Chapter 67: Vacation… Finally! 1 month later “Alex?  You home?” Lauralee dropped her suitcase and walked into the living room.  “Jesus where are you?”  She ran up the stairs to their bedroom.  “Babe, you…” She stopped short when she saw what was on the bed.  “Holy…”  There, on the bed, was a little white Pomeranian puppy with a red bow around its neck.  “What is this?”  She walked to the bed where the little puppy wagged its tail and cautiously walked to her.  “Hello cutie!”  She picked up the puppy and it licked her nose. “Like her?” “Alex!”  She ran to him, holding the puppy in her arms. “Welcome home baby,” Alex gave her a kiss and looked down at the puppy.  “I thought we could use another addition to the house.” “She’s beautiful,” Lauralee looked down at the puppy.  “When did you get her?” “Yesterday.  I went to a breeder and fell in love at first sight, although there’s only one woman in my life,” he laughed as he gave the puppy a pet.  “She’s already at home here… been following me around the house all day.  I told her about you, and she seems to like what she sees.” “I bet,” Lauralee held up the puppy and looked at her.  “You’re a little angel.” The puppy wagged her tail and wiggled around in her hands.  “What are you gonna name her?” “What I just called her, Angel.  You like that name?” She held the puppy up and barked.  “See?” “Angel it is,” Alex smiled as Lauralee put her down.  “Now I gotta take care of the other angel in my life.”  He carried Lauralee in his arms and led her to the bed. ~*~ Lauralee was lounging by the pool, watching Angel attack her sworn enemy, a rawhide shoe.  She was on the phone with Laura. “It feels weird y’know?  Being on vacation?” “I know, I keep listening for Riley or Mario scream ‘Five minutes girls!’ Kevin thinks I’m schizo.” “Same here.  Veronica say when she was moving?” “The house is all set and she should be out here next week.  I just called her and she was in the middle of packing.” “I can’t believe she’s actually moving here.” “I’m just happy the Three Musketeers will be back in the same state again, like old times.  How’s the mutt?” “Being a brave soldier,” Lauralee laughed as Angel finally nailed the shoe.  “She’s too cute.” “Yeah she is.”  Lauralee heard the front door close.  “I’ll call ya later.  Alex’s home.” “Later babe.” Alex walked in the back.  “Hello,” he leaned over the chair and gave her a kiss. “Hey.” He took a seat at the foot of the lounger.  “What’d you do today?” “Nothing,” she smiled proudly.  “That’s my girl,” he laughed.  “How about you?” “Signed some papers… boring-ass stuff.  Then went to the Hard Rock to go over final details for the show.” “Johnny all ready to go?” “But of course,” his English accent heard.  “You all ready for it?”  “Yup, vocals all set.  It’ll be cool to finally be on the stage together.”  Lauralee was going to do a performance for the show.  She was going to pretend to look for Alex on the stage, and Johnny was going to tell her to dump Alex and go for him.  Lauralee was going to tell Johnny what she wanted by singing “Red Light Special.” “So, you wanna take a dip in the pool?” “Yup, let me get my bathing suit.” Alex took off his shirt.  “Who said we need bathing suits?” “True.”  Lauralee reciprocated. ~*~ 1 week later “God V, the house is gorgeous,” Lauralee looked around the living room. “After seeing 50 houses, this was the last one I saw and automatically put an offer in,” Veronica smiled as she gave Laura and Lauralee a drink. “It’s just nice to be together again,” Laura took a sip from her glass. “I know, this time with no parents or curfews,” Veronica agreed.  “Remember the time we snuck out when we were 16?” “Oh God, and met those sailors,” Laura groaned.  “I’ll never forget Lauralee’s face when she drank wine for the first time.  That was priceless.” “It tasted like sour grapes,” Lauralee laughed.  “But what was worse, that or when we got caught?” “I think I’m still grounded for that one,” Veronica smiled.  “Holy shit, I just had a thought,” Laura shook her head.  “We always kept saying where we were gonna be in 5 years, and now the time has come.” “That’s right!” Lauralee gasped.  “I was gonna be a record executive, Laura was gonna go into finance, and Veronica was gonna be a preschool teacher.” “Then we were gonna open a nightclub,” Laura laughed.  “I was gonna do the books, Lau was gonna get the talent, and Veronica was gonna decorate it.” “Now look at us, singers in Florida,” Veronica shook her head.  “Not the road we were gonna take.” “Now wait a minute,” Lauralee put her drink on the table.  “Who said we couldn’t do one of those things.” “Lau, I’m not going back to school for a while.” “No smart-ass.  The nightclub.” “That’s not a bad idea,” Laura smiled slowly. “I mean, we have the bread, there is a lot of talent in Orlando, and there’s a demand for nightlife.” “Lau, us go into business?” Veronica said. “Riley always said to look into investments.  And frankly, we would have the publicity all set.  Howie’s club is booming, why can’t we do the same thing?” Lauralee smiled. “I say we do it, after the album is out of the way,” Laura smiled back.  “What about you V?” “What the hell, the past 3 years have been a blur anyway,” Veronica looked up at the ceiling and shook her head. “To our dreams realized,” Lauralee held up her glass. “To dreams,” they all toasted. Chapter 68 Contents Chapter 66