Baby 88 and 89 - Part 2 of 3

The phone is Laura Johanson.

"Listen, I know it's late so you can do this tomorrow."

"Why, hello.  I'm doing great, thanks for asking.  Do what?"

"Look online at sunsetvalleynews.com and look at the main article," she pauses.  "Oh f***, the kids are crying, I gotta go."

"Oh, okay, I will," I say suspiciously.

What could have happened.  I'm convinced she won the lottery or something unimportant and jealous-worthy.

Kiara, who's as ancient as dust, comes hobbling in and lets out a meek meow.  I gently pick her up and carry her to my room, setting her on the bed.  Her limp body lets out a quiet sigh.  I change as fast as I can and lay next to her.  She gazes at me with her glazed, yellow eyes and purrs quietly.  Then she curls up and is soon fast asleep.

The next morning her body is in the same position as it was last night and I know she's gone.  The other cats come rushing in as if they have a sixth sense.  Each on meows mournfully and Neon even sniffs the urn.

Covering my face, I cry silently in my hands.  It's hard to deal with the death of a cat, especially one so loved as Kiara.

Then I change and go to tell the kids the news.  I find the triplets and Fergus happily playing in the nursery.  Seeing their happy faces changes my mind about telling them the devastating news.  I play with them a bit before my phone rings.  Caller ID tells me that it's Adam and my heart races, much to my dismay.

"Calista?  Hi, this is Adam.  Adam Cohen," he stutters in his cute, nervous way.

"Hey!  What's up?"

"Well, I've got quite the dilemma at my house... I've seen your house and it's gorgeous and beautiful and so good looking."  He pauses and I begin to question if he's still talking about my house, or if his mind is drifting somewhere else.

Continuing he says, "Could you come over and help me with my house?  I've got this room that just looks great on one side and terrible on the other."

I'm pretty sure this is a date so I happily agree.  As I push "end" on my phone, I remember what Laura told me last night.

Going to the computer, I open up the web browser and am shocked to discover the heading on the news article.

RACECAR DRIVER RUNS OVER HELPLESS CIVILIAN

Famous racecar driver, Luke Lockhart, was driving home one night when he ran over Sunset Valley resident, Charlie Sykes.  Sykes is undergoing several treatments and surgeries at Sunset Valley's very own local hospital.  His current condition is very grim but doctors say that he will survive the nearly fatal accident. 

"It was difficult, at first, to find the wounds because his skin tone is quite pink, so it was hard to distinguish the blood," ER doctor Coates explains. 

Lockhart is currently waiting for his jail cell to be cleaned up from the guy before him.  He has been to multiple questionings where he has stated that "he didn't mean to hit the pinkish man" and "he immediately ran over to assist the unconscious man instead of hitting and running."

Laura Johanson, a famous 100 Baby Challenge mother, was a witness to this terrible accident along with her significant other, Michael Blake.  "It was amazing to watch Luke help Charlie instead of running," Johanson admits with a blush on her face.  "What surprised me even more was that he actually turned himself in when he could have easily used his popularity and money to try to get out of the consequences.  He's really proven himself a good man despite his flaws."

What many people are wondering is what will Lockhart's girlfriend, 100 Baby Challenge mother Calista Smith, think about her man's mistake?  Will it cost them their relationship?

As I finish reading my mind is fluttering with images and my mouth is aghast.  I sit there for literally 10 minutes before remembering that I was supposed to leave for Adam's house.

I shut down the web browser and as the thoughts swirl around my mind, I absent-mindedly wander the house looking for the teens.

"Girls," I say, finding them sculpting in the garage.  "I'll be going out so could you please watch your siblings.  I'll pay you each twenty bucks."  Their faces light up at the thought of earning a bit of cash and they readily agree.

I drive over to Adam's house and am immediately greeted by an oddly familiar dog, although I swear I've never seen him/her before.

Now, I like dogs but this dogs freaks the bejeebers out of me as it starts to bark loudly at me.  Frantically, I look around for Adam but he's no where to be seen.  Is this his dog?  I can't remember seeing any dog related items in his house the last time I was over.

Adam comes running out the door and his shirt is slightly unbuttoned exposing his chest hair which indicates that he was probably changing when I came.  Much to my surprise, it turns me on.  Luckily, Adam is too busy consoling his dog to notice my blush.  He pets the dog's face and calmly talks to it.

"Sorry about that Cal."  I beam inside at the realization that he already feels comfortable enough to call me by my nickname.  To the dog he says, "Calista is a friend, now you go apologize."

As the dog walks over to me Adam does the introductions, "Calista, this is Kadie.  Kadie.  Calista.  Sorry, Kadie has a tendency to think strangers are here to abduct me or something.  She's quite the protective beast but I love her.  Trust me, once she warms up to you, she's a doll."

And he is right.  Her sad eyes hold my gaze as if saying sorry for scaring me to death and she comes up and licks my face and rests her head on my shoulder.

I pet Kadie and she whines and walks off to rest in the shade.

Adam takes my hand and lifts me up, leading me into the house.  Almost instantly I notice another woman in the house.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 

NOTE

Thank you Laura Johanson for collaborating with the Luke-runs-over-Charlie with me and for letting me borrow one of her pictures for the news article.  Visit her post about the accident here, it's very entertaining and I'm sure you'll love it!

Secondly, thanks for reading!  I hope the "cliffhanger" wasn't too lame.  I could have continued the story but then it would be a while before the next post was out so I decided to stretch them out a bit.  And Calista seeing the lady seemed like a good place to end it.  

And lastly, for all my fellow Americans, Happy Fourth of July!

~ ♥ ~ In loving memory of Kiara ~ ♥ ~