, but I really want to go back to sleep."
The three of us by silent agreement agree to ignore our younger siblings. We fell back to sleep.
Thump! Thump! I hear vaguely. I also swear I hear the sound of my cat Darth Bane hissing and running.
Thump! Thump!
Darth Bane runs onto my bed and lays on top of me.
Nic runs into our room holding my Scarlet Witch action figure and a nerf gun she shoots one at our door.
Thump!
Charlie runs in holding my Voltron action figure, and a nerf gun. "I have you and your cat now you evil witch Haggar!"
"No, you don't Voltron Force you are no force for my magic," Nic cackles in response.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
Charlie shoots his gun at my cat, hitting him. Bane jumps does an angry meow RRRYEOOWRRR, and lands back on me with his claws out.
Thump! Thump!
Nic ducks his shots and shoots Charlie in the chest twice.
"OOOUUUUCCCHHH, that frigging hurt!
I do not wake up fast but when you have Nerf foam bolts banging of your bed and you get stabbed by your cat's claws, I think you'll wake up very quickly.
"Nicole and Charles, I am going to kill you both! You woke me up! You both shot and tortured my cat!"
"Our cat" Jen corrects.
"Nobody messes with my cat or wakes me up!" I scream.
I look at my cousin and my younger sister that is when I notice that they have my action figures.
"What are you two idiots doing with my action figures?"
"Nic said we could play with them and that you wouldn't mind," Charlie said with a ton of attitude.
"Those are my action figures! Mine! I did not give either one of you permission to play with them."
"Yeah, you said I could play with them," Nic says defensively also with attitude. Do I sound like this when Ma and Daddy question me?
"Two days ago! I said you Nicole could play with them. I did not say you and Charlie. I sure did not say you play with my action figures today when I was sleeping you moron!"
"Look there is the cat" Charlie says!
Thump! Thump! Thump!
Bane runs off my bed kicks in the after burners!
"You little monster! That is my cat that you were shooting at again!"
I am quickly thinking about how much pain I can cause this brat, and how quickly I can do it. Where is force choke, or force lightning when you need it? I want to kill him.
"Allie don't do it," Jen warns.
"MMMMOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMM!!!!" I yell at the top of my lungs.
"You better get in here now or we will have one or two less kids in this house!!!"
"Why would you shoot Allie's cat," Christy scolds her little brother.
"Who cares Christy, it is just a cat" Charlie responds.
"MMMMMMMOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!! I am going to kill Charlie!!!!!"
Ma comes in looking annoyed. "Allie what the Hell is going on?"
"Ma, Nic and Charlie come in here while the three of us were sleeping shooting the nerf guns! They had my action figures, which I didn't give permission for them to play with. Charlie shot my cat twice! If you don't believe me ask Jen and Christy and look at my thigh, I have claw marks from Bane because of those two brats!"
Ma comes over and pulls down my blankets and pulls up my nightgown to look at my leg.
"Allie, put some first aide ointment on those cuts. I will take these two. I think after some talking too, a dose of my spoon on their backsides will reward them for this and teach them to treat cats and older sisters with respect. Since they have so much energy I think some yard chores are in order."
"But I don't wana do that" Charlie says.
"I don't care what you want to do young man! I am telling you that you and your cousin are getting a talking to. You will be raking leaves and anything else I want you to do. You will be getting a dose of my wooden spoon for waking the girls up, tormenting the cat and shooting those guns in the house."
"I'm not going to do it" Charlie says defiantly.
This is not going to end well for Charlie.
"Charlie please listen to Aunt Mandi," Christy implores.
Ma comes over to him. "Let's get a few things straight. I am sorry that your parents have died. I say rosary for them every night. I will not put up with disobedience or disrespect. I don't put up with it from my kids. I am going to treat you and your sister like you are my kids, so that means I am not going to put up with your crap. You will treat every member in our family with kindness and respect including Darth Bane, Jen's and Allie's cute cat. You will do everything I tell you. If you don't I promise that you will have an extremely blistered backside and all you will be allowed to do is sit in a wooden chair in the middle of living room all day until school starts, Ma says firmly. Do you understand me Charles Anthony Malone?"
It dawns on Charlie how much trouble he's in and if he was to continue he'd be dead like his parents.
"Yes, Aunt Mandi."
"Good boy, now I am going to allow this outburst this once but if you ever question me like that, you will not like it ask your cousins. Nicole Elizabeth are we going to have any problems?"
"No, no Mommy. I'm sorry."
"Not as sorry as you and Charlie will be when I am through with you two. She grabs them both by the ears and pulls them to her room."
"But Aunt Mandi you said the wooden spoon, not the belt," we hear Charlie say from Ma's bedroom.
"If you had not argued with me and not told me no then both you and Nicole would have gotten a sore backside with the wooden spoon, but since you had to argue, and you are both getting the belt."
I start hearing the splats of Ma's belt on both Charlie's and Nic's backsides and the tears that follows.
When we hear Charlie screaming and crying that "he'll be good from now on" Darth Bane hops on my bed with a happy look.
"I'm surprised you didn't kill my brother," Christy says.
"If I had then I would have gotten in a lot of trouble. Both Jen and I have gotten roasted when we have fought with Nic, and Mark gets it often when he snaps at me, Jen or Nic. Granted that is fun to listen to Mark getting punished."
"This is the first spanking that Charlie has gotten in five years. My parents were all military and they loved us but not big on discipline like your parents are."
"Don't you mean our parents, Jen says? You forget Cuz that Mommy and Daddy are now your parents too."
"I know. I really like how Aunt Mandi and Uncle Paul are with me and Charlie. I always wanted to be you guys and now look here I am. I was always so jealous of you two. My parents were great Army officers and helicopter pilots, but they were more focused on their carriers than Charlie and me."
I hop off my bed and get in Christy's bed and give her a hug.
"As much as I complain about Ma, and Daddy, I know how good we have it here. I know we will fight, but I'm glad you're here."
"Me too" as Jen joins our hug.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I know by my standards this was a short chapter. The next chapter will be mostly about the New Year's Eve party and finally finding out what is Mrs. Clifton's Achilles heel. I am in the middle of writing that chapter.
When I talk to other authors, and they apologize about delays in putting out new chapters due to real life family issues, I always tell them family first, a theme that is should be apparent in this book. There may be a delay in future chapters for me. I have a very close family member dying of cancer. This is my escape, but sometimes there is no escape from real life, as we all know. If there is a delay, I appreciate your patience, and if you pray, your prayers. Allie and her adventures will continue I do promise that even after my family member passes, she would want that. Thank you all for your support. I love your comments and words of encouragement.
Just fixed some grammatical and a few other minor errors I found when I reread this chapter. I am working on the next chapter that I hope to have published soon.