“God, you’d think someone was trying to be killed in here.” The young woman left the door open as she investigated deeper into the room. “Well, at least it looks like they put up a good fight.” C.C. picked up a pillow or two, throwing them back onto the couch.

After taking another couple of steps to reach the next pillow, C.C. noticed the newly decorated wall in the dining room. “What the…” she moved into the room to get a better look. “Oh my God.” C.C.’s hand went to her mouth. “Brooke’s not going to like that one bit. No wonder the house is so quiet. She’s already killed her.” The brunette walked over to the wall and touched it, confirming her suspicions. “Crayon.” C.C. rolled her eyes and held her breath realizing that there had to be a massacre somewhere in the house.

Worried now, the brunette left the dining room and entered the hallway. She stood absolutely still for a moment as she tried to detect any signs of life coming from anywhere in the house. Her prayers were answered when she heard the sound of running water. She followed the noise into the kitchen.

C.C. stopped at the doorway to the kitchen and flicked on the light switch. The fluorescence that seemed to blind her for a split second now, showed the kitchen exactly as the woman had remembered it, neat and organized. There, sticking out of the garbage pail was the large, empty box of Cheerios. She started to walk into the room and she could hear the distinct sound of crunching every so often under her feet. C.C. let a smile come to her face, “Yeah, I bet Julie had a field day with that box of cereal.” She could see it in her mind’s eye, knowing how the small child had done it to C.C. on a few occasions while babysitting her niece. It was then that the warped mind of C.C.’s came up with the perfect name for this thriller she was living in. “The attack of the Oh’s…” the brunette chuckled, “starring Brooke Loran as the evil godmother.”

The sound of running water was louder as C.C. crossed the cereal dotted floor toward the laundry room. Looking over to the door, the brunette caught sight of the white mass of suds that were creeping out from under the door.

C.C.’s eyes widened and only one thought crossed her mind, “Ohmygod, they’re washing her mouth out with soap.” Rushing the door, C.C.’s mind raced with scenarios. “Brooke you can’t do that…she didn’t mean it. Hang on, Julie, I’ll…” she latched onto the doorknob and threw open the door to see massive amounts of foam pouring out of the washer.

“What the…” C.C. looked first to one side, then to the other, sure that someone was in there, “…hell is going on here?” The brunette eyed the washer suspiciously as she moved closer to turn it off. “Julie?” she mumbled, then hurriedly opened the lid, swiping out huge handfuls of glistening bubbles from inside the washer until she could see better. Reaching down into the lukewarm water, C.C. prayed for the best. “Randi’s going to kill us both. All I wanted to do was come over to mooch some dinner. Now I’m going to be blamed too.”

Fishing her hand down through the murky red water, she latched onto something that felt vaguely like an arm and held her breath as she pulled it out. “Come on, girl, pull,” she egged herself on as the heavy bulk she clung on to was not coming out easily. With her adrenaline pumping wildly, C.C. reached in with her other hand and pulled back with all her might again and again until there was a swooshing sound and the bulk in her hands came sloshing out of the cavern. The weight of the mass being much more then the woman could hold, C.C. lowered it onto the top of the dryer.

Surprised at her own strength but relieved that her struggle with the washer was over, C.C. frantically picked and poked at the pink mound dripping before her. Getting nowhere fast, the young woman did the only thing she could think of doing. She picked up the mound and flipped it to another side, placing it on the floor this time.

Wiping her hair out of her face, C.C. concentrated her gaze on the pile of material. There, plain as day, was the familiar red teddy bear lying amidst the wrapped layers of material. The brunette rolled her eyes at the sight. “Teddy,” she mumbled as she breathed a sigh of relief, then extracted the bear from the swaddle of cloth and placed him into the dryer. She reached up to the control dial and turned it on to start the machine in motion.

“Now, what the heck is that thing?” C.C. pondered the pink mass on the floor. She was about to reach down and figure it out when the sound of youthful laughter came wafting into the room and was quickly followed by the sound of fast moving feet.

Delighted to hear sounds of life now emanating from her sister’s house, C.C. stuck her head out of the laundry room door. The sight of the fast moving fur ball as Mario was rounding the kitchen doorway and slid across the now wet, slippery floor meant one thing in the young woman’s mind. “Julie’s here,” she grinned and carefully headed for the stairway, as Mario escaped through his doggie door.

Standing at the bottom of the spiral staircase, C.C. admired the decorative but rather blandly colored streamers that dangled from the railing and stairs alike. The brunette scratched her head and slowly started up the stairs, wondering what shambles she would find there. Nearing the top of the stairs, C.C. called out her sister’s and roomie’s names, “Brooke…Sam…” She stopped to peer down the hallway when her eyes had reached that level. “What the hell…? Where are you two and what did Julie do to you?” Shaking her head at the mess of toilet paper everywhere, C.C. climbed the last few steps up until she was standing in the hallway.

The sound of gleeful laughter once again began and soon the naked little girl came squealing down the hall from the bathroom at the other end. Within seconds, Brooke emerged from the same door, her clothing wet and clinging to her, with soap bubbles in her hair.

C.C. eyed her sister and gave a little wave, “Hey Sis, did I come at a bad time?”

“No, just help me get her.” Brooke darted off after Julie as she ran into another bedroom. “Julie come here. Look who came to say hello.”

C.C. stood there as the toddler ran out the door and across the hall into the next room. She waited only a few seconds until her sister appeared again and taunted her. “What’s the matter, can’t handle a three year old?”

Brooke stopped in the middle of the hallway and turned toward her sister. “Why you…” she went to take a step forward when, like a flash of lightning, Julie came out of the room and ran right between Brooke’s long legs, propelling herself into C.C.’s arms.

“Hi Aunt C.C.” Julie smiled up at her aunt.

“Hey Sweetums, how you doing?” The brunette laughed with her niece.

“Me good. I playing with the baby.”

“Baby?” C.C. mumbled, then looked over to her sister. “Who else are you watching?”

“No one else, just Julie,” Brooke raised a lone, dark eyebrow in her sister’s direction.

“Then, what baby is she talking about?”

As if right on cue, Sam emerged from the bathroom and stepped into the hall. “My baby, that’s who.”

C.C.’s mouth gapped open as she looked from her sister and then to Sam.

“Sam’s gonna have a baby for me to pway wif…” Julie eagerly announced, “…by next Danksgiving just like Aunt Tehwi.”

Sam moved up along side of Brooke as she tried to explain. “Ah…C.C. she thinks that…” she followed C.C.’s eyes as they moved to Brooke.

Not knowing what else to do, Brooke merely offered a weak smile and shrugged her shoulders.

“I got to help wif da name.” Julie tugged on C.C.’s shirt. “It’s a girl.”

The brunette’s eyes lit up as she slowly walked down the hall toward her sister. The woman looked into her sister’s eyes as she mumbled, letting it sink into her head, “So that’s what all those talks were about in the den yesterday.” The woman’s face turned to pure elation as she let out a yell and raised her hand into the air. “Wahoo! You stud muffin you.” C.C. slapped Brooke on the back producing a wet, sopping sound. She beamed a smile at Sam and then grabbed onto the tot and danced up and down the hallway with her singing out, “I’m in the money, I’m in the money.”

Brooke rolled her eyes at her youngest sister’s antics. “Hey Sam, remember that name we discussed?” She looked over to the blonde as she nodded. “Maybe that was a bad idea.”

“Chastity Loran?”

Brooke shook her head, “No, Darlin’, the nickname.”

“Oh, Chase,” Sam said the name loud enough for C.C. to hear and giggled at the look on the woman’s face when she turned toward them, almost dumfounded.

“Hey, what’s wrong with Chase?” Then the brunette realized what they were talking about. “You gonna name the kid after me? I’m honored, after all I did match you two up, you know.”

“Sam, look how swollen her head is now,” Brooke motioned to C.C. “How do you think she’ll be when we actually do name our daughter after her?”

The blonde studied her roomie for second before answering, ” Oh, I don’t know, it might bring her down to earth being a…godmother and all.”

“Hmm…after the day we’ve had, maybe it’s not such a good idea after all,” Brooke scratched her cheek while she watched C.C.’s reaction.

“Just think of it Brooke, she could watch lil’ Chase when we want to do some shopping.” Sam looked at her lover, “Think of all the fun she’ll have.” The teasing was done and Sam knew it. Suddenly reality struck her in the face. “I can’t believe we thought that we could handle a three year old for more than an hour.”

It had Brooke’s full attention as she thought about the idea. “I don’t know, Sam.” Brooke watched as the blonde sank to the floor with her back up against the wall.