“That’s okay, Baby. You’re not disturbing me.” Brooke smiled and waved to her niece who was clinging onto Sam’s leg.

“Can you watch your niece while I use the…ah…” Sam motioned to the bathroom.

Seeing Sam’s need written in her eyes, Brooke nodded, “Sure, Darlin’.”

“Thanks,” Sam opened the door a little wider as she moved into the room, bringing Julie with her. “Here’s a piece of candy for being such a big help and a big girl.” The blonde looked down at Julie and winked before leaving.

“Hey Munchkin,” Brooke reached out for the child and settled her up in her lap.

“Where’s Sam going wid the baby?”

“Uhm…Sam…” Brooke smiled, “and the baby, are going to go to the potty.”

Julie giggled and clapped her hands, first on her aunt and then turned to the computer keyboard on the desk. “Big girl potty…let’s sing Aunt Bwooke.”

“NO!” Brooke eyes widened in terror. “Sam doesn’t want us to sing because…she uhm…” the woman thought for a moment, then grasped at the first thing that came to her mind. “We might wake the baby.”

“Oh…” Julie put her finger to her lips and let out a long, “Shhhhhhhhh.”

“Shh…” Brooke now mimicked her niece.

Eyeing the piece of candy on the desk, the small tyke wanted her treat. “Good girl tweat…candy, me need candy, Aunt Brooke…candy.”

Brooke took the piece of candy from the desk and after unwrapping it, held it out to her niece. “Okay Julie, here’s your big girl treat.”

The child nodded her head and clapped wildly, turning to the screen, touching the keyboard as she took the piece of candy into her mouth. “What’s dat?” She looked back to her aunt.

Brooke leaned out to look into the hallway, seeing the bathroom door still closed. She turned back to the computer and opened the site bringing the screen to life with color. “That’s a computer, Munchkin, and this is Vermont.”

“What’s Vewmond?” Julie took the candy out of her mouth and offered it to her aunt.

“Ah…no thank you.” Brooke pulled back from the offering. “Vermont is a place up North.”

“Why?” She put the candy back into her mouth, then grabbed Brooke’s sleeve with her sticky fingers. “What’s Nowth?”

“North is…it’s a far away place.” Brooke stared at the screen.

“Oh.” Julie turned to stare at the screen imitating her aunt. “Like Grammies’ house?” She asked as she leaned into Brooke’s chest, with drool running from her mouth and over her chin, dripping on the adult’s clothing without her realizing it.

“Like your Daddy’s Mommy?” Brooke felt the head nod against her. “Yeah.”

“Why…” Julie tugged at Brooke’s long hair. “Why you looking up nord…in vewmond?” She asked spitting out the piece of candy with her words and watched it land in Brooke’s hair. She reached out to retrieve it only to have it squish out of her small hand and settled deeper into the cascading locks of her aunt.

“It’s a surprise for someone.” Brooke winked at her niece, and unthinkingly moved in to give her a touch on the nose with her own.

“Why?” Julie placed her sticky hands on Brooke’s face and held it up against her.

Feeling the degree of stickiness, Brooke pulled her face away from the child’s as Julie turned her attention back to the screen. Running her hand through her long hair, Brooke easily found the matted, sticky mess that the lost piece of candy was creating and pulled the morsel of sugar out of her hair. She sighed. After seeing strands of hair stuck to the candy, she tossed Julie’s ‘good girl’ award into the wastebasket when Julie wasn’t looking. “Hey Julie, why don’t we go take a bath…hmmm?” Brooke grabbed the mouse and exited the Internet. “We can play in the water.”

Julie put her finger on Brooke’s nose and grabbed it. “Horsey ride, horsey ride,” she nodded wildly.

“Okay, horsey ride it is.” Brooke shifted the tyke up on to her shoulders and got up from the chair. She turned to exit the office just as Sam was on her way in. “Hey, Sam.” The smile lit up Brooke’s face, “This little girl is going to take a bath.”

Sam looked up to see Julie grasping handfuls of hair in sticky little hands. “That might not be a bad idea for both of you.”

“Yeah?” Brooke asked with a slightly seductive tone.

“Oh, don’t go getting any ideas.” Sam cautioned Brooke, “I’m not the one covered in stickiness.”

The tall woman leaned in toward her lover’s ear and whispered, “You could be, given a little time and some attention.” Brooke kissed Sam’s cheek for emphasis and then ran her tongue up the outside of Sam’s ear.

Sam could feel the heat of a blush start in her chest and slowly spread toward her face. “Any more of that and I will be, Brooke Gordon.” The blonde moved back and then in a surprise attack, kissed the taller woman’s nose. “Mmm…peppermint?”

“You should know, you gave it to her.” Brooke scowled.

“Hmm…” Sam sighed as she looked up to the gleeful child riding on Brooke’s shoulders, then shook her head. “Better add candy to that growing list of what not to have around when we have kids.”

Brooke nodded her head, bringing the sticky little hands right along with her, and sighed.

The brunette stood patiently outside her sister’s house. There were signs of life in the house with a light on upstairs and the van still parked in the driveway. C.C. looked at her watch as she tried to remember her niece’s schedule. “Yeah, three-thirty, this should be nap time. I’d better not ring that doorbell.” Without any second thoughts, the young woman turned to her sister’s security panel and punched in the code. Within seconds she heard the familiar sound of locks clicking, then C.C. carefully opened the door.

Venturing inside, the willowy woman stopped as she turned to close the door. Her view of the living room was enough to peak her curiosity as she saw one of the end table lamps on the floor surrounded by pillows and cushions all over the floor.

“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.