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Kevin pulled the car up to AJ’s house and shut off the engine. “Okay Lacey. You’re going to stay with my friends tonight okay?”
“Okay.” Lacey said and shrugged indifferently.
Kevin helped her out of the back seat and up the front step. The door opened before Kevin rang the doorbell. AJ and Howie stood in the foyer staring down and their pint-sized ward.
“You so owe us man.” AJ slapped Kevin on the shoulder.
“Yeah, I owe ya.” He led Lacey in the house by the hand. “Lacey this is AJ and Howie. Guys, this is Lacey – be nice and don’t get into trouble.”
“Are you talking to her or us?” Howie grinned.
“All three of you. I’ll be back after I pick Ellena up from work. She’ll probably go to sleep before we get here.”
“We can handle it. You better not be late to get to Brian’s. It’s twenty after seven.” AJ warned.
Kevin checked his watch. “Yeah, see ya later.” He hurried down the steps. “Bye Lacey!” He waved on the way to his car.
“Bye Kebin!” Lacey waved back. She turned her full attention to the two men standing in front of her. “Wanna play a game?” She asked.
Howie and AJ looked at each other and then back at Lacey. “Sure, whatcha wanna play?”
“Tag!” Lacey lunged forward and smacked Howie on the leg. “You’re it!” She screeched before racing around him and taking off through the kitchen. Her giggles could be heard through out the house. AJ shrugged and took off after her.

~*~

Kevin and Brian got almost everything done that they had wanted to accomplish that evening. He picked Ellena up at eleven sharp, as promised. Her spirits had greatly improved since he had dropped her off. She had pushed thoughts of Eric to the very back of her mind for the time being. She’d deal with it tomorrow. Tonight she wanted to enjoy what little time she had with Kevin. They drove straight to AJ’s house.
“She’s probably asleep.” Ellena said as they walked to the house.
Kevin rang the doorbell. When no one answered after a few minutes, he opened the door and walked in.
Music and shouting could be heard from the den. Ellena and Kevin followed the noise down the hall.
Ellena surveyed the room. It looked like it had been hit by a tornado. A crumpled chip bag lay on the carpet underneath the coffee table. Ketchup chip crumbs were ground into the carpet in little flecks of red. An empty coke bottle was overturned on the table beside another half empty bottle of cream soda. A small container of Ben & Jerry’s sat in a puddle of melted goo beside the phone. Every cushion had been taken off the furniture and thrown haphazardly on the floor. The TV blared the theme song to Power Puff Girls. AJ was stretched out across the floor in front of it, snoring softly. Howie was slouched in a chair, sans cushions, looking completely deflated. Lacey was jumping up and down on the couch that she had kicked the cushions off of.
“Hi Lala!” She shouted. “We’re havin’ a party!”
Ellena stifled a giggle. “Howie? Are you alive?”
Howie didn’t move from his position in the chair. “I don’t think so.” He said dully. “Is she always like this?”
Kevin could no longer old in his laughter and he burst out. “The last thing you said to me was ‘We can handle it’. What happened?”
“We were just hanging out, watching a movie when she like totally exploded! What did you feed her before you brought her over?”
Ellena gave Howie a knowing grin. “You gave her a coke didn’t you?”
Howie thought for a moment and nodded. “Yeah, so?”
Ellena started to shake her head. She moved towards the couch and gathered a bouncing Lacey into her arms. “This is what caffeine does to my little girl.” She looked at Lacey. “Did you tell AJ and Howie that you’re not allowed to have pop?”
The little girl shook her head vigorously. “Nope nope nope! Wowie said I could have some so I did!”
“Did you tell Wow – I mean Howie what coke does to you?”
Lacey grinned widely and looked at Howie. “It makes me hyper hyper hyper!”
By this time Kevin had to sit on the floor because he was laughing so hard.
“Finding this amusing?” Howie asked flatly, still in the same position on the chair.
“I so wish I had been here to see this.” Kevin waved his hand around the room.
Ellena looked at Kevin. “We should get going. Lacey needs to get to sleep.”
“Yay! I’m gonna see my daddy in three days!” Lacey clapped her hands. Ellena’s eyes clouded over.
“Yeah, three days.” She replied. “Say thank you to Howie and AJ for taking care of you tonight.”
Lacey wiggled out of Ellena’s grasp and hopped over to Howie’s chair. She crawled up on his lap and circled her arms around his neck. She squeezed with all the strength in her little body.
“Sank you Wowie. Next time can we play cops and wobbers?”
Howie gave her a tired smile. “Sure, can I tie you to the chair?”
Lacey giggled and shook her head. “No!” She approached AJ, still sleeping on the floor. She tip toed across the room, like Ace Ventura, and pounced on AJ’s stomach with a shriek of delight. AJ was awakened immediately.
“What the -?” He yelled as he bolted up. Lacey exploded into more fits of giggles.
“I scared you Heyjay!”
AJ raked a hand through his hair. “You sure did kiddo.”
“You were snoring. It sounded like this...” Lacey did her best impression of AJ sleeping. Ellena and Kevin both laughed. AJ turned to them, realizing for the first time that they were there.
“Did you know that your child is a psychotic maniac?”
Lacey peered up at AJ and wrinkled her nose. “I’m not a madiac.”
“Yes you are.” AJ replied.
“No I’m not.”
“Yes you are.”
“No!”
“Yes.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
“Okay, time to go munchkin.” Ellena interrupted their argument.
Lacey gave AJ a hug in the same fashion as Howie and giggled when he groaned. “Bye HeyJay!”