Chapter 24

"Welcome to the family," Brian whispered.

I smiled at them.

"Okay guys, you're squeezing my daughter to death," my dad said.

"Oh," the guys said as they realized how tight they were actually squeezing me.

I pulled away and stared at them. All of them had huge smiles on their faces. I smiled back at them.

"Hi I'm Brian, your dad's cousin," he explained. "You can call me B-Rok if you'd like."

"And I'm A.J., but the guys call me Bone," he said.

I giggled as I heard his nickname.

"What?" he asked smiling.

"They actually call you that?" I asked.

"Yeah," he said.

"Oh," I said. "What's A.J. stand for?"

"Alexander James," he replied.

"Can I call you Alex?" I asked shyly.

"Sure," he said.

"And I'm Howie," he introduced. "The guys usually call me D."

"D?" I questioned.

"My last name is Dorough," he said.

"Oh," I said.

"We also call him Sweet D," Nick said as he pinched Howie's cheeks. "Cause he's so sweet!"

I laughed as Howie pulled away from Nick.

"So you're my new uncles?" I asked.

"Not technically, but yeah," Howie said.

"Wow," I said.

"Lily, all three of us would like to apologize for our behavior earlier," Brian said.

"Yeah, we shouldn't have said some of things we did," A.J. said.

"Your dad just kind of surprised us, that's all," Howie said.

"It's okay," I said.

"We're really glad to have you apart of this family now," Brian said.

"Thanks," I said.

"Aww! Group hug!" yelled Nicky.

Before I knew it, my dad and my new uncles were hugging me.

"Daddy, I can't breathe," I said.

All five of them let go of each other.

"All right, enough of this huggin'. Who wants to go swimming?" Alex asked.

"I do," I said excitedly.

"Come on," he said as he grabbed my hand and ran to the backyard.

"I'm going to start the grill," Kevin said.

"Need help?" Brian asked.

"No, I've got everything ready," he answered.

"Okay, well we're going to go out back," Brian said.

"All right," Kevin said. "Oh hey, Nick!"

"Yeah?" Nick asked.

"Thank you for taking care of Lily," Kevin said.

"No prob Kev," Nick said as he followed the other guys out.

I took off my shorts and shirt revealing my swimsuit underneath.

Then the guys took off their shirts. I noticed that they had a lot of tattoos.

"Wow," I said as I looked at Alex's 69 tattoo.

"What?" he asked.

"That's a way cool tattoo," I said. "Did it hurt a lot?"

"Kind of, since it's right around my belly button," he said.

"Oh," I said as I looked at the rest of his tattoos.

"Looks like your little girl is interested in tattoos," Alex said as my dad walked out.

"You're never going to get one," my dad said.

The guys just laughed at him.

"She's been here one day and you're all ready forbidding her from things," Nick said.

"Exactly," my dad said.

"Don't worry Daddy, I wasn't going to ask for one," I said. "Just looking."

"Okay good," he said.

"So are we swimming or what?" Brian asked.

"Yeah!" Nick exclaimed as he ran and jumped in with Alex right behind him.

I went over to the side of the pool and dipped my foot in.

"That water's freezing!" I said.

"It gets better once you get in," Nick said.

"I think I'll just wait," I said.

Then I felt someone's arms around me. I looked up to see Brian.

"What are you doing?" I asked suspiciously.

"Going swimming," he said. "With you."

"No!" I cried as he moved over to the pool and fell in with me.

I resurfaced to see him smiling at me. I just glared at him.

"Uh oh Kevin. Your daughter is giving me that look of yours," Brian said.

My dad just laughed. Then I began swimming after Brian. He got out and took off. I got out and ran after him.

"Hey Rok! You do realize that you're running from one 14 year old girl, not thousands," Alex said.

"Oh yeah, I forgot," Brian said. Then he turned around and ran after me.

I laughed as I took off running the other way.

Then he came up behind and tackled me. We fell onto the raft that was lying in the grass. Then he began to tickle me.

"Daddy! Help!" I cried as I tried to move away from Brian while laughing.

Brian just continued to tickle me. I could barely breathe because I was laughing so hard. Then all of sudden Brian fell onto the ground and my dad was sitting on top of him.

I sat up and wiped away my tears.

"Kevin! Get off!" Brian yelled.

I laughed at him. "Thank you Dad."

"Uh huh," he said as he stood up.

Brian got up. "That's not fair," he pouted.

I went over to Brian and hugged him. "Sorry Uncle Brian."

"Psych!" he yelled as he began tickling me again.

"Children, the food is ready," my dad said.

"Oh good," everyone replied.

Brian stopped tickling me and then grabbed my hand, pulling me towards the food.

"It is time to pig out," he said as he pulled out a chair for me.

"Thank you," I said as I sat down.

"What do you want on your hamburger?" my dad asked.

"Everything," I said.

"Okay," my dad said as he made my hamburger for me.

"Um, do you have any jalapenos?" I asked.

"Actually yeah," my dad answered. "You want that on your hamburger also?"

"Yes, please," I said.

The guys just stared at me.

"What?" I asked.

"I thought Howie was the only weird one that did that," Alex said.

"Nope," I said. "I love chili. I eat it with practically everything."

"Uh, did your adoptive parents make it?" Howie asked.

"Yeah, Joanne's family was from Mexico," I said. "So she was always making salsa."

"Well I guess I'm going to have to have Howie teach me how to make salsa," my dad said as he placed my plate in front of me.

"Actually, I know how," I said.

"Really?" Howie asked. "Do you know how to make anything else?"

"Not really," I said. "I know the basics, like Macaroni & Cheese."

"Mmm, that sounds good," Brian said. "Will you make some for me?"

My dad smacked him upside the head.

The guys and I laughed at him.

"What was that for?" Brian asked as he rubbed the back of his head.

"You're a grown man, don't be asking my daughter to do it for you," my said as he sat next to me.

"Geez cuz, I was just joking," Brian said.

"Sorry, that's me being an over protective Dad," my dad said.

"No kidding," Brian said.

"Sorry Uncle Brian. I'll make it for you the next time you come over," I said.

"Thank you Lily," he said.

Then we began eating our food.

After we had finished we sat around talking for a while. They asked me a few questions but mainly we just talked about the day my dad and I met.

"You should have seen them, just laying in the pit of balls laughing like little children," Nick said.

"I would have paid to see Train climbing through the tunnels," Alex said as he laughed.

"And to see him come down the slide into the pit, oh my god, I just about died," Nick said as we all laughed.

"I was trying to hide from Lily since I figured that she was it," my dad explained as he smiled at us.

"Oh, we understand now," Howie said smiling.

"Oh Nick, you said that you guys would have stories to tell me about my Dad," I reminded him.

"Oh, that's right," Nick said.

"You mentioned something about February 12th," I said as I smiled.

My dad began turning red and the guys burst into a fit of laughter.

"So are you going to tell me about that day?" I asked.

"No," my dad said firmly. "Remember what I told you guys."

"Oh right," Alex said.

"We'll tell you some other time," Nick said.

"All right," I said.

I didn't understand why he wouldn't let Nick tell me what happened. And what had he told the other guys?

I got up and picked up their plates.

"What are you doing?" my dad asked.

"Just picking up the mess," I said.

Alex just chuckled. "You are definitely his daughter."

I just smiled. "I'll be right back out," I said as I went in.

"So have you noticed any little mannerisms that are like yours?" Brian asked.

"Not really. But she smiles like Robyn, her laugh is even the same," Kevin said.

"Well she definitely has that look of yours Kev," Brian said.

"Does she really?" Kevin asked smiling.

"Yeah, that deadly glare," Brian said.

I went into the kitchen and threw the plates away. Then I got a plastic cup and filled it with ice and water.

I went outside and stood behind Brian raising the cup over his head. Nick looked at me and smiled. Then I quickly dumped it on his head.

"Oh shhh...it!" Brian said as he instantly stood up. "That's freakin' cold!"

He turned and looked at me. For a second I didn't know if he was going to get mad or what.

Brian tried to his hardest to keep a straight face, but he couldn't.

"I'm going to get you," he said as he smiled.

Then I ran towards the pool. Nick picked up the cooler filled with water and threw it at my dad and Alex.

"What the?!" Alex exclaimed.

"Oh, it's on now Nicky," my dad said.

Soon all the guys were racing towards the pool. We all had some sort of container trying to fill it up. Then we chased each other around.

While the guys were busy chasing each other I walked over to the hose and turned it on.

"Freeze!" I yelled.

All 5 of them stopped and looked at me. I laughed as I looked at them. They were completely drenched and their hair was matted down.

Then the phone rang.

"Okay Lily, don't wet me. I have to answer the phone," my dad said.

"Oh, all right," I said.

My dad quickly went to the phone and answered it. "Hello."

"Hey baby."

"Oh hi Kris," he said as he walked into the house with a towel, drying himself off.

He looked outside the window to see Lily soaking the guys. He laughed out loud at the scene.

"What's so funny, Kev?"

"Oh nothin', just the guys are messin' around."

"Oh. So Kev you said that we could talk the next time I called."

"I can't right now."

"Why not?"

"Uh, cause the guys are here."

"So?"

"I just can't leave them, that's rude."

"They can take care of themselves."

"Uh, well."

"Kev, what's going on?"

"Baby, I can't tell you right now."

"Why not?"

"I just can't."

"Fine."

"Don't be mad Kris. I just can't talk right now."

"Then when Kevin?"

"When's a good time for you?"

"You mean besides now?"

"Yes."

Kristin sighed. "I guess tomorrow morning after I check into the hotel."

"Okay, we can talk then. I promise."

"I guess I better let you go then."

"I love you Kris."

"I love you too Kevy."

"Bye baby."

"Bye," she said.

Kevin hung up and set his phone down when it rang again.

"Hello," he answered.

"Hi Kevin. This is Kate."

"Oh hi Kate. How are you?"

"Good, thank you. How are you and Lily?"

"We're doing good."

"Well I just wanted to tell you I'll be visiting tomorrow afternoon. Just to check on things."

"Yeah, that's fine."

"Okay, well I'll see you tomorrow."

"All right, bye."

Kevin hung up the phone and went back outside. He saw Lily and the guys resting on the hammock.

"How the heck did you guys manage to fit all 5 of you on here?" my dad asked.

"No idea," Howie said. "Just don't touch it or we'll tip over."

"Oh, you mean like this," my dad said as he grabbed it and began pushing it down.

"No!!" all of us cried.

My dad laughed and then steadied us again.

"I'm going to finish picking up while you lazy bums burn in the sun," my dad said.

"Okay," we said.

Then he walked off.

All of us laid there with our eyes closed getting a tan.

"Oh no, I have to sneeze," Nick said.

"No, don't," Brian said.

"I can't help it," Nick said.

Howie and Brian were both laying on the side of me, so I grabbed onto their arms.

"Aah choo!" Nick sneezed.

Then the hammock tipped and we all fell onto the ground.

"Ow! My arm," Howie said.

"Oh, I'm sorry," I said as I sat up.

"It's okay," he said. "It wasn't you. Nick elbowed me in the arm."

"Sorry," Nick said.

We all picked ourselves off the ground and stood up.

"You just had to sneeze," Alex said.

"Sorry," Nick said.

"It's okay Nicky," I said as I hugged him.

"Thanks Lily," he said.

Then we went inside where my dad was cleaning up. We all helped him clean up and then laid down to watch t.v.

Soon it was late and the guys were ready to leave.

"You guys leaving now?" Kevin asked.

"Yeah," Brian said.

"Tell Lily that we said good bye and give her our love," Nick said.

"I will," Kevin said. "Thanks guys."

"No problem, bro.," A.J. said.

"Is it all right if I stop by tomorrow with dinner?" Howie asked.

"Sure, that's fine," Kevin said.

"Okay, see you tomorrow then," Howie said.

"Hey D, can we come to?" Nick asked.

"It's up to Kev," Howie said.

Nick looked at Kevin, giving him his puppy dog eyes.

"Of course you guys can. You don't even have to ask," Kevin said.

"All right! Bye," Nick said happily.

The guys walked out and got into their vehicles.

Kevin closed the door and then went over to Lily. He picked her up and carried her upstairs to her room.

I opened my eyes and saw my dad holding me. He walked into my room and then placed me on the bed.

"Are you going to change?" he asked.

"Uh huh," I said sleepily.

"Okay," he said, then he walked out.

I quickly changed into my pajamas and then climbed into bed.

Kevin knocked on the door to see if it was okay to come in, but there was no response. He opened the door to see her already fast asleep with her bunny.

He went over to her and kissed her on the head.

"Night my baby," he said.