Chapter 26
December 25, 2006 (late afternoon)
Brian and Leighanne arrived first with Harrison and Ashley. "All I need is a place to put Ashley's port-a-crib," Leighanne said. "She'll be out cold in a couple of hours at most." Kevin carried the crib up to Ann's room, unfolded it and left Leighanne to settle Ashley in. When he got back downstairs, Brian had let Nick and his fiancée Maria in. Aaron was busy showing Harrison and 'Uncle' Nick his new train set, and Jemma had claimed 'Aunt' Maria's attention to look over her new clothes. Both Nick and Maria waved hello to Kevin, but the kids kept them captive.
Brian grinned up at Kevin. "So, where's Rachel? Slaving away in the kitchen?"
"No-actually she's at her parents' house for the afternoon." He paused. "I kinda thought she'd be back by now," he muttered, almost to himself.
"Well-she probably hasn't seen them in a while," Brian smiled. "She may have lost track of the time."
The doorbell rang and Kevin greeted AJ, Amanda and Denise. "I'm the only twenty-nine-year-old recording artist who still travels with his mother," AJ groused. Denise smacked him and Amanda laughed.
"He's the only twenty-nine-year-old recording artist who still needs to travel with his mother!" Amanda grinned. "We never would have gotten out of baggage claim and into the rental car if it hadn't been for Denise! 'Mom-what color is my suitcase? Mom-did you get us a full-size car or a compact? Mom-?" AJ grabbed her and kissed her soundly on the mouth.
"It's the only way to shut her up," he smirked. "So-when do I get to meet Wonder Woman?"
Kevin was still laughing at Amanda's description of AJ. "Who?" he chuckled.
"Wonder Woman-housekeeper extraordinaire-the best thing since sliced bread-Rachel!" AJ laughed. "All I've heard about from Brian and Nick is Rachel this, and Rachel that. So-where is she?" Aaron, Harrison and Jemma appeared at the door to the living room. "And who are these picture postcard examples of happy childhood?" Jemma giggled. Aaron and Harrison weren't quite sure what to make of him.
"Uncle AJ-it's me-Jemma! And this is Harrison and Ri! Dontcha remember?"
"Jemma? No way! Jemma's only this tall and she can't reach up to give me a hug," he grinned.
"Yes I can! See?" And Jemma tiptoed up to grab AJ in a bear hug. AJ swung her up and gave her a kiss on the cheek before setting her down next to Aaron.
"You're absolutely right! You taste just like Jemma!" AJ said, smacking his lips. He crouched down to say hello to the boys.
"You know why you're still traveling with your mother, Bone?" Brian laughed. "Because you can't focus on one line of thought for more than a minute and a half!"
"Thank you, Brian!" Denise chuckled. "Somebody finally understands!"
AJ stood up and pouted. "Don't worry, sweetie," Amanda cooed. "We all still love you-every hare-brained inch of you." She kissed him.
"That's where the hair went," Nick grinned, coming up behind him.
Kevin chuckled. "What can I get for everybody? Bar's in the back parlor." He started leading the way.
"Can I have a white wine, Kevin?" Denise called. "And does Rachel need any help in the kitchen?"
"Yes you can, and no she doesn't. She's not in the kitchen. She hasn't gotten back yet from her folks' house," Kevin answered.
Twenty minutes later, when Howie and his wife, Rita arrived with their twins, Rachel still wasn't back. Leighanne and Denise quickly took charge of Rita and helped her get the children up to the makeshift nursery, leaving Howie standing at the door with Brian. Kevin bit his lip as he stepped out of the doorway, looking toward the now dark road. Where was she? When he came back inside, Howie looked at him. Brian had already told him that Rachel wasn't there. Kevin didn't seem very happy about it.
Howie smiled. "Nice sweater, Kev. Christmas gift?"
"Yeah. Rachel made it for me." Brian exchanged a raised eyebrow look with Maria and Nick.
"It looks great on you." Howie grinned. "She's pretty talented. You haven't looked that good in years."
"Thanks so much, How-wierd." Kevin grinned back.
As Brian, Nick and Maria moved away and into the living room, Howie put a hand on Kevin's arm to hold him back. "Why don't you call her?" he asked quietly. Kevin looked startled. "Call her. You're uncomfortable, and Brian says Jemma and Aaron are starting to ask when she's coming back. She did say she be here, didn't she?"
"Yeah-she did. But-."
"But what? She said she'd be here and she's not. At least check to see if she's safe. Find out what time she left her parents' if she's already gone. There's nothing wrong with that. It's Christmas night, Kev. Crazy people out on the roads. You never know."
Kevin took a deep breath. "I wish you hadn't said that, D. Right up until then I was focused on why she didn't want to come back for the party. Okay, I'll call."
* * *
The phone rang and Rachel's mother answered it. "Hello?" She looked across the room and glared, gesturing at the phone. "Who's calling please?" She rolled her eyes. "Yes, Kevin. She's still here. Would you like to talk to her? Of course. Thank you. Merry Christmas to you, Kevin. It's nice to finally be able to say hello to you too. Just a minute-I'll get her for you." She covered the mouthpiece and hissed at Rachel. "Get over here. He wants to talk to you."
"He just wants to know why I'm not back there yet, Mom." Rachel whispered back.
"I would think so! I'd want to know too if you were working for me!" Mrs. Daniels frowned at her. "I don't know what's gotten into you, Rachel. This is downright irresponsible. Now take this phone!"
Rachel reluctantly came to the phone and put the receiver to her ear. "Hi, Kevin. I'm sorry. I didn't realize it had gotten so late. You know how it is-you get to talking with family and the time just slips away-." She glared at her mother when she made a sound of exasperation.
* * *
"Just so that you're okay, Rachel. I got worried-the roads aren't all that slippery, but with Christmas parties all over the place, you never know what condition the other drivers are in." Kevin closed his eyes as he listened to her voice. She was safe. Maybe he shouldn't press her to come back tonight. "That's all right Rachel. Maybe you should just stay there and-." He couldn't finish the sentence. Aaron had materialized at his side and had heard. His eyes teared up and his face crumpled. "Uh-Rachel. Look-I'll come get you, okay? That way I won't worry about you driving, and you can still be here for the party. No-it's no problem. Give me the address." He wrote it down. "Right. I'll be there in about half an hour." He hung up and knelt down next to Aaron.
"Hang in there, son. I'm gonna go get her right now." He wiped away a stray tear. "Okay?"
"Didn't she want to come back, Daddy?" he sniffled.
"Of course she did, Aaron," he smiled. "It's just that it got late and dark and-well, it doesn't matter, because I'm going to go get her anyway." He looked up at Howie who nodded and took charge of Aaron.
"Bri?" Kevin called out. "Take over for me for a little while?" Brian looked up with questions in his eyes. "I've got to go out for a few minutes. Can you and Leighanne keep an eye on the kitchen? There's a list out there." He was shrugging on a jacket as he talked. Brian joined him in the hallway.
"Everything all right?" he questioned softly.
"Yeah. I'm just going to pick up Rachel," Kevin said quietly as he checked for his car keys. "I don't want her driving back here in the dark."
"What about her car, Kev?" Brian asked.
"We'll go back and get it tomorrow," Kevin said impatiently. "Right now, I just want to get her home." And with that he was out the door.
Leighanne came down the stairs and walked up behind Brian and put her arms around his waist. "What was that all about?" she asked.
Brian grinned at the closed door. "He just wants to get Rachel home." He turned around to face Leighanne. "I think we got a winner, babe." Leighanne grinned up at him and he kissed her nose.
Chapter 27
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