Post by kris1907 on Aug 22, 2006 16:19:42 GMT -5
Chapter Nine
“Okay…” Marlena adjusts Claire so that she is on her hands and knees, “We’re getting closer here. Yes… rock back and forth… rock rock rock. Yeah sweetie girl, you are a pro at that! Now we need you to move.” She pushes on her butt lightly, in an attempt to get her granddaughter to make the first move at crawling, but shakes her head as nothing happens. “Oh come on Claire… we have been practicing. Remember? One hand, one knee, one hand, one knee. Its easy… watch me.” Marlena crawls a couple of steps and then turns back to see the baby smiling happily up at her. “Now you. Come on!”
Claire giggles and the proud grandmother can’t help but laugh along with her. “I’m gunna get you! A… boo… A… boo.” Claire continues to laugh loudly at Marlena, as she moves closer to the baby. Rubbing noses with her, Marlena lays flat on the ground and stares straight into her blue eyes, “Now it’s your turn.”
Moving to the side, Marlena moves Claire’s arms and legs in an attempt to help her crawl across the grass. “No no… don’t eat the grass. Crawl over it. Come on baby girl. You do it.” She begins to move her own hands and knees, “Follow me. One then the other. One hand or a knee… anything.” Sighing, Marlena lets out a laugh and a shake of the head as she falls to her side, “Okay or just stay right like that.”
She watches adoringly as Claire sits herself back up and joins the little one in clapping at the accomplishment, “Yeah… good job! Here give me that.” Taking a piece of grass from her, Marlena tickles her chin and then her belly, as the little girl attempts to push her hand away. “No you don’t. I’m gunna get you… lets see. Are you ticklish here? Oh yeah! How about here?” She smiles as the baby lets out a loud giggle, “Your mommy is ticklish right under here… oh! But you’re not. Where else, huh? Hmm… Papa is ticklish right behind his knee… and… ut-oh… so is Ms. Claire.” Laughing, Marlena continues to tickle her granddaughter behind the backs of her knees.
“Kiss?” She pauses to let the baby breath and leans forward, “I think I need a kiss.” She leans forward a bit more and can’t keep back a huge smile as Claire does the same and gives her grandmother a sloppy kiss. “Thank you sweetie.” Tapping her nose, “I love you so much.” Claire spreads her arms out, “Yeah so much! You are so smart. And so beautiful.”
“Just like her grandmother.”
Marlena jumps at the voice and rolls onto her back to see her husband and daughter walk towards them. “Hey you two. Have a good walk?” Their hesitation and the looks that run through his eyes concern her. Looking at Claire, she sits up and focuses on her husband, “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. We had a great walk.”
Belle sits down next to the two females and smiles at her daughter, “Hey baby girl. How are you doing? Having fun playing?” She kisses her head and strokes her cheek, “Mom we had a great time. I got to see places from my fairy tale.”
At Marlena’s confused look, “I took her for a walk down memory lane. Our cave is still there. Somebody took our firewood though.”
“Shame.” Silence fills the air, but Marlena fills it, “And the ranger’s cabin? Still there?”
“How did…” John breaks off and simply shakes his head, “Well, you are truly back with us, that’s for sure.”
“Yes, I can still read you like an open book. So is it?”
“It is.” Is Belle’s reply.
“Yeah, we found it.”
Looking between the two, “What am I missing here?”
“Um.” Belle looks up at her dad, but continues for him, “We found the cabin and something inside it.”
“John, what did you find?”
“Just some photographs. They seem to have been there for quite sometime.” He hands them over to her without any further argument.
Marlena looks them over and attempts not to show her reaction, “You think they have been there… not recently planted?”
“I can’t tell for sure, but seemed that way.”
“So what does this mean?” Her hand moves over to stroke Claire’s hair as she drops the photographs onto the ground beside her. “What’s next?”
“I dunno.” He rubs the back of his neck and looks out over the meadow. His shoulders tense momentarily, but quickly relax as Marlena begins to kneed his muscles, “I dunno Doc. I guess I need to get Abe and the guys at the lab to figure out exactly when these were taken or if they were falsified and then go from there. I don’t know what to think right now.”
“Don’t worry about it. He can’t hurt us.”
“Isn’t that my line?”
“I’m borrowing it.” She hugs him to her chest and kisses his shoulder, “We can figure this out together.”
John leans back into his wife and cups her hands tightly in his own, “How are you being so calm, aren’t you worried at all?”
“Sure I am. But I’m done being scared. I’m done being the victim. And I have faith that we’ll figure it out. We always do, don’t we?”
“Yes, we do.” Turning, John cups her cheeks and looks at her seriously, “We do Doc, but I get a little nervous sometimes that our luck will run out.”
“Our luck will never run out, John because of our love. Our love is never ending and that is what gets us through everything. So believe in it.”
“I do. I always have.” He leans down to brush her lips, “And I always will.” His lips capture hers in a soft kiss. They seem to pause, not wanting to push the intimacy any further, yet not wanting to let go either. Finally they pull back slightly, John kisses her forehead before tucking her head underneath his chin, “We’ll be just fine.”
“But you want us to leave here.”
“Yes, I do.”
“And me saying that I would like to see our cave won’t make much of a difference, right?”
“Right.”
“Even though we have no idea when those pictures were put there, how old they are, if they are real, or why they are there.”
“Exactly. I don’t think we were meant to find them… at least not yet. But I don’t like the idea, Doc and I need to get you guys somewhere safe.”
“Okay.”
“Okay?”
Looking up at him, Marlena smiles, “Yes, just okay.” She kisses him again quickly before turning back towards her daughter and granddaughter, “Come on Claire, let’s show mommy and papa what you’ve learned.” Claire leans towards her, “Oh a kiss…” The over exaggerated smacking of the lips causes all the adults to ‘awe’ at the little one, “Thank you baby girl. Now come on… ready?” Marlena sits Claire up away from Belle and then proceeds to get on her hands and knees, “Follow me… go get mommy. Come on.”
Claire watches each one of the adults and simply smiles at them all. “Does my little pumpkin have stage fright?” John walks closer to the blanket, squats down, and holds out his arms to her, “Come here sweetheart.”
The baby smiles up at him, looks at Marlena and then throws herself forward. Awkwardly, she gets to her hands and knees and begins to rock back and forth, “There you go. Now remember, one hand and one knee. One hand… one knee. This is your knee.”
Belle laughs happily watching her daughter and parents and it soon turns into a squeal of surprise when Claire moves both hands and then fixes herself by moving one knee and then the other. Using her momentum from rocking back and forth, she throws her hands out again, and moves her legs to catch up with the rest of her body.
“Yeah Claire!”
“Good girl!”
“That’s it!” John picks up the little girl and tosses her gently into the air. Kissing her cheeks loudly, Claire squeals and John belts out a very proud, “That’s my girl! You’ll be walking in no time.”
“Whoa… dad… lets keep her slow and close to the ground for a few days, okay? I’m not ready for that kind of movement yet.”
Smiling at his daughter, he nods, “Okay.”
“I’ve been trying all day to get her to move and all papa does is say ‘come here’ and she jumps. I’ve now got a daddy’s little girl and a papa’s little girl… there is no hope for me.” Marlena sighs dramatically, “If we are heading out of here, then Belle you should get the babies stuff ready. I never unpacked, so John if you can keep an eye on Claire, I’ll make us up some lunches.”
He nods as both women begin to move towards the cabin. “Doc, could you toss me my cell? It should be on the counter charging.” John stands back and watches Claire play with a random weed, but turns at the sound of Marlena’s voice. Bending slightly, he catches his phone, “Thanks. I’m going to make a few calls, then I’ll be ready and we can have a chat about this papa thing.”
“What about it? Claire likes it.”
“So does that make you nana?”
Shrugging honestly, “I don’t know. Grandma maybe. Nana… we’ll figure it out. We should be ready in about twenty minutes.”
“Okay…” Marlena adjusts Claire so that she is on her hands and knees, “We’re getting closer here. Yes… rock back and forth… rock rock rock. Yeah sweetie girl, you are a pro at that! Now we need you to move.” She pushes on her butt lightly, in an attempt to get her granddaughter to make the first move at crawling, but shakes her head as nothing happens. “Oh come on Claire… we have been practicing. Remember? One hand, one knee, one hand, one knee. Its easy… watch me.” Marlena crawls a couple of steps and then turns back to see the baby smiling happily up at her. “Now you. Come on!”
Claire giggles and the proud grandmother can’t help but laugh along with her. “I’m gunna get you! A… boo… A… boo.” Claire continues to laugh loudly at Marlena, as she moves closer to the baby. Rubbing noses with her, Marlena lays flat on the ground and stares straight into her blue eyes, “Now it’s your turn.”
Moving to the side, Marlena moves Claire’s arms and legs in an attempt to help her crawl across the grass. “No no… don’t eat the grass. Crawl over it. Come on baby girl. You do it.” She begins to move her own hands and knees, “Follow me. One then the other. One hand or a knee… anything.” Sighing, Marlena lets out a laugh and a shake of the head as she falls to her side, “Okay or just stay right like that.”
She watches adoringly as Claire sits herself back up and joins the little one in clapping at the accomplishment, “Yeah… good job! Here give me that.” Taking a piece of grass from her, Marlena tickles her chin and then her belly, as the little girl attempts to push her hand away. “No you don’t. I’m gunna get you… lets see. Are you ticklish here? Oh yeah! How about here?” She smiles as the baby lets out a loud giggle, “Your mommy is ticklish right under here… oh! But you’re not. Where else, huh? Hmm… Papa is ticklish right behind his knee… and… ut-oh… so is Ms. Claire.” Laughing, Marlena continues to tickle her granddaughter behind the backs of her knees.
“Kiss?” She pauses to let the baby breath and leans forward, “I think I need a kiss.” She leans forward a bit more and can’t keep back a huge smile as Claire does the same and gives her grandmother a sloppy kiss. “Thank you sweetie.” Tapping her nose, “I love you so much.” Claire spreads her arms out, “Yeah so much! You are so smart. And so beautiful.”
“Just like her grandmother.”
Marlena jumps at the voice and rolls onto her back to see her husband and daughter walk towards them. “Hey you two. Have a good walk?” Their hesitation and the looks that run through his eyes concern her. Looking at Claire, she sits up and focuses on her husband, “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. We had a great walk.”
Belle sits down next to the two females and smiles at her daughter, “Hey baby girl. How are you doing? Having fun playing?” She kisses her head and strokes her cheek, “Mom we had a great time. I got to see places from my fairy tale.”
At Marlena’s confused look, “I took her for a walk down memory lane. Our cave is still there. Somebody took our firewood though.”
“Shame.” Silence fills the air, but Marlena fills it, “And the ranger’s cabin? Still there?”
“How did…” John breaks off and simply shakes his head, “Well, you are truly back with us, that’s for sure.”
“Yes, I can still read you like an open book. So is it?”
“It is.” Is Belle’s reply.
“Yeah, we found it.”
Looking between the two, “What am I missing here?”
“Um.” Belle looks up at her dad, but continues for him, “We found the cabin and something inside it.”
“John, what did you find?”
“Just some photographs. They seem to have been there for quite sometime.” He hands them over to her without any further argument.
Marlena looks them over and attempts not to show her reaction, “You think they have been there… not recently planted?”
“I can’t tell for sure, but seemed that way.”
“So what does this mean?” Her hand moves over to stroke Claire’s hair as she drops the photographs onto the ground beside her. “What’s next?”
“I dunno.” He rubs the back of his neck and looks out over the meadow. His shoulders tense momentarily, but quickly relax as Marlena begins to kneed his muscles, “I dunno Doc. I guess I need to get Abe and the guys at the lab to figure out exactly when these were taken or if they were falsified and then go from there. I don’t know what to think right now.”
“Don’t worry about it. He can’t hurt us.”
“Isn’t that my line?”
“I’m borrowing it.” She hugs him to her chest and kisses his shoulder, “We can figure this out together.”
John leans back into his wife and cups her hands tightly in his own, “How are you being so calm, aren’t you worried at all?”
“Sure I am. But I’m done being scared. I’m done being the victim. And I have faith that we’ll figure it out. We always do, don’t we?”
“Yes, we do.” Turning, John cups her cheeks and looks at her seriously, “We do Doc, but I get a little nervous sometimes that our luck will run out.”
“Our luck will never run out, John because of our love. Our love is never ending and that is what gets us through everything. So believe in it.”
“I do. I always have.” He leans down to brush her lips, “And I always will.” His lips capture hers in a soft kiss. They seem to pause, not wanting to push the intimacy any further, yet not wanting to let go either. Finally they pull back slightly, John kisses her forehead before tucking her head underneath his chin, “We’ll be just fine.”
“But you want us to leave here.”
“Yes, I do.”
“And me saying that I would like to see our cave won’t make much of a difference, right?”
“Right.”
“Even though we have no idea when those pictures were put there, how old they are, if they are real, or why they are there.”
“Exactly. I don’t think we were meant to find them… at least not yet. But I don’t like the idea, Doc and I need to get you guys somewhere safe.”
“Okay.”
“Okay?”
Looking up at him, Marlena smiles, “Yes, just okay.” She kisses him again quickly before turning back towards her daughter and granddaughter, “Come on Claire, let’s show mommy and papa what you’ve learned.” Claire leans towards her, “Oh a kiss…” The over exaggerated smacking of the lips causes all the adults to ‘awe’ at the little one, “Thank you baby girl. Now come on… ready?” Marlena sits Claire up away from Belle and then proceeds to get on her hands and knees, “Follow me… go get mommy. Come on.”
Claire watches each one of the adults and simply smiles at them all. “Does my little pumpkin have stage fright?” John walks closer to the blanket, squats down, and holds out his arms to her, “Come here sweetheart.”
The baby smiles up at him, looks at Marlena and then throws herself forward. Awkwardly, she gets to her hands and knees and begins to rock back and forth, “There you go. Now remember, one hand and one knee. One hand… one knee. This is your knee.”
Belle laughs happily watching her daughter and parents and it soon turns into a squeal of surprise when Claire moves both hands and then fixes herself by moving one knee and then the other. Using her momentum from rocking back and forth, she throws her hands out again, and moves her legs to catch up with the rest of her body.
“Yeah Claire!”
“Good girl!”
“That’s it!” John picks up the little girl and tosses her gently into the air. Kissing her cheeks loudly, Claire squeals and John belts out a very proud, “That’s my girl! You’ll be walking in no time.”
“Whoa… dad… lets keep her slow and close to the ground for a few days, okay? I’m not ready for that kind of movement yet.”
Smiling at his daughter, he nods, “Okay.”
“I’ve been trying all day to get her to move and all papa does is say ‘come here’ and she jumps. I’ve now got a daddy’s little girl and a papa’s little girl… there is no hope for me.” Marlena sighs dramatically, “If we are heading out of here, then Belle you should get the babies stuff ready. I never unpacked, so John if you can keep an eye on Claire, I’ll make us up some lunches.”
He nods as both women begin to move towards the cabin. “Doc, could you toss me my cell? It should be on the counter charging.” John stands back and watches Claire play with a random weed, but turns at the sound of Marlena’s voice. Bending slightly, he catches his phone, “Thanks. I’m going to make a few calls, then I’ll be ready and we can have a chat about this papa thing.”
“What about it? Claire likes it.”
“So does that make you nana?”
Shrugging honestly, “I don’t know. Grandma maybe. Nana… we’ll figure it out. We should be ready in about twenty minutes.”