Re: Meet the Evans' Clan (A.U. M/L Mature)ch.31 2/11/11
Posted: Fri Feb 11, 2011 5:14 am
Dreambeliever: Yes, he is a lovable kid isn't he?
Eve: Yes that is very true, sometime it comes out when you wish it wouldn't!
Carolyn: I know I wouldn't have been able to keep a straight face, that's for sure...and I think he's a little man because he is treated that way.
XAF RU208: Just a couple more chapters before the culprit is revealed...
*~*~*
Chapter: 31
After the family arrived home and Liz had things under control, dinner started and kids settled down Max headed to his office to make a phone call to his dad. He was really anxious to get started on this theory they’d come up with after JP’s conversation with Joey. As he passed the library he heard all of the kids talking and had to stick his nose in before moving along and there they were with their books in front of them and talking about the story Briana had read to them earlier. He just shook his head, smiled, and kept on going.
He picked up the phone just as Liz poked her head in and asked him if he had any special requests for dinner because she had just started peeling potatoes when he left the kitchen. He smiled at her and wriggled his eyebrows and she grinned...
“Besides that!” She laughed.
“No, that’s about all, but I can wait.” He smiled back.
“You bet you can…chicken fried pork chops and gravy it is. If you don’t like it you can eat around it.” And she smiled to herself as she left the office…it was one of his favorites, chicken fried pork chops… and the other. She was learning that the guards were pretty well into those pork chops as well and this made her feel pretty good... ‘it was nice that something did’ she thought as she made her way past the library and caught what was going on. JP was right…they did need new books.
She made her way back to the kitchen pantry and took out four large cookie sheets, she’d brown the pork chops and bake them done. Thirty Two pork chops took a lot of frying time so she browned them in a skillet of hot oil and transferred them to the cookie sheets lined with racks and baked them done. They were healthier that way anyway…less grease. She sure would be glad when all of this was over and she could get back to cooking normal. The men offered to help, and they did a lot for her but it was still an awfully lot of extra work for her and Olivia. The guards did their own laundry and changed their own beds but still…a lot of extra work no matter how you cut it. She liked it on casserole nights….a lot of prep but still easier than this. She got her experience working at the Crashdown and it made her appreciate what Michael went through when he won his emancipation and went to work for her dad. Bless his heart, he certainly grew into one fine man for the childhood he had to deal with. Maybe that’s why they got along so well, neither one of them had it great but at least she had the Evans’ to turn to…and she continued to peel potatoes as her thoughts kept rattling around in her brain.
***
“Hi mom…is dad home yet?” Max asked his mom and then apologized and said…
“Sorry. How are you. I should have at least acknowledged you before jumping into that.”
Diane laughed at her son…it must be important because it wasn’t like him to be so short…
“I’m fine Max and I’ll get your dad for you. Is everyone alright?”
“Yeah mom, we’re really great as a matter of fact. JP had a meeting with that Joey Sabotini this afternoon at the Jail and it was very enlightening. I need dad to help me tomorrow, or if he can’t make it maybe you can. We need to go through my files and see if we recognize any names of children that we have had to refer to other facilities…just to see if maybe we might have made an enemy.”
“My God Max, do you think this has something to do with the facility?”
“Well, we really aren’t sure but it’s something JP said to Joey that brought all of this forward. He asked Joey why Don wanted to hurt them and Joey told him that they weren’t supposed to hurt anybody, only kidnap Liz. And of course, JP being JP told Joey all about his mom and Don and then he said his mom didn’t have anything and it got us to thinking. Liz does have something…she has a brain, and a very good one and what if someone thinks she can help a child?”
“God Max, leave it to JP to find a new slant on things. Your dad just came in and I’m going to put you on speaker if that’s okay?”
“Sure…it’s okay. The more heads the better.” And Max proceeded to tell his mother and dad what he needed from them and they of course said they would both meet him at the children’s facility in the morning at 10:00.
While Max was on his office phone Liz was busy in the kitchen talking to a young mother about a pregnant cat that her children had left out of the house and they thought the poor thing was dead. Liz of course informed the woman that the cat was anything but dead and there were also six very healthy little kittens living on her patio. The woman asked if she could come over and get them and Liz informed her she could come anytime she wanted to under one condition.
“What is that Mrs. Evans?” The young woman asked…
“You can not, under any circumstances offer any cats to my children. They know the cat and kittens are visiting and they cannot stay. If this is not agreeable I will have my husband take the cats to you.”
The woman started laughing…
“Fine Mrs. Evans. I promise I will take all of the cats when I come. Can I bring my children with me?”
“Of course. We’ll be eating dinner around 6:00 so you can come over now if you want to or wait until tomorrow after 7:00.”
“We’ll come right now if that’s okay. The kids are dancing all over the place with excitement and I’m sure that Maggie, the cat, will be excited too. How many children do you have?”
“We have five and I’m sure they’ll be sad to see “Maggie” leave but trust me they’ll get over it. The four year old is going to play you but you have to promise me it won’t work. He’s a pro.”
“I promise Mrs. Evans. What’s the kitten’s name?”
“You’ve got one too, huh? He calls him “Tigger” and the kitten looks like Tigger but he can’t have him and he’s been told this many times.”
“I understand.”
And the woman hung up as Liz saw Shorty standing behind her with a bottle of water in his hands shaking his head and smiling.
“Shut up!” she said and she grinned at the man…
“You know you’ll give in.”
“No, I don’t have to…the owner of the cat has to deal with him.”
“And you think this is going to work do you?”
“Yes, because she’s a mother too and she knows…”
“But…she doesn’t know JP.”
“I’ll get Max to take him for a ride.”
“You’re a coward.”
“Not really…I don’t particularly like cats Shorty. I never have.”
“You may not like them but you certainly would never hurt them.”
“I would never hurt any animal, I don’t even like using animals in my tests but I have to sometime and it makes me positively ill. Especially when some of the technicians give the little creatures names and play with them. It’s the least rewarding part of my job. I hate it…and I don’t want a cat around.”
“They eat mice.”
“That they do, and it’s mice that I use for tests. No Shorty, no cats.”
About that time Max came in and wanted to know what was going on.
“The owner of “Maggie”, the cat, is coming over to get her and the kittens. I told her that none of the kittens could stay and I want you to take JP to the store and get something.”
“What do you need?”
“Nothing.”
“Liz…this isn’t like you. He knows the cats can’t stay, he has to accept this.”
“Then I’m going to the store to get something. You watch the pork chops and call me on my cell when she’s gone.”
“No.”
“No?!! What do you mean no? Max, I don’t want a cat.”
“And you won’t get a cat. He knows he can’t have that cat…bottom line Liz, the cat can’t stay.”
“Then you look at his face when it leaves, I don’t want to.”
“Liz, c’mere. You know it’s a game with him.”
“Not this time Max…he really likes Tigger.”
“He’s a smart little boy and he’ll be fine.”
About that time there was an alert that someone was at the gate and Max went to the camcorder screen at the back entry to check it out. When he saw an SUV with a woman and two little heads straining over the backseat he smiled and pushed in the key code to unlock and move the gate open. Liz just stood there and looked at him and Shorty went to his post on the back porch.
Liz and Max both went and stood on the front porch to greet their visitors and a small framed young woman and two children, a boy about 6 and a girl about 4 came up to meet them. She held out her hand and introduced herself.
“Hello, I’m Janet Williams and these two are John and Julie.”
John and Julie smiled at Liz and Max and said hello and then John looked up at Max and really smiled…
“You play baseball don’t you?”
“Not anymore John, but I used to. Won’t you come in.”
And so the small family made their way through the house following Liz out onto the back patio. The two little kids were thrilled to see Maggie and it was obvious the cat knew the children as well because it was out of it’s box in no time and Julie was squeezing the life out of the poor thing while John played with the kittens.
“It seems like Maggie chose wisely when she decided to give birth. She looks very well taken care of.”
And about that time JP led the Evans clan onto the patio to see what was going on. He came to an abrupt halt when he saw another young boy playing with the kittens and looked up at his mother wistfully and Liz was about to cry and then she was very surprised at her son once more today.
JP walked right over to the kittens and bent down to join John.
“Hi...” He said with the friendly little grin he wins everyone with…
“My name is Jeffrey Philip but they call me JP for short. The kittens all have names too, that one over there is Tigger and the rest are…” And about that time the other four children joined JP.
“My name is John and that’s my sister…I left the back door open and Maggie got out and my mom said she probably would never come home again. Thank you for taking care of her.”
“Oh, my mom did most of the work, we just played with them. My mom said we couldn’t but we did sometime…mostly we just looked at them and named them. My mom said that the mama cat wouldn’t take care of them if we touched them…but we did sometime and the mama cat still took care of them. They are lots of fun but we have a dog. He doesn’t mind being with Maggie and Maggie seems to be okay with him too. Do you have a dog?”
“Yeah we do. They get along fine.”
“What are you going to do with all of those kittens?” Liz heard this, her back stiffened and then she knew…here it comes… and she looked at Max and shook her head…Janet noticed this and for a minute she didn’t catch on and then it hit her…this kid was smooth.
“JP is it?”
And JP nodded…
“We already have the kittens promised to other people…they will be well taken care of.”
And JP looked over at his mom…he didn’t recognize that look on his mom’s face but she nodded toward him and so he told Janet,
“Well good…they’ll have a good home then and I won’t have to worry about Tigger.”
“No JP…you won’t have to worry about Tigger.”
“I think I’ll go get ready for dinner now. It was nice to meet you.” And little JP left the patio and headed for his room…Liz was going to follow and Max shook his head no.
“I’ll go up in a little bit…Okay you guys tell the kittens goodbye and let’s get all of this stuff loaded up for Mrs. Williams so she can get everyone home before dinner time.”
And Max and Liz packed up all of the cat food, kitty litter, and put the kittens in the carrying case Janet had brought with her to haul her brood home. All in all, Liz was very proud of the way JP dealt with losing Tigger and when Max came back from JP’s room he was very up beat about it all too.
“JP informed me that he liked John and felt that Tigger would be okay. He just didn’t want anything bad to happen to him. I assured him the kitten would be fine and he accepted that and went back to reading one of his library books. He said his turn is last so he has time to be prepared. I had to help him with a couple of words but he’s got a good handle on it. Be proud sweetheart. We both know he’s much older than four in that brain of his.” And Max bent over and kissed Liz on the forehead as she turned to give him a smile. She wasn’t about to tell Max that she was going to miss the kittens too but like JP she’d get over it even if she didn’t like cats.
*
Eve: Yes that is very true, sometime it comes out when you wish it wouldn't!
Carolyn: I know I wouldn't have been able to keep a straight face, that's for sure...and I think he's a little man because he is treated that way.
XAF RU208: Just a couple more chapters before the culprit is revealed...
*~*~*
Chapter: 31
After the family arrived home and Liz had things under control, dinner started and kids settled down Max headed to his office to make a phone call to his dad. He was really anxious to get started on this theory they’d come up with after JP’s conversation with Joey. As he passed the library he heard all of the kids talking and had to stick his nose in before moving along and there they were with their books in front of them and talking about the story Briana had read to them earlier. He just shook his head, smiled, and kept on going.
He picked up the phone just as Liz poked her head in and asked him if he had any special requests for dinner because she had just started peeling potatoes when he left the kitchen. He smiled at her and wriggled his eyebrows and she grinned...
“Besides that!” She laughed.
“No, that’s about all, but I can wait.” He smiled back.
“You bet you can…chicken fried pork chops and gravy it is. If you don’t like it you can eat around it.” And she smiled to herself as she left the office…it was one of his favorites, chicken fried pork chops… and the other. She was learning that the guards were pretty well into those pork chops as well and this made her feel pretty good... ‘it was nice that something did’ she thought as she made her way past the library and caught what was going on. JP was right…they did need new books.
She made her way back to the kitchen pantry and took out four large cookie sheets, she’d brown the pork chops and bake them done. Thirty Two pork chops took a lot of frying time so she browned them in a skillet of hot oil and transferred them to the cookie sheets lined with racks and baked them done. They were healthier that way anyway…less grease. She sure would be glad when all of this was over and she could get back to cooking normal. The men offered to help, and they did a lot for her but it was still an awfully lot of extra work for her and Olivia. The guards did their own laundry and changed their own beds but still…a lot of extra work no matter how you cut it. She liked it on casserole nights….a lot of prep but still easier than this. She got her experience working at the Crashdown and it made her appreciate what Michael went through when he won his emancipation and went to work for her dad. Bless his heart, he certainly grew into one fine man for the childhood he had to deal with. Maybe that’s why they got along so well, neither one of them had it great but at least she had the Evans’ to turn to…and she continued to peel potatoes as her thoughts kept rattling around in her brain.
***
“Hi mom…is dad home yet?” Max asked his mom and then apologized and said…
“Sorry. How are you. I should have at least acknowledged you before jumping into that.”
Diane laughed at her son…it must be important because it wasn’t like him to be so short…
“I’m fine Max and I’ll get your dad for you. Is everyone alright?”
“Yeah mom, we’re really great as a matter of fact. JP had a meeting with that Joey Sabotini this afternoon at the Jail and it was very enlightening. I need dad to help me tomorrow, or if he can’t make it maybe you can. We need to go through my files and see if we recognize any names of children that we have had to refer to other facilities…just to see if maybe we might have made an enemy.”
“My God Max, do you think this has something to do with the facility?”
“Well, we really aren’t sure but it’s something JP said to Joey that brought all of this forward. He asked Joey why Don wanted to hurt them and Joey told him that they weren’t supposed to hurt anybody, only kidnap Liz. And of course, JP being JP told Joey all about his mom and Don and then he said his mom didn’t have anything and it got us to thinking. Liz does have something…she has a brain, and a very good one and what if someone thinks she can help a child?”
“God Max, leave it to JP to find a new slant on things. Your dad just came in and I’m going to put you on speaker if that’s okay?”
“Sure…it’s okay. The more heads the better.” And Max proceeded to tell his mother and dad what he needed from them and they of course said they would both meet him at the children’s facility in the morning at 10:00.
While Max was on his office phone Liz was busy in the kitchen talking to a young mother about a pregnant cat that her children had left out of the house and they thought the poor thing was dead. Liz of course informed the woman that the cat was anything but dead and there were also six very healthy little kittens living on her patio. The woman asked if she could come over and get them and Liz informed her she could come anytime she wanted to under one condition.
“What is that Mrs. Evans?” The young woman asked…
“You can not, under any circumstances offer any cats to my children. They know the cat and kittens are visiting and they cannot stay. If this is not agreeable I will have my husband take the cats to you.”
The woman started laughing…
“Fine Mrs. Evans. I promise I will take all of the cats when I come. Can I bring my children with me?”
“Of course. We’ll be eating dinner around 6:00 so you can come over now if you want to or wait until tomorrow after 7:00.”
“We’ll come right now if that’s okay. The kids are dancing all over the place with excitement and I’m sure that Maggie, the cat, will be excited too. How many children do you have?”
“We have five and I’m sure they’ll be sad to see “Maggie” leave but trust me they’ll get over it. The four year old is going to play you but you have to promise me it won’t work. He’s a pro.”
“I promise Mrs. Evans. What’s the kitten’s name?”
“You’ve got one too, huh? He calls him “Tigger” and the kitten looks like Tigger but he can’t have him and he’s been told this many times.”
“I understand.”
And the woman hung up as Liz saw Shorty standing behind her with a bottle of water in his hands shaking his head and smiling.
“Shut up!” she said and she grinned at the man…
“You know you’ll give in.”
“No, I don’t have to…the owner of the cat has to deal with him.”
“And you think this is going to work do you?”
“Yes, because she’s a mother too and she knows…”
“But…she doesn’t know JP.”
“I’ll get Max to take him for a ride.”
“You’re a coward.”
“Not really…I don’t particularly like cats Shorty. I never have.”
“You may not like them but you certainly would never hurt them.”
“I would never hurt any animal, I don’t even like using animals in my tests but I have to sometime and it makes me positively ill. Especially when some of the technicians give the little creatures names and play with them. It’s the least rewarding part of my job. I hate it…and I don’t want a cat around.”
“They eat mice.”
“That they do, and it’s mice that I use for tests. No Shorty, no cats.”
About that time Max came in and wanted to know what was going on.
“The owner of “Maggie”, the cat, is coming over to get her and the kittens. I told her that none of the kittens could stay and I want you to take JP to the store and get something.”
“What do you need?”
“Nothing.”
“Liz…this isn’t like you. He knows the cats can’t stay, he has to accept this.”
“Then I’m going to the store to get something. You watch the pork chops and call me on my cell when she’s gone.”
“No.”
“No?!! What do you mean no? Max, I don’t want a cat.”
“And you won’t get a cat. He knows he can’t have that cat…bottom line Liz, the cat can’t stay.”
“Then you look at his face when it leaves, I don’t want to.”
“Liz, c’mere. You know it’s a game with him.”
“Not this time Max…he really likes Tigger.”
“He’s a smart little boy and he’ll be fine.”
About that time there was an alert that someone was at the gate and Max went to the camcorder screen at the back entry to check it out. When he saw an SUV with a woman and two little heads straining over the backseat he smiled and pushed in the key code to unlock and move the gate open. Liz just stood there and looked at him and Shorty went to his post on the back porch.
Liz and Max both went and stood on the front porch to greet their visitors and a small framed young woman and two children, a boy about 6 and a girl about 4 came up to meet them. She held out her hand and introduced herself.
“Hello, I’m Janet Williams and these two are John and Julie.”
John and Julie smiled at Liz and Max and said hello and then John looked up at Max and really smiled…
“You play baseball don’t you?”
“Not anymore John, but I used to. Won’t you come in.”
And so the small family made their way through the house following Liz out onto the back patio. The two little kids were thrilled to see Maggie and it was obvious the cat knew the children as well because it was out of it’s box in no time and Julie was squeezing the life out of the poor thing while John played with the kittens.
“It seems like Maggie chose wisely when she decided to give birth. She looks very well taken care of.”
And about that time JP led the Evans clan onto the patio to see what was going on. He came to an abrupt halt when he saw another young boy playing with the kittens and looked up at his mother wistfully and Liz was about to cry and then she was very surprised at her son once more today.
JP walked right over to the kittens and bent down to join John.
“Hi...” He said with the friendly little grin he wins everyone with…
“My name is Jeffrey Philip but they call me JP for short. The kittens all have names too, that one over there is Tigger and the rest are…” And about that time the other four children joined JP.
“My name is John and that’s my sister…I left the back door open and Maggie got out and my mom said she probably would never come home again. Thank you for taking care of her.”
“Oh, my mom did most of the work, we just played with them. My mom said we couldn’t but we did sometime…mostly we just looked at them and named them. My mom said that the mama cat wouldn’t take care of them if we touched them…but we did sometime and the mama cat still took care of them. They are lots of fun but we have a dog. He doesn’t mind being with Maggie and Maggie seems to be okay with him too. Do you have a dog?”
“Yeah we do. They get along fine.”
“What are you going to do with all of those kittens?” Liz heard this, her back stiffened and then she knew…here it comes… and she looked at Max and shook her head…Janet noticed this and for a minute she didn’t catch on and then it hit her…this kid was smooth.
“JP is it?”
And JP nodded…
“We already have the kittens promised to other people…they will be well taken care of.”
And JP looked over at his mom…he didn’t recognize that look on his mom’s face but she nodded toward him and so he told Janet,
“Well good…they’ll have a good home then and I won’t have to worry about Tigger.”
“No JP…you won’t have to worry about Tigger.”
“I think I’ll go get ready for dinner now. It was nice to meet you.” And little JP left the patio and headed for his room…Liz was going to follow and Max shook his head no.
“I’ll go up in a little bit…Okay you guys tell the kittens goodbye and let’s get all of this stuff loaded up for Mrs. Williams so she can get everyone home before dinner time.”
And Max and Liz packed up all of the cat food, kitty litter, and put the kittens in the carrying case Janet had brought with her to haul her brood home. All in all, Liz was very proud of the way JP dealt with losing Tigger and when Max came back from JP’s room he was very up beat about it all too.
“JP informed me that he liked John and felt that Tigger would be okay. He just didn’t want anything bad to happen to him. I assured him the kitten would be fine and he accepted that and went back to reading one of his library books. He said his turn is last so he has time to be prepared. I had to help him with a couple of words but he’s got a good handle on it. Be proud sweetheart. We both know he’s much older than four in that brain of his.” And Max bent over and kissed Liz on the forehead as she turned to give him a smile. She wasn’t about to tell Max that she was going to miss the kittens too but like JP she’d get over it even if she didn’t like cats.
*