"Walker, boys, I want them to stay with us for a while." Mrs. Hanson said quietly that night. She was watching Zoe as she cradled the tiny baby. She looked up to see their reactions.
"Diana, let's think about this. We already have nine people. Not including the backups, the tutor, the babysitter, and any other family member that's here." Walker said calmly.
Diana shook her head. "If you would have heard what those girls said about what Rob had done to them." She said still talking quietly. She held Zoe to her tighter.
"Mom, he-Rob-he-he-didn't-he didn't-do anything to them, right?" Isaac started.
"What do you mean, Ike?" Mrs. Hanson asked eyeing him curiously.
"He didn't rape them or anything did he?" Isaac got out staring at his hands that were clasped together tightly in front of him.
"No, not that I know of, Ike." Mrs. Hanson replied soothingly.
Isaac nodded his head. "I wouldn't mind having them around. Maybe we can help them back onto their feet." He suggested.
Taylor nodded in agreement. "Yeah, yeah. I'm sure there's someone out there that can sign them."
Zac looked at his brothers and smiled. "It'd be great to have them around for awhile."
Mrs. Hanson was smiling proudly and so was Mr. Hanson.
Mr. Hanson stood up. "I'm going to see about a few things first thing in the morning. Meanwhile, you three might want to get some sleep."
They said their good nights and climbed into their beds as their parents left and turned the lights out. "Hey." Isaac whispered after a few seconds. "Tay, you awake."
"Yes." Came a hyper answer from Taylor. "How about you Zac?" Taylor asked whispering in Zac's direction.
"Duh, that's a dumb question." Zac said in his normal voice.
"What do you think Bria is really like?" Isaac asked softly.
"Why? Do you like her?" Taylor asked. You could hear the smile in his voice.
"I dunno." Isaac said truthfully.
"Ikey has a cruuuushhhh." Zac said laughing.
Taylor chuckled a little and Isaac sighed.
"That's not it. She makes me think of Shann." Isaac defended himself.
"Do you think that we'll ever meet them again?" Taylor asked. He hoped they would. He missed Shana. A lot.
"I think we will. Or I'm hoping to at least." Isaac answered sighing again.
"I miss them." Zac said softly. "I miss playing tag in the malls with them."
All three of them laughed at that memory as it re-played in their heads.
"Let's go to sleep guys. We have some stuff to do tomorrow." Isaac said rolling over.
A round of good nights rang quietly through the quiet room before silence took over.
"Ohh." Shana said groggily as she stretched her arms above her head. She felt a lot of pain in her ribs but more pain in her back. She looked behind her and saw that Shannon had her feet pushing into her back. Sleeping.
Slowly, she got Shannon to get her feet out of her back and she started to walk into the little living room that seemed to separate the room she just slept in to Isaac's, Taylor's, and Zac's. No one was up yet it seemed. So she decided to explore for a while.
Looking around she saw sliding glass window hiding behind curtains. Without even thinking about looking out there first she just walked out there. She leaned over the railing of concrete and heard someone start talking to her.
She spun around quickly. A little scared that it might've been Rob. Hey, with him, anything was possible.
"Oh, hey Taylor." She said quietly before she looked at the view of the city that she now hated. "What are you doing up so early?" She asked a distantly.
Taylor shrugged and watched her. "Couldn't sleep. So why are you up, Danny?" He asked.
Shana shrugged. "Bria had her feet in my back. And that's not very comfortable.
"What is this?" Taylor asked as he stood next to her.
Shana turned and looked at him for a moment. Then she looked away quickly. "What is what?" She asked quietly.
"This." He said motioning between them. "When you saw me in the restaurant yesterday you kept staring at me. And when you sat down next to me to eat that small dinner, I couldn't help but wonder about you. And now thinking straight without you being in a thought is impossible." He explained frustrated. He ran his hand through his hair nervously.
Shana just stared at him. Searching for something. Anything to prove that he meant what he said. Realizing that there was more there than she thought, she leaned over and kissed him softly on the lips.
Taylor pulled back a little and smiled at her. Then he kissed her. More passionately and more intense than he had ever kissed her when was Shana.
Shannon woke up and saw that Shana wasn't in the room and panicked a little. She started to wander around a bit and saw Isaac in the small living room.
"Morning." Isaac said smiling as he scratched the side of his head.
"Mornin'." She said absentmindedly. "Have you seen Danny this mornin'?" She asked getting paranoid.
Isaac laughed lightly. "She's on the balcony with Tay." He answered as he got himself some juice.
"Balcony? What balcony?" Shannon asked looking around.
"That balcony." Isaac said pointing to the curtain.
Shannon went over to it and threw it back quickly. Then just as quickly she closed it and shielded her eyes. "Ahhhh. I'm scarred for life. I'm going to be in therapy for the rest of my damned life now."
Isaac started laughing. "I guess I should've warned ya."
"Yeah, that would've been nice." Shannon said as she kept her hand over her eyes.
"You can look now, Bria." Isaac said laughing again.
"Are you sure?" Shannon asked doubtfully.
"I'm sure." Isaac replied.
Slowly, Shannon removed her hand from her eyes. She looked at Isaac and smiled. "I think I can live without seeing that again."
Isaac laughed and nodded. "Me too."
