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Post by Mia-Sara on Oct 6, 2006 16:36:42 GMT -5
"Mom!" Amelia rushed through the back door into the kitchen, dropping her bags on the counter top as she called frantically for Stella, bouncing a little with excitement. "MOM!" Stella ran into the kitchen, looking startled and stopped dead. "You got in?" She smiled, looking her daughter up and down. Full cheerleading outfit complete with poms in-hand. She looked so grown up at barely 16 that it brought a tear to Stella's eye. Amy had been practicing for the high school cheerleading try-outs for God only knew how long. She'd refused to show her parents her routine, insisting it would be bad karma. For the daughter of two scientists, Amy was strangely...spiritual. But Stella found it funny that all through middle school and before that Amelia had been a cheerleader, yet she had gotten extremely nervous about high school cheerleading try-outs. "I got in!!" She squealed, laughing and bounding around the kitchen in the skirt and top of the school colours. At that moment Jaden walked through the back door and threw his bag onto the counter. "Your sister's a cheerleader, aren't you proud JC?" Stella smiled, knowing well the rolled-eye look he shot her. "Wow mom, your oldest daughter's on the air-head squad - aim high!" He did a mock cheerleading punch and rolled his eyes again, leaving the kitchen and headed to his bedroom. "Shut up, JC!" Amy called, pouting after her twin. It was then that the two younger Stokes kids walked through the door, 7 year old Becky and 10 year old Grace, chatting to each other. They too stopped and looked their older sister up and down. Becky's face broke into a smile and she hugged her sister. Grace didn't really have much of a reaction. Then again, Becky had been the one to insist on helping Amelia with her routine the most and Stella had been touched by that. Becky had felt very special in the fact that Amelia had listened to her little sister's advice - Becky had been cheerleading since she was little too, intent on following in her sister's footsteps. "And another thing - I'm gonna be a flyer!!" At the blank expression on her mom's face Amelia laughed. "I get chucked up in the air!" This fact gave her another spurt of excitement and she squealed and jumped around a little, whilst the color drained from Stella's face and her smile faded. The three girls were chatting away with their mom regarding practices and other cheerleading-related talk when Nick walked in the door. Stella had to try hard to hold back a laugh when she saw her husband's face.
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Post by janet on Oct 6, 2006 20:58:22 GMT -5
Nick cleared his throat, raising an eyebrow. "So... you got in?" he asked, trying to smile. "Well congratulations, I suppose, sweetheart; you worked hard for this," he added, setting his field kit down by the door. "But listen up, honey," he continued, walking toward Amelia. "If any boys come near you, I want to hear about it, got it?" he asked, nodding at Jaden as he re-entered the kitchen. "Hey JC," he greeted his son with a smile.
"Whaddup, Dad?" JC replied.
"'Whaddup?" Nick repeated his son's words. "How about 'what's up?"" he asked JC, raising his eyebrow even higher. "How was practice, son?"
JC shrugged, grabbing some orange juice from the refrigerator. "Fine, I guess. I sacked the QB, so Coach was happy."
"Well good for you," Nick smiled at him. "Keep up he good work, got it? And do me a favor; keep an eye on your sister during games. Make sure that none of your football buddies have a roaming eye."
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Post by Mia-Sara on Oct 7, 2006 5:16:57 GMT -5
"Daaaad!" Amelia whined, rolling her eyes and looking to her mom for support. "Come on mom, tell him to stop. I've been a cheerleader before dad." She reminded him, hands on her hips. JC scoffed and poured himself some juice, swigged it and went to leave. "And I'm older than JC anyhow." Grace had disappeared by now but Becky was still stood next to Amelia, holding her older sister's poms with her hands on her hips. Stella smiled at them, slowly walking over to Nick and leaning her head against his shoulder when he put his arm around her waist. Amelia and Becky disappeared into the next room to talk quietly about something they obviously didn't want their parents to hear. "And he was waiting for me when I came out of try-outs. He said my routine was awesome and that I'd get in for sure. He's so sweet, Becks, and he even wanted to buy me my lunch." She whispered, unaware that both her parents were listening in. She was like a little girl, excited by everything that had happened that day, especially excited by the fact that "some boy" had shown a big interest in her.
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Post by janet on Oct 7, 2006 5:23:00 GMT -5
Nick frowned, staring at Stella. "I'm not ready for this," he whispered. "She's in there talking about some boy... do you hear her?" he asked. "And my first instinct is to interrogate this boy, to find out if he's good enough to be dating my little giirl. I don't think that anyone is good enough to be dating my little girl," he continued, wrapping his arms around Stella even more tightly. "So what do you know about this rascal? I'm sure she's said something to you, so spill it..."
Gently rubbing Stella's back, Nick rested his head on her shoulder, unobtrusively watching his two daughters through the kitchen doorway. It was hard being only one of two men in the house, and Nick had had to get used to the longer wait times for the bathrooms, the long phone calls, the hair in the shower... it was hard, but... he was happy.
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Post by Mia-Sara on Oct 7, 2006 5:40:35 GMT -5
"Don't interrogate me, honey. I'm not the boy." She smiled knowingly. This was a first for Nick, but Stella knew Amelia had had boyfriends before and kept them a secret from her dad, knowing what would happen. In fact, she'd pretty much helped Amelia see the last guy. She'd never tell Nick as she knew he'd flip. Amelia talked to her about pretty much everything, which she was grateful for, so she did know about this new guy on the scene. "He's a football player, one of JC's friends. He's quite sweet - cute, typical football player." She smiled, also watching their daughters."Plus, a guy on the cheerleading squad likes me too - this season's gonna be great!" Amelia was giggling with her sister and Stella wondered if Nick had heard what she said. "He's been around here with JC before and Amy seemed to catch his eye then. I'm surprised you didn't hone in on that and interrogate him then." She smirked a little. At that point Stella quickly tugged Nick out of the way and began talking about dinner when Amelia burst through the door. "Oh yeah I forgot, some of the cheerleading squad are coming round here in a bit, 'cause...I said they could. I knew you wouldn't mind. We're gonna practice in the yard."
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Post by janet on Oct 7, 2006 5:47:00 GMT -5
"Okay," Nick immediately agreed, having heard her mention the guy that likes her. "Do you and your friends eat pizza?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. "Garlic bread? Chicken wings? Pasta? Invite them over for dinner," he suggested with a smile. "It might be nice to get to know them. All of them," he added, narrowing his eyes. Is she already making out with people? Having sex? Why haven't I heard anything about her liking boys before? he asked himself, crossing his arms across his chest.
Walking back into the kitchen, JC looked at his father. "Well if a bunch of girls--and a couple of guys are coming over tonight, can I invite Derek over, too?" he asked.
Nick bit his lip, trying not to laugh when he noticed his daughter's expression. "Derek from the football team...? Of course," he grinned, turning around so that neither child could see his expression. "And I know you two will eat pizza."
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Post by Mia-Sara on Oct 7, 2006 5:55:28 GMT -5
Stella winked at Amelia as she flushed red. JC noticed and smirked. He knew Derek had a crush on his twin, but he'd said that he wouldn't mention it to their dad because in all honesty, he was "creeped out". "Uh...yeah, we all like pizza and pasta." Amelia stuttered. It was at that moment that the front doorbell rang and Becky rushed to answer it. Shortly after, three girls and a guy, all in their cheerleading outfits, followed Becky back to the kitchen. "Hi Mrs. Stokes, Mr. Stokes, I'm Indiana. I'm head cheerleader. This is Natalie and Ashley, and Tyler, he's Amy's base. The others will be here soon." Indiana smiled warmly and Amelia instantly led them to the yard. She and Tyler held each others gazes or a moment before Amelia blushed and he held the door open for her. "That's Tyler." Becky grinned, skipping out of the kitchen to avoid interrogation from her dad.
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Post by janet on Oct 7, 2006 17:45:34 GMT -5
"I gathered," Nick frowned, walking over to the kitchen window, and staring out of it. "How long have you known about this little crush?" he accused Stella, not even bothering to turn around to look at her. "And what do we know about this boy, anyhow? Is he smart? Decent? Will he treat our little girl okay? Is she making out with him? Do I need to tie him to a chair to interrogate him?" he asked, still watching the kids out in the yard. "I'm not ready for her to be all grown up," he whispered, resting his hands on the sink. "I'm not ready for any of them to grow up. It seems like just yesterday that we brought her and JC home from the hopital..."
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Post by Mia-Sara on Oct 7, 2006 17:55:18 GMT -5
Amelia was laughing with Indiana and Tyler outside about something that Nick couldn't hear. They all calmed themselves down and Amelia stood in front of Tyler, Ashley crouching down to get in position beside her. Tyler's hands on her hips, Idiana kept the timing and watched as Amy was thrown up into the air into a chair position, a smile on her lips as she hit a high V and both Indiana and Ashley cheered and hooted as both Tyler and Amelia kept their positions. Stella saw Nick's face turn red and put a hand on his arm. "He's a nice kid and he's in the cheerleading squad with her. She'll be spending an awful lot of time with him from now on, especially with him being her...wahtever you call it - the one that lifts her up. So just try and let it slide okay? She's 16 now honey, and she's finding her feet with guys. This Tyler guy - he's in a lot of her classes and they walked to school together with JC all through middle school. You never batted an eyelid then. Don't interrogate him, he's a good kid. It should be that Derek guy you wanna interrogate. Football player, cheerleader...which d'you think's more likely to rattle you?" She knew that probably wouldn't help things but she loved seeing him all protective...she actually found it unbelieveably attractive. Outside, Tyler threw Amy up to dismount and caught her safely in both arms, laughing with her. He placed her down and she squealed with delight that she'd managed that stunt straight out, throwing her arms around his neck and laughing as he spun her around.
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Post by janet on Oct 7, 2006 18:01:35 GMT -5
Nick swallowed, still watching Tyler and Amelia. "Did you see where his hands were?" he asked, Stella, not tearing his gaze away from them. "He was touching her. And I don't care if he is a cheerleader, rather than a football player. He's male, he's a teenager, and he has hormones. Hormones that he may want to use on our daughter," he continued, frowning. "Actually," Nick mumbled, a smile forming on his lips. "I have an idea."
Grabbing cans of soda from the refrigerator, he strolled to the back door, flinging it open. "I have drinks for everyone," he announced, moving toward Tyler and Amelia, in particular. "Here you go," he sweetly smiled. "Have a drink, Tyler," he suggested. And then I'll get your fingerprints.
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