Chapter 33

Kristin smiled as she saw Kevin walk out the door, without Lily.

Kevin got in the 4-Runner with Kristin who was now sitting up front. He sighed as he began to start the truck.

"Maybe I shouldn't have made her stay with Nick," he said.

"She'll be fine," Kristin answered quickly.

"But she's scared, so she should be with me," Kevin said.

"She'll be fine," repeated Kristin.

"I don't know," Kevin said, uncertainly.

"If anything happens Nick will call you," Kristin said.

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Kevin said reluctantly.

"Of course I'm right," Kristin said as she gave Kevin a kiss on the cheek. "Now let's get out of here."

"Okay," he said as he backed out of Nick's driveway.

"Lily, are you okay?" Nick asked.

"Not really," I said. "Kristin's with my dad."

"Everything will be fine," Nick said. "So let's not worry about it. How about we get my brother and sister down here so you can meet them?" Nick suggested.

"Umm…I guess," I said, nervously.

"Aaron! Angel! There's someone here you guys need to meet!" yelled Nick.

"Coming!" they yelled.

Then the next thing I saw were two kids with blonde hair racing down the stairway. Just before they were about to run into Nick, they stopped.

I stood there staring at them. Nick's little brother looked like the mini version of him. And well, let's just say that I thought he was kind of cute, which in a weird way also meant that I thought my uncle Nick was cute. Which wasn't the best thing to think cause he was family, but of course my dad and him weren't related by blood.

And then there was Angel, Nick's sister. She was very pretty with her long blonde hair. You could tell she was a Carter.

"Hey, I'm Aaron," Nick's brother said, smiling.

"Hi," I said quietly.

Then Angel and I just stared at each other.

"Looks like both of you are shy," Nick said.

"Yeah, Angel hardly ever says anything when she meets someone new," said Aaron.

"Well since neither of you are going to say anything, then I'll introduce you two," Nick said.

"This is Lily, Kevin's daughter. And this is Angel, my sister," Nick said.

"Hi," we said, smiling at each other.

"Here's your bag Lily," Nick said. "Angel, why don't you help Lily to settle in?"

"Okay," Angel replied.

I grabbed my bag and then followed her upstairs.

"So you're just saying here for the one night?" Angel asked.

"Umm…yeah. My dad's going to pick me up tomorrow," I said. "Or at least I hope he will."

"Well you can just share this room with me," Angel offered. "Cause I'm sure you don't want to share with Aaron."

I smiled. "I don't know."

"Why do you say that?" she asked curiously.

"Don't tell him, but I think he's kind of cute," I said shyly.

She laughed. "Don't worry, I won't tell him. But believe me, you don't want to share a room with him."

"Why not?" I asked.

"Cause it's usually a mess. And at night, he talks in his sleep," Angel said. "It's pretty funny, but you can usually never get to sleep."

I laughed. "Oh, okay."

"Do you talk in your sleep?" she asked.

I smiled. "No."

"Okay, good," she said.

Then we just sat there on her bed, looking around the room. After a couple of minutes Nick and Aaron came running into the room and dove on the bed.

"So are you two girls all settled in?" asked Nick.

"Yep," Angel and I replied.

"Well then are you guys ready for a night of fun?" asked Nick.

"Yes!" we yelled.

"First we'll pick something up to eat, and then we'll go bowling," Nick said. "Sound like fun?"

"Yeah," Aaron said as he stood up and began jumping on the bed.

Nick tackled him down and began wrestling with him.

"Angel! Help me!" cried Aaron.

Angel just laughed as she watched her two brothers wrestle. Then Nick put Aaron into a headlock.

"Lily?" Aaron asked. "Help?"

I smiled. "I guess."

"Yay!" he exclaimed. "Get my brother to let go of me!"

"How?" I asked.

"He's extremely ticklish," Aaron said, smiling.

"Okay," I said. Then I began to tickle my Uncle Nick. Soon Angel joined us and tried to get Nick to let go of Aaron, while he laughed.

Kevin pulled into his driveway.

"It's so good to see this place again," Kristin said, smiling. "Did you change anything?"

"Huh?" Kevin asked as he turned his attention to Kristin. "Did you say something?"

"Ugh!" Kristin said annoyed. "Kev, she'll be fine."

"I'm not sure Kris," he said. "Since she's moved in with me, she's never left my side."

"So?" Kristin asked. "She's 14, I'm sure she can handle it."

"But you don't what she's been through," Kevin said angrily.

Then he got out and went to the back, taking out Kristin's luggage.

Kristin sighed as she got out of the 4-Runner.

Kevin unlocked the door and then set Kristin's bags down in the living room.

"Look, if you're going to be worried all night, why don't you just call Nick and see how she's doing," Kristin suggested.

"Fine, I will," Kevin said.

He went over to the phone and dialed Nick's number.

Ring! Ring!

"Time out!" Nick yelled.

"There are no timeouts!" Angel said.

"The phone's ringing though," Nick whined.

"I guess they'll have to call back," Angel said.

Kevin sighed as no one answered.

"Nick didn't answer," Kevin said, worriedly.

"Maybe they left somewhere," Kristin said.

"I'm calling his cell," Kevin said.

"If that makes you happy," Kristin said, quietly.

"It does," Kevin snapped.

"Well then, call him!" Kristin yelled as she pointed to the phone.

Kevin turned around and picked up the phone, while Kristin took her bags upstairs.

"Okay, guys I have to answer it this time. It's my cell phone, so it's probably important," Nick said.

"Oh, all right," we agreed reluctantly.

Nick sat up and pulled out his cell phone. "Hello?"

"Nick?" Kevin asked worriedly.

"Yeah," he said.

"Where are you?"

"At home. Why?"

"Cause I just called and no one answered. I wanted to know how Lily was."

"She's fine, Kev. The kids are getting along fine."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, everything's fine. In a few minutes, we're going to pick up some food and then go bowling."

"Oh, okay. You'll take your cell phone with?"

"Yes, Kev. And I'll contact you if anything happens."

"Okay good. I guess I'll let you go now."

"Okay, Kev. Talk to you later."

"Oh, wait. Can you tell Lily that I love her and to sleep tight."

"All right, Train. I'll do that. Now I'll see you tomorrow."

"Bye Nick."

Both Nick and Kevin hung up the phone.

"My dad?" I asked.

"Yeah," Nick said, smiling. "He was just making sure that you were okay. And he wanted me to tell you that he loves you and to sleep tight."

I smiled. "Okay, thanks."

Kevin went upstairs and walked into his room, sitting on the bed as he watched Kristin unpack.

"Kris," he said quietly. "Come sit next to me."

She stopped unpacking and sat next to him.

"I'm sorry about snapping at you," Kevin said.

"It's okay," Kristin replied.

"I was just worried about Lil…" Kevin began.

"Ssh, don't say it," Kristin said as she placed her lips on his.

He wrapped his arms around her, bringing her closer to him as they continued kissing.

"God, how I missed you," Kevin said as he held Kristin in his arms.

"I missed you too Boo," Kristin said, kissing his nose.

Kevin smiled at his nickname. "So where would you like to go tonight?"

"Anywhere with you Mr. Richardson would be fine," Kristin said.

"Then would you mind if we just stayed here tonight?" he asked.

"No, that'd be fine," she said. "We can order in and just eat in here."

"Yeah, that's what I was thinking," Kevin said.

"That way we can snuggle together," she said as she kissed Kevin's neck.

"And talk more privately," he said. "About…"

Kristin placed her finger on Kevin's lips. "Don't say it."

Kevin took her hand and removed it from his lips. "We have to talk about it Kris."

"Not tonight though," she said.

"Later, but tonight," he said.

"Kev, can't we just pretend that it's the two of us for tonight?" Kristin asked as she kissed him. "You and me. No one else."

"But…" he began.

"Just do me this favor. Tonight the only two people in the world are you and me," she said while continuing to kiss him.

"Okay," Kevin agreed.

He knew that him and Kristin had to talk about Lily because tomorrow she would be with them. But right now he was enjoying having Kristin with him. He had missed holding her and kissing her. He just missed having her near him.

He felt bad that he was neglecting to talk about Lily since she was now also a part of his life. But it would just be this one night that he would forget or stop being a dad. Plus, he didn't feel like dealing with Kristin at the moment. He didn't want to listen to her talk about Lily, especially when he knew that it probably wouldn't be good.

"Yes! Go Lily!" Angel yelled as I knocked most of the pins down.

I smiled and gave her hi five as I sat down. "Your turn Uncle Nick."

"By the way, we're so kicking your butt," Angel said, as her brother got ready to throw the bowling ball.

Nick turned and stuck his tongue out. "So, Aaron and I will catch up to you two. You guys are just having a streak of good luck."

"Yeah, especially since I've never played before," I said, smiling.

"You've never played before?" Aaron asked.

"Nope," I replied.

"Come on Nick! We have to win!" Aaron said. "We can't let them beat us."

Angel laughed. "Why not? You know we're so much better than you, why even try."

"Whatever," Aaron said, rolling his eyes at his sister.

I smiled at the two of them. I could tell they were really close, particularly because they were twins. But all three of them seemed to be very loving with one another. I could see it in the way they talked with each other and just messed around with one another, it was brotherly and sisterly love.

I wished that I could have got along with someone that way when I was younger. Rarely was I that loving with Alan and Joanne. But now that I had been with my dad, I noticed that I had developed a very strong relationship with him, even though we had only been with one another for a couple of months. I guess it just automatically happened when I knew I was with family, such as my dad and my four uncles.

"Lily, you're staring at my little brother," Nick whispered in my ear.

"What?" I asked. "No I wasn't."

"Yes, you were," Nick said, smiling.

"I was not. I was just thinking," I said.

"Yeah, sure you were," Nick said.

"I was!" I exclaimed as I began to blush.

"Don't worry, I won't tell him," Nick said.

"But I wasn't staring. Well I mean I was, but…"

"It's okay, Lily. You don't have to deny it," Nick said.

"Ugh!" I said, smiling. "I wasn't staring."

Nick just laughed.

"Lily, it's your turn," Aaron said as he walked over to us.

"Okay," I said smiling at him.

Nick smiled and elbowed me in the arm. "I won't say a word."