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This China side of the story answers on a postcard................................No seriously send to PO-Box pembie is baffled at confused.com and while you are at that can you gift wrap Anna for me at pembie needs some wacky friends :lol:

I liked the names Slimer and Rooster I don't know where you think these names up for your villians but they are awesome

Now I'm sure you will be glad to know I'm not really in the punning mood today so don't worry I won't be releasing any of their sillyness onto you here But please don't be withholding releasing the next chapter Its just too exciting and this is shaping up to being a good little mystery

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31 minutes ago, pembie said:

while you are at that can you gift wrap Anna for me at pembie needs some wacky friends :lol:

Hahaha! You want her to come round and force you to eat popcorn? :lol:

33 minutes ago, pembie said:

I liked the names Smiler and Rooster I don't know where you think these names up for your villians but they are awesome

This is a good question! I don't actually know myself! :lol: Sometimes I think they're a bit too silly but hey... people do get strange nicknames in real life that just stick, (and I thought it was likely that prisoners would give guards nicknames in the same way that kids do with their teachers... I'm probably a bit influenced by the movie 'Rescue Dawn' too) I also thought it might be hard to follow a big list of Chinese names so this was easier.

27 minutes ago, ~JarlieFanEver~ said:

Liked the chat between Kyle and Anna

Thanks Jarlie, glad you liked that! :) 

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1 hour ago, Red Ranger 1 said:

Hmm, so what is "Dawei" planning? The fact that there's a time difference makes me wonder what exactly happened..

Indeed, quite the mystery, eh? :wink: Things will become a lot clearer in a chapter or two. 

1 hour ago, Red Ranger 1 said:

Anna seems to be good for Josh, with everyone else moving on with their lives

6 hours ago, Suzza101 said:

Like that Anna is staying with Josh and keeping him company. 

7 hours ago, Kristen said:

Liked Anna keeping Josh company

Yeah, I thought I'd be nice to Josh (for once :wink:) and give him someone nice to live with. She's probably what he needs. Someone who doesn't let him wallow and bounces in with a positive attitude. I worked with a girl like this so I have to admit she's loosely based on a real person, lol! 

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Okay guys, here's chapter 3...

 

Chapter 3

 

Present day…

 

Josh stood outside the door to Ricky’s house and listened with a bit of apprehension to the chaotic sounds emanating from inside. The house was obviously heaving with people! He could see from the cars parked in the driveway that Kyle and Ben had already arrived, Darcy and her boyfriend’s motorbikes were there, and Heath’s truck was parked up too. Everyone was already here! He could hear a baby screaming her tiny head off inside, and the unmistakably high-pitched squeals of a small child having a temper tantrum. There were also the deafening shouts of teenage boys playing PlayStation in one of the bedrooms and arguing over the controllers. There were obviously no babysitters tonight! All the kids were in tow! Heath seemed to be doing his usual thing of yelling at everyone to keep the noise down, but no-one was really listening to him. Even Ricky and Bianca seemed to be talking and laughing at an exaggerated level, probably to make themselves heard over the constant din! It just sounded like everyone was shouting at the tops of their voices and competing for attention. One thing was very clear, it was going to be incredibly loud in there!

He glanced back down the driveway to where he’d parked his car and toyed with the idea of going home. Home to blessed peace and quiet. Home, where he didn’t have to talk to people… These family get-togethers were always a little overwhelming for him. He didn’t deal well with so much noise and chaos, and he couldn’t help worrying that he might freak out and put a downer on the evening. He was still struggling with PTSD, and the lasting damage from his head injuries had rendered him extremely sensitive to loud noise. It made him nervous and panicky, and desperate to get away, almost like being claustrophobic. People shouting and banging about the place, especially small children, tended to be one of his triggers. It could easily set off a panic attack and he really didn’t want that! Not tonight of all nights! Not when tonight was obviously so important to Ricky.

He stood and looked down at his feet and spent a moment or two concentrating on his breathing and trying to calm himself down. He blew out a big breath and gave a little nod as though trying to convince himself that he’d be okay. ‘You can’t go home’ he told himself, ‘You just have to suck it up and get in there… You owe it to Ricky.’ He took a step forward and put his hand out to ring the doorbell, but before he got a chance to press it, he heard a car horn that made him jump nearly out of his skin. He turned to see who it was.

‘Beep Beep!’ it went again, as a bright yellow Volkswagen Camper Van drove into the driveway. He could see Anna’s grinning face inside as she waved at him in an over-excited way. He held his hand up to say hello but grimaced a little as he watched her clumsily manoeuvre her van into the space beside Heath’s truck. He could just imagine the look on Heath’s face if he came back to find a huge dent in the side of his precious truck! It was his pride and joy! Luckily, she managed it okay, and came to a stop with a crunch of the handbrake. He shook his head at her and laughed a little. Right down the side of the van were the words ‘Wag N Wheels – Dog Groomer’ and the picture of a spectacularly happy looking cartoon Cocker Spaniel. It always made him laugh. There was just something about the expression on the dog’s face. It was so dopey and full of optimism, as though she’d found the canine version of herself!

“Hey, Josh!” she shouted as she clambered out of the van with a bottle of wine in her hand, “What you doin’ standin’ out here?! You know the party’s inside, right?!”

“Yeah… Uh… I was just going in…” he said, as she joined him on the porch.

“Were you thinking of doing a runner?” she asked, with her eyes narrowed in mock suspicion. It was said in a jokey way, but he could tell that she thought it was a possibility.

“Busted!” he said, forcing a smile and holding his hands up in surrender. He looked a little guilty though, mainly because he had been considering doing just that.

“That’s what I thought!” she said, smirking a little as she dragged him back towards the door. She rang the doorbell and gave him a reassuring little smile as they heard a dog come racing across the wooden floor and start barking on the other side. “Don’t worry” she said, “If it gets too much, just give me the nod and we’ll take a breather out in the garden.” She’d seen his panic attacks before so she knew exactly what could happen.

“Thanks” he said, giving an embarrassed little snort. He stood there beside her, waiting nervously for them to open the door, and picked the giftbag with his bottle of wine back up off the ground. He glanced down at Anna and gave her a little smile. He appreciated her support, and the fact that she knew instinctively how anxious he was.

“Hey! Josh! Anna!” exclaimed Cameron, as he swung the door open and stuck his foot in front of Polly the dog to stop her getting out or jumping up on the guests. “Come in!” he said, grabbing the dog by her collar and leading them into the house in a stooped sort of way. The dog was lunging excitedly and twisting at her collar to try to get at the new guests.

Anna went through the door first and fell to her knees immediately in front of the dog. “Oh, who’s a gorgeous doggy?!” she squealed at her. Cameron let go of the collar and the dog bowled her over onto her back and proceeded to lick her face enthusiastically. “Yes, she is! Yes, she, is! She’s a beautiful doggy! Yes, she is!” repeated Anna, in between excited giggles as the dog climbed all over her and licked inside her ears. “She’s my beautiful girl!” she squeal-giggled, “Yes, she is! Oh, so beautiful!”

Josh stared down at his flatmate in a bemused sort of way. No-one else he knew would have behaved with such abandon, rolling about the floor of someone else’s house while their dog licked them half to death. She was a funny one alright.

“Josh!” shouted Ricky, from her spot in the kitchen. She was holding up a wine glass and smiling from ear to ear in an excited sort of way. “Get over here!” she beckoned to him.

“Hey Ricky” he shouted back, as he sidestepped the love-fest still going on between his flatmate and the family dog, and made his way to the kitchen. He made a beeline for Ricky and gave her a kiss on the cheek. “This is for you” he said, as he handed her the giftbag, “It’s that red you liked the last time.”

“Aw, cheers, Josh!” she said, taking it off him and setting it on the counter. “What can I get you?” she asked, pointing at an array of drinks set out on the breakfast bar. “Beer, wine, vodka…”

“Hey Josh” said Bianca, “Good to see you… It’s been a while.”

“Uh... yeah… Beer’s fine” he said, in a distracted sort of way as Ricky held up a bottle of beer to him. “It’s good to see you too” he said to Bianca, as he gave her a little kiss on the cheek.

“Woooaaaahhhh! Woah! Woah! Get back here mister!” scolded Ben as he chased a small naked child across the open plan living-room and straight into the kitchen. It was Dax, and at two and a half, he was going through that ‘naked phase’ that small children tend to go through. Ben scooped him up in his arms, as he squealed and giggled excitedly, and tried his best to wrap him up in a bath towel. He shook his head at the adults in the kitchen, in a way that said ‘what am I going to do with this one?!’ He looked tired. “Hey Josh” he said, as he hoisted Dax up onto his hip and tried to stop him wriggling.

“Hey” said Josh, with a nervous little laugh, “He got away on you, did he?!”

“I kind of miss those days!” laughed Bianca, “My boys are so grown and serious now…”

Ben gave a little snort and rolled his eyes. “He just won’t keep his clothes on!” he complained, “It’s like every time I turn my back! …I don’t even know how he gets them off so quickly!”

“Oh, I know!” laughed Ricky, “Casey used to do that!”

“He can do a striptease in ten seconds flat” said Ben, as he tried his best to keep hold of the very wriggly child in his arms.

“They all do!” chuckled Bianca, “Bowie once stripped off in the middle of Ikea, and there I was looking at some lamp, when I heard over the Tannoy ‘Would the parent of the naked child…”

“Mu-um!” complained Bowie. He and Casey had come to get some more soft drinks and just caught the end of that conversation. He looked decidedly red in the face in front of his older cousin. No-one likes their mum telling embarrassing stories about them!

“What?!” laughed Bianca, “I’m just saying, all little kids do funny things!”

“Well, don’t!” whinged Bowie.

“Down!” shouted Dax, as he wriggled and bucked in his father’s arms, “Down! Down!” He was getting frustrated and the tears clearly weren’t far away.

“Dax? Come on?!” pleaded Ben, as he wrestled with him, and eventually set him down on his feet, “Come on… You can’t run about the house with no clothes on!” He started to drag him across the living-room but he was dragging his feet and refusing to go. That’s when the crying started. First just the tremble of the lower lip, then loud and exaggerated howls. “No!” said Ben, “Not the waterworks! We’ve talked about this!” The howls were getting louder every time he tried to lift him.

Kyle appeared with baby Gracie in his arms and shook his head at them. “Here” he said, passing the sleeping baby to Ben, and giving Josh a little nod of acknowledgement. “I’ll sort him…” he said to Ben, “You take her for a minute…” Dax had already wriggled free and taken off running out of the living-room and down the hallway.

Ben took Gracie in his arms and began to gently rock her as he came back into the kitchen to join the others.

“I’ll be back in a few minutes” said Kyle, looking to Josh with a frustrated roll of the eyes, “I need to sort Dax out first…” With that, he headed off down the hallway in search of his son.

Anna joined them in the kitchen and grabbed a glass of wine which she clinked off Josh's bottle. He shook his head at her with a bemused sort of smile when he saw that Polly the dog had sat down at her feet.

“Dax is a handful at the moment” said Ben, gazing down lovingly at the little bundle of pink in his arms, “Not like this one… You’re never gonna give your daddies trouble like that… Are you Gracie?” She was eight months old and very sweet-natured. She slept well, unlike Dax, and she was a particularly pretty baby, with very big eyes, and skin like a peach. He couldn’t help but be besotted with her.

“Oh, I wouldn’t be so sure about that” said Heath, reappearing from the garden with Cameron in tow, “Just wait till she’s dating some numbskull with a motorbike!”

“We heard that!” shouted Darcy, without even turning to look at him. She and her boyfriend were sitting on the couch looking at videos on her mobile phone. They were intertwined in a way that was a little indecent and which she knew was bound to annoy her dad.

“You were meant to!” Heath called back to them, “Just hoping you’ll see sense one of these days and kick that loser to the kerbside!”

“Haha… very funny” she replied sarcastically, “My sides hurt from all this laughing!”

“I’m not laughing” he said, staring at the back of the young boyfriend’s head with very clear resentment, “I really don’t know what you see in him… Apart from that bike of his.”

“No dad!” she called over her shoulder, without missing a beat, “If you must know, it’s his great big…”

“Dax! Get back here!” shouted Kyle, as he ran into the living-room pursuing a partially clad child this time.

“No!” shouted Dax, “I want watch TV!” He plonked himself down on the couch right beside Darcy and her boyfriend Alex, and picked up the remote control for the air-conditioning. “I want TV now!” he shouted as he pointed the white controller at the TV.

Everyone burst out laughing. Even Kyle.

Dax looked around in a confused sort of way as all eyes were on him. He didn’t know why they were laughing but he knew instinctively that they were laughing at him, and he didn’t like it. All he had on was a pair of pull-up pants, and a single sock that was half on, and half off. “I want TV!” he insisted again, as he continued to press all the buttons on the white controller in his hands.

“That’s not for the TV” said Kyle, trying to take it away from him.

“Noooooo!!!” screamed Dax, as he refused to let go. The more Kyle tried to take it away, the harder he held on, and the louder his screams got. “Nooooooooooooooooooooo!” he screamed at the top of his lungs.

“Dax!” scolded Kyle, “Let go now!” It was clear that the tiredness was getting to him. He was close to the end of his tether. “Let go!” he repeated as he tried to wrestle it out of his hands.

“I tell you what?!” said Darcy, interrupting in that sweet voice that people use with little kids. “Why don’t you come with me and uncle Alex here?” she said, as she got to her feet and held her phone out to him so he could see the screen. “…And we’ll let you watch cartoons on my phone” she said, “…before you go to sleep? Huh?” To Kyle’s surprise he stopped screaming and allowed her to hoist him up onto her hip. He even let go of the white controller in his hands, in exchange for her phone, and began to watch the sing-along kids’ cartoon that she had playing. It was one of those educational cartoons that she used with some of the kids that she looked after. It had them like mesmerised little zombies in seconds.

“Thanks” said Kyle, giving her a grateful smile, “If you don’t mind?” He looked exhausted.

“I think you two could do with the break” she said, as she motioned with her head for Alex to follow her. She gave Ricky a knowing little smile, and then carried Dax out towards the bedroom that used to be Josh’s room. It was done up like a nursery now so Ricky could mind the kids for the boys when they needed her to.

When they were gone, Kyle walked over to the kitchen and leaned against the counter with a tired sigh. Ben joined him, with Gracie in his arms, and gave him a light peck on the lips. They both looked like they hadn’t slept in at least a week! “Hey” he said to Josh and gave him a little smile. They were long overdue a catch up.

Josh tilted his beer bottle at him in way of a greeting.

“Oh, Kyle! You look tired!” said Ricky, as she tilted her head at him in concern, “You two managing okay?”

“We’re getting by” he replied, “It’s hard work… So much harder with the two of them… He wakes her up… He’s throwing tantrums most nights now…”

“Well, you know we’re all here if you need a hand” said Bianca, giving one of Gracie’s feet a gentle little squeeze.

“Yeah, me and Ric too” said Cameron, slipping his arm around Ricky’s waist, “We’re always happy to help.”

Kyle smiled at them appreciatively and gave a little nod. “Thanks…” he said, “You might be sorry you said that!”

Everyone laughed.

“Anything to get me some cuddle-time with this one!” said Bianca, with a white big smile.

“Have you heard from Pheebs?” asked Ricky, as she looked back and forth between the two boys, “I tried to get her on the phone this morning… I mean, I guess it was night-time there… so she was probably at a gig… She’s playing all week, isn’t she?”

“Yeah” said Ben, “She’s got the last couple of dates of the tour this week…” The baby started to stir, whinging and whining, and fussing a little bit. “Oh, Gracie, what’s wrong?” he asked her in that ‘baby voice’ that people use. “What’s wrong, princess?” he cooed at her, as she began to cry, “Hey, hey… sweetie… shhhh…”

“Yeah, but she’s flying in next Friday” said Kyle, continuing the conversation as he lifted Gracie out of Ben’s arms. “She wants to catch up with everyone…” he said, “…and see these two.” He gently rubbed Gracie’s little back to soothe her as she continued to cry. “Y’know… fit in a bit of mummy time… before she has to go back…”

“So, that’ll help” said Ben, “An extra pair of hands for a couple of weeks.”

Gracie began to really cry loudly, so Kyle repositioned her a little against his chest. “Hey, hey” he said, rocking her gently from side to side, “Shhh… shhhh… shhh…”

“He’s so much better at that than me” said Ben, shaking his head in a disappointed sort of way. Parenthood had turned out to be a lot harder than he’d been expecting.

“He’s better at that than any of us!” said Ricky, trying to reassure him. Everyone knew that Kyle had a special gift when it came to babies. She’d certainly found that out when Casey was small!

Kyle gave a little snort and continued to make comforting little ‘shushing’ noises at Gracie while gently rubbing her back. He knew he was good with babies, he just wasn’t doing quite as well with the toddler stage.

“Yeah, he’s always been the ‘Baby Whisperer’” teased Heath, as he took a slug of beer, “Haven’t you, mate?”

Kyle rolled his eyes at him but couldn’t help smiling.

“See?!” said Heath, shaking his head in wonder. Gracie was beginning to fall asleep again and her sleepy little head was resting on her father’s shoulder. “I just don’t have that.” he said, “Bowie always wanted Bianca… I could never get him settled.”

“She always wants Kyle” sighed Ben, “Any time she’s sick or she’s just not right in herself, it’s Kyle that she wants… Not me…”

“Ah, that’s not true” frowned Kyle. He didn’t like Ben feeling like Gracie had rejected him or something. It was just that he had a lot more experience to fall back on.

“Doesn’t Phoebe miss them?” asked Anna, with a look of interest. Josh gave her a look that said ‘what are you doing?!’ but she chose to ignore it. “I mean, she doesn’t really get to see them much” she said, “Aren’t you ever worried she’d try to… to like, take them from you?”

Kyle shook his head. “She can’t” he said, “We’re their biological fathers… and we adopted them together… Besides, she wouldn’t…”

“Yeah, she wouldn’t do that” said Josh, giving Anna a pointed look that said ‘shut up!’

“Phoebe’s never been very ‘maternal’” explained Ricky, with a kind little smile in Anna’s direction, “I guess this is as much as she wants right now… She gets to have the best of both worlds…”

“Yeah” said Ben, “I mean, we’d never stop her from seeing them… but their life is with us… We’re their dads.”

“Oh, God! Sorry! …I …I …I didn’t mean that!” stammered Anna, “Of course you’re their dad’s… I just meant…”

“I think she seems pretty happy with the arrangement…” said Kyle, cutting her off before she dug herself a deeper hole. He saw Josh throw him an apologetic look but he didn’t really mind. They all knew Anna quite well at this stage. She was known for putting her foot in it. “She gets to do her popstar ‘Phoebe Nicholson’ thing” he continued, “…and then for a couple of months every year, she gets to come back here and play ‘mum’… It’s win win really…”

“Well, that’s good” said Anna, looking a little sheepish, “If it works for you, I guess...”

“Does she have any other plans?” asked Josh, trying to steer the conversation in a less awkward direction, “Pheebs, I mean… Before she goes back to the States?”

Kyle looked at Ricky and gave her a smile. “Yeah” he said, “She said to tell Ric that she wants a girly night too, to catch up on all the gossip...” He knew that she was dying to get a break in the conversation so she could make her big announcement.

“That sounds good!” laughed Ricky, “I have a lot to tell her!” She glanced up at Cameron with a look of excitement. “A LOT!” she said again for emphasis.

Suddenly all eyes were on her.

“Come on then?” said Heath, as he grabbed one of the bottles of beer from the counter and handed it to Kyle. He was the only one still without a drink. “Spill?!” he said to her, “What’s the big news?!”

Ricky reached for Cameron’s hand and gazed around at all the smiling faces in her kitchen. These were the people that she cared most about in the world and she could see how much they all cared about her. Everyone was smiling from ear to ear, and waiting with baited breath… She glanced up at Cameron again and he gave her a little wink of encouragement. “Well” she said, as she held her left hand up so they could all see the ring, “We got engaged!”

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What utter and total chaos I can sort of understand why Josh was so warily about entering into the whole visiting the huge family mayhem realms of total hell. Dare I say you kind of released the wolves onto Josh there It used to be like that for us visiting my nan every Saturday my mum used to leave searching her handbag for the headache tablets :lol: Oh and yes my little cousins used too run around naked too haha and all we wanted too do really was watch gladiators in peace.

Dax what a very peculiar name Where on earth did you get that from cool.

Spoiler

Kyle and Ben you may just have far too much faith in Phoebe. She might just return to cause you both a tad of trouble. I mean there's only so many times you can sing different songs but oddly enough they all sound the same before the fans cotton on to that fact :lol:

Well done I'm really liking this story and now I know about the time jumps its even better haha

 

Oh dear I think you liked my post to quickly before I had chance to add my release pun :o

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