(9/24/19) I am going to go through this whole book and editing it. This first chapter is extremely rough and I thank everyone who got through it. I promise after I finish editing, it will flow and sound a bit better. Thanks!!
(6/5/2020) editing book again. The crown is most recently updated. The check is old
Farrah's POV
"Love you" Was the last thing my parents heard as drove away in a taxi, headed to the airport for their next assignment in Japan.
Their extended absence would mean my stay in the Fuller household: the family down the street that seemed to open their arms to any person who needed it.
Ever since I was a young child, the Fuller's have been in my life one way or another, but nothing made our two families closer than the close friendship I shared with the eldest son, Jackson Fuller.
We've been by each other's side for almost everything we've faced.
"What's up, Fuller's" I cheered, walking through the back door of the house, only to realize Danny and Tommy were the only ones in the kitchen.
"Mornin' Farrah" Danny greeted, waving a piece of toast.
"Uh, what are you doing with that toast?" I asked, taking a seat at the dining table where Danny and Tommy sat
"I dropped it, and I was telling Tommy to keep it between us." He laughed
I nodded at the older man, before turning to playfully pat on Tommy's stomach. Besides Jackson, Tommy was the Fuller I loved the most, and he was honestly the most well behaved baby I'd ever met.
"Morning, Daniel" Jessie greeted, as he walked down the stairs, entering the kitchen with a friendly smile.
"Morning," Danny replied, as Jessie turned to offer me small hug instead of a repeated greeting
Jessie proceeded to show off the Elvis onsie he had gotten Tommy, bringing amusement to everyone in the room. Joey trudged up from the basement of the house, and I plugged in some head phones as soon as I saw Jessie's signature "I'm about to beat this bitch up" face.
After a moment, Danny gently removed the headphones from my ears so I could hear the speech he was about to make to those of his family who were currently awake, "It's been fun having you guys here this weekend, but I got to admit it's a little weird."
Jesse sighed, "You know what's weird? Joey's 60 years old and still wearing the same Bugs Bunny pajamas."
"I'm 55-ish and these happen to be brand new!" Joey cried, trying to defend his childish ways
A couple minutes of bickering between the older men later, and DJ walked into the kitchen, greeting everyone a with good morning and planted a kiss on the top of my head, "Did I miss anyone?"
"No, but I'll take seconds." Danny smiled. Joey took this as an offer, and proceeded to give him a big kiss on the cheek.
"Ok, I have 15 minutes to eat breakfast and then go open up the pet clinic. Dad, remember, you're taking the boys and Farrah to school today. Her parents left town this morning." DJ sighed, looking over her calendar
They began talking about Danny's show, and I looked towards DJ for permission to put my headphones back on. She nodded with a small smile, so I scrolled through YouTube until landing upon a video that peaked my interest
I was, once again, interrupted by someone taking out my earbuds. I turned around to find Stephanie standing before me with a large smile on her face.
I laughed, before jumping into her arms for a hug. I hadn't seen her in months due to her travels around the world, and couldn't have been more excited for her return.
"Hello, Farrah. How are you, darling?" She asked, with a seemingly terrible impression of a British accent.
I furrowed my brows and looked at the rest of the family, "What's up with the accent?"
They shrugged their shoulders, just as confused as I was. Ignoring Stephanie's excuse for an accent, everyone finally began to settle for breakfast. Jessie, who had left the kitchen moments before, walked in with the twins following behind him.
"Believe it or not we only need to pass two more classes to graduate." One of the boys spoke, making it obvious they had been talking about school
"So that's like what, another three years?" Jesse asked, glaring at his two sons
"Best part about college is that we got hella good at surfing" The other laughed, ignoring his father.
Jessie gave the twins one more look, before making his way to a seat at the kitchen table. Everyone took this as a cue to join him, and finally begin eating breakfast before DJ would have to leave for work
"I've got a bride and groom whose dog swallowed their wedding ring." Dj spoke, explaining to her family why she had to go in so early
"What the hell?" I questioned
She shrugged at me, "That's what you get for making a beagle your best man. Also, language, Farrah."
The back door slammed open, as Kimmy interrupted the quiet breakfast, "Hola, Tanneritos!"
It was obvious some weren't as happy to see her as I was, but they just didn't appreciate her quirky ways as much as I did.
"Kimmy, why are you here, and why did I never fix the locks on those doors?" Danny questioned, looking from the woman in his kitchen to the door.
DJ pat his shoulder, "Dad be nice. Kimmy is helping me with your going away party."
Kimmy stomped forward with a large smile, "I'm an event planner now. When you're ready to party, do it Gibbler Style."
Steph and DJ went on to talk about the party, while I played with Tommy. We were in an intense game of peek-a-boo, which he always seemed to lose.
While I was busying my self with the baby, Max came down the stairs yelling, "Aunt Steph!"
Jackson followed behind him cheering, "DJ Tanner."
Stephanie greeted them, "Hello! Oh, here kids. I've brought for you the hottest dance hits from the clubs of London."
She handed them each a USB, before tossing another one in my direction. I caught it in my hands, showing it off to Tommy, before putting it in my back pocket.
DJ cleared her throat, "I'm sure there are no inappropriate references to drugs, sex, or violence on those?"
Stephanie turned around and took the boy's back, but gave me a wink as she knew I was going to keep mine.
"Relax, Mom." Max said, "I already know all the bad words. Darn, booger, and Donald Trump."
DJ laughed at the young boys, and gestured them to join everyone at the table. Max and Jackson came and sat at the table, each one on either side of me, separating me from my game with Tommy.
The whole table broke out into an argument over the way Steph said water. They tried to get her back to her regular accent, but it seemed useless. With no result, the conversation moved forward to another topic.
"Oh, I think I found the cutest little place for the boys and me," Dj said, making me frown slightly.
Jackson noticed and nudged my shoulder with a small smile. I would never say anything to DJ, but I really didn't want the Fullers to move. They were my home away from home when my parents took their business trips.
"We're saying goodbye to our family home when we sell this house" Danny said, dampening the mood.
Kimmy stuck her feet up on the table, making a comment about them. This made Stephanie upset, but it also helped her get her real accent back.
__________
Later, joined everyone gathered in the Fuller living room for Danny's party. I sat on the staircase with Jackson and Max, joking and playing around.
Jesse spilt something on the furniture, making Max go crazy about the mess. He rushed away from us, and Jackson and I couldn't help but laugh at his clean freak ways.
The doorbell rang, and no one made any movement to open it, so I did. Someone had to give DJ more time to set up, instead of worrying about guests.
I opened the door and lightly gasped when I saw Romana standing in front of me with an equally shocked expression. Ramona and I had met when we were younger, and hit it off instantly. Jackson and her never exactly saw eye to eye the same way we had.
We both squealed and embraced each other in a tight hug, before letting go. I moved aside, so she could come in and greet the others that she knew.
"Hey, Romona" DJ said, coming to greet her.
Fernando, Kimmy's ex and Ramona's father, walked in after and struck up a conversation with Kimmy and DJ. Ramona and I moved away from them in order to catch up on everything.
Someone began to randomly play New Kids On the Block, and DJ dragged me to the middle to dance with the with girls to choreography they created when they were younger. She insisted on teaching it to me when Jackson and I became friends, because I was the only young girl she had in her life.
We performed our dance while Jackson and the boys did silly dance moves along side us.
Steve interrupted the dance when he walked in to join the party exclaiming, "Hey Tanners, Fullers, Gibblers, Gladstone, Rippers, Katsopli, and my favorite Hill. Hi."
"Steve. Thanks for coming by" DJ called, coming over to greet her old ex-boyfriend.
Steve walked over to the food table where I was and hugged me before he said, " Oh my God. Are you kidding? Free food and this little one. I would never miss it."
Whenever the Fuller's weren't around, Steve would always let me walk his dog or come with him to work, because he knew I hated being alone. He was kind of like the big brother I never had.
I gave Steve a smile, before leaving the two adults to talk amongst themselves. I made my way over to Jackson, and was immediately dragged into hearing him complain about how much his mom didn't trust him.
"Why don't you go bother Jessie? He does dangerous stuff all the time." I suggested
"Great idea." He smiled, tugging me to where Uncle Jessie sat
"I didn't mean with me." I groaned
"Jessie, how old were you when you got your first motorcycle?" Jackson asked the older man, ignoring my protests.
"I was ten when I first started riding Harley." Jesse said
"Ten? I'm 13 and I only have a dirt bike" Jackson complained
"That's because you're literally the clumsiest person I know. Of course DJ isn't going to get you one." I interrupted
Jackson flicked my head, before turning back to Jessie, making me roll my eyes at his childish antics.
Jesse laughed, "Remember this was the 70s, when no one cared about kids getting hurt."
After talking to Jessie, DJ came over to talk to us, "Hey. Jackson, Farrah go talk to Romona"
I wasted no time in arguing, making my way to the girl, while Jackson did the complete opposite. Obviously losing the argument with his mother, Jackson trudged his way over to Romona and I.
He rested his elbow on my shoulder and boredly greeted, "Hey".
Ramona replied the same way, and then we all got on our phones. DJ and Kimmy tried to get them to catch up and get off their phones, but they got distracted when Becky brought Tommy down.
DJ left us to give a speech about how much she was going to miss everyone, and about how it was going to be just her and the boys. She raised her glass, and we all cheered to family.
Jessie, forced by everyone to sing, moved his was to the couch and sang the song "Forever" directed towards Becky.
As he sang, I rested my head on Jackson's shoulder and put my arms around Max's shoulders. We all joined in at some point, and clapped as it ended.
___________
After most people had gone back to their homes, Ramona and I made our way into the living to find Jackson lounging and Max running in through the door.
"How'd I do?" Max asked Jackson.
"29 seconds, you still have two more garbage bags to break your record". Jackson replied, making me scoff at how lazy he was being.
Romona explained to Max that Jackson was tricking him into bringing the trash out.
"Jackson implanted a tiny explosive in my brain that he can detonate at any moment so I have to do what he says" Max said, believing what Jackson had told him
"He just stole that from Mission Impossible" I argued
"Max, Max, Max. Don't listen to them" Jackson said, glaring at us.
"Then do it" Romona challenged
"Alright, fine. I made it up." Jackson said, giving up.
Max hit him with the trash bag making me laugh. The boy ran up the stairs while Romona and I stayed there sharing in our success of ruining Jackson's plan.
"Wow. Thanks, guys. I'm so glad I'm moving away from people like you and Ramona. Now I see why you two hit it off so well." Jackson bitterly stated to the both of us
I bit my lip to keep from hitting him. I knew he didn't mean it, but I was still pissed that he would say something he knew would end up hurting us both.
"You're a jerk." I replied, shoving past him to the kitchen where the women were bidding Steve goodbye, "Hey, Steph. Can I stay in the basement with you tonight?"
All the women looked at me, curious at the sudden change of the sleeping plans, "Sure, kid. Why don't you want to sleep in Jackson's room?"
"We got into an argument." I frowned, hoping to avoid any further discussion on the topic
She nodded, understanding. I bid them all goodnight and headed downstairs.
________
The next morning, I walked into the living room with Tommy in my arms and Dj behind me. I sat down on the couch with Dj as we looked over Tommy, worried that he might be sick.
"Tommy's not feeling well, could you grab the bottle, Kimmy?" Dj asked, as she gently took Tommy from my arms leaving me with no tasks on the couch
"No problemo" Kimmy said, heading towards the kitchen to grab it.
Moments later, Romona walked in complaining about how long they were staying to Kimmy, who was making her way over to Dj with the bottle in hand.
"I need to help DJ" Kimmy insisted.
"What am I supposed to do?" Ramona asked, grumpily
"Hang out with Farrah. You're also a Gibbler, so just make yourself at home." Kimmy replied.
After dealing with Tommy, a flustered Dj came through the living room with comet junior junior, who was apparently about to give birth.
I urgently followed her to the back so I could help out. Everyone was gathered outside to see the birth of the new puppies.
A few minutes in, and DJ handed me the new born puppy. I sat it on the towel next to Max, allowing him to gently wipe down the newborn animal
I quickly glanced at Jackson, who I was still mad at for yesterday. It felt dumb to remain mad at him, but he's my best friend and I don't want him to move away. What he said hurt, and I wasn't ready to see my only friend in the entire world leave me behind.
"Can I keep one?" Max begged, making me smile.
"Yeah, if it's ok with DJ" Steve agreed
"Someday honey, not today. I have to much on my plate." Dj said, tiredly
"Come on, Jackson, you were there" Max insisted, trying to enlist his help.
"That's right. You promised right after his goldfish died." Jackson confirmed.
"Ease up on her guys" I said, patting her shoulder.
I know DJ has been under a lot of pressure lately with moving, Tommy, and now the puppies. I wanted to help her, but I knew it wasn't exactly my place.
"Please, please, please" Max begged, shaking DJ's arm.
"No. Max, No!" She yelled, "you have no idea how much work a puppy is."
Tommy started to cry through the monitor making DJ run inside, even more flustered. I sighed, knowing how stressed out she was at the moment.
After all of the puppies had been taken care of, the kids were gathered in the kitchen, chatting among ourselves, until DJ yelled for us to come into the living room.
"Great news. Grandpa's letting us stay here and Aunt Steph is moving in." DJ excitedly announced to her two older sons.
This made announcement made all the children grin, but then I remembered Jackson was still mad at me. so I let them celebrate while I stood by the kitchen door, not wanting to dampen the happiness of their celebration with Jackson and I's stupid fight.
DJ, still in a good mood, agreed to let Max adopt one of the new puppies who were born only hours before.
Tommy started crying so Danny, Joey, and Jesse started to sing "Meet The Flinstones" to make him quiet down.
While they were singing, Jackson turned to me with a whisper, "I'm really sorry"
"Me too." I said, looking up at him and grabbing his hand.
He squeezed my hand gently. To some, it's a small simple gesture, but to the two of us it meant the world. It was an apology bigger than no other which we had always used in the many years of knowing one another.
Tommy started to cry again so we all laughed, and began to join in on the singing.
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Thank you so much for reading the first chapter! I will probably post again on Saturday. Sorry if there are grammar mistakes. Please tell me if you would like to see any gifs and more of her outfits! Feedback would also be great!