Chapter 41

George slid his chair back from the table and said, "If I was forty years younger, Miss Krista, well, you'd hear me knocking on your door 'most every night!"

Krista blushed, and giggled. "Thank you, Poppa George! It's just a simple thing I got off Facebook," she said, "and I didn't tinker with it at all. Much. Basically." She saw Kay looking sideways at her, and grinned, "Well, maybe tweaked it a little, but it needed something extra."

Kay turned to the rest of us, "She can't resist the temptation to tweak things just a little." And she looked back at her little sister, "And I'm always envious, because she always makes it taste even better! No, don't shake your head, sis, you're way beyond me at cooking, and you gotta show me how." She turned back to me, but kept talking to Krista, "Gettin' married here in a couple of days, and I gotta make sure I have a chance of keeping my man." She leaned over to me and put her head on my shoulder, and something soft and full rubbed against my arm, "Right?"

I just enjoyed the sensation, didn't say a word. Didn't have to. Suzy piped up with, "The way I understand it, for the first couple months all you need is rubber sheets and a can of whipped cream!"

We had almost got settled down and stopped snickering when Krista, looking confused again, asked, "Where do you get rubber sheets?"

Just barely had enough of that casserole left on my plate to hide my face in!

After supper we got everything cleaned up, with only the occasional snort and snicker. Richelle would wait until everything was quiet, then let out a snort, just to get us all going again. Krista took Suzy aside to ask her something. She came back with big round eyes in a bright red face. Didn't look at any of us for a while after that. Finally she calmed down enough to change the subject, "Mom said they wanna get a good night's sleep, and an early start in the morning. It's too soon to go to bed yet, who's up for a game of Yahtzee?"

Kay showed her where the games were, and they got it all set up while George took me aside. "Can't stay tonight, Rob, but I wanted to let you know that we're keeping an eye on your vehicles. Don't ever leave them unlocked, and if you park them in public, park them right out in the open. I'm working on getting you some special alarms that'll almost sound off if a gnat lands on your windshield." He looked at me and said, "I don't know how long we'll be, in getting this thing wrapped up, but we've gotta be careful with everything. Leland has bumped things up several notches now, and I think he's gonna have to be taken down before we can get back to normal."

I agreed, and reassured him, "Thanks, and I've got a couple of things I can use for alarms as well. Anyone gets by all this stuff, I'll salute him on the way up!"

"Don't want anybody salutin' nobody on the way anywhere, Rob. Just be careful. This butt nugget is crazy, but he means business." I nodded, and walked with him out to his car, where he waved at the now familiar plain sedan that was tucked back in the corner of the lot, then got in and drove away.

Back inside, the girls had already started, but Kay handed me the shaker cup and said, "You've got two turns to catch up, sweetie."

I filled my sixes in the first turn!

We played until nearly midnight, then decided to turn in. I headed for the shower, and halfway through, I remembered.

Ooops!

Someone's missing. Laurel's not here. Who's guarding the gates tonight?

Gotta admit to being a little bit ashamed of the thoughts that ran through my mind for a couple of minutes, then I panicked. My clean pj's were in there. Don't dare just waltz in to get them. I know me. Don't dare try to resist this temptation again.

Got a towel wrapped around me and tried to sneak back into the bedroom to retrieve my pajamas, hoping that Kay would be asleep by now. I figured I could curl up on the floor at the foot of the bed, at least until Laurel got home. No PJ's! I turned to look at the bed. Saw four eyes smiling up at me, heard two infectious giggles.There were two blond heads lying there on the pillows, with a me-sized space right between them. Kaitlyn was wearing my only decent pajamas, and Krista had commandeered one of my big and tall teeshirts. Oh. My. God!

"C'mon, babe," said a tired sounding voice, "we'll be good. Right, little sister?"

"Of course, big sister! And anyway, Laurel should be back before too long, and there's still room for her."

Was way warm in there! Got two goodnight kisses again, the first one just a bit more innocent than the second. Okay, the third and fourth ones, too.

I woke up once in the night, felt a hand on my hip, and a leg tossed over me. Leg had to be Kaitlyn, and the hand was just barely resting on me. Thought it moved, once, but I was half asleep, and I sure didn't dare move, just froze, just lay there, and all of a sudden it was morning, and there was no hand or leg, and there was whispering coming from the bathroom. The whispers faded out, and I thought the coast was clear, and I had to pee, so I got up and ran to the bathroom. Got there just in time for the door to open. Tried to stop, and skidded headfirst into the door casing, and it got me on the cheekbone.

"Owwww!"

"Oh no, Rob! I'm so sorry! Didn't hear you coming. Are you okay? Did I hurt you?" Then, "You're bleeding!" Then she started giggling hysterically again, "Kay! I just brained your fiancé with the door, bring some ice!"

Heard some rummaging around the kitchen, and Suzy and Richelle must have heard the thump, and came bursting on the scene. I heard, "Whups! Tight and white!"

And, "Girl, what're you doin' with your sister's guy, and all both of y'all in your undies?" I hadn't noticed that little detail yet. Did a double take, saw way too much pink going on red, and knew I was in deep doo doo.

Well of course Kaitlyn, dear, sweet Kaitlyn had heard the commotion, and you know she'd stopped to grab a towel and empty the entire contents of the refrigerator ice bin into it. She rounded that corner with the bundle clutched in both hands, but didn't expect to find a whole crowd waiting on her. Put her hands out to help brake to a stop, and the ice went flying.

Everyone there tried to catch some cubes before they all hit the floor, and I ducked just as Krista juked, and caught the corner of her forehead, just above the other cheekbone. Already felt the first one swelling up, and now I got a black eye comin' on, just to even things up. Meanwhile, Kay lunged for the towel, to try to salvage whatever ice was left. She stepped on an errant cube and skidded into Suzy, and we all fell in a heap except for Richelle, who had backed away a couple of steps in shock and awe over the carnage, and Laurel, standing open-mouthed in the kitchen doorway.

Everything ground to a halt, and I actually thought I might end up enjoying whatever it was that I had fallen face first into, that felt so soft and warm against my cheek and smelled so good. Then, from somewhere overhead, came a sardonic voice, "And they say white folks can't dance!"

Gotta let someone else keep the story going from here – one more snort or snicker and I'm wasted!

Kay, again

How are we gonna explain Rob's black eye and the swelling on the side of his face, and the bump on Krista's forehead, not to mention the various brush burns and scrapes on the rest of us? Especially when we all practically go into hysterics when we look at each other?

I didn't think I'd ever get to sleep last night, but finally I heard Rob start to snore, and I relaxed. Krista was already out like a light, and I guess I must have joined her, because I never heard Laurel come in, but there she was this morning, over on Krista's side of the bed.

And then when Rob tried to get to the bathroom without being seen, Krista nailed him with the bathroom door! I think a judicious application of pancake makeup might cover it, mostly, but we probably might better just make an announcement before the wedding and get it all out of our systems.

It's good to see Mom and Daddy again! Hasn't been all that long, but still, I miss them. Krista and I went over to take them out for breakfast, and just hung out for a while, talking. Then we brought 'em back to the apartment, and introduced them to the rest of the crew. Daddy just looked at Rob's bruises, then back at Krista's bump, and said, "I don't wanna know."

Laurel reverted back to her bashfulness, but Mom soon drew her out. She just looked at me all shiny-eyed, and I just nodded and smiled. She knew what I was thinking, and smiled back. Hey, I know my mom!

After hugs all around, Rob and Dad headed out to see Hector and the church, and for other "guy" things. I guess Rob's gonna show him the boat, too, while we girls go shopping in the "big city".

Shopping! I still can't get used to shopping here, even after almost four years' being here at school. I told Richelle, "You drive. You know your way around better than I do."

"I thought your mama was drivin'," she quipped, and got a couple of shocked giggles for saying it. "What? What'd I say?"

Mom absolutely cracked up! "Finally! Someone besides my family that doesn't feel they have to tippy-toe around the fact that I'm blind!" She reached out and grabbed hold of Richelle, and hauled her in for a hug and a kiss, "But from what I hear, you are family now, and I'm glad."

Richelle's turn to be stunned! Krista and I are used to things like this, so we just looked at each other, mentally adding Richelle to our growing list. By the time Mom gets done, we're all gonna be sisters. Or is that "sistahs"?

We headed out and got into the Expedition, and Richelle headed for downtown. We went a few blocks and she pulled into one of the upscale malls and parked. She looked up in the mirror and asked, "Where to first? Anybody got a special list of stuff we gotta get?"

"Well, Mizz Rivera said they could use some of those little plastic plates, to serve the cake on," said Renee, "and I know they're running low on the plastic cups for the punch, but they didn't know if you had a particular color in mind." She looked back at me, "Oh yeah, a big can of ground coffee, and some sugar wouldn't hurt, either."

That got a wink and a jab from Suzy, "How come you know so much about what's in the church kitchen, girl?" Then, to the rest of us, "Oh, my. Did I do that? Hey Richelle, how come you never blush like that?" Everyone laughed at that, and Renee got even more flustered.

Then it got strangely quiet, as Richelle just shook her head and said, "I used to," then added in a whisper, "a long time ago." Nobody was surprised when Mom reached out and touched Richelle's shoulder, and Richelle leaned over and rested her cheek on Mom's hand.

"Let's go on in and get what we need, and then I could use a cup of hot chocolate. Is there a good place for that around here?" Several voices responded, "Yes, Mom, there is!"