~Erin’s point of view~
*Ten Years Later*
“Thomas Harold Littrell, your room looks like a pig pen. I asked you to clean it up before they got here!” I came downstairs.
“But mom…” he started.
“Do it now, or I’m going to have to tell Gene that you can’t play today.”
“Fine,” he muttered, stomping out of the kitchen
“Gee, mom, always gotta be so tough on our poor kid?” Brian wrapped his arms around me.
“You spoil that child and you know it,” I shot back.
“Hey, wasn’t it you that said you ‘had to have that trip to Austrailia’ for your birthday last year?” he mentioned.
“Alright, you spoil me, too.”
“You just married me for the money, didn’t you?” he wrapped his arms around me.
I laughed. "I liked you before you even had a job. Then you started working at Long John Silvers and you came home smelling like fish every night. The money's just a plus."
“Yeah, but there’s more important things in life.” He gave me a kiss on the cheek.
“Like helping out with the dishes?” I asked, turning the water on in the sink.
“No, like having a wonderful wife that is so good with taking care of the house,” he gave me a cheesy grin. I shot him a look. “Hey, I do take out the trash and drive Thomas to school,” he pointed out.
The doorbell rang.
“Lets add getting the door to your list of chores,” I said.
He went and opened the door. “Hey, Nick, come on in.”
“Hey,” he appeared with his son, Gene. He was six, a year younger than Thomas. He had the same blonde hair and blue-green eyes as his father. And he was going to be just as tall, too. He was already as big as Thomas.
“Hey, when are you expecting the twins?” Brian asked him, as they came into the kitchen.
“Three months from now. Heather and I have been fighting over baby names,” he laughed.
“Hey, daddy, can we invite Elizabeth over to play?” Thomas came down, with Gene right behind him.
“Its alright with me, ask your mom,” Brian told him.
“Please?” Thomas gave me his best puppy dog face. His hair color was the same as Brian’s and mine, and he had the same sparkling blue eyes as his father.
“Yeah, go ahead.”
Thomas and Gene ran out the front door.
“Who’s Elizabeth?” Nick asked.
“She’s a little girl who just moved in across the street,” I told him.
“Wow,” Brian said, as the three of them returned and went into the living room, turning on the TV. “Time goes by really, fast, doesn’t it?”
“Yeah,” I agreed. It was unbelievable.
“Hey, is that a gray hair?” Nick teased Brian.
“Oh, shut up.”
“Not on your life, B-rock.”
“I can’t believe the three of us are still friends after all this time,” I said, amazed.
“Yeah, its amazing. How did I put up with you this long?” Brian said to Nick, laughing.
The kids ran in a few minutes later. Elizabeth looked a little bit how I had at her age. She was sitting next to Thomas, a controller in her hand. They were playing Mortal Kombat, re-released on the newest video game system.
“Man, I wish we had had those graphics back in our day,” Nick said.
“Hey, no fair!” Elizabeth cried. “You're not allowed to unplug my controller!”
Gene laughed.
“Haha, I beat ya!” Thomas laughed, as the round ended.
Nick, Brian, and I exchanged looks.
“Sound familiar?” Nick asked.
“I should’ve won that game,” I said, putting some plates in the soapy water.
“Nope, I would’ve beaten you,” Brian informed me.
“What? No way. I was always better at that game than you were.”
"Huh? I don't think so. Care to try it again?"
“Bring it on.”
He led us over to the living room. “Kids, mommy and daddy are going to play for a minute.”
“But you all are like 50!” Gene said incredulously.
“What? We're not that old.” Nick went over, and started tickling him.
“Come on, Mrs. Littrell! You can take him!” Elizabeth encouraged me.
“No, daddy’s pretty good! He always beats me,” Thomas said.
I eyed Brian. “So you’ve been practicing?”
“No.. of course not.. I’m too old for Nintendo…” he sputtered.
“What? No your not. Mommy plays all the time when your on tour,” Thomas continued.
“Ooh… busted,” Nick laughed.
Brian and I were pretty evenly matched. But at the end of the final level, I went in to do an uppercut to win the game... "NICK!?"
He held up the end of my controller. "Some events in history shouldn't be tampered with," he grinned. Brian finished me off.
"I win. Again," he stated, superiorly.
"Man, you Carter's cheat a lot," Elizabeth stated.
"No we don't!" Nick and Gene said at the same time.
Elizabeth and Thomas exchanged looks and laughed. Nick took them out back to the swing set.
"I'll be out in a second, I'm going to get some hamburgers for the grill," Brian called to him.
"Thomas and Elizabeth look so cute together. Maybe they'll realize it a lot sooner than we did," I said.
Brian caught my eye. "Nah," we both laughed. "But it worked out okay in the end," Brian said.
"Yeah. Some things never change, do they?"
Brian gave me a sentuous kiss. "Nope. I love you just as much as that day I beat you in Mortal Kombat."
"No, as time goes they never change," I smiled, rolling my eyes, as he gave me another kiss.
~The End~
Chapter 72
As Time Goes
Frick's Fairytales