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Cherry peered out the window for the thousandth time that day. Seeing that the driveway was still empty, she sighed and let the curtain drop back in place. She walked over to the piano and studied the framed photos perched on the glossy black top. She started to giggle. “Kevin has some ‘splaining to do about this picture.”
“Oh no worries, Nick and I already scanned copies of it into my computer and emailed it to half the planet.” Howie replied deviously without taking his eyes off the TV screen.
“You do realize that Kevin is going to kill you.” Cherry stated with a grin.
Nick shrugged. “That’s what you get when you play with Barbie dolls and Mr. Carter and Mr. Dorough find out.” Cherry giggled and crossed the room again to look out the window.
“Cherry dear, sit down. You’re making me nervous pacing about.” Mrs. Craig patted the seat beside her.
Cherry giggled. “Sorry, I’m just excited to see them.” She explained as she flopped on the couch beside her.
“You’re just anxious to see your main man, Mitch.” Nick teased without looking away from the TV screen. Cherry picked up a pillow and threw it at Nick, doffing him in the head.
“Hey! You just made me lose the race. I was this close to beating him.” Nick glared at her. Howie laughed. “You had no hope in hell of winning that race. You’re just using that as an excuse.”
“Is that all you guys do is play video games when you have a break?” Cherry asked. “Booooring!”
“What would you suggest Mrs. Cherrywinkle?” Howie grinned.
“Ugh! Don’t call me that!” Cherry shouted and threw another pillow at him.
“When Kevin finds out you’ve been throwing his furniture around the living room, he’s going to be really mad!” Howie glared at her.
“Oh yeah, I’m really scared of that scrawny-assed, goatee-wearing, hippie-haired –“
“Hi Cherry.” Kevin’s voice came from behind her.
Cherry’s eyes widened as she whirled around to face him. “Kevin! Hi! I was just…”
Ellena grinned. “I agree with you about the hair but I kinda like his ass.” She patted Kevin’s backside as she walked into the room.
“Ellena!” Cherry exclaimed and rushed to hug her friend.
“Excuse me? What’s wrong with my hair?” Kevin demanded.
“Oh! Where do we start?” Nick said dramatically. “First off, it’s kind of stringy. You know, not like crazy string but you know – stringy stringy and it looks a little greasy. Maybe some blonde highlights might help. Perhaps you should consider getting some Grecian formula, to cover the grey, of course –“ In the next instant, Kevin had Nick is a headlock.
“Damn, I missed you guys!” Ellena smiled as she hugged Howie and then Mrs. Craig.
“Where’s the little one, dear. I bet she’s grown.” Mrs. Craig said with a hint of tears in her voice.
“AJ’s playing with her in the yard. I should probably tell him to take it easy with her. She’s still a little weak from the accident.” Ellena left the room and wandered down the front steps of the house. She could hear Lacey and AJ laughing. She smiled to herself as she watched AJ spin Lacey around in circles.
“AJ! Please be careful with my little girl.” Ellena yelled from the fence.
Lacey giggled as AJ stuck his tongue out at Ellena and promptly picked Lacey up to spin her again.
A friendly voice came from behind Ellena. “If she pukes on him, I want to be here to see it.”
She grinned without turning around. “Hello Brian.”
“Hello Ellena. Welcome back.” He said with a smile. “What made you change your mind.”
Ellena turned to face him and replied. “I met a guy in a bar one night who said some really hurtful things to me, but the more and more I thought about what he said, the more I realized that he was right and I had been wrong.”
Brian grinned sheepishly. “I bet he was a handsome devil too, no doubt!”
Ellena shrugged. “Hm, he was okay. He bought me a drink though so I guess he was all right.”
Brian threw his head back and laughed. “Come here you!” He said as he grabbed Ellena around the waist and pulled her in for a giant, squishy hug.
The front door burst open and Nick flew down the steps with Kevin in hot pursuit. He took one glance at the two hugging by the fence and stopped dead in his tracks. Kevin failed to take notice of Nick’s abrupt stop and immediately ran in to the back of him.
“Geez Nick! You could warn me.” Kevin whined.
Nick pointed to Ellena and Brian. “What the hell is going on here?” He yelled loud enough for the entire neighborhood to hear.
Ellena and Brian pulled away from each other and laughed at the dumbfounded expressions on both Nick and Kevin’s faces.
“What? Can’t a friend give a friend a hug?” Brian asked.
“Speaking of which…” Ellena took her arm from around Brian’s waist and ran over to Nick with her arms outstretched. Nick embraced Ellena and gave her a kiss on the cheek.
“Hey girl. Where have you been?”
Ellena shrugged. “It doesn’t matter where I’ve been. I’m here now, and this is where I’m staying.”
She walked back over to where Kevin was standing and circled her arms around his neck. He wrapped his strong arms around her and whispered in her ear. “Welcome home, sweetheart.”